Where Swiss remoteers actually work
Seventeen of my favorite remote-working places, curated for someone holding a Swiss paycheck and a Schengen passport. The list is opinionated and short on purpose. If you want crowdsourced reviews across a thousand cities, Nomad List does that better. This page is for the cases where Swiss salary, location freedom, and the question "where to spend a month or three" all meet.
The cards are ordered by time-zone overlap with Zurich. Closer to home first, further away last. Cost figures are realistic monthly budgets (furnished one-bed, food, coworking, local transit) in CHF for 2026. Wifi is ballpark median, not a precise measurement.
All destinations
Barcelona
World-class city with an overtourism problem — pick the right neighbourhood and it's hard to beat.
- Monthly cost
- CHF 2'400/mo
- Wifi median
- 200 Mbps wifi
- Time zone
- Swiss time
- Visa
- Schengen, no stay limit
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Sep
- Oct
Krakow
The cheapest serious European city on this list — full Schengen, real four-season weather, and a food scene that grew up fast.
- Monthly cost
- CHF 1'300/mo
- Wifi median
- 150 Mbps wifi
- Time zone
- Swiss time
- Visa
- Schengen, no stay limit
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
Valencia
The up-and-comer that quietly does most of what Barcelona does, with less of the friction.
- Monthly cost
- CHF 1'700/mo
- Wifi median
- 300 Mbps wifi
- Time zone
- Swiss time
- Visa
- Schengen, no stay limit
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Sep
- Oct
Cape Town
The Swiss-winter classic — Southern Hemisphere summer at +1h from CET, on a route the Berlin tech scene has been quietly running for years.
- Monthly cost
- CHF 1'900/mo
- Wifi median
- 50 Mbps wifi
- Time zone
- +1h vs Switzerland
- Visa
- 90 days visa-free
- Nov
- Dec
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
Lisbon
Europe's nomad capital — walkable, sun-soaked, and openly wrestling with what the nomad boom did to local rents.
- Monthly cost
- CHF 2'200/mo
- Wifi median
- 100 Mbps wifi
- Time zone
- −1h vs Switzerland
- Visa
- Schengen, no stay limit
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Sep
- Oct
Porto
Smaller, calmer, cheaper than Lisbon — a lot of people end up preferring it.
- Monthly cost
- CHF 1'700/mo
- Wifi median
- 100 Mbps wifi
- Time zone
- −1h vs Switzerland
- Visa
- Schengen, no stay limit
- May
- Jun
- Sep
- Oct
Tbilisi
365 days visa-free, costs under any EU capital, and a city that quietly became a serious nomad hub after 2022.
- Monthly cost
- CHF 1'300/mo
- Wifi median
- 50 Mbps wifi
- Time zone
- +3h vs Switzerland
- Visa
- 365 days visa-free
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Sep
- Oct
Buenos Aires
The European city in South America — late nights, world-class steak, and a value story that's quietly changed.
- Monthly cost
- CHF 1'500/mo
- Wifi median
- 100 Mbps wifi
- Time zone
- −4h vs Switzerland
- Visa
- 90 days visa-free
- Oct
- Nov
- Mar
- Apr
Rio De Janeiro
The most photogenic city on this list — beach, mountain, jungle, and a safety story that calls for an experienced traveller.
- Monthly cost
- CHF 1'600/mo
- Wifi median
- 100 Mbps wifi
- Time zone
- −4h vs Switzerland
- Visa
- 90 days visa-free
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Sep
- Oct
Bangkok
The other Thailand — denser, hotter, more chaotic, and one of the top picks on this list for working remotely.
- Monthly cost
- CHF 1'500/mo
- Wifi median
- 250 Mbps wifi
- Time zone
- +6h vs Switzerland
- Visa
- 60 days visa-free
- Nov
- Dec
- Jan
- Feb
Chiang Mai
The original nomad capital — still the cheapest place on this list, still the easiest soft-landing if you've never done a long stay abroad.
- Monthly cost
- CHF 1'200/mo
- Wifi median
- 200 Mbps wifi
- Time zone
- +6h vs Switzerland
- Visa
- 60 days visa-free
- Nov
- Dec
- Jan
- Feb
Da Nang
Vietnam's up-and-coming nomad pick — coastal, cheap, infrastructure that works, and a city most readers haven't heard of yet.
- Monthly cost
- CHF 1'100/mo
- Wifi median
- 100 Mbps wifi
- Time zone
- +6h vs Switzerland
- Visa
- 45 days visa-free
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
Lima
The under-the-radar South American pick — world-top-10 food, Pacific coast, and a culture worth coming for in its own right.
- Monthly cost
- CHF 1'300/mo
- Wifi median
- 100 Mbps wifi
- Time zone
- −6h vs Switzerland
- Visa
- 90 days visa-free
- Dec
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
Playa Del Carmen
Caribbean beach with coworking — a vacation-shaped city that doubles as a remote-work base if you don't need depth.
- Monthly cost
- CHF 1'700/mo
- Wifi median
- 80 Mbps wifi
- Time zone
- −6h vs Switzerland
- Visa
- 180 days visa-free
- Nov
- Dec
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
Bali
Canggu for the surf-and-laptop archetype, Ubud for jungle and yoga — the two faces of the most photographed nomad island on earth.
- Monthly cost
- CHF 1'600/mo
- Wifi median
- 50 Mbps wifi
- Time zone
- +7h vs Switzerland
- Visa
- 30 days visa-free
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
Medellin
The eternal-spring city — 22°C year-round, Andean valley, Colombian warmth, and a comeback story still in progress.
- Monthly cost
- CHF 1'400/mo
- Wifi median
- 100 Mbps wifi
- Time zone
- −7h vs Switzerland
- Visa
- 90 days visa-free
- Dec
- Jan
- Feb
- Jul
- Aug
Mexico City
The LATAM nomad capital — high altitude, world-class food, and one of my favourite cities on this list.
- Monthly cost
- CHF 1'700/mo
- Wifi median
- 100 Mbps wifi
- Time zone
- −7h vs Switzerland
- Visa
- 180 days visa-free
- Nov
- Dec
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
Reviewed once a year. If a place has shifted enough that the take above is wrong, say so. The point of writing it down is keeping it honest.