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Visit Switzerland

Visas

Every traveler must have a valid passport. Visa are required for a continuous stay of more than three months. If your stay is shorter than three months you only need to bring your valid passport with you. This applies to citizens of the following countries: countries of the American Continent (except Belize, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Peru), Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

For information on visa, permanent residence as well as on work permits and business matters, please contact the Swiss Consulate General located nearest you.

Hotels, Apartments, Cruises, Vacations in Switzerland

Useful information

Currency:
Switzerland remains with the Swiss franc, usually indicated as CHF. While Switzerland is not part of the European Union and thus is not obliged to convert to the Euro, many prices are nonetheless indicated in euros so that visitors may compare prices. Merchants may accept euros but are not obliged to do so. Change given back to the client will most likely be in Swiss francs.

The Swiss franc comes in the following denominations:

Coins: 5, 10, 20, 50 Cents and 1, 2, 5 Francs

Bank notes: 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 1000 Francs.

Credit Cards

The safest and easiest form of money are traveler's checks and credit cards. The cards most used are Visa, MasterCard and American Express. Many banks in Switzerland have equipped their ATM machines with the CIRRUS or MAESTRO system. Many other Swiss banks offer ATM machines for cash advances with your credit card. It is recommended to have a small amount of cash on hand upon arrival in Switzerland for immediate expenses, i.e. taxies, city transportation etc.

Business Hours
Generally, offices are open 8 am to 12 noon and 2 pm to 5 pm on weekdays and closed on weekends.

Banks
Banks are usually open Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Once a week they extend their hours. Please check locally. They are closed Saturdays, Sundays and on public holidays. However, money can also be changed at major train stations. Look for the "Change/Cambio" signs.
Many banks have automated teller machines (ATMs) that accept overseas bank cards. please check with your local bank before leaving if your bank card is valid in Switzerland.

Post Offices
Post offices are usually open from 8 am to 12 noon and 2 pm to 5 pm on weekdays, whereas some branches that are located in shopping centers are usually open the same hours as the shopping centers, including the extended business times that are often offered once a week. On Saturdays, post offices in large cities are opern from 8.30 am till 12 noon, in villages they may be closed. please inform yourself locally. All post offices are closed on Sundays.

Shops
Shops in smaller towns and villages are generally open from 8.30 am - 12 noon and again from 2 - 6.30 pm. In larger cities they do not close for lunch. In larger cities, shops generally extend their hours till 8 pm on one evening of the week, usually on Thursdays.

Electricity:
The current used throughout Switzerland is 230 Volts AC, 50 cycles. Most power sockets are designed for three pin round plugs. The standard continental type plug with two round pins, applied for many electrical travel products, may be used without problemd. Adaptors are available in most hotels.

Time zone:
From the end of March until the end of October, French time goes from GMT+1 to GMT+2 (GMT = Greenwich Meridian Time).

Public Holidays

Communications

Internet

Many of the internet cafes that have emerged in the 1990's have closed since, probably because Switzerland has one of the highest rate of high-speed internet connections in homes in the world, but almost any video rental shop and most train stations will have a few internet terminals. The tourist office should be able to direct you to the nearest one. The going rate is 5 CHF for 20 minutes. Also, you can send email, SMS (text messages to cell phones) or short text faxes from just about every public phone booth for less that 1 CHF. Some public phone booths allow you to browse the internet. There are many shopping centers and cities ( Lausanne and Vevey for example) that offer free wireless internet access: ask the young locals, maybe they know where to go.

Telephone

The public phones are surprisingly cheap, and have no surcharge for credit cards.

If you stay for some time, it may be advisable to buy a pre-paid cell phone card that you can use in any phone that supports the GSM standard on the 900/1800 Mhz bands - they usually cost around 40 CHF and are obtainable in the shops of the mobile service providers Swisscom, Orange or Sunrise in most cities. Mobile network coverage is close to 100% by area, even in the mountainous, non-populated areas.

A cheaper option for buying a local prepaid card is available at the big supermarket chains Migros ( M-Budget-Mobil ) and Coop ( Coop Mobile ). Both cost around 20 CHF and include already 15 CHF airtime. You need a passport (foreign passport is ok) for the registration which is done directly in the shop. Rate are national 0,40 CHF/min, international from 1,00-1,30 CHF, SMS 0,10-0,20 CHF.

Public Transport

The Swiss will ruin you with fantastic transportation - swift, disturbingly punctual trains, clean buses, and a half dozen different kinds of mountain transport systems. The Swiss public transport system offers a multitude of discount options, from half fare cards to multi-day, multi-use tickets good for buses, boats, trains, and even bike rentals. In general there's at least one train or bus per hour on every route, on many routes trains and buses are running every 30 min. The bus network is an addition to the train network, there's no intercity bus network, but there are many scenic bus routes in the Alps. More information and all the timetables for Trains, Buses and Boats can be found at http://www.rail.ch .

Note with all trains and buses the "halbtax" option ('1/2' button on the machines) is only for people who have spent 150CHF on an annual half fare pass or (for foreigners 99CHF for one month), children under 16 or.

If you will be taking several train journeys in Switzerland it is worthwhile looking at some of the train passes http://www.swisstravelsystem.ch/

Trains are all free of surcharge, a reservation is not required. There are two exceptions to this rule, the special trains: Bernina Express, running daily between Chur and Tirano and the Glacier Express running from St.Moritz to Zermatt.

Using the trains is quite easy, although the number of different kinds of trains can be a bit confusing unless you know that the schedules at a Swiss train station are color coded. The yellow sheet is for departures and the white sheet is for arrivals. Faster trains appear on both of these sheets in red, while the trains in black stop at more stations.

At the track, the signs indicate the destination and departure time. The small numbers and letters along the bottom show you where you can board the train. The letters indicate the zone you should stand in, and the numbers indicate the class. The class (1st or 2nd) is indicated by a "1" or "2" on the side of the car, these correspond with the numbers on the sign.

Luggage can be stowed above your seat or in between seats, or on a rack at the end of the car. During busy periods, people often stow large luggage (or skis) in the entrance area in between cars. This is usually fairly safe, but use common sense.

SWISS operates flights between Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lugano and Zurich.

Railways

In Switzerland nearly all railways run electrically. The only non-electric railway is the Brienzer Rothornbahn using steam traction. There are many interesting mountain railways of all types. In Switzerland most electric trains get their power from a single phase AC network. This network uses its own powerlines run with 66 kV and 132 kV, which have in opposite to normal powerlines a number of conductors not dividable by 3 (most powerlines for the single phase AC grid of the traction power grid have four conductors).

Car

For using the motorways you need to buy a "Vignette", a sticker costing 40.- CHF that allows you to use the motorways as much as you like for the entire year. Avoiding the motorways in order to save there 40.- is generally a false economy. These 40.- are well worth it, even if you are only on transit.

Speed limits: 120 km/h on motorways, 80 km/h on normal roads and 50 km/h inside villages. Whilst driving "a wee bit too fast" is common on motorways people tend to stick pretty closely to the other two limits. Fines are hefty and traffic rules are strictly enforced.

D.U.I.: 0.5 promille is the limit. We suggest not to drink and drive as you will lose your license for several months if you get caught. (And there will be a fine too.) Use public transportation instead.

Driving on small mountain roads can be nerve-tearing if you come from a flat country. But beside this, swiss roads are in general safe and very well maintained.

Five tips for mountain roads:
1. Honk if you're on a small road and you don't see around the bend.
2. The bus always has priority.
3. The car driving uphill has priority over the car driving downhill.
4. Don't even think about driving as fast as the locals, they know every bend, you don't.
5. In general, drive at a speed that you can stop at within the distance you can see to be safe; and drive so that you would be happy to meet yourself coming the other way!

Bicycle

Switzerland is a cyclists place! Veloland Schweiz has build up an extensive network of long distance cycle trails all across the country. Check their website for more details. http://www.cycling-in-switzerland.ch/ There are many Swiss cities where you can rent bicycles if that is your means of traveling and you can even rent electric bicycles. During the summer it is quite common for cities to offer bicycle 'rental' for free! Cycling in cities is pretty safe, at least compared to other countries, and very common.

In-line Skating

Besides the main types of transportation, the adventurous person can see Switzerland by in-line skating. There are three routes, measuring a combined 600-plus kilometers designed specifically for in-line skating throughout the country. They are the Rhine route, the Rhone route, and the Mittelland route. These are scenic tours. Most of the routes are flat, with slight ascents and descents. The Mittelland route runs from Zurich airport to Neuenburg in the northwest; the Rhine route runs from Bad Ragaz to Schaffhausen in the northeastern section of the country. Finally, the Rhone route extends from Brig to Geneva. This is a great way to see both the country-side and cityscapes of this beautiful nation. For more information: http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/navpage-Active-Inline%20Skating.html.