General Swiss Travel Information

Landlocked by France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria and Italy, Switzerland takes up an area of 41,295 square kilometers (15,882 square miles) and is home to 7.4 million people. More than 60 percent of the country is mountainous and a quarter of it is covered in forests. The snow-capped Alps, Europe's highest mountain range, occupy the central and southern regions of the country. Some of the Alpine meadows are inhabited by famous and distinctive Alpine animals such as the ibex (a mountain goat with huge curved horns) and the chamois (a horned antelope). There is perennial snow cover at altitudes of above 3000m. Winter sports resorts begin operating in late November and close around April. Founded in 1291 as the Helvetic Confederation, Switzerland is now a federal republic and consists of 26 partly autonomous cantons. Politically neutral since 1815, it is an important international meeting place and houses one of the headquarters of the United Nations.

Most Swiss speak English, and at least one of the other Swiss languages - French, German, Italian, or, in the extreme southeast, Romansch. As for where to go, the country's breathtaking concentration of mountainous scenery has drawn travelers since the beginning of the nineteenth century; and these days it's not always easy to avoid the crowds. The advantage is that the country is so small, you can cross it by train in as little as four hours, and you can see a fair bit from one central base. Switzerland's cities are well worth a visit. Zürich, the most populous city, is famous for its financial institutions and for its art galleries - both coexisting happily side by side. Lake Zurich offers endless opportunities for swimming, sunbathing and picnicking. Nestled on the shores of Lake Geneva, the city of Geneva is home to more than 200 international organizations and is the heart of the watch making tradition. The city's fine location and the wealth of boating and walking opportunities provided by Lake Geneva make it an attractive and relaxing place. Basel and Bern - the capital - are quieter, but each has an attractive historic core. Luzern is often considered to be the true "Swiss" capital. This charming and attractive town straddles the Reuss River on the western edge of Lake Lucerne and makes an excellent base for excursions with its proximity to lakes and mountains as well as a base for venturing south towards the Alps.

The most visited Alpine area is the central Berner Oberland, which has the highest concentration of picturesque peaks and mountainside villages, although the loftiest Alps are those of the Valais in the southwest, where the small but crowded resort of Zermatt provides access to the country's most distinctive peak, the Matterhorn. The isolated mountain valleys of Graubünden, in the eastern corner of the country, provide the setting for winter resorts like St. Moritz and Davos. In the west, the cities lining the northern shore of Lake Geneva - notably Geneva itself, and Montreux and Lausanne - make up the bulk of French-speaking Switzerland. Switzerland's southernmost canton, Italian-speaking Ticino, can seem a world apart from the rest of the country, especially the lakeside resorts of Lugano and Locarno, with their Mediterranean, riviera like atmosphere.

The renowned Swiss obsessiveness with cleanliness, punctuality and hard work, coupled with the highest standard of living in Europe, make Switzerland one of the most desirable and least problematic of countries in which to travel. The tourist infrastructure is highly developed, and the Swiss themselves are unfailingly courteous.

Switzerland has long attracted many foreign artists and writers including Voltaire, Byron, Shelley, James Joyce and Charlie Chaplin. The 18th century writings of Rousseau in Geneva played a key role in the development of democracy while Carl Jung's research in Zurich was instrumental in the development of modern psychoanalysis.

Switzerland's unit of currency is the Swiss Franc (or SFr), divided into 100 Centimes (c, or Rappen in German areas), coming in coins of 5c, 10c, 20c and 50c and SFr1, SFr2 and SFr5, and notes of SFr10, SFr20, SFr50, SFr100, SFr200 and SFr1000. Banks are usually open Mon-Fri 8.30am-4.30pm, although those outside major cities close between noon and 2pm. Money can also be changed at post offices and most train stations, which give a similar exchange rate to banks.

The punctuality of Swiss public transport remains one of the wonders of the modern world. Train services nearly always depart on time, and rail timetables are well integrated with those of the post bus system, which operates on routes not covered by rail, serving the remoter villages and valleys.
Travelling through Switzerland by train is invariably comfortable, hassle-free and often extraordinarily scenic, with the higher mountain routes an attraction on their own. The main state-run network, SBB-CFF (Schweizerische Bundesbahn, Chemin de Fer Fédérale), covers much of the country, but a large number of routes, especially Alpine lines, are operated by the privately owned rail companies who pioneered them. The Swiss Pass, obtainable only before you leave home, allows unlimited travel on all state and most private railways, as well as on buses, lake steamers and most mountain railways, for 4, 8, 15, 21 or 30 days.

Switzerland's lakes are all crossed by ferry services of one sort or another, but most are restricted to the summer season and are primarily tourist oriented, duplicating routes which can be covered much more cheaply and quickly by rail. Only on lakes such as Luzern and Lugano, where hilly coastal terrain makes other forms of transport difficult, do ferries run throughout the year (albeit with limited services in winter), and are used by the locals as a way of getting about. Holders of the Swiss Pass are entitled to free travel on all lake ferries.

Switzerland's road network is as comprehensive and well planned as you'd expect, and although the mountainous terrain can make for some circuitous routes there is, of course, the compensation of some superb - if sometimes hair-raising - mountain scenery. Speed limits are 50kph in built-up areas, 80kph on main roads and 120kph on motorways.