Switzerland

Handedness of road traffic

Switzerland is a right-hand traffic country.

Speed Limits

The general speed limits in Switzerland are presented in the table:

General Speed limits in km/h (mph)

Type of vehicle / Conditions	Built-up areas	Rural	Expressways	Motorways
Motor vehicles ≤ 3,5 t	50 (31)	80 (49)	100 (62)	120 (74)
Vehicles with studded tires	50 (31)	80 (49)	80 (49)	80 (49)
Passenger cars towing a trailer	50 (31)	80 (49)	80 (49)	80 (49)

Documents

1. Driver's license. You have to be at least 18 years old holding a full valid driver's license in order to drive in Switzerland. EU/EEA citizens can use the license issued by their countries' authorities. For citizens of other countries International Driving Permits are needed only if their license is not in any of the official languages of the Swiss Confederation (French, German, Italian) or in English.
2. Registration certificate.
3. Certificate of Motor Insurance. If your vehicle is not insured in an EU/EEA country you should carry an International Motor Insurance Card (Green Card).
4. All foreign-registered with non-EU number plates vehicles in Switzerland must display a nationality sticker at the rear. Separate signs are not needed for Canada, Mexico and the United States, where the province, state or district of registration is usually embossed or surface-printed on the vehicle registration plate.

Items required in cars or with motorcycles

1. Emergency warning triangle is compulsory for car drivers.

Winter conditions

There is no legal obligation to install winter tires in Switzerland. In the case of an accident though, the driver may be found liable if the car is not properly equipped for wintry conditions. The insurance company may not cover the full cost of the damage or may even take action against the insured person for negligence.

Snow chains required (metal snow chains must be applied to at least two wheels of the same axle; also applies to three-wheelers) when authorities make their use mandatory or when indicated by road sign 2.48.

Studded tires

Studded tires may be fitted to motor vehicles, the total weight of which does not exceed 7.5 t, motorcycles, light motor quadricycles, motor quadricycles and motor tricycles, and trailers coupled to these vehicles. They can only be used between 1 November and 30 April and outside of this period, in the presence of winter conditions.
A sign indicating the maximum authorized speed of 80 km/h, should be attached to the rear of vehicles fitted with studded tires.

Headlights

Cars, vans, lorries, buses and motorcycles must drive with their lights on during the day. Anyone driving without lights can expect a fine of CHF 40.
Mopeds, e-bikes and e-scooters must also drive with their lights on during the day. Anyone driving without lights can expect a fine of CHF 20. The lights-on requirement does not apply to bicycles. As a result cars without DRLs should have their low-beam lamps always turned on when driving.

Filling stations

Many stations have pay at the pump systems accepting debit and credit cards like Mastercard and Visa. In larger stations you can also pay in the shop after filling up the tank of your vehicle.

Fuel Types

1. Unleaded petrol / gasoline – (German: Bleifrei benzin, French: Essence sans plomb, Italian: benzina senza piombo). Octane ratings of 95 RON and 98 RON are common at fuel stations. Big suppliers like Shell offer 100 RON petrol.
2. Diesel (which has the same name in all over Switzerland).
3. LPG. It's also called: GPL, Autogas. A list of stations that sell LPG is available at the website linked in the start of the sentence.
4. CNG. A list of CNG stations can be found by following the previous link.

Fuel Prices

A website that provides current fuel prices in Switzerland as well as the locations of the fuel stations is benzin-preis.ch.

Electric vehicle chargers

You can search for electric car and PHEVs chargers in Switzerland at lemnet.org, also available for Android and iOS

Road user charges

Swiss motorway sticker (vignette)

All vehicles (except vehicles over 3,5 t in case they are covered by the heavy goods vehicle charge - HVC) using Swiss motorways and expressways need to have a vignette installed on the windscreen. The roads where the vignette is obligatory are shown on the map with red color.

Be aware that trailers with a total weight ≤ 3.5 t towed by a motor vehicle need their own extra vignette.

Only annual vignettes are available, unlike in other countries which offer vignettes for shorter periods of time at a lower price. A Swiss vignette is valid for 14 months, from 1 December of the previous year till 31 January of the next year. For example the 2020 vignette is valid from 1 December 2019 till 31 January 2021.

Purchase and installation

An electronic version of the vignette called E-vignette can be purchased online.
The following video explains how the E-vignette works.

Vignette stickers are available from customs offices at the Swiss border as well as post offices, fuel stations, motorway service stations, and other retail locations. For 2025 its price is 38 € or CHF 40. Points of sale for the Swiss motorway vignette can be found by following the link to the Swiss Federal Office for Customs and Border Security website including these online options:

• Swiss Post
• ADAC

In cars, the vignette must be affixed on the inside of the windscreen on an untinted area, so it can be clearly visible from the outside and at the same time not obstruct driver's view of the road, for example near the top left or right corners.
In the case of motorcycles and trailers, the vignette should be affixed to an easily accessible part of them which is not easily removable.

Toll roads

There are 2 toll roads in Switzerland: the Great St Bernard Tunnel and Munt la Schera Tunnel.

Great St Bernard Tunnel

The tunnel connects Bourg-Saint-Pierre, Valais in Switzerland with Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses, Aosta Valley in Italy.

Prices for the tolls and available options (like one-way or with return tickets, etc.) can be found on the tunnel's official website, by following the previous link. Special offers are also available, for example by presenting a one-way Great St Bernard Tunnel ticket and the ticket (or ski pass) of certain events within 72 hours of purchase, you will be granted a free return ticket.

The available payment methods are:

1. Cash at both sides of the border.
2. At the Swiss side of the border the following credit cards are accepted: American Express, Diners Club International, MasterCard and Visa.
3. At the Italian side of the border the following debit and credit cards are accepted: American Express, Aura, Diners Club International, MasterCard and Visa.
4. There are also 10 crossings and 20 crossings tickets with a discounted price valid for 2 years starting on 1/4/2019.

Munt la Schera Tunnel

The Munt la Schera Tunnel connects Engadin valley with Lago di Livigno close to the Swiss-Italian border and the Italian ski resort of Livgno.

The Munt La Schera tunnel only has a single lane. Traffic is regulated by means of a traffic light. Here you can read important information related to the tunnel

You can see the opening hours and the tunnel rates by following the links. Please note that Saturdays pricing is higher than the rest days of the week.

Paying options for the tunnel:

1. You can buy the E-TICKET online saving time at the toll station. You have to choose if the ticket will be used during Sunday to Friday or if it is for a Saturday. Tickets are not refundable. If you arrive at the tolls with a Su-Fr ticket on a Saturday then you will have to pay the difference at the booth.
2. You can buy the E-TICKET locally. Buying your ticket locally at the selling point you receive a return ticket without expiry date and you should keep it for your return.
3. There is also EKW-Card for local population that offers discounted prices.

Always check tunnel opening times before purchasing your ticket.

Urban Access Regulations

Environmental stickers

Since 15 January 2020, Geneva has adopted an emergency emission scheme — with a grace period that ended on 30 March 2020 — under which only vehicles belonging to certain emissions groups are allowed to enter the differentiated traffic zone when anti-smog measures are in force.

Drivers who plan to drive in the city when anti-smog measures are in force have to buy a Stick'AIR sticker. Drivers who have bought the French Crit'Air sticker can also use it in the city of Geneva, because it implements identical classes of emissions. If you plan to travel to France first, you can read about the Crit'Air sticker in the relevant Driverpedia article.
The Stick'AIR sticker is on sale for CHF 5 at:

1. the "Fondation des parkings", Carrefour de l'Etoile 1 - 1227 Carouge, Monday to Friday, from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM (excluding public holidays)
2. the Office cantonal des véhicules ("car bureau"), Route de Veyrier 86 - 1227 Carouge, Monday to Friday, from 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM (excluding public holidays)
3. in certain garages, body shops, and service stations in the canton of Geneva.
4. online by following the link: "Stick'AIR Order(s)", with postal delivery (additional shipping and handling fees apply in this case).

Alternatively you can order the French Crtit'Air sticker online which is also valid in Geneva for a cost of 3,11 € plus postage of a total of 4,91 € for EU countries. The cost is 3,81 € if the Crit'Air sticker is delivered to a French address.

According to the vehicle's Euro emission standard, it will be assigned a sticker from one of the classes 1 to 5. Class 1 stickers are given to vehicles with lower emissions while Class 5 to vehicles with higher emissions. There is a special class for electric vehicles and there is no sticker for cars and motorcycles of Euro 1 standard or even older vehicles, meaning that uncategorized vehicles are not able to access the differentiated traffic zone when any of the scheme's levels is active.

You can determine which Stick'AIR sticker corresponds to your vehicle by visiting the City of Geneva's website on vehicles classification and completing the questionnaire.

Alternatively the following table presents the classes of the stickers and the vehicles to which they are assigned:

Stick'AIR Vehicle Classification

Class	Motorcycles, tricycles and quads	Cars and vans
		Petrol	Diesel
Green Stick'AIR sticker	Electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles
1	Gas vehicles and PHEV (plug in hybrid)
	Euro 4 1 January 2017 for motorcycles 1 January 2018 for mopeds	Euro 5 and 6 From 1 January 2011	-
2	Euro 3 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2016 for motorcycles to 31 December 2017 for mopeds	Euro 4 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2010	Euro 5 and 6 From 1 January 2011
3	Euro 2 1 July 2004 to 31 December 2006	Euro 2 and 3 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2005	Euro 4 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2010
4	Without norm 1 June 2000 to 30 June 2004	-	Euro 3 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2005
5	-	-	Euro 2 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2000
No sticker	Without norm Until 31 May 2000	Euro 1 and before Until 31 December 1996 Vans until 30 September 1997	Euro 1 and before Until 31 December 1996 Vans until 30 September 1997

When anti-smog measures are active, between 06:00 to 22:00, only vehicles that have the corresponding Stick'AIR stickers according to the activation level can enter in the differentiated traffic zone. You can see the 3 different activation levels for the Stick'AIR scheme by clicking the previous link. For example at "2/3 Alert level" only vehicles with an EV sticker or stickers of the classes 1, 2 and 3 can enter the differentiated zone.
Furthermore, when anti-smog measures are active, regardless of their level, a 80 km/h speed limit is imposed for roads that regularly have a higher speed limit. Public transport for the entire Canton of Geneva becomes free at levels 2/3 and 3/3 of the scheme.
At entry points to main roads, a special sign indicates the Stick'AIR categories authorized to travel within the zone when the differentiated traffic measure is in force.

You can stay informed about the current situation by Stick'AIR's daily bulletin (in French) by the City of Geneva. You can also subscribe to email notifications when the activation level of the scheme changes.

You can check the pollution level in Geneva and at its surroundings by visiting Air2G² app's web version or by installing the App to Android or iOS devices.

Car-free towns

Here is a list of car-free towns and areas in Switzerland (you can learn more about each one by following the links):

1. Bettmeralp
2. Braunwald
3. Mürren
4. Riederalp
5. Rigi
6. Saas-Fee
7. Stoos
8. Wengen
9. Zermatt