Our driving experience across Switzerland

Switzerland is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful countries in the world. No matter what part of the country you visit, you’re almost guaranteed to find spectacular scenery and incredible cities. Visiting the picturesque country is almost everyone’s dream and was ours too! To fulfil our dreams, we planned our Switzerland trip on May 2022. While planning how to commute within the country we opted for self-drive for a better experience. As road trips are one of the best ways to explore new places where you aren’t restricted by public transportation schedules, and you can travel to the most remote corners of a country.

Switzerland is one of those countries that you must explore by car! While the public transport system is very well-connected, the flexibility of having a car and being able to venture to the top of mountain roads or to the foot of remote valleys is priceless. We drove across Switzerland for 7 days and almost 1500 kms. So, I thought its worth sharing our incredible experience of driving across the heaven on earth!

Let’s proceed point wise where I shall share my personal experience along with some basic information which may help you plan a self-drive Swiss tour.

Car rental and cost in Switzerland

After searching a lot on the internet, we came across the website “www.expedia.com” where a number of car rental companies like Hertz, Enterprise, Alamo were registered, and we can decide as per our requirement. We finally choose “Enterprise”, an American car rental service having worldwide presence. They were offering a reasonable price with a low security deposit and most importantly comfortable cars. We got the deal at around Rs. 3500/- per day for an automatic Honda Jazz for full-to-full, means that you’ll need to drop the car off with the same amount of fuel it had when you picked it up. We had to deposit a security amount of Rs. 40,000/- which is returnable after safe deposit of the car.

Pick up and drop off Location

The pick up and drop off location was Zurich Airport, Flughafen, Zurich. However, you have to pick up the car from a different location which is at the arrival of the airport and deposit the car at another location which is at the departure. It took around 10-15 minutes of paper-works (paperless, online works, to be precise) before I was handed the keys. They allowed us to take photos of the car and to check for any dents, scratches, etc. and keep the proof. Luckily, our car was new and scratch less!

You can also do an insurance on the spot which cost around Rs. 20,000, which will insure you if you happen to damage or cause any dents on the car. We took a chance and skipped the insurance part! But it is always better to go with the insurance, as any damage to the car may be very heavy on your pocket in an expensive country like Switzerland.

Driving licence

If you are wondering whether an Indian driving licence is enough to drive a car on Switzerland, then the answer is YES. Indian tourist doesn’t need an international driving licence to drive in Switzerland and your normal Indian driving licence is enough.

Driving rules and speed limits

You might already know that in Europe your driving seat is on the left and you have to take the right route, opposite to that of India. Initially I had to struggle a bit to get accustomed with the same but gradually it happened. Seat belts are a must. Using a mobile phone without a hands-free set while driving is forbidden.

Switzerland has strict rules as far as driving is concerned. If you don’t follow the traffic rules, traffic fine could be hefty. There are different speed limits in different parts of the country. For the highways, it is generally 100 to120 kmph and for the countryside it is generally 40 to 60 kmph. Exceeding the speed limit can lead fines upto Rs. 8000/- and even more. There are precise speed detectors all over the roads. And you won’t find speed breakers there like in Indian roads, so you have to keep an eye on the signals and speed-limit sign boards.

Google Maps

Google Maps works amazingly throughout Switzerland. Hadn’t there been Google Map we cannot imagine driving around in an unknown country so confidently. Tanu, my wife was literally my navigator throughout the tour. She gradually became expert in navigating the roads with the help of Google Maps. But still there were incidents where we missed out lanes and has to take U-turn after covering long distances. I don’t deny that it is a bit frustrating and time killing, but trust me, the experience is beyond imagination. It was so funny that we entered in the wrong lane multiple times even to our home stays. All routes seemed same to me there!

Car Parking

Now, that is a very important part. If you don’t have previous experience in driving in Europe you might, initially, find it a bit difficult while dealing with parking your car. Different places in Switzerland have different system of parking. But don’t worry, I will briefly explain how it works.

Paid parking is the norm in Switzerland. Parking in smaller towns and countryside is mostly not a problem. Traffic can be complex in the city centers of larger towns like Zurich, Geneva, etc. where streets are narrow, and there’s lots of traffic and lots of one-way streets. Parking can be hard to find. I remember how much we had to struggle to get a parking space in Geneva when we went to see the Jet D-Eau fountain! We roamed around for more than 30 minutes in the same route and finally got a parking space and that too around 500 meters away from our destination.

In the parking areas you will find three types of colored lines: White Line, Blue Line and Yellow Line. White lines are free parking. Blue lines are free for an hour where you have to use the parking disc (provided along with the rental car). The Yellow lines are paid parking. The parking fee may vary from 5 CHF to 15 CHF (Rs. 400/- to Rs. 1300/-).

You won’t find a counter where you can deposit your parking fee, nor there will be any attendant coming to you to collect the parking fee. There are kiosks in every parking place, and you have to generate tokens on you own. A bit of research is very necessary in regard to parking.

We were fined for wrong Parking

Let me share an interesting incident. On our second day in Switzerland, we visited Appenzell. We parked our car in the parking space where it was written the parking fee as 5 CHF (Rs. 450). We thought someone will come to collect the parking fee as we couldn’t find any counter where we can pay. We waited for some time and no one came. So, we thought of completing our scheduled Appenzell trek of around 4 -5 hours and pay the fee after return.

To our utter surprise on return we found a ticket attached to the wiper of our car. It was written in German and we couldn’t understand. Google translator came to rescue and we came to know that we have been fined 50 CHF (Rs. 4400/-) for parking our car without generating a token from the Kiosk. However, as suggested by the owner of a nearby coffee shop, we immediately emailed to the concerned authority along with our passports and visa details mentioning that we were very new to the country and not aware of the parking system and requested to waive off the fine. Luckily, our fine was waived, which we were informed the next day via email. Lucky us!

So be careful on the parking lots! After that incident we were very careful regarding parking. There were incidents where we waited for 15 to 20 minutes just struggling to know how to generate tokens as everything were written either in German or French and the system were somewhat different for every other place. You won’t find people around to ask for help like in India as the country is very sparsely populated.

No honking, no traffic police and decent driving attitude

As an Indian, we were accustomed to traffic jam, constant honking, wrong side over takings, reckless driving and busy traffic police here and there. But Switzerland is completely different. You can call it an epitome of decency as far as driving sense is concerned.

You won’t hear sound of car horn, except on emergency. No one will overtake you from the wrong side and you rarely find a traffic police expect in busy cities. In a country so sparsely populated and well organised there is rarely any traffic jam.

I want to share another interesting story with you. It was our 3^rd day in Switzerland and we were heading from Appenzell to Zurich on a beautiful afternoon. It happened quite often with me that I tend to drive my car in the left route as we Indians are habituated. The speed limit was 100 kmph but I was driving at around 80 kmph (I often did that to avoid probable fines).

I saw on my rear-view mirror that many vehicles were just behind me following continuously and were not overtaking my vehicle, although my front road was clear. Neither they blowed horn nor any vehicle overtook from the right side. Suddenly I realised that I was on the wrong side of the road. I swiftly shifted my car to the right side of the road and the vehicles behind me slowly passed by me without any signs of irritation or hurry. I was wonderstruck with such disciplined driving attitude of the Swiss people!

We lost our Car

Let me share with you another interesting story. I hope you are not bored with my stories! We went to Geneva to see the Broken Chair and the United Nations Organization and some other significant attractions. After parking our car in a parking alley ‘in a Blue Line’ around 700 meters from the Broken Chair, we walked from there. We visited all the attractions on our checklist, but while returning to our car, we forgot where we parked our car.

All routes seemed to be same. I just remembered that there was a pharmacy near the parking alley. We did not take any photo of the location so that we could ask someone, nor we marked the Google location, least we though that such an incident would occur. We panicked and panted. It was already 4 PM; we were hungry and we have to drive back to Diemtigen (a district in the canton of Bern, around 210 km from Geneva) where we had booked our stay. After searching and almost running for nearly an hour, we finally spotted our car. That was indeed a great relief and an unforgettable incident!

Road conditions

Most of the roads in the countryside are narrow, yet smooth and well maintained. In the highway and cities, the roads are wider. We couldn’t find a single road which was broken or deteriorated. It seemed as if someone painted the white marks on the road just the day before. The road conditions were so perfect. I don’t remember if I came across any speed breakers. But there are well defined speed limit and milestone signboards.

Fuel refill

Most of the fuel stations does not have attendants. You need to refill the car tank on your own and pay at the departmental store. It was not at all a difficult task tough. Petrol cost us around 1.76 CHF (Rs. 155/- per litre).

Rail ferry

We came across a rail ferry system during our drive from Diemtigen to Zermatt. Here, around 30 to 40 cars are boarded on a train at a time and the cars are crossed from one mountain to another, cutting the travel time manyfold. The rail ferry operates every one hour. The journey was of around 1 hour which costs 25 CHF (Rs. 2500/-) one way. It was a very unique experience which you won’t find in India.

Scenic beauty

Remember that driving in Switzerland is not just about reaching your destination but also about enjoying the journey. We took our time to explore the stunning landscapes and charming villages that make Switzerland a unique and rewarding destination for road trips.

We were stunned by the astounding views of the Swiss Alps, the beautiful lakes and the amazing countryside. It seemed like as if we were driving across a very big nature park. Everything seemed so clean, fresh and well maintained. The air was so pure that our souls rejuvenated and we became one with nature.

Mehmet Murat Ildan has rightly quoted– ‘In a country where peace prevails in every corner, everything looks prettier, calmer and wiser!’

Now, that’s all about our driving experience in Switzerland. Please leave your thoughts in the comments and let us know if you are also planning for such a driving expedition.