SWITZERLAND - DRIVING ( left hand drive )

 

Using a sat nav - we have a Tom Tom and it was brilliant ! - was an absolute godsend and took a lot of the worry of negotiating our way while driving on what, to us, is the wrong side of the road.

 

Our experience of driving in Switzerland was a very positive one.
The drivers obey the road rules and there is none of the impatience and tooting that you experience in France.
There are speed limits prominently displayed and in the main, drivers keep to them!

There is , however, one very important thing that you must have .
It's called a vignette.
Vignettes are compulsory in Switzerland on all national class 1 and 2 roads.
You can read about them and purchase one online here.

We purchased ours as we crossed the border at Geneva which was a little stressful as it can be busy and there are border guards directing you in French but we passed over 40 euro, quickly placed it in the correct position on the windscreen and to a chorus of "Allez, allez " were on our way.

 

The rules as to where the vignette is placed are very strict and enforced with penalties so you must be very careful to do the right thing. You cannot move them around as once they lose their stickiness you cannot use tape to keep them in place.

 

Using motorways and expressways without a valid vígnette properly affixed on the vehicle is an offence against the Public Highways Act and is punishable with cash fines of at least 200 Franks.

 

TRAFFIC

While we visited in May we found the volume of traffic to be moderate and it flowed well with no problems on the combination of local and highways that we used.

 

PARKING

From our experience a visit to Geneva or other large towns like Zurich or Lausanne is impossible to do by car.

There is no parking in these cities and you are better to catch a train to the centre of the city and explore on foot.

Smaller towns like Interlaken or Thun have paid parking especially near their train stations and also in the form of multi-storey parking stations but be sure to check how long you can park there before you leave your car for the day.

We did not find any free parking areas.