GET AROUND (ENTRY REQUIREMENTS)

Please see the article Travel in the Schengen Zone for more information about how scheme works and what entry requirements are.

BY PLANE

The following carriers offer domestic flights within Switzerland:

1. SWISS (Basel (EuroAirport Swiss), Geneva (Geneve-Cointrin Airport), Lugano Airport, Zurich Airport)

2. Darwin Airlines [3] (Berne (Belp Airport), Geneva (Geneve-Cointrin Airport), Lugano Airport)

3. FlyBaboo website [4] (Geneva (GeneveCointrin Airport), Lugano Airport)

But in almost every case you will be better off taking the train.

Hiking

As good as the Swiss train system is, if you have a little time, and you only want to travel 1-200 miles, you could try purchasing the world’s best footpath maps and walk 10-20 miles a day over some of the most wonderful and clearly-marked paths, whether it is in a valley, through a forest, or over mountains. There are more than 60,000km of well maintained and documented hiking trails.

The trails are well-planned (after a number of centuries, why not?), easy to follow, and the yellow trail signs are actually accurate in their estimate as to how far away the next hamlet, village, town or city is--once you’ve figured out how many kilometers per hour you walk (easy to determine after a day of hiking).

Exceeding the speed limit by 20 km/h results in cancellation of your driving licence and you must appear before a judge; foreigners are jailed pending court appearance and jails are massively overcrowded so you will be in a cell more than 20 hours a day, for up to 48 hours.

If you stick the limits, the back roads/mountain roads will still be a blast to drive on, while ensuring you are not fined or arrested. Driving is the best way to see such a wonderful country outstanding roads, particularly countryside.

BY CAR BICYCLE

Veloland Schweiz has built up an extensive network of long distance cycle trails all across the country. 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. If you decide to bicycle in a city, understand that (in most cities) you will share the road with public transport. Beware of tram tracks which can get your wheel stuck and send you flying into traffic, of the trams themselves which travel these track.

IN-LINE SKATING

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Besides the main types of transportation, the adventurous person can see Switzerland by inline skating. There are three routes, measuring a combined 600-plus kilometres designed specifically for in-line skating throughout the country. They are the Rhine route, the Rhone route, and the Mittelland route. The Mittelland route runs from Zurich airport to Neuenburg in the northwest; the Rhine route runs 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.