Geography of Switzerland

Basic facts:

• Area: 41285 km² (approx. 10'201'746 acres or 15'940 square miles)
• Boundary: 1858 km (1150 miles)
  • Germany: 346 km (215 miles)
  • France: 572 km (355 miles)
  • Italy: 734 km (456 miles)
  • Austria: 165 km (103 miles)
  • Liechtenstein: 41 km (25 miles)
• Largest extension north - south: 220 km (137 miles)
• Largest extension west - east: 348 km (216 miles)
• Most northern dimension: Oberbargen (N 47° 48' 35")
• Most eastern dimension: Piz Chavalatsch (E 10° 29' 36")
• Most southern dimension: Chiasso (N 45° 49' 08")
• Most western dimension: Chancy (E 5° 57' 24")
• Highest elevation: Mount Monte Rosa ("Dufourspitze"), 4634 m.a.s (15200 feet)
• Lowest elevation: Lake Maggiore ("Lago Maggiore"), 193 m.a.s (633 feet)
• Time Zone: Central Europe (GMT +1 hour)

Switzerland is divided in three major geographical areas:

• Alps ("Alpen"): 60%
• Middle land ("Mittelland"): 30%
• Jura: 10%

Switzerland is located in the Central European Time zone (CET), also known as Middle European Time zone (MET). It is one hour ahead of Greenwich Time (GMT+1).
Daylight saving time (one hour ahead of the standard time) starts in early spring and ends in late fall. Begin and end are synchronized with the countries of the European Union (EU).

Switzerland hosts about 20% of the Alps. Approximately 100 peaks are close to or higher than 4000 meters (13125 feet) above sea level. Many mountain areas are developed, there are trains, cog railways, aerial cable cars and other means of transportation. Swiss mountains are famous for climbing, skiing, snowboarding, biking, hiking and other recreational activities.

Some of the most famous mountains:

Switzerland is famous for its alpine passes. Ever since people move around, these passes are important pathways between the northern and the southern part of Europe. Before you hit the road, check the local road conditions online.

Some of the most important passes:

Switzerland hosts many lakes, from the large Lake Geneva to hundreds of tiny little lakes in the mountains. There are also many dammed-up lakes, mainly to drive water turbines of power plants.

The largest lakes:

The rivers of Switzerland lead to three different seas: The Rhein with its tributaries Aare and Thur drains 67.7% of the water into the North Sea. The Rhone and the Ticino (a tributary to the river Po in Italy) drain 18% into the Mediterranean Sea. The Inn (a tributary to the river Donau in Germany/Austria) drains 4.4% into the Black Sea.

The major rivers:

There are more than 3000 km² of glaciers and firn in Switzerland. Most of the glaciers are decreasing.

The largest glaciers:

From a climate point of view, Switzerland is located in a transition zone. In the west, there is a strong influence of the Atlantic ocean. Winds bring a lot of moisture into Switzerland and cause rainfall. In the east, there is an almost continental climate, with lower temperatures and less precipitation. On the other hand, the alps - which run from east to west - act as a climatic divide. South of the alps, there is an almost Mediterranean climate, with significantly higher temperatures but also a lot of precipitation.

Generally speaking, spring is wet and cool, April is well known for fast and often changing weather conditions. Summer is supposed to be warm and dry with maximum temperature up to 35°C (95°F). The temperature depends primarily on the elevation, the zero line (0°C or 32°F) may raise as high as 4000 meters above sea level (13125 feet). Fall is usually dry, but cool. The temperature will drop significantly in September or October, with the zero line around 2000 meter above sea level (6560 feet). Winter is supposed to be cold and dry. The temperature may drop below 0°C everywhere in Switzerland, especially at night. In the alps, they usually get a lot of snow, but even at lower elevations, there is a good chance that they will get a foot of snow every now and then.

See Climate in Switzerland for much more detailed information and links to weather forecast services.

The map below shows the major highways in Switzerland and their names plus some major cities.

In Switzerland, names of towns are used for navigation on the roads, rather than highway numbers. Signs show the names of the major cities, road numbers are rarely seen. Signs on or for highways use white letters on green background. Signs for major roads use white letters on blue background, signs for local roads use black letters on white background.

Highways in Switzerland are often congested, particularly in summertime. Weekends are especially bad. The most busy highway is the highway A1 between Zürich and Bern, but also the Gotthard tunnel between Göschenen and Airolo is often very crowded. Cars may build up for as long as 20 km and it needs a lot of patience to get to the other side of the Alps. An alternative is to use the San Bernardino pass but congestions are there very likely too.

In order to use the highways in Switzerland, a toll has to be paid. But there are no toll booth, instead a special sticker - known as "Autobahn Vignette" - is required. The sticker is valid for one calendar year (actually from beginning of December of the previous year until end of January of the following year = 14 months), there is nothing like a one day or one week pass. It costs CHF 40.00 and is available at customs at the borders and at all gas stations and post offices throughout the country. The sticker must be fixed to the windshield on cars and trucks, there are particular rules for where it has to be placed on motorbikes and trailers.

The best choice is the avoid cars at all and use public transportation instead. Trains and busses are available everywhere and on the larger lakes, taking a boat may be a very enjoyable alternative. The "Schweizerische Bundesbahnen" (SBB) - the Swiss Federal Railroad - has a nice website with an on-line time table where you can also purchase tickets and print them on your own printer.

Before you hit the road, check the local road conditions online.

There is an interactive map of Switzerland available at map.search.ch.

Distances are measured in kilometers, driving times in hours and minutes (hh:mm). Routes are supposed to be the fastest possible but not necessarily the shortest path. Highways in Switzerland are often under construction and traffic jams occur frequently. During winter seasons, many roads in the mountains are closed and in higher elevations, winter tires or chains may be enforced by law.

Before you hit the road, check the local road conditions online.

Distance	Altenrhein¹	Basel	Bern	Chiasso²	Chur	Geneva	Lausanne	Lugano	Luzern	Sion	St. Gallen	Zürich	Distance
Driving time													Driving time
Altenrhein¹		185 km	225 km	260 km	90 km	390 km	325 km	235 km	160 km	375 km	25 km	105 km	Altenrhein¹
		2:00	2:15	2:45	1:00	3:45	3:00	2:30	1:45	3:30	0:15	1:00
Basel	185 km		100 km	285 km	205 km	260 km	200 km	260 km	95 km	250 km	170 km	85 km	Basel
	2:00		1:00	3:00	2:15	2:30	2:00	2:45	1:00	2:30	1:45	1:00
Bern	225 km	100 km		300 km	245 km	170 km	105 km	275 km	110 km	155 km	210 km	125 km	Bern
	2:15	1:00		3:00	2:30	1:45	1:00	2:45	1:15	1:30	2:00	1:15
Chiasso²	260 km	285 km	300 km		175 km	460 km	400 km	25 km	190 km	280 km	275 km	230 km	Chiasso²
	2:45	3:00	3:00		2:00	4:30	4:00	0:20	2:00	4:00	3:00	2:30
Chur	90 km	205 km	245 km	175 km		405 km	345 km	150 km	145 km	395 km	105 km	120 km	Chur
	1:00	2:15	2:30	2:00		4:00	3:30	1:45	1:30	3:45	1:15	1:15
Geneva	390 km	260 km	170 km	460 km	405 km		65 km	440 km	275 km	160 km	370 km	290 km	Geneva
	3:45	2:30	1:45	4:30	4:00		0:45	4:15	3:45	1:45	3:30	2:45
Lausanne	325 km	200 km	105 km	400 km	345 km	65 km		375 km	210 km	100 km	310 km	225 km	Lausanne
	3:00	2:00	1:00	4:00	3:30	0:45		3:45	2:00	1:00	3:00	2:15
Lugano	235 km	260 km	275 km	25 km	150 km	440 km	375 km		170 km	255 km	250 km	210 km	Lugano
	2:30	2:45	2:45	0:20	1:45	4:15	3:45		1:45	3:45	2:45	2:15
Luzern	160 km	95 km	110 km	190 km	145 km	275 km	210 km	170 km		175 km	140 km	60 km	Luzern
	1:45	1:00	1:15	2:00	1:30	3:45	2:00	1:45		2:30	1:30	0:45
Sion	375 km	250 km	155 km	280 km	395 km	160 km	100 km	255 km	175 km		360 km	275 km	Sion
	3:30	2:30	1:30	4:00	3:45	1:45	1:00	3:45	2:30		3:30	2:45
St. Gallen	25 km	170 km	210 km	275 km	105 km	370 km	310 km	250 km	140 km	360 km		85 km	St. Gallen
	0:15	1:45	2:00	3:00	1:15	3:30	3:00	2:45	1:30	3:30		1:00
Zürich	105 km	85 km	125 km	230 km	120 km	290 km	225 km	210 km	60 km	275 km	85 km		Zürich
	1:00	1:00	1:15	2:30	1:15	2:45	2:15	2:15	0:45	2:45	1:00
Distance	Altenrhein¹	Basel	Bern	Chiasso²	Chur	Geneva	Lausanne	Lugano	Luzern	Sion	St. Gallen	Zürich	Distance
Driving time													Driving time

1. Border to Austria (and Germany) in the very north east of Switzerland at the Bodensee
2. Border to Italy in the very south of Switzerland

Hint: If you are not familiar with our metric unit system, see explanations about metric versus U.S. unit systems.