canigo

Destination

Switzerland

Europe · Bern

When to go

Seasonal calendar — from climate data and curated definitions.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Warm / beach
Ski season
Air⌀ 10 °C
0
3
5
8
12
18
19
19
15
11
5
2
Sea⌀ 19 °C
15
14
14
16
19
23
26
27
24
21
18
16
Rainfall⌀ 107 mm
71
69
72
91
125
142
142
124
81
119
115
131
Wind⌀ 4 м/с
4
4
5
4
4
4
4
4
3
3
4
4
Daylight⌀ 12 h
9
10
12
14
15
16
15
14
13
11
9
9
Tourism: 11.8M international tourists a year▲ +29% over 5 yearshigh
Darker cells mark peak months.· Wind: avg. daily max — handy for kite & wind sports

Public holidays

National holidays — closures and days off.

  • Christmas Day

    Weihnachten

    December 25, 2026

    Fri · in 87d

  • New Year's Day

    Neujahr

    January 1, 2027

    Fri · in 94d

  • Ascension Day

    Auffahrt

    May 6, 2027

    Thu · in 219d

  • Swiss National Day

    Bundesfeier

    August 1, 2027

    Sun · in 306d

  • Christmas Day

    Weihnachten

    December 25, 2027

    Sat · in 452d

UNESCO sites

13

UNESCO World Heritage sites in this country.

  • Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe
    2007Natural
    Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe©

    Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe is a transnational serial nature UNESCO World Heritage Site, encompassing 93 component parts in 18 European countries. Together, the sites protect the largest and least disturbed forests dominated by the beech tree. In many of these stands, especially those in the Carpathians, beech forests have persisted without interruption or interference since the last ice age. These sites document the undisturbed postglacial repopulation of the species.

    Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
  • Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps
    2011Cultural
    Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps

    Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps are a series of prehistoric pile dwelling settlements in and around the Alps built from about 5000 to 500 BC on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands. In 2011, 111 sites located variously in Switzerland (56), Italy (19), Germany (18), France (11), Austria (5) and Slovenia (2) were added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. In Slovenia, these were the first World Heritage Sites to be listed for their cultural value.

    Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
  • Monte San Giorgio
    2003Natural
    Monte San Giorgio

    Monte San Giorgio is a Swiss mountain and UNESCO World Heritage Site near the border between Switzerland and Italy. It is part of the Lugano Prealps, overlooking Lake Lugano in the Swiss Canton of Ticino.

    Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
  • Abbey of St Gall
    1983Cultural

    The Abbey of Saint Gall is a dissolved abbey (747–1805) in a Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Carolingian-era monastery existed from 719, founded by Saint Othmar on the spot where Saint Gall had erected his hermitage. It became an independent principality between 9th and 13th centuries, and was for many centuries one of the chief Benedictine abbeys in Europe. The library of the Abbey is one of the oldest monastic libraries in the world.

    Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
  • Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces
    2007Cultural
    Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces©

    Lavaux is a region in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, in the district of Lavaux-Oron. Lavaux consists of 830 hectares of terraced vineyards that stretch for about 30 kilometres (19 mi) along the south-facing northern shores of Lake Geneva. The region is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site with the formal name Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces.

    Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
  • The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement
    2016Cultural
    The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement©

    The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier is a World Heritage Site consisting of a selection of 17 building projects in seven countries by the Franco-Swiss architect Le Corbusier. These sites demonstrate how modern movement architecture was applied to respond to the needs of society and show the global reach of an architectural style and an architect. Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (1887–1965), known as Le Corbusier, was an architectural designer, urban planner and writer who was one of the pioneers of what is now referred to as modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and acquired French nationality in 1930. He designed buildings all over the world, and he was an important representative of the 20th-century modernist movement, which introduced new architectural techniques to meet the needs of the changing society. He revolutionised urban planning and was a founding member of the Congrès

    Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
  • Benedictine Convent of St John at Müstair
    1983Cultural
    Benedictine Convent of St John at Müstair©

    The Abbey of Saint John is an early medieval Benedictine monastery in the Swiss municipality of Val Müstair, in the Canton of Graubünden. By reason of its exceptionally well-preserved heritage of Carolingian art, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983.

    Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
  • Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona
    2008Natural
    Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona

    The Glarus thrust is a major thrust fault in the Alps of eastern Switzerland. Along the thrust the Helvetic nappes were thrust more than 100 km to the north over the external Aarmassif and Infrahelvetic complex. The thrust forms the contact between older (Helvetic) Permo-Triassic rock layers of the Verrucano group and younger (external) Jurassic and Cretaceous limestones and Paleogene flysch and molasse.

    Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
  • Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch
    2001Natural
    Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch©

    The Jungfrau-Aletsch protected area is located in south-western Switzerland between the cantons of Bern and Valais. It is a mountainous region in the easternmost side of the Bernese Alps, containing the northern wall of Jungfrau and Eiger, and the largest glaciated area in western Eurasia, comprising the Aletsch Glacier. The Jungfrau-Aletsch protected area is the first World Natural Heritage site in the Alps; it was inscribed in 2001.

    Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
  • Old City of Berne
    1983Cultural
    Old City of Berne

    The Old City is the medieval city center of Bern, Switzerland. Built on a narrow hill bordered on three sides by the river Aare, its compact layout has remained essentially unchanged since its construction during the twelfth to the fifteenth century. Despite a major fire in 1405, after which much of the city was rebuilt in sandstone, and substantial construction efforts in the eighteenth century, Bern's old city has retained its medieval character.

    Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
3 more on UNESCO

Car rental & driving

Whether your licence is recognized, and which side traffic drives on — per the UN road-traffic conventions.

Set your passport to see whether your licence is accepted.

Trafficright-hand

Health

Yellow fevervaccination not neededno certificate needed
Malariano risk
Tap watersafely managed water: 97%drinkable
Vaccines (CDC)
Hepatitis AHepatitis BTick-borne encephalitis

Country page on CDC

Bringing a pet

Rabies titer testconditional

Standard set: microchip · rabies shot · health certificate

All requirements
  • ISO microchiprequired
  • Rabies vaccinationrequired
  • Veterinary certificaterequired
  • Rabies antibody (titer) blood testconditional
  • Import permitnot required
  • Quarantinenone
  • ·Titer test only when arriving from a non-listed country.
  • ·Animal health certificate (AHC) valid for 10 days.
  • ·Entry only via a designated travellers' point of entry.

Rules may depend on the country of departure and change — always verify with an official source before travelling.

Internet

Connectivity on the road: coverage, data price, access.

Onlinewidely online97%
Mobile datapricey$7.3/GB
eSIM: Supported
Apps that work

Ride-hailing: Bolt, Uber

Prices

Food
Healthy dietCHF 3.48/day
Fuel
GasolineCHF 2.05/L
DieselCHF 2.31/L

About the country

Capital
Bern
Continent
Europe
Population
8,516,543
Area
41,290 km²
Currency
Franc · CHF
Time zone
15:55UTC+2
Sockets
CJ

230 V · 50 Hz

Emergency
117police
144ambulance
118fire
112universal
Calling code
+41
Languages
German, French, Italian, Romansh