Living in Switzerland
Everything that makes up your daily life: the excellent but expensive public transport, the cantonal school system, social security, and the reality of the Swiss cost of living.
Tools
- How Switzerland works: complete guide for new residents
- The 26 cantons of Switzerland: map, capitals and languages
- Languages in Switzerland: German, French, Italian and Romansh
- Cost of living in Switzerland
- Budgets in Switzerland: Housing, Food and Taxes
- The school system in Switzerland explained
- Public transport in Switzerland: CFF/SBB, Halbtax and General Pass (AG)
- How the Swiss political system works: Confederation, cantons and commune
- Getting rid of old furniture in Switzerland: what works, what doesn’t, and how much it might cost you
- In Switzerland, by the age of 11 or 12, your child has already been categorised. And many people from outside the country don’t understand why
- In Switzerland, there’s a rail pass that gives you access to practically all public transport in the country for a year. When you find out the price, it doesn’t seem quite so obvious anymore
- Las multas en Suiza: el sistema por el que una infracción de tráfico puede costar un mes de sueldo
- Aldi promised that organic salmon would be “permanently cheaper”. Nine months later, the price had risen. SECO sent it a formal warning
- The day you hand over the flat in Switzerland and realise that ‘leaving it clean’ doesn’t mean the same thing as it does in Spain
- There are between 80,000 and 100,000 associations in Switzerland. That explains a lot about your neighbours
- Living together without getting married in Switzerland: what you would lose if your partner died tomorrow
- Los festivos en Suiza dependen del cantón donde trabajas, no de donde vives
- In Spain, you’re ‘the Swiss guy’. In Switzerland, you’re ‘the Spaniard’. That’s exactly what the second generation of many of us experience.
- Daily life in Switzerland: 25 practical tips for newcomers
- In Switzerland, you can drive at 130 km/h whilst completely drunk, kill a cyclist, and have the Federal Court tell you that you’re not a murderer
- In Switzerland, people might address you informally on your first day at work. And that doesn’t mean what you think it does.
- Yesterday in Lausanne, Geneva, Zurich and Bern, there were hundreds of thousands of people dressed in purple out on the streets. If you’ve only been in Switzerland for a short time, it might have been the first time you’ve seen it
- You’ve been in Switzerland for a few months and the first Sunday comes round when you need to buy something urgently
- Having a dog in Switzerland costs more than it seems
- The Swiss Parliament has just voted that EU citizens will need to provide a criminal record check in order to obtain a residence permit
- Electricity drops in 2026, but only if you live in the right canton
- 1 August in Switzerland is no ordinary day. And if you’ve only been here a short while, you’ll find that out in less than six weeks.
- The first time a Swiss neighbour knocks on your door at 10.05 pm to ask you to keep the noise down, you think they’re overreacting. By the fifth year, you’re the one knocking
- 41 nights of barking, a bucket of ice water in November and a fine of 2,000 francs
- There may not be any fireworks on 1 August this year. And it’s not an organisational error
- La nueva asignación de guardería en Suiza: lo que cambia para familias trabajadoras
- One day your child inadvertently answers you in German. And there you understand that he has been thinking in another language for years
- In Switzerland, a supermarket can ban you from entering for five years. And it doesn’t need a judge’s approval to do so
- You’ve been in Switzerland for years, you’re going back to Spain this August, and something just doesn’t feel right. It’s not exactly homesickness. It’s just that you belong somewhere else now
- Supermarkets are closed on Sundays in Switzerland. It’s not an oversight on the part of the owner; it’s the law.
- You've been in Switzerland for twenty years. You go back to Spain on holiday and something doesn't fit like it used to
- The Matterhorn now has waterfalls where there used to be nothing but snow. This summer, Switzerland’s glaciers could break the worst record in their history
- El 1 de mayo en Suiza: festivo en algunos cantones, día de mudanzas en casi todos
- Your Swiss colleague disappears for three weeks every year. The company can’t say anything. It’s the army.
- If you’re Spanish, live in Switzerland and aren’t registered with the consulate, there are certain services you won’t have access to. And most people don’t realise this
- There are thousands of Spaniards in Switzerland who are entitled to vote in Spanish elections but do not do so. Not because they don’t want to, but because nobody has explained to them how it works.
- This week, the Bürgenstock was the most important place in the world. And it’s not the first time.
- Under your building in Switzerland there is probably a bunker. No kidding, it's the law.
- The summer of 2026 has already surpassed that of 2003. And there are still three weeks to go
- 65,000 km of clearly signposted trails, a federal law protecting them, and millions of Swiss people who walk them every week. Welcome to Wandern
- A cyclist was trapped under a lorry yesterday in Geneva. The same blind-spot problem. The same unresolved debate
- 15 August is a public holiday in most of Spain. In Switzerland, in most cantons, it’s a normal working day. The first time you realise this, something changes.
- Today is the summer solstice. St John’s Eve is on Friday. In Switzerland, neither of these is celebrated in the same way as in Spain.
- In Switzerland, you can no longer water your garden or wash your car. The ‘land of water’ has a water problem
- The Röstigraben: Switzerland’s most real invisible border.
- In Spain, you get up from the table when there’s nothing left to say. Here, when you’ve finished eating.
- In Switzerland, everyone votes. Except foreigners. Except in three cantons.
- In Switzerland, not paying train fines can land you in jail. In 2024, more than half of prison income went to that
- You’ve been in Switzerland for years and you’re already saying ‘tschüss’ when you leave the chemist’s. Without even having set out to learn it. And you’re not the only one
- His mobile phone was stolen in Bern. He tracked it down to an asylum centre. The police told him he couldn’t go in. Parliament ended up questioning the government
- You’ve been in Switzerland for years and there are things you now do automatically, without anyone having taught you.
- Two raids on gun shops in Sion in less than a month: seven French nationals arrested, the youngest aged 16
- In Spain, the new school year starts in September. In Switzerland, it depends on where you live. And they’ve already started yesterday
- In Sion, they celebrated Spain’s World Cup victory for 30 minutes. Then the police arrived.
- You’ve been in Switzerland for years and there are things you now do without even thinking. Without anyone having taught you.