Holiday houses & holiday homes: Switzerland

Switzerland is famous for a few key goods like watches, chocolate, cheese, and Swiss Army knives.

Watches: Switzerland is the watch-making capital of the world, and "Swiss Made" on a watch face is a mark of quality. While the French-speaking regions of Switzerland are usually associated with Swiss watchmakers (like Rolex, Omega, and Patek Philippe), some fine watches are made in the Swiss-German-speaking region, such as IWC in Schaffhausen. Every large town will have quite a few horologers and jewelers with a vast selection of fancy watches displayed their windows, with huge price tags to go with them.

Chocolate: Switzerland may always have a rivalry with Belgium for the world's best chocolate, but there's no doubting that the Swiss variety is amazingly good. Switzerland is also home to the huge Nestlé food company. If you have a fine palate (and a fat wallet) you can find two of the finest Swiss chocolatiers in Zürich: Teuscher (try the champagne truffles) and Sprüngli. For the rest of us, even the generic grocery store brand chocolates in Switzerland still blow away the Hershey bars found elsewhere. For a good value, try the "Frey" brand chocolates sold at Migros. If you want to try some real good and exclusive swiss chocolate, go for the Pamaco chocolates, derived from the noble Criollo beans and accomplished through the original, complex process of refinement that requires 72h (quite expensive though, a bar of 125g costs about CHF 8.-). For Lindt fans, it is possible to get them as low as half the supermarket price by going to the Lindt factory store in Kilchberg (near Zurich).

Cheese: Many different regions of Switzerland have their own regional cheese speciality. Of these, the most well-known are Gruyère and Emmentaler (what Americans know as "Swiss cheese"). Be sure to sample the wide variety of cheeses sold in markets, and of course try the cheese fondue! Fondue is basically melted cheese and is used as a dip with other food such as bread.

Swiss Army knives: Switzerland is the official home of the Swiss Army Knife. There are two brands, Victorinox and Wenger. Both brands are manufactured by Victorinox. Ski and tourist areas will sell the other kinds of touristy items - cowbells, clothing embroidered with white Edelweiss flowers, and Heidi-related stuff. Swiss people love cows in all shapes and sizes, and you can find cow-related goods everywhere, from stuffed toy cows to fake cow-hide jackets. If you have a generous souvenir budget, look for fine traditional handcrafted items such as hand-carved wooden figures in Brienz, and lace and fine linens in St. Gallen. If you have really deep pockets, or just wish you did, be sure to shop on Zürich's famed Bahnhofstrasse, one of the most exclusive shopping streets in the world. If you're looking for hip shops and thrift stores, head for the Niederdorf or the Stauffacher area.

Supermarket Chains: Swiss employment law bans working on Sundays, so shops stay closed. An exception is any business in a railway station, which is deamed to be serving travellers and so is exempt. If you want to find an open shop on a Sunday, go to the nearest big railway station.

For the "self catering":
Migros: This chain of supermarkets (in fact a cooperative) provides good quality food and no-food products and homeware. Brand name products are rare as the chain does their own brands (quality is good, so you don't have to mind). Migros stores can be spotted by a big, orange "M" sign. The number of "M" letters indicates the size of the store and the different services available. In Migros, you can also find "M-Budget" products (low-price-line).

Denner: A discount grocery store, noticeable for their red signs and store interiors. Relatively low priced.

Learning the mother tongue of the area you will be staying in is a great sign of respect. English is widely spoken in Switzerland, but any attempt to speak the local language is always appreciated, even if you're replied to in English. It’s always polite to ask if they speak English before starting a conversation.

Make an effort to at least learn Hello, Goodbye, Please, and Thank You in the language of the region you will be traveling in. "I would like..." is also a phrase that will help you. If you are in the German speaking region of Switzerland, it is generally wise to try to communicate in High German rather than attempting to speak a Swiss German dialect. The German Swiss almost instinctively switch from Swiss German to High German once they notice that they are speaking to a foreigner. People generally begrudge a clumsy attempt to speak Swiss German, considering it more a mockery of 'their' dialect rather than a sign of respect.

Friends kiss each other on the cheek three times (left - right - left).

Oh... and DON'T LITTER! It's not Singapore where you get fined for it but it's definitely seen as bad behaviour in this country. Also make sure that you put it in the correct bin (e.g. recyclable).

Be punctual. Not surprisingly for a country that is known for making clocks, the Swiss have a near-obsession with being on time.

Money
Switzerland is not part of the European Union and the currency is the Swiss franc (or Franken or franco, depending in which language area you are), divided into 100 centimes, Rappen or centesimi. However, many places - such as supermarkets and the railways - accept Euro (notes only) and will give you change in Swiss Francs. Changing some money to Swiss Francs (CHF) is essential. Money can be exchanged at all train stations and most banks throughout the country. Switzerland is more cash-orientated than most other European countries. It is not unusual to see bills being paid by cash, even CHF 200 and CHF 1000 notes. Some establishments (but fewer than previously) do not accept credit cards, check first. But all ATMs accept foreign cards, getting cash should not be a problem.

Talk
No, there is no "Swiss Language" per se. German, French, Italian, and Romansch are the four official languages. Around two-thirds of the Switzerland lies in the German speaking area, particularly in the center and east of the country. French is spoken at the west such as in Lausanne and Geneva while Italian and Romansh are spoken at the south. If you should speak some German, don't be surprised if you don't understand Swiss German. There are a number of different Swiss German dialects, all of which are rather distinct. But don't be worried, all German Swiss speak and write standard ("High") German (with a more or less strong accent), too.

Stay Safe
Switzerland is not surprisingly one of the safest countries in Europe, but anywhere that attracts Rolex-wearing bankers and crowds of distracted tourists will also bring out a few pickpockets. Obviously, keep an eye on belongings, especially in the midst of summer crowds. In most cities the area around the train stations tend to be the seediest, and there is always some sort of 'red light district', though it may only be a block or two long. The drinking age for beer is 16 while the age for any other alcohol (e.g. wine, spirits, "alcopops",...) is 18. The public consumption of alcohol in Switzerland is legal, so do not be alarmed if you see a group of teenagers drinking a six-pack on public property; this is by no means out of the ordinary and should not be interpreted as threatening. Switzerland is not a country of insane civil lawsuits and damage claims; consequently, if you see a sign or disclaimer telling you not to do something, obey it! An example: in many alpine areas, charming little mountain streams may be flanked by signs with the message "No Swimming." To the uninitiated, this may seem a bit over the top, but these signs are in fact a consequence to the presence of hydroelectric power plants further upstream that may discharge large amounts of water without warning. In mountain areas, be sure to inquire about weather conditions at the tourist information office or local train station as you head out in the morning. They should be well informed about severe weather conditions and will advise you about possible avalanche areas.

Stay healthy
Generally there is no problem with food and water in Switzerland. Restaurants are controled by strict rules. Water is drinkable everywhere, even out of fountains if not specially marked as non-drinkable. There are many organic food stores and restaurants available and its currently illegal to sell any genetically modified food.

Communication
Many of the internet cafes that have emerged in the 1990's have closed since, probably because Switzerland has one of the highest rate of high-speed internet connections in homes in the world, but almost any video rental shop and most train stations will have a few internet terminals. The tourist office should be able to direct you to the nearest one. The going rate is 5 CHF for 20 minutes. Also, you can send email, SMS (text messages to cell phones) or short text faxes from just about every public phone booth for less that 1 CHF. Some public phone booths allow you to browse the internet. There are many shopping centers and cities (Lausanne and Vevey for example) that offer free wireless internet access: ask the young locals, maybe they know where to go. The public phones are surprisingly cheap, and have no surcharge for credit cards.

By car
A road tax sticker is obligatory in order to drive on the motorways. It can be purchased at the border or at post offices, costing CHF 40. The sticker, valid for one calendar year plus one month (1st December–31st January). There aren’t any other road taxes apart from rail tunnels. Some passes may be closed in winter. Passes normally open year round may close temporarily in the event of heavy snowfall. Snow chains are often necessary and it is imperative that you have adequate snow equipment. The speed limit is 120 km/h on motorways, 80 km/h on main roads and 50 km/h in town. The alcohol limit is 0.5 blood alcohol level. Seat belts are obligatory in the front and back of the vehicle.

Public Transport
The Swiss will ruin you with fantastic transportation - swift, disturbingly punctual trains, clean buses, and a half dozen different kinds of mountain transport systems. The Swiss public transport system offers a multitude of discount options, from half fare cards to multi-day, multi-use tickets good for buses, boats, trains, and even bike rentals. In general there's at least one train or bus per hour on every route, on many routes trains and buses are running every 30 min. The bus network is an addition to the train network, there's no intercity bus network, but there are many scenic bus routes in the Alps.

In-line Skating
Besides the main types of transportation, the adventurous person can see Switzerland by in-line skating. There are three routes, measuring a combined 600-plus kilometers designed specifically for in-line skating throughout the country. They are the Rhine route, the Rhone route, and the Mittelland route. These are scenic tours. Most of the routes are flat, with slight ascents and descents. The Mittelland route runs from Zurich airport to Neuenburg in the northwest; the Rhine route runs from 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.