Switzerland

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Flag of Switzerland Switzerland
Information
Language: German, French, Italian
Capital: Bern
Population: 8,738,791
Currency: Swiss Frank, CHF
Hitchability: <rating country='ch' />
Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots or BeWelcome
<map lat='46.927758623434435' lng='8.26171875' zoom='7' view='0' float='right'/>

Switzerland is a country in Western Europe.

In Switzerland people speak four different indigenous languages, depending on the area you are hanging around: German in the north and east, Italian in the south, French in the western part of the country, and Rhaeto-Rumantsch, which is derived from Vulgar Latin, brought by roman soldiers two millenia ago in the mountains of eastern Switzerland. There is a large percentage of foreigners, as well as many tourists. Most people will be able to understand some English (most young people speak it well).

Hitchhiking works very well in Switzerland, especially in the mountain regions and small country roads, where it is quite common to pick up wanderers and hitchhikers. It's also quite easy to get lifts with truck drivers from Germany to Italy and back. There are not that many service stations along the highways, and some are not open 24 hours.

Since the mid-December 2008 Switzerland is officially part of the Schengen Area, and long existed cross-border passport checks doesnt exist really anymore.

Hitching at the border

Since in not legal to hitch on motorways (petrol stations are allowed though), you should avoid to get dropped at the border. If you're hitchhiking with a truck driver into Italy, he'll maybe need to stop at the border before driving on - but ask him not to say that you're a hitchhiker since the border police might tell you to leave the truck and drive you to the bus station instead.

Anthony hitching in Lausanne

Cities

Camping

In Switzerland, everybody is legally allowed to use pasture and woods to a certain extent, including camping. The same goes for agriculturally not usable space such as public bodies of water, rock, snow or ice.

Sometimes its good to let locals know that youre camping next to their property. If someone reacts bad, just ask another person or people who are on a walk.

Highway petrol stations

Here is a list of all the motorway petrol stations of Switzerland. If you type the name of the petrol station in Google Maps you will find where exactly it is. This makes it much more comfortable to hitchhike.

External links

Personal Experiences

Hitchhikernick - hitched from Austria/Switzerland border to Zermatt in January 2024. The German swiss area was easy going with waits averaging 10 mins. Once I got to the French side west of Interlaken it got more difficult. What seemed like possible to do in a day turned into 3 as the French-Swiss weren't interested in picking me up, was mostly foreigners, and long waits.

Nomadwiki & Trashwiki

Check Nomadwiki for info on accommodation, showers etc. or Trashwiki for dumpsters...and share your wisdom :)