Here's some basic information for you when it comes to travel to Switzerland...
CAPITAL
Bern
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
French, German & Italian
FLAG
MONEY
Switzerland's currency is the Swiss franc. Coins are 1, 2 and 5Sfr, 5, 10, 20, and 50 centimes. Franc notes
come in 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 denominations.
VAT on goods and services is levied at a rate of 7.5% and 3.5% for hotels. Tipping is not strictly necessary as hotels, restaurants and
bars are required by law to include a 15% service charge on bills. Switzerland has one of the highest standards of living in Europe
thus prices are high.
While Switzerland is not part of the EU and thus is not obliged to convert to
the Euro, many prices are nonetheless indicated in Euros so that visitors may
compare prices. Merchants may accept Euros but are not obliged to do so. Change
given back to the client will most likely bee in Swiss francs.
TIME
Switzerland is one hour ahead of GMT/UTC; thus when it's noon in Switzerland, it's 11am in London, 6am in New York, 3am in San Francisco,
6am in Toronto, 9pm in Sydney and 11pm in Auckland. In the summer Switzerland observes daylight savings time, setting clocks forward an hour on the last Sunday in
October and; clocks are wound back in the first Sunday of the following March.
BUSINESS HOURS
Most shops are open 8am to noon and 1:30pm to 6:30pm Monday to Friday. Many shops offer late night shopping typically Thursday
or Friday.
RELIGION
Protestantism and Roman Catholicism are equally widespread. String Protestant areas are Bern, Vaud and Zurich, whereas
Valais, Ticino and Uri are mostly Catholic. Most Swiss make a financial contribution by way of a Kirchensteur (church tax), a percentage
of their income tax that the government distributes to the churches through state subsidies.
ELECTRICITY
Electricity is 220V AC, 50 Hz, as in Australia, Asia and most of Europe; appliances designed
for DC supply or different voltages need a transformer.
WEIGHTS & MEASURES
Switzerland uses the metric system of measurements. Petrol is bought in litres and food is
weighed in kilos.
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