Switzerland

[NRG1976]

Hi,

Stupid question no doubt, but since Brexit I haven’t been to any European destinations for holidays (I’ve been going to the states etc.) so I wanted to check !

I assume with a U.K. passport I can drive from the U.K. to Switzerland with no additional paperwork needed?

Thanks

[981Boxess]

NRG1976 said:

Hi,

Stupid question no doubt, but since Brexit I haven’t been to any European destinations for holidays (I’ve been going to the states etc.) so I wanted to check !

I assume with a U.K. passport I can drive from the U.K. to Switzerland with no additional paperwork needed?

Thanks

Yes, exactly as before, Vignette etc

[Baldchap]

The vignette is now done online so you can sail straight through the border without even stopping.

[981Boxess]

Baldchap said:

The vignette is now done online so you can sail straight through the border without even stopping.

Don't you mean you can buy them online here before you go?

[NRG1976]

Thanks for the responses, that clears up any concerns I had

Plan is to take the family around the key tourist sites in Switzerland during mid August, probably booking self catering.

Does Geneva sound like a good central location to do that from or are their better alternatives?

Also from a car damage perspective, would my M3 be ok to take or would I be safer taking the daily family wagon…i’m quite protective of my non-daily cars so I don’t want to come back to any parking dings ?

[Baldchap]

981Boxess said:

Baldchap said:

The vignette is now done online so you can sail straight through the border without even stopping.

Don't you mean you can buy them online here before you go?

I bought mine in country but I'm sure you could.

No sticker or anything now, all digital.

[Baldchap]

NRG1976 said:

Thanks for the responses, that clears up any concerns I had

Plan is to take the family around the key tourist sites in Switzerland during mid August, probably booking self catering.

Does Geneva sound like a good central location to do that from or are their better alternatives?

Also from a car damage perspective, would my M3 be ok to take or would I be safer taking the daily family wagon…i’m quite protective of my non-daily cars so I don’t want to come back to any parking dings ?

Just done a driving tour in the Evora including France, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Italy. No issues whatsoever.

In the likes of Switzerland and Luxembourg, an M3 wouldn't even stand out, so don't worry about it.

You'll regret going in something boring when you hit the Alps, I promise you.

[eyebeebe]

NRG1976 said:

Thanks for the responses, that clears up any concerns I had

Plan is to take the family around the key tourist sites in Switzerland during mid August, probably booking self catering.

Does Geneva sound like a good central location to do that from or are their better alternatives?

Also from a car damage perspective, would my M3 be ok to take or would I be safer taking the daily family wagon…i’m quite protective of my non-daily cars so I don’t want to come back to any parking dings ?

If you want to visit the key tourist sites. I'm not sure that somewhere on the Southwest border of the country really counts as central! Which key sites are you thinking of?

Bring the M3. I've had zero non-self inflicted parking dings in 15 years living here. and will normally leave a convertible parked with the roof down.

[NRG1976]

eyebeebe said:

NRG1976 said:

Thanks for the responses, that clears up any concerns I had

Plan is to take the family around the key tourist sites in Switzerland during mid August, probably booking self catering.

Does Geneva sound like a good central location to do that from or are their better alternatives?

Also from a car damage perspective, would my M3 be ok to take or would I be safer taking the daily family wagon…i’m quite protective of my non-daily cars so I don’t want to come back to any parking dings ?

If you want to visit the key tourist sites. I'm not sure that somewhere on the Southwest border of the country really counts as central! Which key sites are you thinking of?

Bring the M3. I've had zero non-self inflicted parking dings in 15 years living here. and will normally leave a convertible parked with the roof down.

Thanks, I’m not sure yet what the specific tourist sites are as still researching, but it would just be the main cliched tourist things tbh

[eyebeebe]

NRG1976 said:

Thanks, I’m not sure yet what the specific tourist sites are as still researching, but it would just be the main cliched tourist things tbh

For that you’re probably looking at Lucerne being a better base. To be honest you’d be best moving around - start in Geneva, head east to Gruyeres, onto Interlaken and the Berner Oberland, Lucerne, then south to the main passes and down to Lugano and/or Locarno and then back north then southwest to Zermatt.

[Bill]

I can't think of any reason to stay in Geneva TBH. Montreux at the other end of the lake is far nicer.

[981Boxess]

Baldchap said:

I bought mine in country but I'm sure you could.

No sticker or anything now, all digital.

I suppose it was only a matter of time, I prefer the sticker, saves buying another one if I go back in a different car.

[981Boxess]

NRG1976 said:

Also from a car damage perspective, would my M3 be ok to take or would I be safer taking the daily family wagon…i’m quite protective of my non-daily cars so I don’t want to come back to any parking dings ?

This is Switzerland we are talking about, your car will be perfectly safe.

If you visit Lugano pop along to Kessel the Ferrari/Maserati dealership, they have always got dozens of £100k+ Ferraris out in the open you can walk up to, they are perfectly safe.

[Dog Star]

On the subject of a vignette - is this compulsory?

I’m on my motorbike and me and my mate are stopping off visiting a friend in a village near Geneva and his house is literally over the border, turn left and 100 metres. It’s that close.

(Having said that - on closer inspection on street view there doesn’t actually appear to be any actual border control)

[eyebeebe]

Dog Star said:

On the subject of a vignette - is this compulsory?

I’m on my motorbike and me and my mate are stopping off visiting a friend in a village near Geneva and his house is literally over the border, turn left and 100 metres. It’s that close.

(Having said that - on closer inspection on street view there doesn’t actually appear to be any actual border control)

Only if you are going to use Swiss motorways. If you are on local roads, it’s not needed.

[blue_haddock]

Dog Star said:

On the subject of a vignette - is this compulsory?

I’m on my motorbike and me and my mate are stopping off visiting a friend in a village near Geneva and his house is literally over the border, turn left and 100 metres. It’s that close.

(Having said that - on closer inspection on street view there doesn’t actually appear to be any actual border control)

only if you will use the motorways so if your fine with normal roads then no you dont need a vignette

[evojkp]

We're just back from a tour and used Lucerne as a base mainly because we really liked the hotel from last year. (golfmeggen) which has a secure underground car park. Switzerland is a safe country, they don't take no nonsense and it shows. We never had any issues with parking and that was in the Cayenne, which is like a wide bus in towns.

Vignette is simpler this year with it being online. We did get waved down with the local swiss police at the border crossing who asked about the 'tax' and when we said 'online' he waved us on. One thing I love about Switzerland is that if you set waze up and remove the vignette option and avoid motorways, the roads you find between A and B are stunning. We went from Lucerne (Meggen) to Interlaken and although we could see the motorway the roads we took were quiet and stunning.

We done Belgium, Luxemburg, Stuttgart, Zurich, Lucerne then back via France (toll tag is very good if you are using french roads)

[Powerkiter]

I'm currently reading "The Alps - A Human History from Hanibal to Heidi and Beyond" after a recommendation on another thread on here. I went to Annecy and Chamonix last summer and wish I read this book beforehand. There's lots of interesting stuff about Geneva and the surrounding area before moving further afield.

I now read the book with my iPad by my side, using Google Maps to find all the locations mentioned!

[Dog Star]

blue_haddock said:

only if you will use the motorways so if your fine with normal roads then no you dont need a vignette

I have no desire to ride anywhere in Switzerland - I don’t fancy making a genuine mistake and getting fined ten grand. I’ll be riding the short distance to my mates house. And back.

[eyebeebe]

Dog Star said:

I have no desire to ride anywhere in Switzerland - I don’t fancy making a genuine mistake and getting fined ten grand. I’ll be riding the short distance to my mates house. And back.

Genuine mistakes don’t get you fined ten grand. There’s so much fear mongering about huge fines. Most of the ridiculous ones come from fines based on rich people’s income for going way beyond the speed limit.

My worst fine was about a grand for missing a camera while deliberately doing 115km/h in an 80 zone. The roads in the alps are lots of fun within and a bit beyond the speed limit.

That doesn’t mean the buggers don’t hide and sometimes literally camouflage the cameras and speed traps through.