What costs do drivers face in Switzerland and where might you pay more?
From parking fees to motor vehicle taxes, owning a car in Switzerland can be quite expensive. These are some of the charges you should budget for.
To be far, all countries have more or less stringent rules pertaining to car ownership; Switzerland is not exceptional in this sense.
Still, if you live here, it is helpful to know what various car-related costs are, and where are they the highest / lowest.
Here's an overview.
Parking
Switzerland's Watson news outlet analysed recent data from the Price Surveillance Office pertaining to hourly rates at municipal parking metres in various Swiss cities.
It turns out that Zurich, Lucerne, and Lausanne have the most expensive tariff — up to 3 francs — for under one hour of parking.
Bern and Biel follow at 2.2 francs, but here is a surprise: in Geneva, which, along with Zurich, is the most expensive city in Switzerland and among the priciest in the world, a parking fee for less than an hour amounts to only 1.4 francs.
Now, if you park for more than two hours, Zurich is the most expensive city, at 7.5 francs, followed by Basel and Lucerne — 6 francs in each. Oddly enough, in Lausanne, the fee for the two-hour parking is almost the same as its rate for less than one hour: 3 francs.
These Swiss cities make the most from parking fees.
1. Zurich: 21,4 million
2. Lausanne: 13,7 million
3. Geneva: 9 million
4. Biel: 7,2 million
5. Fribourg: 4,2 million
6. Bern: 3,8 million
7. St.Gallen : 3,2 million
8. Yverdon: 3 million
9. Basel: 2,5 million
10. Schaffhausen: 2,3 million
On the bright side, while paying for a parking spot is never fun, keep in mind that all the money that municipalities “earn” in this way is used for public benefit in one way or another.
Registration
To drive on Swiss roads you must have your car registered.
In addition to the permission to drive - an important component to owning a car - your registration will get you a set of licence plates, a registration certificate and you may need to have your car inspected to see if it is roadworthy.
As with pretty much everything on this list, the cost of registering your car will depend on the canton, but it will be between CHF50 and CHF100 in most cases. If you do need to have your car inspected, that will cost roughly an additional CHF50.
What about the motor vehicles tax?
Anyone who owns a vehicle in Switzerland must pay this tax, used to finance the maintenance of the road infrastructure.
The amount you must pay depends on where you live and what kind of car you drive, but basically it takes into account the capacity of the vehicle, its horsepower and weight, carbon dioxide emissions (CO2), or the combination thereof.
According to consumer website Comparis, cantons of Aargau, Fribourg, Glarus, Graubünden, Lucerne, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Schaffhausen, Solothurn, Thurgau, Valais, and Zug base their tax on the car’s cubic capacity and horsepower.
Appenzell Innerroden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Bern, Basel-Country Jura, St. Gallen, and Uri determine the tax based on the vehicle’s weight, while Schwyz, Ticino and Vaud use both horsepower and gross vehicle weight.
In Zurich, cubic capacity and vehicle weight determine the tax, in Geneva it is based on horsepower, in Basel-City on unladen (rather than gross) weight and CO2 emissions, and in Neuchâtel only on CO2 emissions.
Your tax will be lower if you drive a car considered to be environmentally-friendly, for instance a hybrid or electrical vehicle. However, Aargau, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Lucerne, Neuchâtel, Schwyz and Valais don’t grant any environmental discounts at all.
A typical vehicle tax rate in Swiss cities car varies from 500 to 1,000 francs a year, though it could be more or less, depending on the car model. Motorcycles tend to vary between 200 to 500 francs.
While vehicle taxes are compulsory, some charges are self-inflicted. For instance…
Speeding fines
A speeding ticket depends on where you are caught (a town or motorway) and by how much you exceed the speed limit.
While fines are more or less standard throughout the country, as this article explains, what changes are the administrative fees attached to each fine.
A Comparis.ch study carried out in 2021 found that motorists in Neuchâtel are usually slapped with lowest costs (50 francs in administrative fees), followed by Lausanne (60 francs), and Fribourg (73 francs).
The further east you go, however, the higher speeding-related prices are, Comparis reports.
In Bern, exceeding the speed limit will set you back 200 francs, you will have to pay 300 francs in Glarus, 350 in Appenzell. 370 in Lucerne, 430 in Zurich, 450 in Schaffhausen, and the mind-boggling 500 francs in Aargau.
READ MORE : EXPLAINED: What you should know about speeding fines in Switzerland
Toll roads
Unlike most of Europe, Switzerland doesn’t have an abundance of toll roads; the system of stopping at a booth and paying for driving on a certain section of a road is replaced by the 40-franc motorway sticker, which should be renewed each year.
More information about this vignette is here:
Swiss vignette: What you need to know about Switzerland’s motorway charge sticker
However, toll must be paid in two tunnels: the Grand St. Bernard and Munt la schera Tunnel. Both connect their respective cantons (Valais and Graubünden) with Italy.
In the Grand St. Bernard, the toll depends on the type of vehicle you drive (based on the number of axles), ranging from 29.50 francs or 27.80 euros for the smallest vehicle to 177 francs /167 euros for a truck. Note, however, that the franc-euro conversion was calculated in 2020; these days the two currencies are closer to parity.
You can find the tolls for all car types here.
At Munt la schera, the price of a one-way ticket for a standard passenger car from December to April is 29 francs if purchased online and 35 if paid for in the tunnel. Between May and November, the price is 15 francs online and 17 at the tunnel.
Tolls for other types of vehicles can be found here.
Fuel prices
The cost of gasoline has gone up since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, topping 2 francs per litre nearly everywhere in Switzerland. Adding up to the already high costs is the fact that since January 1st, petrol in Switzerland has been taxed an additional 3.7 cents per litre to finance environmentally friendly fuels.
Before the war in Ukraine, the cheapest fuel could be found at Rasthof Platenenhof station in Gampelen, canton Bern.
Another cheap fuelling option was a few kilometres away, at the Pit-Stop de Boudevilliers in Val-de-Ruz in canton Neuchâtel.
In fact, this whole region benefited from cheaper gasoline due to its proximity to the Cressier-Cornaux refinery and large volume of purchases.
Another low-cost location is in Samnaun, canton Graubünden in the region of Engiadina Bassa / Val Müstair.
The price there is 30 percent cheaper than in the notoriously expensive Lake Geneva region.
And while we can't really talk about "cheap" fuel these days, you could possibly save a few cents per litre if you shop smartly.
For instance, auto club memberships often offer discounts on petrol. ACS and TCS members can save between two and five cents per litre.
READ MORE: Where in Switzerland can you find the cheapest fuel?
Larger petrol retailers will also often have discount deals, while stations owed by Swiss supermarkets like Coop and Migros also offer occasional deals.
Prices are usually the highest on (or close to) motorways, in or near large cities, and at branded chain stations. You can find better deals at smaller, independent stations away from main roads.
However, you should avoid going too far out of your way to save on fuel.
“A one-cent difference on the price of the litre justifies a detour of two to three kilometers, at most. Otherwise, the excess consumption drowns the economy on a 50-litre tank”, said TCS’s Erich Schwizer.
One useful website listing cheaper petrol options throughout Switzerland is this.
Insurance
While your car insurance will largely depend on the type of vehicle and your driving record, geographical aspects count too.
The amount of premiums for car insurance can therefore vary from one canton to another.
The most expensive insurance (as pretty much everything else) is located near borders or large cities, such as Geneva, Zurich, and Basel, for instance.
The reason is that the number of accidents and claims higher in these cantons, impacting premiums.
The cheapest insurance policies, on the other hand, can be found in Obwalden, Nidwalden, Fribourg, Bern, and Appenzell Innerrhoden.
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See Also
To be far, all countries have more or less stringent rules pertaining to car ownership; Switzerland is not exceptional in this sense.
Still, if you live here, it is helpful to know what various car-related costs are, and where are they the highest / lowest.
Here's an overview.
Parking
Switzerland's Watson news outlet analysed recent data from the Price Surveillance Office pertaining to hourly rates at municipal parking metres in various Swiss cities.
It turns out that Zurich, Lucerne, and Lausanne have the most expensive tariff — up to 3 francs — for under one hour of parking.
Bern and Biel follow at 2.2 francs, but here is a surprise: in Geneva, which, along with Zurich, is the most expensive city in Switzerland and among the priciest in the world, a parking fee for less than an hour amounts to only 1.4 francs.
Now, if you park for more than two hours, Zurich is the most expensive city, at 7.5 francs, followed by Basel and Lucerne — 6 francs in each. Oddly enough, in Lausanne, the fee for the two-hour parking is almost the same as its rate for less than one hour: 3 francs.
These Swiss cities make the most from parking fees.
1. Zurich: 21,4 million
2. Lausanne: 13,7 million
3. Geneva: 9 million
4. Biel: 7,2 million
5. Fribourg: 4,2 million
6. Bern: 3,8 million
7. St.Gallen : 3,2 million
8. Yverdon: 3 million
9. Basel: 2,5 million
10. Schaffhausen: 2,3 million
On the bright side, while paying for a parking spot is never fun, keep in mind that all the money that municipalities “earn” in this way is used for public benefit in one way or another.
Registration
To drive on Swiss roads you must have your car registered.
In addition to the permission to drive - an important component to owning a car - your registration will get you a set of licence plates, a registration certificate and you may need to have your car inspected to see if it is roadworthy.
As with pretty much everything on this list, the cost of registering your car will depend on the canton, but it will be between CHF50 and CHF100 in most cases. If you do need to have your car inspected, that will cost roughly an additional CHF50.
What about the motor vehicles tax?
Anyone who owns a vehicle in Switzerland must pay this tax, used to finance the maintenance of the road infrastructure.
The amount you must pay depends on where you live and what kind of car you drive, but basically it takes into account the capacity of the vehicle, its horsepower and weight, carbon dioxide emissions (CO2), or the combination thereof.
According to consumer website Comparis, cantons of Aargau, Fribourg, Glarus, Graubünden, Lucerne, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Schaffhausen, Solothurn, Thurgau, Valais, and Zug base their tax on the car’s cubic capacity and horsepower.
Appenzell Innerroden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Bern, Basel-Country Jura, St. Gallen, and Uri determine the tax based on the vehicle’s weight, while Schwyz, Ticino and Vaud use both horsepower and gross vehicle weight.
In Zurich, cubic capacity and vehicle weight determine the tax, in Geneva it is based on horsepower, in Basel-City on unladen (rather than gross) weight and CO2 emissions, and in Neuchâtel only on CO2 emissions.
Your tax will be lower if you drive a car considered to be environmentally-friendly, for instance a hybrid or electrical vehicle. However, Aargau, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Lucerne, Neuchâtel, Schwyz and Valais don’t grant any environmental discounts at all.
A typical vehicle tax rate in Swiss cities car varies from 500 to 1,000 francs a year, though it could be more or less, depending on the car model. Motorcycles tend to vary between 200 to 500 francs.
While vehicle taxes are compulsory, some charges are self-inflicted. For instance…
Speeding fines
A speeding ticket depends on where you are caught (a town or motorway) and by how much you exceed the speed limit.
While fines are more or less standard throughout the country, as this article explains, what changes are the administrative fees attached to each fine.
A Comparis.ch study carried out in 2021 found that motorists in Neuchâtel are usually slapped with lowest costs (50 francs in administrative fees), followed by Lausanne (60 francs), and Fribourg (73 francs).
The further east you go, however, the higher speeding-related prices are, Comparis reports.
In Bern, exceeding the speed limit will set you back 200 francs, you will have to pay 300 francs in Glarus, 350 in Appenzell. 370 in Lucerne, 430 in Zurich, 450 in Schaffhausen, and the mind-boggling 500 francs in Aargau.
READ MORE : EXPLAINED: What you should know about speeding fines in Switzerland
Toll roads
Unlike most of Europe, Switzerland doesn’t have an abundance of toll roads; the system of stopping at a booth and paying for driving on a certain section of a road is replaced by the 40-franc motorway sticker, which should be renewed each year.
More information about this vignette is here:
Swiss vignette: What you need to know about Switzerland’s motorway charge sticker
However, toll must be paid in two tunnels: the Grand St. Bernard and Munt la schera Tunnel. Both connect their respective cantons (Valais and Graubünden) with Italy.
In the Grand St. Bernard, the toll depends on the type of vehicle you drive (based on the number of axles), ranging from 29.50 francs or 27.80 euros for the smallest vehicle to 177 francs /167 euros for a truck. Note, however, that the franc-euro conversion was calculated in 2020; these days the two currencies are closer to parity.
You can find the tolls for all car types here.
At Munt la schera, the price of a one-way ticket for a standard passenger car from December to April is 29 francs if purchased online and 35 if paid for in the tunnel. Between May and November, the price is 15 francs online and 17 at the tunnel.
Tolls for other types of vehicles can be found here.
Fuel prices
The cost of gasoline has gone up since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, topping 2 francs per litre nearly everywhere in Switzerland. Adding up to the already high costs is the fact that since January 1st, petrol in Switzerland has been taxed an additional 3.7 cents per litre to finance environmentally friendly fuels.
Before the war in Ukraine, the cheapest fuel could be found at Rasthof Platenenhof station in Gampelen, canton Bern.
Another cheap fuelling option was a few kilometres away, at the Pit-Stop de Boudevilliers in Val-de-Ruz in canton Neuchâtel.
In fact, this whole region benefited from cheaper gasoline due to its proximity to the Cressier-Cornaux refinery and large volume of purchases.
Another low-cost location is in Samnaun, canton Graubünden in the region of Engiadina Bassa / Val Müstair.
The price there is 30 percent cheaper than in the notoriously expensive Lake Geneva region.
And while we can't really talk about "cheap" fuel these days, you could possibly save a few cents per litre if you shop smartly.
For instance, auto club memberships often offer discounts on petrol. ACS and TCS members can save between two and five cents per litre.
READ MORE: Where in Switzerland can you find the cheapest fuel?
Larger petrol retailers will also often have discount deals, while stations owed by Swiss supermarkets like Coop and Migros also offer occasional deals.
Prices are usually the highest on (or close to) motorways, in or near large cities, and at branded chain stations. You can find better deals at smaller, independent stations away from main roads.
However, you should avoid going too far out of your way to save on fuel.
“A one-cent difference on the price of the litre justifies a detour of two to three kilometers, at most. Otherwise, the excess consumption drowns the economy on a 50-litre tank”, said TCS’s Erich Schwizer.
One useful website listing cheaper petrol options throughout Switzerland is this.
Insurance
While your car insurance will largely depend on the type of vehicle and your driving record, geographical aspects count too.
The amount of premiums for car insurance can therefore vary from one canton to another.
The most expensive insurance (as pretty much everything else) is located near borders or large cities, such as Geneva, Zurich, and Basel, for instance.
The reason is that the number of accidents and claims higher in these cantons, impacting premiums.
The cheapest insurance policies, on the other hand, can be found in Obwalden, Nidwalden, Fribourg, Bern, and Appenzell Innerrhoden.
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