Driving abroad
Driving in Switzerland means driving on the right, with a drink drive limit of 0.05 percent, 0.01 for new drivers and motorway speeds of 120 km/h. Everything below is the practical version, the things that actually cost visitors money or time.
Speeding penalties are severe and scale with income. Serious offences can mean the car is seized, so treat the limits as absolute.
Once the paperwork is sorted, this is what you came for. Grimsel and Susten Circuit, Tremola, the old Gotthard road, Furka Pass are among the highest scoring roads we hold in Switzerland, and all of them are open to any road legal car.
Motorway limit
120 km/h
Outside towns
80 km/h
Built up areas
50 km/h, 30 in many residential streets
Drink drive limit
0.05 percent, 0.01 for new drivers
Checked by the Drivers Atlas desk
Scored and written by the Drivers Atlas editorial desk, drawing on driven routes across the UK and Europe, mapping data and member road reports. A planning summary, not legal advice. Check the national road authority before you travel. How we score roads.
Last reviewed 25 May 2026
The detail
One annual motorway vignette covers the whole country. Buy it at the border or online, and fit it before you join a motorway.
No blanket tyre law, but you are liable if unsuitable tyres cause an incident, so winter rubber is the sensible choice from November.
No national low emission zones, but several alpine valleys close to through traffic at night.
UK and EU licences are accepted for visits.
Warning triangle within reach, not in the boot
112
Now the good part
Bernese Oberland
Three of the best passes in the Alps stitched into one loop back to the same valley.
Ticino, Switzerland
A cobbled historic switchback climb that predates the modern Gotthard highway entirely.
Valais and Uri, Switzerland
Bond film hairpins skirt the Rhone Glacier on this high, exposed Alpine crossing.
Bern and Uri, Switzerland
A flowing, beautifully engineered road beneath the Steingletscher ice cliffs.
Graubunden, Switzerland
Glaciers hang over the road as it threads past turquoise Lago Bianco to the Poschiavo valley.
Valais and Ticino
Switzerland's second highest paved pass, wide, smooth and gloriously empty.
Common questions
Motorways 120 km/h, main roads outside towns 80 km/h, and built up areas 50 km/h, 30 in many residential streets. Lower limits are posted and always take priority.
One annual motorway vignette covers the whole country. Buy it at the border or online, and fit it before you join a motorway.
0.05 percent, 0.01 for new drivers. Roadside testing is routine and the safest approach on a driving tour is nothing at all before you drive.
No blanket tyre law, but you are liable if unsuitable tyres cause an incident, so winter rubber is the sensible choice from November.
Warning triangle within reach, not in the boot. Emergency number is 112.
UK and EU licences are accepted for visits.