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TRAVEL NEWS

Travel: Do you need a Covid certificate to enter Switzerland?

Switzerland’s Covid certificate is needed to do most things in Switzerland, but is it required to enter into the country?

Published: 30 September 2021 17:17 CEST
A sign says no entry. Do you need to show your Covid certificate to enter Switzerland. Photo: DANIEL ROLAND / AFP
A sign says no entry. Do you need to show your Covid certificate to enter Switzerland. Photo: DANIEL ROLAND / AFP

Since September 13th, the Swiss government has considerably expanded the areas in which a Covid certificate is required. 

Previously only mandatory for nightclubs and larger events, the Covid certificate is now required in almost all indoor areas, including bars, restaurants, gyms and some private parties. 

Parallel to the expanded Covid certificate rules have been Switzerland’s entry rules. 

While Switzerland has had some form of restrictions in place since March 2020, the latest change came into effect on September 20 and was focused on ensuring those who entered were fully vaccinated or recently recovered from the virus. 

Do I need Switzerland’s Covid certificate to enter? 

Fortunately, you do not need Switzerland’s Covid certificate in order to enter the country – although it does of course help to show border police something they can recognise. 

The rules for entry are actually different than the rules for the Covid certificate. 

In some senses the Covid certificate rules are tighter than those for entry, but in other ways they are more relaxed. 

For instance, prior to September 30th, more vaccines are accepted for entry than for the Covid certificate, including both Chinese vaccines (Sinopharm and Sinovac). This has now changed (click here). 

However, for those coming from high-risk countries, evidence of a negative test is not accepted for entry, whereas negative tests can still get someone a valid Covid certificate. 

UPDATE: Which vaccines are accepted for entry into Switzerland?

To enter Switzerland from a country not on the high-risk list, you must be either vaccinated, have tested negative to the virus or recently contracted the virus and recovered. 

If you are coming from a high-risk country – which as at September 30th includes the United States, United Kingdom, India and several other countries – then only vaccination will suffice for entry. 

You can show paper evidence that you have been vaccinated abroad, or you can show an app which illustrates this (provided it is in a Swiss language or in English). 

More information about entry is available at the following link. 

EXPLAINED: Who can enter Switzerland right now and what are the rules?

Can I get a Covid certificate if I am abroad? 

Yes. You can apply for a Covid certificate online and upload your proof of vaccination et al, thereby organising a Covid certificate before you come. 

In order to do so, you will need to contact authorities in your canton of residence. 

More information on how to get the Covid certificate, including from abroad, is available at the following link. 

Canton-by-canton: How visitors can get Switzerland’s Covid certificate

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TRAVEL NEWS

How the Swiss train timetable’s ‘biggest change in 20 years’ will impact you

The new timetable will not go into effect until December 15th, but Switzerland’s national rail company, SBB, already revealed major changes in various regions.

Published: 21 May 2024 15:55 CEST
How the Swiss train timetable's 'biggest change in 20 years' will impact you

The region that will benefit the most by what the SBB calls “the biggest timetable change” in over two decades, is the French-speaking part of the country in the west, which the company previously said will experience fewer direct connections and longer travel times between certain cities due to ongoing construction work. 

But faced with criticism from commuters, the SBB changed its strategy.

“The new timetable was created with the input of all the cantons of western Switzerland,” the company said in a press release on Tuesday.

“Even if the service occasionally deteriorates, it provides new direct connections with the west of Lausanne, improvements in regional traffic, as well as reinforced services to the [Vaud] Riviera and Lower Valais in particular.”

And “between Bienne and Geneva, customers benefit from a half-hour rate, subject to a train change in Renens. Direct connections are maintained during peak hours.”

One of the “great new features of the new timetable” is the service to the Lausanne suburb of Renens by certain mainline trains coming from, or going to, other regions of Switzerland.

This will allow some 4,000 commuters bound for western Lausanne each day to get off directly at Renens rather than changing trains at Lausanne station, while it is under construction.

These mainline trains will stop there:

  • InterCity IC5 (Rorschach/Zürich–Biel/Bienne–Neuchâtel–Yverdon-les-Bains–Renens–Lausanne, every half hour)
  • InterCity IC1 (St-Gallen/Zürich–Berne–Fribourg/Freiburg–Lausanne–Renens–Geneva/Geneva-Airport, every hour)
  • InterRegio IR90 (Brig–Sion–Martigny–St-Maurice–Montreux–Lausanne–Renens–Geneva/Geneva-Airport, every hour)
  • RegioExpress RE33 (Annemasse–Geneva–Coppet–Nyon–Gland–Rolle–Allaman–Morges–Renens–Lausanne–Vevey–Montreux–Villeneuve–Aigle–Bex–St-Maurice, every half hour and to Martigny, every hour) 

“Thanks to the stop at Renens of the IC1 and IR90 trains, passengers will benefit from a new non-stop connection every 30 minutes between Renens and Geneva, with a travel time saving of nine minutes compared to today,” according to the SBB.

“The stop of the IR90 trains also makes it possible to offer a direct link between Valais and Renens every hour; the stop of IC1 trains, a direct connection between Bern, Fribourg/Freiburg and Renens every hour.”

 On the other hand, however, following this additional stop in Renens, the shortest journey time between Geneva and Lausanne for mainline trains increases from 35 to 39 minutes.

You can view all the other changes, including on regional lines, here and here.

What about the timetable for the rest of Switzerland?

You can expect these connections in 2025:

  • The half-hourly schedule for mainline traffic in the St. Gallen Rhine Valley makes it possible to double the offer for commuters and people traveling for leisure
  • As soon as the Gotthard base tunnel is fully recommissioned in September 2024, SBB will be able to introduce the full half-hourly schedule into mainline traffic on the Gotthard axis
  • Additional IC5 connections between Eastern Switzerland and Zurich will guarantee a denser pace and more seats
  • To relieve congestion at Berne station, an IC connection stops at Berne Wankdorf in the morning and another in the evening during peak hours. Several mainline trains will also stop in Renens in the future. Thanks to the new stops in urban stations, commuters arrive more quickly at their destinations and central stations are relieved of congestion, as is already the case in Zurich with Altstetten and Oerlikon.
  • Night connections allow passengers to return home late and travellers to arrive early at Zurich Airport on the Bern–Olten–Zurich main station–Zurich airport section.

And this is what’s in store for international trains:
 
An additional pair of Zurich–Munich trains will transport passengers (from Monday to Saturday two hours earlier to the Bavarian capital and bring them back in the evening (Monday to Friday and on Sunday) two hours later.

As soon as the Gotthard Base Tunnel is fully in use again in September 2024, direct trains to Bologna and Genoa, as well as the EC Basel–Lucerne–Milan and the tri-national Frankfurt–Zurich–Milan train will operate again .

The direct Zurich–Brig train will now run all year round and will be extended to Domodossola.

Next step

On May 23rd, the Federal Office of Transport (FOT) will initiate the consultation procedure for the proposed timetable. 

Any inconsistencies can be reported until June 9th, 2024.

The new timetable will come into force on December 15th, 2024.

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