Welcoming international guests to Switzerland: the practical information to give them

Because what's obvious to you isn't obvious to someone arriving from Lyon, New York or Seoul. The questions hosts get during a stay are rarely about Switzerland in general: they're about what catches people out, Sundays, the bins, the phone charger plug.

An answer given in advance saves you a message at 9 pm, a guest wandering around on a Sunday morning, or a bin bag left in the wrong place. It also shows you know the small differences that make a stay go smoothly.

That most shops close on Sundays. It's the most common surprise, especially for guests who arrive on a Saturday evening planning to shop the next day.

Locals know the exceptions, visitors much less so: shops in train stations and airports, petrol station shops and some shops in tourist areas stay open. Bakeries sometimes open on Sunday mornings.

• Point out the nearest shop open on Sundays, with its opening hours.
• Add a bakery or a café open on Sunday mornings.
• Suggest shopping on Saturday to guests arriving at the end of the week.

Public holidays vary by canton

1 August, the national day, is a holiday everywhere. Beyond that, each canton has its own: the Monday after the Federal Day of Thanksgiving is a holiday in the canton of Vaud, but not in Zurich. If a stay falls on a local holiday, let your guests know, shops are closed as on a Sunday.

The currency is the Swiss franc, and cards are accepted almost everywhere. Some shops take euros but give change in francs, rarely at a good rate.

Suggest keeping a little cash for mountain huts, markets and farm shops, where cards aren't always accepted. That's often exactly where your best recommendations send people.

Tipping

Service has been included in prices since 1974: tipping is never compulsory. Rounding up the bill when the service was good is common, with no set percentage. Tell your American guests, used to tipping 15 or 20%: they'll be relieved.

The four things that vary most from country to country: rubbish, plugs, water and quiet hours. One sentence on each is enough, as long as it's in the right place.

Rubbish and recycling

In most municipalities, household rubbish goes in official fee-paying bags, or in bags with a sticker: an ordinary bag left in the wrong place can mean a fine. PET bottles, glass, aluminium and paper are sorted separately, and most supermarkets take PET bottles back.

Leave official bags in the accommodation, say where and when to put them out, and point out the nearest collection point for glass. It's a practical place like any other.

Plugs

Swiss sockets (type J, 230 volts) take the small two-pin plugs with thin pins, the kind found on phone chargers. The thicker round plugs common in France and Germany don't fit, and neither do British or American plugs. One or two adapters in a drawer save a lot of trouble.

Tap water

Tap water is drinkable, and so is the water from public fountains unless a sign says otherwise. Say so: many guests buy bottled water for no reason.

Quiet hours

Most building rules ask for quiet at night, often from 10 pm, and on Sundays. A washing machine, a drill or loud music bothers the neighbours more than elsewhere. Give your building's hours in one sentence, without turning it into a rulebook.

That public transport goes almost everywhere, including into the mountains: many guests don't need a car. The SBB app shows timetables and sells tickets for most journeys, buses and boats included.

If your region has a guest card, it's the most useful information of all: your guests are often entitled to free public transport from the first night. Our guide to guest cards in Switzerland covers the regions and conditions.

By car

Motorways require an annual vignette costing 40 francs, with no weekly or monthly version. It comes as a sticker or as an electronic version linked to the number plate. A hire car registered in Switzerland usually has one already; guests driving their own car have to buy it.

Say where to park, too. In blue zones, a parking disc behind the windscreen is required: leave one in the accommodation if your guests park on the street.

Phones

Switzerland isn't part of the European Union: depending on their plan, European guests may pay roaming charges. A wifi code that's easy to find from the moment they arrive matters all the more.

The Swiss numbers and 112, which works from any phone. Put them up in the accommodation and add them to your welcome book: in an emergency, nobody searches through their messages.

For less urgent problems, point out the nearest pharmacy. Outside opening hours, a duty pharmacy takes over, and its address is usually posted on the door of the other pharmacies.

In the mountains

Paths are marked by colour: yellow for hiking trails, white-red-white for mountain trails, which need good shoes and sure footing, and white-blue-white for alpine routes, reserved for experienced hikers. Suggest checking the MeteoSwiss forecast before setting off: in the mountains, the weather changes fast.

By putting each piece of information in the right place. Not everything should arrive at once: guests remember three things from a message, not fifteen.

• Before arrival: the guest card, the vignette if they're coming by car, the shop open on Sundays if they arrive at the weekend.
• In the accommodation: rubbish, quiet hours, tap water, adapters. That's the job of the digital welcome book.
• On their phone, during the stay: useful places such as the pharmacy, the supermarket and the collection point, with directions from the accommodation.

In HerePicks, these places go in the Practical category, next to your restaurants and walks. Guests find them on the map, with the travel time from your accommodation, and in their own language: your texts are translated automatically into French, English, German and Italian.

For the arrival itself, our guide to self check-in covers the message to send and when. And if you host in Switzerland, see the digital welcome book made in Switzerland.