Practical Information

Bicycles

You can rent a bike from Rent-A-Bike (www.rent-a-bike.ch), located at one of the 200 SBB-CFF-FFS train stations nationwide, and also at a majority of the larger stations on the routes of the smaller train companies. Most train stations offer bike rental. If there’s no dedicated bike office in the station, you can likely rent from the left-luggage counters, which are generally open long hours.

In 1998, the tourist authorities opened up nine signposted cross-country cycle routes on 3300km of dedicated paths, mostly removed from traffic. Tourist offices can give you a map of all nine routes, including information in English on each one, as well as maps showing other cycle routes within their region or city.

If you’re arriving in Switzerland with your own bike, you have to buy a vignette from post offices for around 5 CHF, which covers the mandatory road tax and third-party insurance for a year.