Switzerland on an Irish Licence — The Side Switch & a CHF 40 Vignette
Ireland
Switzerland
Irish licence holders need no IDP in Switzerland — your EU licence is enough. But two things catch you out: switching from left- to right-hand driving, and the compulsory CHF 40 motorway vignette you must buy before joining a motorway. Cameras are dense and a 10 km/h overshoot is about CHF 120.
Switzerland is an easy place to drive once two things click for an Irish visitor — and they’re the two that catch everyone from Ireland: the side of the road and a sticker you’ve never had to buy at home.
Take the side first, because it’s the genuine safety point. Ireland drives on the left; Switzerland drives on the right. The danger window is your first hour — pulling out of the rental car park, joining a roundabout that now goes anticlockwise the other way, the instinctive glance to the wrong side at a junction. Take that opening stretch on quiet roads rather than straight into Geneva or Zürich traffic, and be deliberate at every turn until right-hand driving stops feeling wrong. The good news on paperwork: as an EU licence holder you need no IDP and no conversion — just keep the Irish licence, passport and rental papers in the car.
The second adjustment is the motorway vignette. Switzerland charges a single annual vignette of CHF 40 to use its motorways — there are no toll booths, so the vignette is the toll, and Ireland’s barrier-toll model doesn’t prepare you for it. Buy it at the border, a post office, or online as an e-vignette tied to your plate before you join the first motorway. Get caught without one and it’s about CHF 200 plus the vignette anyway. Our Switzerland vignette guide shows where and how.
Once you’re settled on the right and stickered up, the rest is straightforward but strict. Towns are 50 km/h, open roads 80, motorways 120, and Switzerland enforces with one of Europe’s densest camera networks plus active pass patrols. A 10 km/h overshoot runs about CHF 120, with the scale steepening sharply beyond — the speeding fine calculator makes it concrete. The drink-drive limit is 0.05, the same as Ireland.
On the mountain passes, engine-brake the descents rather than riding the discs, and check the rental’s winter tyres for cold-season trips. Petrol is about $1.92/litre and 112 covers emergencies. Full rules sit on our Switzerland driving guide.
Speed limits, fines, equipment & license requirements
Your home country driving rules for reference
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Frequently Asked Questions
No. Your Irish EU licence is valid in Switzerland with no International Driving Permit. Carry the licence, passport and vehicle papers.
The right. Coming from Ireland's left-hand traffic, your first hour is the danger window — roundabouts, junctions and overtaking all flow the opposite way.
Yes. A CHF 40 annual motorway vignette is compulsory, bought as a sticker or e-vignette before you join a motorway. Without it the fine is about CHF 200 plus the vignette cost.