Switzerland on a Swedish Licence — The CHF 40 Vignette & a Looser 0.05 Limit

For a Swedish driver, Switzerland feels familiar — same right-hand side, the same camera-heavy discipline, alpine roads not unlike the northern passes. The two things to watch are a sticker at the border and one rule that’s actually looser than you’re used to.

Start with the vignette. Switzerland charges a single annual motorway vignette of CHF 40 to use its motorways — there are no toll gates, so the vignette is the toll. Buy it at the border, a post office, or online as an e-vignette tied to your plate, and do it before you join the first motorway. Get caught on a motorway without one and it’s about CHF 200 plus the vignette anyway. Our Switzerland vignette guide covers the e-vignette and where to buy.

The licence is a non-issue: as an EU/EEA holder you need no IDP and no conversion — keep the Swedish licence, passport and rental papers in the car.

Here’s the rule that catches Swedes off guard, precisely because it goes the wrong way. Switzerland’s drink-drive limit is 0.05 BAC, more than double Sweden’s near-zero 0.02. After years of treating any alcohol as off-limits, the looser Swiss line can feel like permission — but it isn’t worth testing. Penalties climb steeply past the Swiss limit, and a misjudged second glass abroad is an expensive end to a trip. Keep your home habit and stay dry behind the wheel.

The rest is comfortable. Towns are 50 km/h, open roads 80, motorways 120 — ten above Sweden’s 110 but still firmly enforced by dense fixed and mobile cameras and active pass patrols. A 10 km/h overshoot is about CHF 120, climbing sharply above; the speeding fine calculator shows the curve. On the high passes, engine-brake the descents rather than overheating the discs, and confirm winter tyres for cold-season trips. Petrol is about $1.92/litre and 112 covers emergencies. Full rules are on our Switzerland driving guide.