The most recognisable feature of Switzerland is the mountains. Switzerland is the hub of the European Alps. Much of the Swiss landscape also resembles the Austrian landscape. Swiss houses can resemble the Austrian houses in the previous section or have wooden exteriors. Swiss houses commonly have terracotta-coloured roofs that slant. Swiss houses regularly have window shutters that is rarely seen outside of Switzerland. Switzerland can also be recognised thanks to their white license plates. They are one of the rare European countries to lack the left, blue stripe of Europe. Swiss front plates are generally very small. Swiss rear plates are normally larger and more elongated. Sometimes some small amounts of red will be visible on the rear plates if you look extra carefully. There are numerous languages spoken in Switzerland. French is spoken in the part of Switzerland near France, Italy is spoken in the part of Switzerland near Italy and German is spoken across most of the country. If you see the German ß symbol, you can’t be in Switzerland and must be in Germany or Austria instead. Another thing to be mindful of in Switzerland is the internet domain suffix which is ‘.ch’. The Swiss landscape often resembles the Austrian landscape. Almost the entire Switzerland is hilly and mountainous. Tall mountains are a common fixture in Switzerland. The houses in Switzerland are often wooden and multi-storey with terracotta-coloured slanting roofs.  Switzerland is one of the rare European countries that lack the blue vertical stripe of Europe on their license plates. Front Swiss license plates are typically less elongated than the rest of Europe. Swiss rear license plates are typically much more elongated than the front plates. They appear white but a hard-to-see red patch may be vaguely visible on the left side, right side or both. A number of cars in Switzerland have these ‘CH’ stickers on their rear. CH stands for ‘Confoederatio Helvetica’ which are the Latin words for ‘Swiss Federation’. Swiss bollards are often this curved-cylindrical shape. This is the front of the bollard. The back of the most common type of Swiss bollard. Switzerland are known for their high number of window shutters. This house is so Swiss they have six pairs of them! Wooden houses are one of the more common types of Swiss houses. The majority of the country speak German, The western part speak French, the southern areas speak Italian and smatterings in the east speak Romansh. The Swiss internet suffix is ‘.ch’. The ‘ss’ is used in Switzerland whilst the ‘ß’ is used in Austria and Germany. 

Swiss licence plates differ substantially from other European plates. They are fully white and lack the blue strip found in most other European countries.

Front plates are extremely short compared to most in Europe. 

Rear plates can be either long or tall. In both cases the red country emblem can be seen on the left, while the canton emblem can be seen on the right.

Swiss bollards are black-and-white with white or grey reflectors. They can be either wedge-shaped or cylindrical with a rounded top.

The colour of directional signs indicates which type of road you are on. Main road signs will be blue, while side roads are white.

Major place names will frequently appear on blue signs, while smaller places tend to be on white signs. However, you can still find large city names on a white sign.

Swiss pedestrian signs have seven stripes, making it unique for Europe. Furthermore, rather than the typical European square shape, the signs appear as tall blue rectangles.

Pedestrian crossings are typically painted yellow and exclusive to Switzerland within Europe.

Swiss road signs commonly have a round, grey metal border around them. 

Somewhat similar metal borders are found on some directional signs in Denmark.

Town entry signs in Switzerland are usually white or blue, with a metal frame around them. 

On the back of these signs you may often find the distance to larger, nearby cities. Furthermore, the abbreviation for the canton can often be seen on the bottom of the sign, especially when the town is situated near a canton border.

Chevrons are black with a white arrow. You may also rarely find chevrons that are white with a black arrow.

Austrian chevrons are red and white, or red and yellow.

While the southern half of Switzerland is extremely mountainous, with long, thin valleys between the mountains, the northern half mostly consists of large farmlands on either flat ground or rolling hills, typically with forested hills in the distance.

Swiss and Alpine architecture in general largely consists of stone buildings painted in light and warm colours, often combined with wooden parts and details. Roofs are typically tiled and of a gable type. It is extremely common for windows to have wooden shutters which open horizontally in two parts.

These bus stop signs, with thick metal signposts going around them, are unique to Switzerland.

Bollard:

Swiss bollards come in a few different shapes but they all follow the same black and white pattern.

Road Lines:

Switzerland uses all white lines.

Road Signs:

Swiss signs feature green, blue, or white backgrounds.

Many swiss signs feature a metal border.

Electricity poles:

Switzerland uses wooden poles.

You may sometimes come across electricity hubs such as these.

License plates:

Swiss plates have a white background with the countries crest on the left hand side.

Vegetation/Landscape:

Switzerland is incredibly mountainous due to being located in the middle of the alps.

Architecture:

Switzerland has lots of unique looking chalets, and the window shutters are quite common across swiss houses.

