Mice in Switzerland, the Other Cheese Country! (page 14 of 19)

I meant to say that it was written that with a disc for 18 hours, you could stay until the next day.

It's on my computer, I'll show you later !

You gotta see who’s handing out fines in Bern—apparently, it’s the cantonal police.

Here, it’s agents from the Parking Foundation, not real cops, and I’ve never seen one between 7 PM and 8 AM. They must be off duty, so not much risk at 7:45 PM. At night, like mentioned earlier, the cantonal police *can* issue fines—for example, for cars parked on yellow lines before pedestrian crossings—but they don’t care about properly parked cars, whether in blue or white zones.

The cantonal police can issue fines, for example, for cars parked on yellow lines before pedestrian crossings, but they don’t care about properly parked cars, whether in blue or white zones.

I can assure you that in some cities in the canton of Vaud, the police check blue zones in the evening to fine cars that stay overnight with a parking disc set before 6:30 PM. I’ve shared a link with explanations about blue zones twice, and there’s even an image that clearly shows how to set the disc and how long you can stay.

Miranda’s disc was set to 6 PM, so she could only stay for one hour, not longer. She wasn’t lucky—the police came by, and she got a fine. Not cool, but that’s how it is.

Just to make sure I understand how it works in Switzerland—is paid parking the same issue there?

For example, if it’s paid until 7 PM and limited to 2 hours… if you pay from 5 PM to 7 PM, can you stay, or do you have to leave?

So, if I get it right, you’ve gotta rush back before the blue zone time runs out to move your car—super convenient, right?

Here’s the text about Geneva’s parking rules:

"When arriving between 6 PM (disk set to 6:00 PM, 6:30 PM, or 7:00 PM for the arrival time) and 7:59 AM, parking is allowed with a disk until 9:00 AM."

https://www.geneve-parking.ch/sites/default/files/2022-07/2021_09_21_CVT_cds_VGE_FP_A2_Dir_Zones_Bleues_v1.docx.pdf

So Geneva is a special case (just to be sure!).

This rule isn’t very clear, especially for foreigners. This summer, we used the blue zones and stayed until the very end of the allowed time. Since parking becomes free afterward, we didn’t move the car—no way we were going to drive around just to come back! We got lucky and didn’t get fined! 😅

Here’s the text about Geneva parking:

"When arriving between 6 PM (disk set to 6:00 PM, 6:30 PM, or 7:00 PM for the arrival time) and 7:59 AM, parking is allowed with a disk

I think there’s a mistake in that sentence. Check the table just below in your PDF. Under point 3.3, the table shows what’s written on the disks. You’ll see the arrival time, the time to set on the disk, and the departure time.

You have two options: either go see the police and ask for an explanation, or just pay and move on. I don’t think it’s worth arguing for hours over something that’s clearly indicated on the disk.

Just to be sure how it works in Switzerland, is it the same issue with paid parking?

For example, paid until 7 PM and limited to 2 hours... If you pay from 5 to 7 PM, can you stay or do you have to leave?

You can stay!

Okay, if I understand correctly, you have to quickly return at the end of the blue zone time to leave before, it's so practical

You made a mistake by not setting your parking disc to the half-hour following your arrival. If you had done it right, you wouldn’t have needed to come back. It’s still simple.🧔‍♀️

By the way, why didn’t you indicate the arrival time as explained on the back of the disc?

Did you know that French parking discs aren’t allowed in Switzerland? Geneva is tolerant and seems to accept this kind of disc since there are quite a few French people in Geneva, but elsewhere, I don’t know how much it’s tolerated.

Also, the Swiss parking disc isn’t allowed in France.

You pay until 7 PM and then stay on...

Can we now check and pay this fine, or is it still impossible?

The Swiss disc is surely allowed in France. In France, a disc is a disc as long as it's readable. You can make one yourself as long as you arrange the hours on the disc according to the "standard" disc. You can also print one from a template online—that's actually what I've been doing since I lost the other one. I definitely wouldn't try using it in Switzerland, though!

Just to be sure how it works in Switzerland, is it the same issue with paid parking?

For example, paid until 7 PM and limited to 2 hours... If you pay from 5 PM to 7 PM, can you stay or do you have to leave?

You can stay!

Okay, if I understand correctly, you have to quickly return at the end of the blue zone time to leave before, it's so practical

You made a mistake by not setting your parking disc to the half-hour following your arrival. If you had done it right, no need to come back. It’s still simple.🤷‍♀️

By the way, why didn’t you indicate the arrival time as explained on the back of the disc?

Did you know that French parking discs aren’t allowed in Switzerland? Geneva is tolerant and seems to accept this kind of disc since there are quite a few French people there, but elsewhere, I don’t know how much it’s tolerated.

Also, the Swiss parking disc isn’t allowed in France.

It’s a European disc. We arrived at 5:50 PM...

My partner looked up the legal basis and sent a message in German, so we’ll see.

I can’t access the fine anyway.

The Swiss parking disc is definitely allowed in France. In France, a disc is a disc as long as it's readable. You can make one yourself as long as you arrange the hours on the disc according to the "standard" disc—you can also print one from a template online, which is actually what I've been doing since I lost the other one. That said, I wouldn’t try using it in Switzerland!

No, I read that the Swiss disc isn’t allowed in France...

The Swiss parking disc isn’t allowed in France—several Genevans have already been fined, especially in Gaillard. The European parking disc isn’t allowed in Switzerland, though it often slips through. You can get a free Swiss parking disc at a police station, or buy one at Migros or a gas station—it’s not expensive...

It’s not normal that you still can’t check this fine after all this time, so you’ll have to ask the cops—maybe even in Fribourg—to see what they say...

To get a response, you’ve gotta send your message in Swiss German—not German—and without any spelling mistakes! 😏 And you have to pay first...🙁

In Bern, there are still some people who speak French...

Okay, to sum up: wrong arrival time indicated, wrong disc used, a nitpicky cop hanging around at 7:45 PM—so that’s at least a 40 CHF fine, or even 80 CHF if he decides there are two violations... We’ll see if we ever manage to read it...

To get a response, you have to send the message in Swiss German, not in German, and without spelling mistakes! 😏 And you have to pay first...🙁

No, actually, you don’t have to pay first! Anyway, the fine isn’t accessible.

The guy received a message saying it was suspended while they wait for a response.

Actually, he realized the next street was restricted until 8 PM, so he’s wondering if there was a mix-up.

Anyway, we’re in Bern—it’s freezing!

In Bern, there are still people who speak French...

Okay, to sum up: wrong arrival time indicated, wrong disc used, a nitpicky cop hanging around at 7:45 PM—so that’s at least a 40 CHF fine, or even 80 CHF if he decides there are two violations... We’ll see if we ever manage to read it...

No, it’s the European disc, there’s no issue with the disc

To park in a blue zone in Bern, you need a Swiss parking disc (not the European one) and must respect the maximum parking time of one hour between 8 AM and 7 PM, Monday to Saturday. The disc should show your arrival time (rounded up to the next half-hour) and be placed clearly under the windshield.

Until now, I’d only been to a small village in Valais where I have a friend—no problem parking there. This year, I visited a buddy who’d swapped his house for a Swiss apartment in Yverdon... parking the car wasn’t easy at all! Even in the tiniest village or out in the middle of nature, it was a nightmare. Good luck!

To park in a blue zone in Bern, you need a Swiss parking disc (not the European one) and respect the maximum parking time of one hour between 8 AM and 7 PM, Monday to Saturday. The disc must show the arrival time (rounded up to the next half-hour) and be placed clearly under the windshield.

I know that.

The disc is valid throughout Switzerland, that’s not really the debate...

In Yverdon, we parked in a residential area. It was free, though I don’t remember if it was a blue zone or not.

Yes, parking is complicated in Switzerland if you want to avoid barriered parking lots.

Aarau is paid 24/7—total nonsense 🤯

Fribourg is paid everywhere. Weirdly, there were more people at the free shopping center for 3 hours. Paying to go for a drink? Meh, might as well go somewhere else. Which is what we did on Sunday in Bern after the Paul Klee Museum!

By the way, I expected more from the museum. I wouldn’t have paid 20 CHF for it (I’m comparing to other Swiss museums, not French prices) if I hadn’t been invited. Fortunately, there’s a combined ticket with the Fine Arts Museum.

At the risk of repeating myself, in Geneva, where there are a lot of cross-border workers, the parking foundation (which handles fines in blue and white zones) accepts the European parking disc, and they’re really nice about it because in neighboring France, it’s not reciprocal with the Swiss disc. In the rest of Switzerland, that’s not the case everywhere. Now, you do as you please—it’s up to you! But don’t complain afterward if there’s a problem...