The time in Switzerland

The time in Switzerland is UTC (GMT) + 1 hour in winter and UTC + 2 hours in summer. Sunrise and sunset times vary, with long days in June and short days in December. The local Swiss time is the same throughout the country, and there is no time difference with any of the surrounding countries.

Daylight saving time is being observed, so the time shifts one hour twice per year.

The time zone of Switzerland

Switzerland has one time zone: the Central European Time zone (CET), which is UTC (GMT) + 1 hour. After the change to summer time, this time zone is called Central European Summer Time (CEST), which is UTC + 2 hours.

All of Switzerland and all surrounding countries are in the same time zone.

Daylight saving time

Switzerland is in “winter time” from late October to late March. This is the normal, Central European Time (CET).

Switzerland is in “summer time” from late March to late October. The time is shifted one hour forward to have more daylight in the evenings. So when it’s 20:00 (8 PM), it’s actually only 19:00 (7 PM). This is called the Central European Summer Time (CEST).

The exact clock change date varies: it’s done overnight, in the early morning of the last Sunday in March (1 hour forward) and the last Sunday in October (1 hour back).

Sunrise and sunset in Switzerland

MonthSunrise timeSunset time
January8:1017:00
February7:3517:50
March*6:4018:30
April6:4020:15
May5:5020:55
June5:3021:20
July5:5021:15
August6:2520:35
September7:0519:35
October*7:4518:35
November7:3016:50
December8:0516:35

How to take advantage of daylight hours

Sunrise and sunset times determine your timeframe for scenic trips and photography. However, the number of potentially sunny hours is often less than the number of daylight hours. In mountainous areas, the valley can be shady well before sunset. In narrow valleys, the shade drastically reduces the number of sunny hours.

An example of the Lauterbrunnen Valley:

  • June: there’s daylight from 5:30 to 21:20 (9:20 PM), but there’s only sun from 8:15 to 18:30 (6:30 PM).
  • December: there’s daylight from 8:05 to 16:35 (4:35 PM), but there’s only sun from 10:15 to 13:00 (1:00 PM).

Swiss time format

Switzerland uses the 24-hour time format. 5 PM is 17:00, for example.

The future time zone of Switzerland

The European Union has decided to stop changing the clock twice per year. However, it’s undecided when this will take effect. The debate about which time to use all year round, and when it will take effect, is still ongoing.

Switzerland is no member of the European Union, but will probably follow whatever decision the surrounding member states take.

A likely outcome is that countries go back to their natural time zone. In that case, Switzerland would keep UTC (GMT) + 1 hour as its time, but without summer time. This would also apply to the neighboring countries Austria, Germany, Italy, and Liechtenstein. It would be one hour earlier in France because that country would be using UTC.

Other websites of interest

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Annika
Page author: AnnikaSince early childhood I've been visiting Switzerland during my holidays and I just fell in love with the country. I spent many summers in the Bernese Oberland, which still feels like my second home, and then started to explore other areas. Traveling, hiking and photographing in the Swiss Alps are my absolute favorite activities.