RMRG

The Säntis, situated southwest of Appenzell, is a mountain with a very distinctive shape that on clear days can be seen from large parts of northeastern Switzerland. A communications tower is often visible on the summit. When viewed closer up, the Säntis resembles a craggy wall.

The Pilatus is a wide, bulky mountain with a distinctive outline that can be seen from many locations in the cantons of Lucerne and Aargau, rising up like a wall in the otherwise flat landscape. A different perspective of the mountain can be seen from near Lake Lucerne.

The Rigi is another recognisable mountain of central Switzerland and, like the Pilatus, can be seen from many locations in the cantons of Lucerne and Aargau. It has a wide, pyramidal shape and a communications tower on its peak.

The Churfirsten are a mountain range consisting of very pointy and stony peaks. The mountains can mainly be spotted from the region around Lake Walensee, though their silhouette is also visible from the valley to the north of the range.

The Stockhorn is the most prominent peak of the Bernese Alps, lying south of Thun. Its rounded summit can be seen from a wide area within the canton of Bern.

The Niesen is a near-perfect pyramidal mountain, west of Stockhorn, rising from the southern shore of Lake Thun. There are many locations where you can see both the Niesen and the Stockhorn.

The highest peak of the Swiss Jura mountain range, the Chasseral is visible from a long distance in the flat Three Lakes Region. A wide-based communications tower can be seen on its bare, treeless summit.

Another useful reference point in the Jura ridge is the landslide scar above the town of Baulmes, which can often be seen from many places in the flat, rolling landscape of Vaud.

Situated northwest of Solothurn, the Hasenmatt is the highest summit of the eastern part of the Jura ridge, forming a crest that rises slightly above the surrounding ridges.

The distinctive profile of the Stanserhorn can be seen to the northeast from nearly anywhere in the valley surrounding Lake Sarnen.

One of the most distinctive mountains of the country, the Mythen, with its twin peaks, rises above the town of Schwyz and the encircling valley.

The main valley of the canton of Uri can be recognised by the Bristen at its southern end, which has a distinctive semi-pyramidal shape.

The Chavalon Plant is an abandoned thermal power plant on a mountain overlooking the Lower Rhône Valley near Lake Geneva.

The city of Sion in Valais can be recognised by the two hills with castles on top of them in the middle of the town.

The tourist town of Grindelwald in the canton of Bern can be recognised by these distinctive towering mountains above it.

The town of Lauterbunnen in the canton of Bern can be recognised by the towering cliffs and waterfall above it.

Vineyards can only be found in very specific regions of Switzerland. As a general rule, the largest vineyards are in Valais and on the shores of Lake Geneva and Lake Neuchâtel, while smaller vineyards are found in Geneva, Ticino and the northeastern cantons.

Valais is the top wine-producing region of the country with vast vineyards. A distinctive feature of this area is that the vines will be grown on the mountain slopes.

Wine is grown all around Lake Geneva; however, the Lavaux wine region, due east of Lausanne, is one of the most distinctive wine regions with gently sloping vineyards commanding an impressive view of Lake Geneva to the south.

The Bündner Herrschaft wine region around the towns of Fläsch, Maienfeld, Jenins and Malans in the Rhine Valley can be recognised by the distinctive Rhine Valley mountains surrounding it.

In western Fribourg, you can find barns with gables that are clad with either terracotta-coloured tiles or occasionally grey, diamond-shaped ones.A variant of these barns also exists with an additional entrance for vehicle access.

Barns in the cantons of Jura and Neuchâtel often have low-pitched roofs, mirroring the design of local houses. The barns often form part of the same building as the main house, although can be separate. Either version may feature large double doors for vehicle access.

Similar to houses in the region, barns in the canton of Lucerne can feature an undulating gable arch, or, unlike the houses, a semicircular gable arch. Barns in this area may also have a distinctive style of half-hipped roof with a tiny triangular gable. Variants of these barns exist with an entrance for vehicle access.

In the canton of Bern, the design of barns generally mirrors the local architecture. Barns in this region are typically bulky in appearance and frequently have half-hipped roofs. The roofs may also feature timber supports. A variant exists with an additional entrance for vehicle access. Sometimes the barn will be directly attached to the house.

Strikingly wide barns with tent-like roofs, resembling those found on houses in the region, can be found in the northern half of the canton of Bern.A variant of these barns exists with an additional covered entrance allowing vehicle access.

In the Entlebuch region, in the far south of the canton of Lucerne, you can find ‘cyborg’ house-barns with the house and barn ‘fused’ together. These buildings are particularly striking when viewed from the front.

In Zug and neighbouring cantons, you can find barns with a prominent transverse roof extending below the main gable.

Like houses in the same region, barns in the area shown on the map can sometimes have double-pitched gable roofs, with the lower part of the roof at a shallower angle.

This diamond lattice pattern on the doors of barns is found in the cantons of Thurgau and Zurich.

Barns in Appenzell and the surrounding area are often directly attached to the main house in a T-shaped or L-shaped layout, making them often easy to recognise from a distance.

The walls of wooden huts in Valais are often made from a system of interlocking rectangular logs, easily visible from the outside of the building.

Huts in Ticino often have stone as their primary building material, with their roofs often made from slate tiles.

A key feature of huts in Grisons is the frequent use of round beams, rather than rectangular ones, either for the overall structure or just in the gable area. Huts with just rectangular beams can still be seen in this area.

Barns featuring a combination of wood and either concrete or stone can be found in Valais and Grisons. Typically, the concrete or stone elements are located at the corners of the barns. As with huts, exposed round beams are only found in Grisons.

Raccards are the traditional raised wooden granaries of Valais. They are generally built on short stilts with a round stone slab on each stilt to guard against rodents.

These upper-floor wooden balconies are commonly seen on barns in southwestern Valais.

Church towers featuring multiple small spires surrounding a main spire are most common in the west of the country, particularly around Neuchâtel, although they can occasionally be seen elsewhere

A rooster on top of a church steeple usually signifies a Protestant church and is a strong indicator for the French-speaking part of the country, although isolated examples can be found elsewhere.

Church towers with a simple triangular gable shape are most frequently found in northern and central Switzerland.

Church towers where the tower walls form triangular gables, pointing up, on multiple sides, occur most frequently in the northeast.

Church towers featuring an onion-shaped gable structure around a clock face can be found in a central band from the canton of Bern in the west to Glarus in the east.

Churches with onion domes are a strong indicator for the non-French-speaking regions of Switzerland, although exceptions exist elsewhere.

Catholic shrines in Ticino will often be colourful and feature religious imagery. Shrines in this area may also have slate roofs.

PostAuto (known as “CarPostal” in French, “AutoPostale” in Italian and “AutoDaPosta" in Romansh) is the largest bus company in Switzerland. There is a standard yellow-and-white design for PostAuto bus stops used in much of central and southern Switzerland. However, there are variants on this in other regions:

• In eastern Switzerland, there is a blue stripe along the top.
• In the northern areas shown on the map, there is white stripe along the top.
• In southwestern Grisons, there is also a white strip along the top, but there is a logo with the letter ‘A’ on the top right and Italian will be used on the sign.
• In Ticino, there is a different design with grey stripes and a logo with the letter ‘A’ on the top right.

Many bus companies follow cantonal borders and have distinctive designs:

• In Fribourg, you can see a design with a red semicircle in the top right.
• In Geneva, you can see a design with an orange stripe at the top. This variant is also common.
• In Neuchâtel, you can see a design with a light green stripe at the top.
• In Jura, you can see a red geometric design.
• In Basel-Country, you can see two different thin, dark designs with a yellow stripe at the top: one featuring the word "AutoBus" and one featuring the word "BLT" at the top.
• In Basel-City, you can see a thin, dark design with a green stripe at the top.
• In Aargau and Solothurn, you can see a design with a blue stripe.
• In Schaffhausen, you can see a design with a yellow stripe at the top.
• In the canton of Zurich, you can see a design with a fat blue section at the top, which will usually have a yellow or white bottom section, but may be other colours inside cities.
• In St. Gallen and Thurgau, you can see a unique design with a blue bus and a blue section on the bottom.
• In Glarus, you can see a design with the red ‘Glarner Bus’ logo on it and a blue stripe along the top. However, this blue stripe is sometimes missing.
• In Uri, you can see a design with black sections on it, although in older coverage you can sometimes see this variant.
• In Ticino, you can see a boxy grey design with a logo with the letter ‘A’ in the top right.
• In Schwyz, you can see a thin design with a red stripe.
• In Zug and northeastern Aargau, you can see a thin design with a blue stripe.

There are a large number of different regional bus stop designs. The following are some of the ones you are most likely to encounter:

• In and around Thun, you can see a yellow design with a black logo resembling a pan in the bottom right.
• In and around Münsingen, you can see a black design with a red section at the top.
• North of the city of Bern, you can see a design with an orange stripe above a black section.
• In the northeast of the canton of Bern, you can see a design with multiple red stripes. This design can rarely be seen elsewhere in the canton.
• In the eastern parts of the canton of Bern, you can see a blue design with a lime green stripe at the top.
• In the central parts of the canton of Lucerne, you can see a design with a dark red stripe
• Around Chur, you see a minimalist design, with colorful stripes (red in the image, but can be any colour).
• In and around St. Moritz, you can see a design with the words ‘BUS STOP’. A similar design will be found in Chur, but it will not feature the word ‘engadinmobil’ at the bottom.
• In and around Andermatt, you can see a red design with a mountain logo in the centre top.
• In the German-speaking parts of Valais west of Visp, you can see a design with stripes at the bottom (they are red in this example, but can also be other colors).
• Northwest of Sierre, you can see a design with a red section at the bottom and the word ‘AUTOBUS’.
• In southwestern Valais, you can see a red design with the letters ‘TMR’ in top centre.
• On the border between Vaud and Valais, you can see a design with a green section at the top. This alternate design is also common.
• Between Vevey and Villeneuve on the shore of Lake Geneva, you can see this blue design. You can also see this bus shelter design.
• West of Lausanne, you can see a green design. You can also see this bus shelter design.
• In and west of Yverdon-les-Bains, you can see a design with a red stripe at the top.
• In the southern parts of the canton of Bern, you can see a red design with the letters "AFA"

There are two main types of Swiss bollard: flat and round. Their distribution follows cantonal borders, although exceptions can occur and this distribution does not apply on major highways. Areas with the flat type are shown in red and areas with the round type in blue. Areas marked in purple have an even distribution of both types, while areas marked in orange have mostly flat bollards, but with a significant minority of round ones.

Bollards with a white cap with a small black button on top are most common in the northern Jura Mountains, but they can be found anywhere in the country.

Thin, round, wooden bollards with a slanted top can, uncommonly, be found in older coverage in Vaud.

Standard round bollards with a red reflector can rarely be found in the canton of Fribourg.

These round wooden bollards are found in these two exclaves of Appenzell Innerhoden.

‘Italian’ guardrail endings are commonly found in Vaud and Valais and, to a lesser degree, in the cantons of Fribourg and Geneva.

This variant on the standard A-type guardrail, with an extra section above and below the usual guardrail, is found in the same areas that you see ‘Italian’ guardrail endings. These guardrails will also often be a lighter colour than the guardrails you see elsewhere.

Roads in Ticino commonly have guardrails with two horizontal metal bars, the top one being square and the lower one having a continuous indent along its length. The end of the guardrail will often be angled.

Guardrails with metal posts supporting a square wooden beam are most common in Grisons, with some exceptions in neighbouring St. Gallen and Ticino.

These cities use distinctive street signs:

• St. Gallen uses this unique design.
• Zurich typically uses this design with a bold font and bolts at the corners.
• Biel/Bienne uses these bilingual signs.
• Basel street signs usually include a second, smaller line of text beneath the street name. While this can occasionally be found in other cities, this extra line appears on virtually every street sign in Basel. The signs are also frequently mounted inside a distinctive frame.
• Lausanne has two common designs. The first features a line underneath each row. The second has a compact shape and rounded corners. This second design will sometimes be mounted in a metal frame, which is uncommon for street signs in Switzerland.

Flat, unindented street signs (of any colour) featuring a border can be found across the whole country, but are much more common in eastern cantons.
Note: Flat, unbordered and indented street signs do not follow this distribution.

Street signs (of any colour) with notched corners can be commonly found in Vaud and in western Valais and nearby areas in neighbouring cantons.

Street signs (of any colour or shape) featuring a coat of arms can be found in Vaud and western Valais.

Street signs with this distinctive modern font and thin white border, often on a white metal signpost, are commonly found in the canton of Fribourg. The colour can vary but is usually blue or red.

Virtually all direction signs in Switzerland are contained in a frame. However direction sign frames with angular corners, rather than the standard rounded corners, are most common in the cantons of Aargau and Lucerne, although can still commonly be found elsewhere.

Direction sign frames with a combination of angular corners and rounded corners are most commonly found in Basel-Country, although can still be found elsewhere. The corners nearest the signpost will be rounded, whereas the ones for the arrow will be angular. These ‘hybrid’ frames are also often an olive-green colour.

Direction signs with no frame are found almost exclusively in Basel-City.

Thick direction signs with this distinctive design are most common in Grisons but can also be found elsewhere.

Switzerland often paints geodetic markers on roads to indicate specific features and mark distances. The most common of these are yellow square markers found in breaks in the centre line. These are found in most cantons, but are notably absent in certain cantons including Bern and Zürich.

Small yellow squares that are offset from the centre line are found in only two cantons: Neuchâtel and Nidwalden.

In Ticino, and more rarely in Grisons, you can find large yellow markers that are diamonds, circles or other shapes, instead of the standard squares.

In Aargau, the yellow square markers always contain written numbers inside the square.

Yellow square markers in Solothurn will often have numbers painted outside the square. The markers will also sometimes be circular rather than rectangular, usually at intersections.

Small offset white squares are very common in, and unique to, the canton of St. Gallen.

In most western cantons, whenever you have a yellow square marker you will also have a kilometre marker plaque by the side of the road, either on a bollard or on its own post.

Small yellow squares with a number inside painted just outside the outer lines are the standard kilometre marker in Ticino.

In Aargau, you will commonly see small triangular arrow markings pointing outwards along the edge of the road.

In the canton of Geneva, bollards are almost always marked by a thick, stubby mark of yellow paint.

In Appenzell Ausserrhoden, the bases of bollards are typically marked with a subtle stripe of green paint, either on the curb or on the edge of the road.

Fire hydrants with a green number tag are almost exclusive to the canton of Jura.

In and around the city of St. Gallen, you will find fire hydrants with this unique shape, consisting of two nozzles pointing in opposite directions with a smooth curve at the top.

In Appenzell Innerrhoden, fire hydrants are typically accompanied by a blue marker pole, something not found in any other canton.

Roads made of concrete slabs can be found anywhere, but are exceptionally common in Vaud, western Fribourg and northern Jura.

The majority of road signs in the canton of Geneva feature a small ID code, usually written in either white or black characters depending on the background colour. The location of the code varies, even on the same type of sign, and can be hard to spot.

This specific style of village direction sign with a blue-and-white spiralled pole can commonly be found in rural parts of the canton of Zurich.

In the canton of Zurich, signposts and street bollards in urban areas often have white-black-white markings (like a ‘reverse Oreo’).

Street features in urban parts of Ticino can sometimes have neon-yellow markings.

ROMANSH DIALECTS
The Romansh language is highly divergent with a number of different dialects. Local signage prefers to use these rather than ‘Rumantsch Grischun’, an attempted unified standard. This is mostly helpful in two ways:Street signs - the word for street is ‘via’ in most Romansh dialects. However in the Surmiran dialect (shown in purple on the map), different towns use a number of different words, usually ‘voa’, ‘vea’ or variants with an ‘i’ or ‘j’ in the middle (e.g. voja).Houses - in Grisons, houses, even if they are not businesses, often have a name painted on them (e.g. ‘Casa Palusa’). Almost every dialect has its own word for ‘house’ so these names can be used to narrow the location down to a much smaller area:
Vallader-Jauer uses ‘chasa’
Putèr uses ‘chesa’
Surmiran uses ‘tgeasa’, ‘tgesa’ or ‘tga’
Sutsilvan uses ‘tgea’
Sursilvan-Tuatschin uses ‘casa’
Tuatschin also sometimes uses ‘tgesa’ or ‘tgasa’

The majority of town names in the northeast of the country contain suffixes that are largely unique to the area. These include ‘-wis’, ‘-wies’, ‘-tobel’, ‘-hausen’, ‘-wilen’, ‘-nang’ and ‘-zell’. Note that while far from unique to the northeast, ‘-wil’ is also notably more common there.

There is an east-west divide in the German-speaking part of Switzerland between ‘-riet’ in the east and ‘-ried’ in the west.

The suffixes ‘-ikon’, ‘-iken’ and ‘-igen’ occupy mutually exclusive regions within the German-speaking part of Switzerland, with ‘-ikon’ in the northeast, ‘-iken’ in the northwest and ‘-igen’ in the south.

In the German-speaking part of Switzerland, town names ending in a consonant followed by ‘s’ (e.g. Grabs, Buchs, Malans) are generally only found near Liechstenstein. The same combination is also common in Romansh-speaking areas.