Switzerland — Time & Holidays
Switzerland uses Central European Time (UTC+1) in winter and Central European Summer Time (UTC+2) in summer, in step with its neighbours.
National & Public Holidays
| Date | Holiday | What it marks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January | New Year's Day Fixed | The start of the year. |
| Movable | Good Friday & Easter Monday Movable | The Easter weekend. |
| Movable | Ascension & Whit Monday Movable | Christian holidays after Easter. |
| 1 August | Swiss National Day Fixed | The founding of the confederation in 1291. |
| 25 December | Christmas Day Fixed | The principal winter holiday. |
| 26 December | St Stephen's Day Fixed | Observed in many cantons. |
Time and holidays in Switzerland
Switzerland keeps Central European Time, UTC+1 in winter and UTC+2 in summer, switching on the same late-March and late-October Sundays as the surrounding European countries. For a nation famous for its precision and its watchmaking, it is fitting that the clocks here are kept exactly in step with the continent, so coordinating across the Swiss border with Germany, France, Italy or Austria is always straightforward.
A federal calendar of holidays
Swiss National Day on the first of August is the country's birthday, commemorating the founding alliance of 1291, and it is celebrated with bonfires, lanterns and fireworks in the long summer evenings. Beyond that single nationwide day, Switzerland is highly federal, and most public holidays are decided by the individual cantons rather than the central government. New Year's Day and the Christian holidays around Easter, Ascension, Whitsun and Christmas are observed widely, but the precise list varies considerably from one canton to another, reflecting local Catholic or Protestant traditions and the country's several language regions. This makes Switzerland an interesting example of how holidays can be deeply local even within a small country. The live clock above shows the current Swiss time with the right seasonal offset.