How safe is Switzerland for travelers?

Crime is close to a non-issue

• Violent crime against visitors is very rare. Walking anywhere at night is unremarkable.
• Pickpockets work Zurich Hauptbahnhof, Geneva Cornavin, Basel SBB and crowded summer festivals. That is the extent of it.
• Bike theft is common and unattended bikes are locked properly by locals for a reason.
• Leaving a laptop on a cafe table while you order is normal here, which tells you most of what you need to know. Do not take it as licence at the main stations.

The mountains are the actual risk

Switzerland kills more visitors through terrain and weather than through crime, by an enormous margin.

• Weather changes fast and completely. A sunny valley says nothing about conditions at 2,500 m.
• Trail markings are a grading system. White-red-white is a mountain path needing sure footing. White-blue-white is an alpine route needing equipment and experience. Yellow is an easy hike.
• Do not treat a white-blue-white route as a walk. People die on them every summer.
• Check the avalanche bulletin in winter at slf.ch, and take it seriously off-piste.
• Glaciers are not paths. Crevasses are covered by snow well into summer.
• Start early. Afternoon thunderstorms in the Alps are routine and dangerous.

Rescue costs money

• A Rega helicopter mission averages around CHF 4,500.
• Swiss basic health insurance covers only a fraction of rescue costs, and your travel policy may exclude mountain activity entirely.
• Rega patronage costs about CHF 40 a year. It is not insurance, but Rega can waive the costs its patrons' insurance does not cover, and it is the cheapest protection available.
• Buy the mountain sports extension on your travel policy if you are going above the treeline at all.
• Check whether your policy defines hiking above a certain altitude as an excluded activity. Many do.

Small things

• Littering is fined, and in some cantons heavily.
• Jaywalking is fined and locals do not do it.
• Trains are checked by inspectors and travelling without a valid ticket costs CHF 100 or more on top of the fare.
• Take the recycling and quiet-hours rules seriously. They are the local version of a serious offence.