DRIVING IN SWITZERLAND

        I don't drive in Switzerland--or anywhere else. I'd probably leave my driver's license at home when touring Switzerland even if I were a motorist. Over the past 150 years, the Swiss have spent billions of francs on the world's finest network of trains, buses, boats, funiculars, aerial cablecars, trams, and chairlifts. You can go nearly anywhere in Switzerland with a Swiss Pass in your pocket and the Swiss Official Timetable in your tote bag. So why view the countryside through a bug-splattered windshield like a tourist in California, New Jersey, or Texas?

Still, if you must drive, I won't throw myself in front of your car or caravan. Instead, I'll concede defeat gracefully and point you to articles and other Web resources by people who are more willing than I am to wrestle with a mechanical beast.

Here are three comments about Swiss driving that my husband (the driver in the family) asked me to pass along:

1) Watch out for speed traps, including radar guns or cameras mounted on posts.

2) Consider a European rail/drive pass (available from our partner, Rail Europe).

3) If you rent a European car, don't count on cup holders.

Also, if you rent a car in Switzerland and plan to travel outside the country, heed this warning from Peter Anich of the Austrian National Tourist Office:

A new law regarding rental cars outside the European Union has been in effect since August 5, 1999: if you rent a car in a country that does not belong to the European Union, such as Switzerland, you are only permitted to drive it for eight days in any EU country. If you stay longer, you must leave the car at a branch of the rental agency. They will hold it and return it to you when you depart for the non-EU country in which it was rented.

If you inform the rental agency of a non-EU country in advance that you need a car longer than eight days in an EU country, they will try their best to rent you a car that is registered in an EU country which will permit you to drive it indefinitely in any EU country.