Time Zones in Switzerland
Switzerland spans one time zone (UTC+1) among the 2 cities tracked on Live Time Map. All of them observe daylight saving time. See the live local time for each city below, or use the interactive map to compare any of them against your own location.
Switzerland facts
- Currency
- Swiss franc (CHF)
- Languages
- German, French, Italian
- Calling code
- +41
- Time zones on this site
- 1
Clock time and solar time in Switzerland
A country's clocks are a political choice, not an astronomical one, so they rarely line up with its own sun. Measured against local solar time, the clock in Geneva runs 35 minutes ahead of the sun, while in Zürich it runs 26 minutes ahead of the sun.
That is a spread of 10 minutes between the two ends of Switzerland's tracked cities, all of it the result of longitude rather than of the clock. The wider that gap, the more one shared office schedule means genuinely different amounts of morning light depending on where you are.
How much daylight changes through the year
Daylight is governed by latitude, not by the clock. Zürich, at 47.4° north, gets 15 hours 57 minutes of daylight on the longest day of the year and 8 hours 27 minutes on the shortest.
That swing is the same whatever the clock says, which is why daylight saving moves working hours around inside the day without creating a single extra minute of light.
Cities in Switzerland
Want to compare a city here against your own location? Open the interactive world time zone map to pin it live.
Frequently asked questions
How many time zones does Switzerland have?
Switzerland uses a single time zone among the cities tracked here: UTC+1.
Does Switzerland observe daylight saving time?
Yes, the cities tracked here all observe daylight saving time.
Do clocks in Switzerland match the sun?
Clocks and the sun are not the same thing. In Geneva the clock runs 35 minutes ahead of local solar time, so midday on the clock is not the moment the sun is highest.
How much does daylight change through the year in Switzerland?
In Zürich, the longest day of the year has 15 hours 57 minutes of daylight and the shortest has 8 hours 27 minutes.