A group of friends laughing

So many expats have asked me how to make friends in Switzerland. For some reason, it seems the Swiss aren’t that easy to get to know. So no, it’s not just you, making friends here is a challenge for many.

However, after much trial and error on my own, I’m here to tell you that not only is it doable, it’s entirely worth it and once you have a Swiss friend you have a friend for life.

Here are the top five things I’ve discovered on my journey to find friends in Switzerland.

1. Meet the Swiss where they are

Why is it harder to make friends as an adult? Well, naturally it’s a lot easier to make friends as a child when you see people your age at school every day. Moreover, you probably share a common enemy in the maths teacher or shouty PE teacher. However, the people who say it was much easier to make friends as children, are also forgetting how fraught relationships in primary and high school can really be.

So, how can you find friends as an adult in Switzerland without registering at the local school? The best way is to find an environment where you meet people with similar interests on a continuous basis.

Associations and sport clubs are great places to start and the data supports it! According to Swiss Olympics, 1/4 of the Swiss population aged 5-74, are part of a Sportsclub and 46% of the Swiss population is an active member of a club, association, political party, or another group.

That’s a lot of people! And there are associations for almost every interest and sport, making this a great place to make friends.

Another option is taking courses to learn a new skill, this way you can combine learning with meeting other people, for example, by joining a Spanish language course (I personally don’t recommend German courses for meeting new people).

There are also plenty of online groups that facilitate meetups between people in Switzerland, these groups usually have a fair amount of expats but they also have “Swiss Expats” (Swiss people who moved away from their home canton).

However, as most Swiss will tell you, the Verein is the place to make friends in Switzerland.

See my list at the bottom of this post for links and suggestions to different venues where you can meet people in Switzerland.

2. Make the first move

Okay, time to acknowledge the fact that the Swiss aren’t exactly known to be an extroverted bunch. This can make it hard to crack the seemingly hard exterior of the average Swiss.

Furthermore, having grown up in Switzerland and gone to school here, the locals probably already have a number of friends and aren’t necessarily looking to add more.

As an expat, you probably had to leave your friends behind, or they are scattered across the world.

Therefore, it’s up to you to make the first move.

Rather than sitting at home, hoping that you’ll spontaneously meet an extroverted Swiss in your living room, the best way to meet new people is to leave your comfort zone.

While daunting, I can assure you that once approached, the Swiss are perfectly pleasant and the worst that could happen is not a rejection but an invitation to a Guggenmusik concert.

Despite the prospect of such dubious invitations, it’s at the initial stage where you need to push yourself to say yes to things you might normally say no to.

Making the first move is also an advantage, you get to chose who you want to befriend!

And most people will respond warmly to an invitation. If a Swiss turns you down it’s far more likely because they have already made plans.

So rein your spontaneous impulses in, give the average Swiss plenty of advance notice and you really can’t go wrong.

3. Go slow – friendships in Switzerland take time

Take it slow with your Swiss friends

The Swiss take their friendships seriously and tend to them regularly, they are not frivolous things. Friendship is a serious commitment and they will need some time to slowly warm up and get to know you.

See this as a bonus, there’s no superficial attachment to a person you later realise you actually don’t get on with and once you have a Swiss friend, you can count on having them as a friend for the longterm.

Don’t get too personal, too soon

The Swiss also don’t overshare, especially to new acquaintances. Don’t be in a hurry to share excessively personal topics and leave the money and politics talk for later.

However, a topic that Swiss are always delighted to talk about is their holidays. Be it the holiday they just went on, the one they have booked or the next one they have planned, just ask them about it and they won’t stop talking.

Seriously, the easiest way to connect with a Swiss friend is to ask them about their travel plans.

Home is where the heart is

In some cultures, it’s very common and considered an essential part of social life to invite people to your home.

For Swiss, however, the home is a sanctuary of sorts and it may take quite a while until you receive an invitation to come over. This does not necessarily mean they don’t consider you a friend, rather its just a bit too personal.

But once you do receive the invitation to their home, you can be sure that you are firmly in the close friend status.

4. Know the Swiss social rules

Be on time

Some people are confused by the concept of being on time, but it really just means turn up at the time that you are told to.

There is no “polite lateness” where you turn up 20 minutes later than the given time in order to give the host a few last minutes to prepare. If you try this with a Swiss, the food will probably just get cold.

On time does also not mean early.

Being on time is really the simplest thing you can do to make a good impression.

Swiss like knowing when someone will arrive. This is probably one reason why spontaneous visits aren’t really a thing in Switzerland.

Swiss like to know what is coming and to plan ahead for it. Which is why I do not recommend just popping around to see your friend. The average Swiss would be rather unsettled by such a visit.

However, if you know you will be in the area near your friend, you absolutely can tell them ahead of time and ask if you can come by. The key is in the prior warning (and then please remember to be on time).

Say hello

In the Anglo-Saxon world, it would be considered rather strange to turn up at a party and immediately shake everyone’s hand and introduce yourself. However, in Switzerland, this is an essential courtesy.

On arrival, work your way around the room, introducing yourself and exchanging names with everyone.

Especially important in this ritual is remembering the names. Because once you decide to leave, you need to perform the ritual again and say goodbye to everyone at the party (and no, a collective “bye all” does not count).

Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that you remember the names. By the way, this is also the case on the phone. Good luck getting a Swiss to hang up the phone before you have said goodbye and their name directly.

Although it may seem strange at first, this social norm is very helpful. Firstly, it’s a great opportunity to train your memory, and secondly, you will get to know everyone at the party.

Also, whether you’re in Switzerland or elsewhere, it’s hard to make a friend if you don’t know their name.

5. Be the friend you want to have

Sometimes when new to a place, its easy to fall in the trap of comparing things in the new place to the old one, and then sharing these observations with everyone else.

However, not everyone delights in hearing these observations and often to the local ear, these comparisons come across more as complaints.

No one likes having their hometown disparaged (unless they’re doing the disparaging themselves), so leave the comparisons for your chats with your expat friends.

Starting with your own observations might just put the Swiss on the defensive and you’ll miss gaining some valuable local insight. Instead, take the opportunity to learn from your Swiss friends and ask what they think about their own country.

Approaching new connections with an open mind is a sure way to success, because truly, what can go wrong? There are really only benefits to making new connections.

Friends are what makes a place great, so put the initial effort into making friends in Switzerland and you will be rewarded not only with more Fondue invitations than you know what to do with, but also with the opportunity to get to know the country on another level.

Extra: Places where you can make new friends in Switzerland

Courses

  • Check out Klubschule Migros, they offer a bunch of different courses, skills, and languages.
  • Check out your local municipality, they often offer courses on a variety of different skills from pottery, to woodwork, to metalwork
  • Join a cooking course or even better a cooking club.
  • Photography courses, while pricey, are a great way to learn a new skill, discover your city, and get to know other budding photographers.
  • Language courses – I personally haven’t found German classes to be great for this but other classes such as Spanish or Italian are excellent.

Sport

  • My personal favourite on arrival in a new city is to join a running club. This way you get to know new people, get fit, and discover your neighbourhood at the same time.
  • For Zurich, check out the Hash House Harriers a running group that also heavily focuses on the social (drinking) aspect.
  • There are also plenty of local clubs for almost every sport. Football is a great way to get to know more locals, but there are also Netball clubs, Rugby clubs, and much more.
  • Hiking Groups are a great way to explore the Swiss outdoors. You can try the Meet Up app or Facebook to find a group in your city.

Coworking Spaces

For freelancers and others who don’t have an office to go to, Coworking spaces can be a great place to get to grow your personal and professional network.

In Zurich try:

In Geneva try:

Online

  • Zurich Together. A Facebook group for people in Zurich, they organise lots of events and parties.
  • Girls Together. The same as the above but just for women.
  • Switzerland Girl Gone International. Founded by an expat looking for friends, Girl Gone International is a place for women to meet new people.
  • Meet-Up. An app where you can find events and groups that match your interests.