Switzerland is one of the safest countries in the world; however, with the political climate in Europe currently, there are some safety precautions to take while traveling. While traveling I try to spend as little time as possible in main transport hubs and try to walk everywhere. This way I get to see more of the city, save money, and avoid the surplus of police at all the main transport hubs. The presence of police makes traveling slower and slightly uncomfortable, due to extra security checks, and in Europe most cities are safe and small enough to walk without much trouble. I also like to keep track where large, active religious centers are and avoid those unless they’re tourist attractions, which tend to be well monitored by police. While there is nothing wrong with most of these centers, the number of hate crimes in Europe is currently very high, making avoiding them fairly important.
One of my favorite traveler tips that I learned while here is that there is always wifi at the main train station. Whether this is a McDonalds with free wifi or the terminal itself, it’s great to stop there if you’ve finished with an attraction early and are far away from the hotel or hostel. Another great thing is to download the map of the area on google maps so that it can be used offline. This has major tourist attractions and can help navigate between places making it very useful when you have no phone connection. My last traveler tip for European cities is to check the local university’s events page and see what the students are doing while you are there. Normally the Universities post about special events happening in the area that are. This was how I heard about the university’s christmas light show in Geneva, which was one of the coolest things I saw in the city. The university website tends to have events that are cheaper than the ones recommended by the tourist information offices or online travel sites because they’re geared for students. They’re also tend to be less crowded than tourist events as mostly locals attend them.
