Culture & Travel
What makes each country itself, the places worth the journey, how to get there, and the sources we trust.
Two cultures
Switzerland
A confederation of 26 cantons and four national languages, held together by will rather than by a single language or faith.
Namibia
A young republic of many peoples and languages, independent since 1990, in one of the oldest landscapes on earth.
Concerts, festivals, sport and expos
NamEvents lists what is on across Namibia, week by week, with tickets online.
The club's own gatherings are announced in the Letter.
Worth the journey
Switzerland
Namibia
Zurich – Windhoek, non-stop
Edelweiss flies non-stop between Zurich and Windhoek with an Airbus A350, in the Swiss summer timetable. The 2026 season began on 1 June and ends with the flights of 23 October; the route returns on 16 March 2027 and runs until mid-October 2027, two to three times a week. Check the airline's current timetable before you book.
Resting for the Swiss winter · back on 16 March 2027 · in 136 days
The evening the route opened
When Edelweiss opened the first direct flight between Switzerland and Namibia in June 2026, the airline welcomed its guests in Windhoek. Daniel Caleb Vogt, Marlene Caleb Vogt and Artemis Marah Klauser, today the club’s President, Vice-President and a member of its committee, were among them, as was Urs Gamma, Switzerland’s Honorary Consul General.
They thanked the airline’s then Chief Executive, Bernd Bauer, for bringing the two countries within one night’s flight of each other, and presented him with a wing carved in white marble. It stands today in the airline’s offices, beside a model of the A350 that flies the route.
Visas in both directions
The documents, the fees and where to apply, for Swiss passports to Namibia and Namibian passports to Switzerland.
Before you go
To Namibia
For Swiss citizens travelling to Namibia.
- Seasons
- Dry winter from May to October, the best time for game viewing. Rainy summer from November to April, green and hot.
- Roads
- Traffic drives on the left. Many roads are gravel and distances are long: plan fuel, water and daylight.
- Health
- The north-east is a malaria area, especially in the rainy season. Ask a travel clinic before you leave.
- Travel advice
- Read the FDFA's travel advice for Namibia and register your trip in the Travel Admin app.
- The club
- Let us know when you arrive. Members are glad to point the way, and you are welcome at our gatherings.
Checked 13 October 2026
To Switzerland
For Namibian citizens travelling to Switzerland.
- Study
- Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships are open to researchers from Namibia. The University of Basel and the University of Namibia have an exchange agreement since 2017.
- In Switzerland
- Namibia's mission in Geneva is also its embassy to Switzerland, for passports and consular help.
Checked 13 October 2026
Travel Namibia as the Swiss here do
Routes, seasons and trusted names, gathered by members who live here and kept up to date by the club.
Three first journeys
Windhoek, Sossusvlei, Swakopmund and back. The classic first journey.
Windhoek, the Waterberg, Etosha, Damaraland and Swakopmund.
Windhoek, the Kalahari, Fish River Canyon, Lüderitz and Sossusvlei.
Before you book
A 4x4 with two spare wheels, or a guided tour. Members share the operators they have used themselves.
Lodges on private reserves, Namibia Wildlife Resorts inside the parks, and farms that welcome guests.
Registered guides for Etosha, the Skeleton Coast and the desert make the difference between seeing and understanding.
May to October for game and cool nights; November to April for green landscapes, birds and dramatic skies.
Concerts, festivals, sport and expos
NamEvents lists what is on across Namibia, week by week, with tickets online.
The club's own gatherings are announced in the Letter.
The Swiss Club travel pack
Everything we wish we had been handed on arrival: routes, trusted names and practical notes, gathered by members who live here. Free, in four languages, updated each season.
Receive the pack by email
- Three first journeys, day by day
- Windhoek: sights, restaurants, cafés, malls and hotels
- Flights to Windhoek and when they run
- The visa in brief, with the way to the Visa guide
- Car hire and 4x4 rules of the road
- Lodges, park camps and guest farms
- Tour operators and guides
- Seasons, malaria zones and health
- Packing list for the bush and the desert
- Money, mobile data and fuel
- Emergency numbers and the Swiss Desk
- Banks, mobile networks and the Swiss representations
- What's on: NamEvents and the club's calendar
Watch before you go
Films by travellers who have told Namibia well. Each link opens the film itself on YouTube.
The pack is revised with each season. Members’ own recommendations are welcome through the Swiss Desk. The club takes no commission from any name it lists.
Staying longer than a holiday? Living in Namibia →
Travel Switzerland as the Swiss do
For Namibians and friends of Switzerland visiting for the first time, for young people going to study or train, and for Swiss families taking their children home.
Three first journeys
Zurich, Lucerne, Interlaken, the Jungfraujoch and Bern, by train and boat.
Geneva, Lausanne, Montreux, Zermatt and the Glacier Express to St. Moritz.
The Oberland, Ticino, the Bernina Express, Appenzell and Basel.
Before you book
Namibians need a Schengen visa, applied for in Windhoek at least a month before travel, with insurance of EUR 30,000.
Edelweiss flies direct from mid-March to mid-October (from 2027); Frankfurt, Munich, Addis Ababa and Johannesburg connect all year.
A Swiss Travel Pass or a Half Fare Card covers almost everything; reserve the panoramic trains.
The Namibian winter is the Swiss summer: June to September for the mountains, December to March for snow.
MySwitzerland ↗ · SBB ↗ · Schengen visa, Windhoek ↗
The Swiss Club travel pack · Switzerland
The flight, the trains, three first journeys, the cities, the seasons and the numbers to keep, gathered by members who know both countries. Free, in four languages.
Receive the pack by email
- The Schengen visa in brief, with the way to the Visa guide
- Flights from Windhoek and when they run
- Swiss Travel Pass and Half Fare Card prices
- The four panoramic trains
- Three first journeys, day by day
- Zurich, Geneva, Bern, Basel, Lucerne, Lausanne and Lugano
- Tables with history
- Seasons, insurance and health
- Money, plugs, phones and Sundays
- Manners, languages and recycling
- Driving, studying and living
- Emergency numbers and the representations
Watch before you go
Films by travellers who have told Switzerland well. Each opens on YouTube.
Film titles and opinions are the filmmakers' own. The Club is not connected with any of them.
Going for longer than a holiday? Living in Switzerland →
Where to learn more
Official and long-standing sources, chosen for reliability.
The Culture & Heritage Forum is compiling a list of trusted films, channels and travel writers for both countries. Suggestions are welcome through the Swiss Desk.
