Whether you are excited for a holiday to destinations far afield or are a parent biting your nails thinking about all the time you have to fill, the school holidays are a fact of life in Switzerland, but which places have the most and least time off during the summer?
School summer holidays in Switzerland
To make sure that the country’s roads, railways and airports aren’t completely swamped, Switzerland staggers its summer holidays by canton. This means that while some students have to wait until mid-July to begin their holidays, schools in parts of Graubünden, Valais, and Ticino are already shut by the end of June. By contrast, Canton Zurich is the last to go, with schools breaking up on July 12 in 2025.
In addition, it is also up to individual Swiss cantons - and in many cases the over 2.000 different local councils - to decide how long to give students off in the summer. This means that the amount of time given off varies by up to six weeks.
Which students have the shortest and longest break?
As it stands, Canton Ticino offers the longest school summer holidays in Switzerland, coming in at 10 weeks. This means that students in the region have more than twice the amount of summer off than in some other parts of the country (detailed below).
According to Watson, this is mainly due to agriculture. In the past, students typically helped out on the farms during the summertime. The weather also plays a part, with Ticino often experiencing distractingly high temperatures more quickly than places north of the mountains.
By contrast, a select number of communities in Canton Aargau have the shortest summer holidays. Students in Gränichen, Schafisheim, Hunzenschwil, Rupperswil, Staufen, Niederlenz, Lenzburg and Ammerswil are given just four weeks off before having to pack their bags and head back to class.
How long are the summer holidays in each Swiss canton?
In all, here are the places with the shortest and longest school summer holidays:
- Four weeks: Parts of Aargau
- Five weeks: Zurich, Schaffhausen, Thurgau, St. Gallen, Solothurn, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, most of Aargau and Bern, parts of Schwyz, Lucerne and Graubünden
- Six weeks: Jura, Neuchâtel, Zug, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Land, Glarus Apenzell Innerrhoden, most of Schwyz, Lucerne and Uri, parts of Bern and Graubünden
- Seven weeks: Geneva, Vaud, German-speaking Valais, Fribourg, parts of Graubünden, Uri and Bern
- Eight weeks: French-speaking Valais, Italian-speaking Graubünden
- Nine weeks: Isenthal in Canton Uri
- 10 weeks: Ticino
For more information, check out the official data.