Visiting Switzerland

While in Switzerland, why not make a tour of its prisons? Tourists rarely take the time to visit a country’s penitentiaries. Switzerland has dozens of prisons, jails and penitentiaries scattered throughout the country. Like its pristine lakes and luxury watches, Switzerland’s penal institutions are often of such high quality that depending on the socioeconomic background of the inmate, it can be a more comfortable experience than home. Recently, Switzerland’s prisons have become overcrowded, considerably degrading the prison experience and causing waits of sometimes more than a month for the prison dentist or coiffeur.

Almost all Swiss prisons allow visits, although chatting with inmates is usually not possible unless they happen to be your immediate family.

Below are a few of the smaller and more charming penal institutions in the French speaking part of Switzerland. Inmates as well as guards will tell you that the food tends to be best in the institutions of the

Italian part of Switzerland, and worst in the German speaking part. We provide a few addresses here and send you on your way.

The Bois-Mermet prison of Lausanne is a small jewel of a jail regrouping several infrastructures designed for preventive detentions for sentences going from short term up to final period-soon-to-be-released prisoners. This kind of prison allows inmates what is called ‘semi-liberty’ which means they are free to go out during the day but must check back into the prison in the evening, kind of like a boarding school for adults. Constructed at the end of the XX century, the charming Bois Mermet prison actually comprises five establishments; in total there are 111 spots. For a visit, contact Maisons d’arrêts et de préventive, c/o Prison du Bois-Mermet, 1018 Lausanne Telephone 021/316.17.00, Fax 021/316.17.18.

In beautiful lakeside Morges there is the Tulipier, which has a state-university-dormitory look to it. It is mainly for prisoners in ‘semi-liberty’ and has only a dozen spots. For visits to Le Tulipier, contact the staff at: Le Tulipier, pl. St-Louis 4, 1110 Morges, Tel : 021 / 803 91 66, Fax : 021 / 803 91 67

In Orbe, which is an hour off the beaten path from Geneva, there is a handsome penitentiary which is for hardened criminals. This is one of French-speaking Switzerland’s prisons-to-escape-from, along with Champs-Dollon, which is less than 20 minutes out of Geneva. The Prison of the Cross was refurbished in 2003, with new ateliers for the prisoners, art rooms, sports rooms, activies rooms, and a training center. Commentators had archly compared it to a grounded cruise ship. To visit the Orbe penitentiary: Contact the Prison Visit staff (mention ‘Visiting-Switzerland.com and get a CHF 3 reduction on the 12 franc entrance fee) Prison de La Croisée, 1350 Orbe, Tel : 024 / 442 84 00, Fax : 024 / 442 84 05. Visitors must check bags at the door and photography is not permitted.

The Vevey Prison, only a few minutes drive from the famous Nestle headquarters (and infinitely more aesthetically attractive), is an architectural jewel: a converted convent which has been used as a prison since 1860. Dating as it does from an epoch when Switzerland was a less affluent, less joyful country, the Vevey prison does not have any annexes for workshops and activities are limited, thus pastimes tend to center on doing the laundry, cooking, and general handiwork. To visit, contact : Prison de Vevey, rue du Panorama 4, 1800 Vevey, Tel : 021 / 921 07 25, Fax : 021 / 921 07 73.