Emergencies
In the event of an emergency, these numbers are important to remember:

Police emergency call	117
Fire department emergency call	118
Ambulance emergency call	144
Poisoning emergencies	145
Rescue by helicopter Rega/Air Glacier	1413/1415
Emergency road service	140
The Helping Hand	143
Telephone support for the young	147
Doctor on Duty	+41 (0)41 211 14 14

Everyone should memorize the first three numbers. The essential information required when reporting an accident is the exact location and street address and the type of accident. If the location is difficult to find, someone should meet the police or ambulance at a nearby landmark and guide them to the accident scene. If you or a family member feels sick and your usual doctor is not on duty, his answering machine will give you an alternative. You can also call the Doctor on Duty: Tel. +41 (0)41 211 14 14, a 24-hours central telephone service that provides information and advice. If necessary, they can immediately locate doctors, dentists and pharmacies on call at the moment.


Postal service
The Swiss Post nowadays provides a wide variety of services, only some of which can be described here. You can check the services and prices in English on the website of the Swiss Post given at the end of this section.

Opening hours
You will find several post offices in the city of Zug. Their opening hours vary – smaller offices close between 12.00 and 13.45 hrs., and in shopping malls the opening hours of the mall are followed. The main post office in Zug is open as follows:

Monday to Friday 7:30 am to 6:30 pm
Saturday 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
Sunday closed

Letters which already have a stamp on them can be placed in one of the yellow letterboxes. For postal services, a distinction is drawn between “A-Post” (first class), which should arrive on the next working day, and the cheaper “B-Post” (second class), which can take 2-3 working days to arrive within Switzerland.

Die Schweizerische Post (= The Swiss Post)
Postplatz 1
6300 Zug
Tel. +41 (0)41 729 52 52
Fax +41 (0)41 729 52 55
www.post.ch

Shopping
Zug's main shopping area is located in the heart of the city, inside half a square kilometer, and is designed to provide pedestrians with safe, comfortable shopping. Never mind where you start from, you will easily find your way back. In the Metalli Center, situated between the railway station and the Baarerstrasse (across from the Park Hotel), you will find a great variety of shops and restaurants. Strolling through the old town ("Altstadt") from the main railway station to the Casino along the lake, you will find fashion shops, elegant boutiques, jewelers, banks, confectioners and many sidewalk cafés with outdoor terraces in the summer. This historic part of Zug is traffic free, and consequently a real paradise for pedestrians.

General opening hours for larger stores are as follows:

Monday to Wednesday 8:30 am to 7:00 pm
Thursday 8:30 am to 9:00 pm
Friday 8:30 am to 7:00 pm
Saturday 8:30 am to 5:00 pm

There are no 24-hour stores in Zug. All shops are closed on Sundays and official Swiss public holidays. As an exeption, some shops at the main train stations in Zug, Lucerne and Zurich are open 364 days a year.


Media
Newspapers published in the region are the “Neue Zuger Zeitung” and the “Zuger Presse” which cover local events. The “Amtsblatt des Kantons Zug”, published on Fridays, contains information on cantonal events including church services. It has also a large jobs section, a section on accommodation for sale and rent, and a section for second-hand items including cars. The “Swiss News” is a monthly English-language newspaper. You’ll find a large variety of magazines and international newspapers at the kiosks and railway station newsstands. In addition to various national radio and TV stations there are many local stations. Cable TV offers a variety of 50 to 60 channels in different languages and it is also possible to receive television via satellite.

Find a complete list of available radio and TV programmes at www.wwz.ch, “Aktuelle Radio-Programmkarte”, “Aktuelle TV-Programmkarte”.

Tipping
As a rule, all prices in restaurants, bars, taxis as well as for other services are service-included; however, if the service is good, then it is customary to give a modest tip.
Waste Please use “Zuger Gemeinden”
For your daily waste you have to use a special rubbish bag in the canton of Zug, the „Zuger Gemeinden“.

Public Holidays
New Year (1st January), 2nd January (Berchtoldstag), Good Friday, Easter Monday, Ascension Day, Whit Monday, Corpus Christi, 1st August (Swiss National Day), 15th August (Assumption), 1st November (All Saints), 8th December (Immaculate Conception), 25th December (Christmas) and 26th December (Boxing Day). These days are public holidays, even if they are on a weekday and most shops are closed.


Speed limits, alcohol limit
Standard speed limits are 50 kph in built-up areas, 80kph on country roads and 120 kph on motorways. A special speed limit of 30 kph is being introduced in an increasing number of residential districts. The alcohol limit for drivers is 0.5 o/oo.

Swiss currency
The ISO code for the Swiss Franc is CHF, but other abbreviations such as Fr. or SFr. are commonly used. The Swiss currency is divided into Francs (in German: Franken) and Centimes (Rappen). One 1 Franc equals 100 centimes. Banknotes are issued for CHF 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 1,000, and coins are used for 1, 2, 5 Francs as well as 5, 10, 20, and 50 centimes.


Writing amounts /dates correctly
To avoid misunderstandings when writing payment orders, note that monetary amounts are written somewhat differently in Switzerland than in English-speaking areas. For example, one writes CHF 19.80 for nineteen francs and eighty centimes, and CHF 19’800.- for nineteen thousand eight hundred francs.
When writing the date, make sure to use the order day, month, year: DD/MM/YY. To avoid continual confusion with expressions like 5/6/05, you write out the month in full: 4 June, 2005


Service numbers

Inquiries for Switzerland	111
Inquiries for Austria	1151
Inquiries for Germany	1152
Inquiries for France	1153
Inquiries for Italy	1154
Inquiries for other countries	1159
International operator	1141
National operator for cellular phones	1144
Automated wake up call	090077
The talking clock	161
Weather	162
Avalanche report	187
Road conditions and traffic news	163
Sport results, lottery results	164
Telephone fault repair assistance	175
Local information	1600