Swiss Grid Converter (LV95)

Tap once and you get your position in the Swiss grid — modern LV95 coordinates (the 7-digit pairs starting 2 and 1) and the legacy LV03 form older maps and guidebooks use — computed on your device with swisstopo's published formulas, accurate to about a metre. Paste either kind of Swiss pair and it converts back to a point on the map. Covers Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and keeps working offline on the trail.

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Reading Swiss coordinates

A Swiss LV95 position is a pair of 7-digit metre values: an easting beginning with 2 (roughly 2,485,000–2,834,000 across the country) and a northing beginning with 1 (roughly 1,075,000–1,296,000). The grid's origin story is pleasingly literal: the old Bern observatory sits at exactly E 2,600,000 / N 1,200,000, and every Swiss coordinate counts metres from there. Swisstopo maps, the map.geo.admin.ch portal, cadastral data and hiking signage all speak this grid — and because the leading 2 and 1 name the axis, a pair can never be read swapped.

LV95 or LV03 — which pair are you holding?

Before LV95 there was LV03: the same grid concept with 6-digit values around 600,000 / 200,000 for Bern. Those symmetric-looking pairs got eastings and northings swapped constantly — one reason the LV95 reform added 2,000,000 and 1,000,000 to make each axis unmistakable. Official Switzerland completed the move to LV95 in 2016, but LV03 lives on in older guidebooks, GPX archives and route descriptions. This tool always shows both forms, and auto-detects which one you pasted by the size of the numbers — subtracting the offsets is almost the whole story (the two frames also differ by a local distortion of up to ~1.6 m, which matters to surveyors and nobody else).

Accuracy, honestly stated

This page uses swisstopo's own published approximation formulas for converting between WGS84 and the Swiss grid — accurate to about a metre everywhere in Switzerland, which is comfortably better than a phone GPS fix on a good day. Survey-grade work should use swisstopo's official REFRAME service instead, which applies the full distortion model. Note the Swiss grid measures position only: Swiss altitudes (LN02/LHN95) are their own story and a GPS ellipsoidal height is roughly 50 m different — don't mix the two. Test what your phone's fix is actually worth on the GPS accuracy page.

The grid at the borders

The Swiss grid covers Switzerland and Liechtenstein, which officially uses LV95 too — so Vaduz has a perfectly ordinary Swiss coordinate. Step across any other border and this page says so honestly rather than extrapolating: the projection's accuracy statement ends at the border regions. Elsewhere, each country has its own answer — Britain's OS grid, the Irish grid, Australia's MGA, New Zealand's NZTM — and UTM/MGRS works worldwide. For decimal degrees, DMS and every other everyday format, the coordinate converter is the hub.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between LV95 and LV03?
LV95 is the modern frame: same grid concept, re-surveyed, with 2,000,000 m added to eastings and 1,000,000 m to northings so the axes can't be confused. Subtracting those offsets gets you from LV95 to LV03 to within about 1.6 m; the residual is a local distortion only surveyors need to model. Official Switzerland has been LV95-only since 2016.
Why do Swiss eastings start with 2?
To make swapped coordinates impossible. Old LV03 pairs — around 600,000 / 200,000 — looked symmetric enough that eastings and northings were forever being interchanged. LV95's leading 2 (east) and 1 (north) name the axis in the first digit, so any 7-digit Swiss pair is self-describing.
Is this the same as CH1903?
CH1903 is the datum under LV03, and CH1903+ the datum under LV95 — so 'CH1903 coordinates' in an old guidebook means LV03 values. This page accepts and shows both forms, auto-detecting which you pasted by the size of the numbers.
How accurate is the conversion?
About a metre — this page implements swisstopo's own published approximation formulas, and that's their stated accuracy across Switzerland. It's tighter than a typical phone GPS fix. For survey-grade work use swisstopo's REFRAME service, which applies the full centimetre-level distortion model.
Does it work in Liechtenstein?
Yes — Liechtenstein officially uses the Swiss grid, so Vaduz has an ordinary LV95 coordinate like any Swiss town. Beyond Switzerland and Liechtenstein the projection's accuracy statement ends and this tool says so honestly; neighbouring countries have their own grids.