We have a small fenced area for the dog at the back of the house. We can't let her go near the fence because stupid people (like you said) will stick their hands in to pet her and she will bite them. I've seen them reaching in when I'm sitting outside in the yard with her.

It's rather unfortunate that the house is in a pedestrian zone where literally thousands pass by on foot and by bike on a sunny day.

Could the fact that I'm in Ticino change something in regards to respecting someone's private property? Before we had the door on the garage, people walked right in there all the time too. It drove me nuts!

I will buy a Private sign. Perhaps that will help but I really doubt it. It's very obvious that this is a private house and property.

Our garden is fenced and gated only on the side facing the street. Everyday in summer and perhaps every weekend at other times of the year we have people walking through it trying to find a shortcut to a nearby carpark. It used to wind me up a lot but I guess I am getting used to it now as I often ignore them when they walk past me when I am outside.

However, people knocking on the door to use our toilet get introduced to our dogs and soon change their mind. Those that park their cars in our driveway get to talk to the Police within seconds as my Swiss neighbour needs it clear for access to his place. We also keep our ground floor shutters closed on one side of the house as our washing machine in the cellar attracts spectators.

This is the gate from the street. They then have to walk up a few stairs to the house.

As you can see, there's the dog sign in red and it's very obvious that this isn't public property.

It really does look like a typical gate to a private park or to a public building. And I guess that people assume that since there is no sign saying Private and because the door is open, it is in fact ok to go in.

I didn't want to post the house but when you look at the whole picture Tilia, it really looks like a private residence.

And what I am saying is that there are many publicly open spaces that looks like private properties. I am not sure I quite understand what you goal is. Do you want to understand what may be causing your problem and try to solve it or do you just want to let off steam and complain about the people trespassing? I fully understand that you get upset about it, I would to. I'm just saying that by trying to understand why they do it, it is much more likely that you will find a solution to it.

Here's a picture of the garage that is just left of the gate. Parks don't come with garages. And as I said, before we had the garage door, people were coming right inside the garage.

The gate is not open, it is just unlocked but closed. And again, the garden is small, not like a park at all and we have other houses on both sides.

Actually, both! Saying that people are coming in because they think it's a private park is a lame excuse. Any person can see that it is no such thing. I think that people are just curious and not respectful of other's properties. There are a lot of tourists here so this is in no way an attack on the people of Ticino because I really don't know who the people are who are coming in. I've also asked people to leave my garage numerous times. That problem is solved with the garage door.

I think that I got a lot of good and some funny suggestions for overcoming this problem. The obvious one is to lock the gate, which is a bit of a pain as all of us are going in and out all day and then even for the kids we have to go down to open the gate each time. Another option is to put up a sign that says: PRIVATE or PRIVATO, which is easy enough.

Me too! In a way I'm glad I'm not the only one that has done this. I put the car back in the garage whenever I come home and I always keep it locked. It's a pain having to do this if I am in and out a lot in a day, but I hate people snooping around my garage.

It may be worthwhile looking at using an electromagnetic lock that you can buzz from the house with a key switch on the gate for keyholders to use.

Well, the thing is that the general accepted principle in
Switzerland is that anything that isn't clearly defined as Private is in fact open to public, regardless of who actually owns it. You are e.g. allowed to walk in the mountains, crossing farms, farmlands, etc. Also in the cities there are a lot of paths, court-yards and parks that are indeed private but people are still not kept out of there. This is even more evident in the smaller cities and villages. In most other countries it is the reversed, you assume that you are only allowed to be in spaces posted as "open to the public"

The Swiss are a lot of things but curious and disrespectful really aren't part of it in my experience. Thus, I truly believe that a large part of your unwanted visitors really aren't doing it out of disrespectfullnes but rather out of ignorance.

I am sure that your problem will more or less disappear as soon as you put up the "Private" sign.

Looks like a mansion to me, very lovely.

I think the situation calls for drastic measures. Perhaps you need to try this. I am sure no one will come near your gate with one of these.

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So it's just normal acceptable behaviour to go snooping around someone else's garage, or peering through their ground floor windows if there is no sign?

No, that is not what I would call the norm, unless the house is vacant and for rent or sale. Then you might observe someone snooping.

A lot more than in most countries, yes. Of course there are limits even in Switzerland but in general I would say they have less sense of privacy than most other countries. If you have read the threads about the staring in Switzerland you would see that these are the two sides of the same coin.

As I said, it becomes even more obvious when you get out into the country side. Having a pathway through someones back yard really isn't that uncommon.

If I open our ground floor shutters I am certain that on a Sunday we would have an almost continuous stream of gazers peering through our cellar windows. Before we kept the shutters closed, it happened so frequently it was as if people saw someone else looking through our windows they just had to go and look for themselves.

Last week I had nine items in my shopping basket and I was waiting inline at the eight item checkout at Migros. The woman behind me counted the number of items in my basket and made it her business to correct me for my wrong doing. Curious, or just plain nosy in my opinion is a common Swiss character trait.

We live in the countryside and I appreciate that paths like you describe do exist, which is why I don't get upset by all the people walking through my garden and climbing over my locked gate anymore. However, I have yet to find for myself a gated public path through someone else's back yard.

Funny you should mention the shopping basket as the other day the person in front of me at the Express check out was attempting to defend her actions (she had more than the allowed number of items) on the basis that she had more than one of the same item and as the cashier can press a key to indicate the quantity of each item she felt she was within her rights. The fact is, though I was standing behind her I had not said a word, though she felt compelled to explain herself. I replied that I just assumed she could not count. She was mortified. The cashier just rolled her eyes. She must have heard this before. I don't think I looked very interested but perhaps it is assumed here that everyone is nosey.

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Nudism. Get extremely old exhibitionistic relos to visit. Buy blindfolds for yourself first.

It'll stop. Or... you might get an entirely different variety of trespasser.

Nope, just blimmin' infuriating for those of us in a hurry using the express checkout...

That is correct at least where I come from...