[Anonymous]

14 January 2022 at 18:38:04 #826410

Hey Folks,

I’m scratching the surface of the scenic swiss travel in summer of 2022 or 2023 depending upon how the covid situation evolves.

I will be traveling from the US with a family of 2 adults and 2 kids ages 8&10. We would like to spend about 10 days exploring the swiss alps.

so, while I work on the potential itinerary, I’m trying to find out which month would be a relatively safe bet to make the experience memorable and hopefully avoid washout days due to rain/cloud.

I’m more afraid of week-long cloudy/rainy spells which could degrade the overall experience. That being said, which month/time frame you would recommend and why?

appreciate your help in advance.

Chill, SV

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[Anna]

Reply 1 of 10 • 14 January 2022 at 19:32:53 #938063

Hi svusa,

Welcome to MySwissAlps.

The school holidays here generally start in July and last for 5 to 6 weeks. So if you don’t really like big crowds or long queues, plan for a September trip. For useful tips about the weather and how to plan your itinerary around it, have a look here: http://www.myswissalps.com/besttimetovisit

and here as well: http://www.myswissalps.com/weather

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Anna

[User]

Reply 2 of 10 • 14 January 2022 at 22:28:21 #938064

Thanks, Anna! Let me explore your links further, wouldn’t daylight be an issue in September?

How often does rain last for several days in the summer? I expect some clouds/rain in the mountain but just not sure if the chance of having prolonged showers/cloudy weather is higher in a particular month. For example, typically August is hot and dry in US.

[User]

Reply 3 of 10 • 15 January 2022 at 0:53:56 #938065

For 60 years I have been travelling in or near the Alps because my late Father’s relatives worked at UN/WHO in Geneva so our family has has a base near Geneva for 73 years. Most of the trips have been in the traditional European holiday periods ie Christmas (hence I have skied since childhood), Easter and main European Summer holidays – ie July – August.

There are roughly speaking two or three types of general weather pattern in the Alpine ‘lands’ in high summer , as follows:

a) stable high pressure giving consistent sunny conditions for several consecutive days or longer. In these conditions it will be hot at lower altitudes and ‘refreshingly cooler’ at higher altitudes

b) semi-stable ‘highish’ pressure giving sunny conditions but with occasional cloud build up over high mountains due to convection

c) less stable conditions with hotter humid air – when this happens storm clouds gradually build during the day and the day can end in ‘tropical’ style with thunderstorms, but with a return to dry conditions the next morning. Under this weather pattern holiday activities are usually possible for most of the day but with the knowledge that the weather may break down in the mid to late afternoon.

d) occasional wet weather systems. Usually a wet weather system will come from the Atlantic and produce bad weather in the Alps, but these ‘perturbations’ (as the French meteorologists call them) usually last just 1 or 2 days

[Anna]

Reply 4 of 10 • 15 January 2022 at 7:08:59 #938066

Hi svusa,

In September, sunrise is generally at 7am and sunset at 7.30pm so you’d still get plenty of daylight hours: http://www.myswissalps.com/time

We switch back from daylight saving time on 30 October 2022.

Regards,

Anna

[User]

Reply 5 of 10 • 16 January 2022 at 1:18:39 #938067

Daylight / day length etc can easily be found for anywhere on the globe using a myriad of internet sites

I usually use timeanddate.com

[User]

Reply 6 of 10 • 17 January 2022 at 2:39:08 #938068

Thanks @1960man & @Anna. Appreciate sharing your knowledge about the region.

I read somewhere that the sun angle is further south in the Mountain region during the late season. Due to the mountain shadow effect in the early evenings, you will have a shorter window of beautiful sunny weather to enjoy the outdoors.

I don’t know how much weight to put on this comment; hence I asked if a particular month is better from the overall weather point of view. 🙂

[User]

Reply 7 of 10 • 17 January 2022 at 3:09:46 #938069

In my experience late Sep-early Oct gives you the highest chance of sunny days. I’ve also experienced late June-early July, roughly 50% of my days there were cloudy/rainy. Days are much longer then of course but you wouldn’t even be able to head out on trails 50% of the time.

Chance is the days are more than long enough to keep you fairly exhausted from a day hike even in Sep-Oct.

[Danielsan]

Reply 8 of 10 • 17 January 2022 at 23:59:57 #938070

Hi svusa,

I chose to travel in September of 2018. The weather was nearly perfect for me, but another MySwissAlps forum member who traveled just a few days later had much clouds and rain. Obviously nothing is guaranteed, but generally speaking, September is a good time for the weather. As far as daylight goes, its not a problem. When I went, the sun set at about 7-ish. Even though it may have set, it may be below the mountains, but there is still some daylight. Most of the cable car descents are, say, between 1630 and 1730. So you won’t miss anything. Hope you have a great trip and covid doesn’t get in the way. I’m hoping that by Sept of next year things will be “more normal” and I can get back there.

Danielsan

[User]

Reply 9 of 10 • 18 January 2022 at 17:03:35 #938071

Thanks for your feedback guys.. This is really helpful as a simple google search is not always effective. I’ll probably target late Aug-early September to make the most out of the trip. Now, off to the next challenge to design a nearly perfect itinerary to visit the most exciting places! 😉

[kim11]

Reply 10 of 10 • 21 January 2022 at 0:45:01 #938072

We have traveled to Switzerland for hiking holidays 23 out of past 26 years. Our top spot is Wengen. We always aim for first two weeks of September. In our experience, the weather is very fine and the summer crowds have largely gone home. You can roll back into very late August and the crowds won’t be too bad as many schools worldwide resume classes then. (Hopefully your children’s school schedules are more flexible!) We have traveled there with our grandchildren a number of times and find Wengen to be extraordinarily family friendly

I put together a long (50 pages) document about our experiences in the Bernese Oberland. The good folks at myswissalps.com have posted it up in a series of 3 PDFs at http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/tips-about-wengen-and-the-jungfrau-region-by-kim. It’s a bit out-dated but all the excursions, hikes, and things to do are still there 🙂