72625 posts
Hi Happy to go and welcome to MySwissAlps!
Accommodation can get tight in Switzerland in August (high-season) but I’d bet you’ll find something available somewhere depending on how flexible you are in the accommodation you find available. 🙂
What towns are you looking to visit? Are you only looking for a certain style or quality/price point?
386 posts
I don’t know how young you are, but when my son was in his late 20s, he went to Switzerland without any reservations for anything. He did buy a Swiss Travel Pass, but the rest of his trip was adlib. He mostly stayed in youth hostels and never had a problem getting a room at a hotel or hostel at the last minute. This was around August.
He did tell me the story of traveling on a train and getting into a discussion with locals. When he told them his travel was all unplanned, they had an immediate look of panic, or at least concern. They wanted to be sure he knew what he was doing. He assured them that so far the trip was going well.
So, it can be done, but setting up a reservation the day before might be safer.
7567 posts
<<“We want to visit Switzerland mid to late August. We fly standby so I don’t want to prebook hotels until we are in Switzerland, is it a problem to get a hotel each night? We want to be free to change our plans . Thank you.”>>
Good luck with standby to Switzerland in August. 😉
How many people? Could make a difference. Ages/children?
Also, what are your standards for accommodation?
Most critical…where in Switzerland?
Slowpoke
72625 posts
We are both in our 70’s. Really want to go to Zermatt, do the Glacier Express and Bernina Express. Lots more we want to do but that is the main ones. We will spend 10-12 days in Switzerland. I will buy the Swiss Travel pass for 15 days so if we get “lost” no problem, we will enjoy the ride!! I will buy everything when we get to Switzerland. 3 star hotels mostly. Never have used the trains much (a few times in England) but it sounds easy.
7567 posts
You are picking the places that most tourists go to. For good reason.
However, it does mean that 3 -star accommodation is usually booked ahead in those places in August.. The STP is a great idea…but, if you were to go in September or May, even June, you’d have a lot less problem with last minute accommodations.
The trains are easy to use. You’ll be pleased at the quality and frequency of the service on everyday trains. You’ll find 6 minute connection times…not to worry. They work.
Slowpoke