Snowcapped mountains in Switzerland in September?
A couple is visiting Switzerland from September 2-18, planning to stay in the Oberland/Jungfrau region mainly for the mountain views. They want to know if they will see snow on the mountains they plan to visit, including Schilthorn and Gornergrat, as they are not hikers or skiers.
- In September, the highest peaks like Jungfrau and Monch usually have snow year-round.
- The Swiss Travel Pass covers most train rides and offers discounts on cable cars and mountain railways, so check the details to maximize your benefits.
- For the best views, consider exploring Zermatt for a day, but be ready for potential weather issues that might obscure the Matterhorn.
AI-generated summary-
My husband and I will be visiting Switzerland Sept. 2-18 2022. We will be staying in the Oberland/Jungfrau region (see our itinerary below). We are mainly going for the mountain views. We are not hikers or skiers. What I would like to know is, will any of the mountains that we will be seeing still have snow on them? If not, will they mostly be brown or green or?? Places we plan on seeing are Kleine Scheidegg, Trummelbach Falls, Harder Kulm, Schilthorn, Gimmelwald, Gornergrat, museum in Brienz. I have purchased the 15 day rail pass. We don’t plan on taking any of the scenic trains.
We will be staying in the following areas in the order listed. We arrive in and depart from Zurich.
1) Four nights in Thun. From Thun we will do a day trip to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn. Another day we’ll visit Brienz.
2) Three nights in Murren.
3) Three nights in Wengen. Staying at the Alpenrose Hotel. Which is outside of the town a bit. Great mountain views. But will any of them have snow on them!?
4) Three nights in Lauterbrunnen.
5) Three nights in Lucerne.
-
The highest peaks have snow on all year round. That is why summer tourism in Switzerland exists in the first place! Jungfraujoch would not have been the ‘must do’ excursion that is has been for over a century if it wasn’t for peaks with permanent snow cover.
If I’m taking my main ‘summer holiday’ in Switzerland this will generally be in August because my wife is a teacher. Autumnal weather can start to take over in the Alps from mid August onwards, and several times, I have seen fresh snow on even the ‘not so highest’ peaks in August
Here’s an interesting historical document showing what the Jungfrau railway might have been.
Thank you 1960man for your input. I ask because all the pictures I see are either winter or summer pics and the winter pics show all the mountains in the background covered in snow. But in any of the summer pics I see, the mountains in the background don’t appear to have any snow on them.
Hi Julianagen,
Based on your itinerary, your best chances of seeing snow in September would be in Schilthorn and Gornergrat.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Anna
Hi Julianagen,
I would strongly recommend that you switch the three days in either Murren, or Lauterbrunnen, and spend them in Zermatt. Possibly even consider staying in Wengen, and exploring from there. Wengen, Lauterbrunnen, and Murren are all pretty much in the same vicinity. In a way, its kind of redundant to stay in all three places. I just don’t believe going to Zermatt for a couple hours will be worth it. Especially once you see it. Just my opinion, mind you. Murren is basically looking down at the end of the valley. Beautiful and very scenic village, but again, at the end of the valley. If you’re planning on doing things from there, you have to take cable cars down to the valley, (Stechelberg), which will be added expense, or a train to a cable car and down to Lauterbrunnen. But if you’re planning on just staying in Murren, that’s fine. The Lake Geneva/Montreux area is a nice area also. Again, these are merely some suggestions. September is generally a good time of year to go, so you will most likely have great weather. I hope you have a great trip. All the best.
Danielsan
I have been to Switzerland in September several times and Jungfrau and Monch have always had plenty of snow. You will get good views from Kleine Scheidegg, Schilthorn, Murren, and Wengen. You might consider riding the cable car from Wengen to Mannlichen and from Grindelwald to First for more good views of mountain peaks with snow. At Zermatt the views from the back side of Gornergrat summit have many snow covered peaks including the highest peak in Switzerland, Mt. Rosa and Mt Liskamm.
I agree with Danielsan that staying in Murren, Wengen, and Lauterbrunnen is something to reconsider. You will waste a good deal of time checking in, unpacking, repacking, checking out, transporting luggage to the train station for 3 towns very close to each other. It would be like visiting New York and staying in hotels in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.
The following photos were all taken in September in either the Jungfrau area or Zermatt area and are readily accessible by train or cable car.
Mark
Anna,
Yep, I figured/hoped at least the Schilthorn and Gornergrat will have snow. Thanks for confirming!
HI Danielson,
I do realize that the towns of Murren, Wengen and Lauterbrunnen are near each other. The reason we are staying at each one is for a few reasons. One of my criteria for our trip is to stay at hotels with balconies and great views.
– By staying in Murren we will be on the mountain side to easily reach Schilthorn and Gimmelwald. The hotel in Murren we will stay at is the Alpina. This hotel sits right on the edge of the cliffside. Totally love this location and view.
– By staying in Wengen we will be on the other side of the mountain to easily reach Kleine Scheidegg, Grindenwald-First and possibly a trip up to Jungfraujoch. Currently we don’t plan on this excursion because it’s too pricey and I think visiting Schilthorn will suffice. The hotel I found outside of Wengen is the Alpenrose. Can’t resist staying at this place. Again, I love the views this hotel offers.
– By staying in Lauterbrunnen we will be in the valley, which will have a whole different view by being surrounded by the mountains rather than on them. This will allow us to easily reach Trummelbach Falls, Harder Kulm and possibly Schynige Platte.
Initially I tried to plan a 2-3 day stay in Zermatt. But I found that any hotels with the kind of views I wanted of the Matterhorn were too expensive. Since the only thing I wanted to see or do in Zermatt was see the Matterhorn, I found it cheaper to just take the train in from Thun and spend the day looking at it. By staying in Thun for four days we will have multiple days to find the best weather day to go. Since Thun to Zermatt is just a 2 hour ride, that should give us enough time for a day trip there.
With regards to your comment about the cost, correct me if I’m wrong but…I have purchased a 15 day train pass. I believe this purchase covers all our train rides between the different towns. What I’m not sure of, does the train pass cover the all the other modes of transportation that are needed to get to our final mountain destinations (e.g. cogwheel trains, cable cars, lifts, funiculars)?
Hi Mark,
Thank you so much for all the pictures!! Now I know I will see what I’m hoping to see! Also, I’m glad to know that Jungfrau and Monch will have snow on them too. See my reply to Danielsan as to why I have chosen to stay in three places in the same area. I do plan on us going to Grindenwald-First for the Cliff Walk and Bachalpsee Lake. I haven’t looked into Mannlichen yet. But I will now. Again, thanks!
Hi Julianagen,
If your 15 day train pass is the Swiss Travel Pass (STP), then nearly all train, bus, and boat rides are included throughout Switzerland. Generally speaking, most (but not all) cable cars are 50% discounted (some are less than 50%). There is a link on this site that shows the validity of the STP and other passes. ( http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses). I’m not sure which ones (cable cars) are included, as I believe it may change each year. Look through the link to better get an idea.
I fully understand your thoughts on staying in Murren and the other villages, believe me, which is why I said “just suggestions”. I was toying with staying in the valley (Lauterbrunnen) and looking up, or staying up (Wengen), and looking down. Ultimately I decided on Wengen. (I was there for just 3 nights though). Wengen is only about a 13 min. ride down to Lauterbrunnen. Also one can take cable cars from Wengen to Grindelwald (via Mannlichen) to explore Grindelwald First, and the train going through Wengen continues on to Kleine Scheidegg. So there are a few options/advantages to staying in Wengen. This basically, is the reason I suggested shaving a few days here and spending some in Zermat. In Zermatt, the Glacier Paradise tram will take you to Kleine Matterhorn which has snow all around a 360 degree panoramic view. I was there in Sept. 2018, and there were people skiing. So there is definitely snow up there then. There can be some reasonable hotels in Zermatt. I stayed at a place called Hotel Welschen that said “Matterhorn view”, not “mountain view”. It was great with a balcony that had the Matterhorn right in front of me.
I hope your balcony views are of the Jungfrau and not just a “mountain view in Murren. You may want to confirm that with the hotel just to make sure. Again, have a great time with whatever you decide.
Danielsan
Hi Julianagen
your reasons for staying in Murren and Wengen does have validity and will meet your expectations. You will have good views from both Wengen and Murren of Lauterbrunnen valley, albeit from above. I believe the view of Lauterbrunnen valley from Lauterbrunnen may be another matter. To get good views of the valley will need to walk past the train station and towards Stechelberg. Certainly a short walk from Lauterbrunnen proper but I would be surprised if the view from your hotel will suffice unless it is on the very edge of town past the station. Anyway the short walk from Lauterbrunnen station towards Stechelberg is very scenic and worthwhile whether you stay in Lauterbrunnen or visit from Wengen or Murren (see photos)
Mark
I’m somewhat surprised you couldn’t find any August pictures with snow on high mountain tops – I did a quick search and found loads so I didn’t post any of my own .
I just want to make sure that you really are certain that you want to keep moving accommodation when you are spending xx night sin an area of just about 30 km across. It takes not much longer than 1 hour to travel between all of the places in the Berner Oberland area aka ‘Jungfrau’ region (including Thun), and even Luzern is not all that far away (remember Switzerland is a small country and the central ‘famous’ bit you are covering is quite a small area within that!
You should take care with Zermatt. There is no absolute guarantee that a one day visit won’t meet a day when cloud obscures the Matterhorn
I’ve stayed at Alpenrose Wengen before, it’s a little far from train station but you get one of the closest view of the 3 peaks (Jungfrau, Eiger and Monch). My recommendation would be get one of those “apartment” in Chalet Erika. It’s a separate Chalet just next to the main hotel building, only 3 apartment, all with balconies directly facing the peaks compared side views from rooms in the main building.
You’ll definitely see those peaks capped with snow unless global warming goes haywire this year…touch wood.
HI Julianagen,
Just confirm Danielsan’s comment. The Swiss Travel Pass does indeed cover all your train rides between towns. However for cable cars, funiculars and mountain railways, you need to present the STP at the ticket counter to get discounted tickets. This is explained in detail here: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass/validity
Regards,
Anna
Thank you Anna. Right after I posted my question, I remembered the STP includes discounts on other items as well.
Lijianhughes,
Thank you for your input. I was wondering which mountains I would be seeing from the Alpenrose and now you have confirmed it’s the big three! From my research I do know that the Alpenrose is far from the station. However, they say they provide shuttle service, so we plan on using it. Also, we plan using our stay at the Alpenrose as our days of rest and relaxation vs touring around on those days. I will look into your suggestion of the apartment though.
1960man,
Thank you for your input. I do realize all my stays are near each other. Like I said in a previous post, I made my choices based on the hotels I wanted to stay at based on the views they offered. I do not want to stay in one place. I have seen pictures of snow covered mountains, but I couldn’t always determine if I would see them from where I would be or they weren’t seen in the backgrounds of the hotel website pictures. We plan on packing light so we don’t have to haul a lot of luggage. As far as Zermatt goes, I will have four days to choose from when we go there. I will pick the day that weather reports give us the best odds of clear skies. I realize this is no guarantee but it will have to do.
Hi Mark,
We will be staying at the Staubach Hotel with views of the Staubach Falls. From pictures I’ve seen it does appear that we will be surrounded by cliff walls and won’t have an expansive view of the valley. If Stechelberg is where we have to go to get this, then we will visit that area rather than finding a hotel to stay there. Thank you for this good-to-know information.
Danielsan,
Funny you should suggest staying at the Hotel Welschen. I actually looked into staying there until I found out they are closed down. Apparently they are remodeling their place. Thanks for letting me know about the Glacier Paradise. I was just going to go to Gornergrat but now I might get the combo ticket. I’m not sure what mountain I will be seeing from our stay at the Alpina Hotel in Murren. I just know it sits on the edge of the cliff wall and that’s what I like. I do know that our stay in Wengen will have views of the Jungfrau, Eiger and Monch. As far as my question regarding what the STP pass covers, I remembered that it includes discounts right after I pressed the send button :-).
Hi Julianagen,
It’s to bad that Welschen is undergoing renovations, because its a real gem. When I was searching for hotels it said “balcony, Matterhorn view” etc. etc. It didn’t say “mountain view”. I stopped searching and booked my room right then and there. There are TONS of hotels/apartments in Zermatt. I never continued to look and am glad. It was less than a ten minute walk from the train (excluding photo stops) and the view from my balcony was absolutely perfect. Great breakfast with an absolutely charming and friendly staff.
As far as the Glacier Paradise goes, going on that first, I was able to see both that and the Gornergrat on the same day. I then came back to Zermatt, had some lunch, and then went up to the Gornergrat. (Which is directly across from the main train station.) I set out a little bit (from the afore mentioned Welschen) later than noon. It worked out really well because I was able to see the sun setting just beyond the shoulder of the Matterhorn. Stunning, just stunning. All around you there are 14000+ foot peaks covered with snow. Between that, and the Paradise excursion, you will definitely get your fill of the snow covered peaks you want to see. Plus the glaciers seen from the Gornergrat make for some amazing scenery as well. Just an awsome place to walk around and take in the scenery.
FYI, you won’t actually see the Eiger from Wengen, the Jungfrau, yes. But you will see all three from Murren. In Wengen, you have Mannlichen, (the mountain in the shadows of Wengen) in the way. But once you take that cable car up to Mannlichen, the Eiger is right there waiting for you. I just hope you have the great weather I was fortunate to have.
Regards,
Danielsan
Danielsan,
Thank you for the inspirational information :-).
- The thread ‘Snowcapped mountains in Switzerland in September?’ is closed to new replies.
