[Anonymous]

25 October 2017 at 15:10:02 #813564

Please advise as to weather, scenery and flowers which is the best time to visit Switzerland. We will be doing an 11 day circle tour by train hitting most major areas of Switzerland ending in the Jungfrau region. Our choices are last week of June/early July, first week/mid July and last week July/early Aug. Thanks!

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[User]

Reply 1 of 11 • 25 October 2017 at 17:03:49 #871240

Hi Teensy and welcome to MySwissAlps!

As far as nice weather up in the mountains any of those time should be good. I think the scenery in Switzerland is good all year-round!

But good, warm days can be found between late June and mid September. For more on weather in Switzerland click here. If you want to avoid too much heat (+30/33 degrees) I would typically avoid mid July to late August.

I’m not a flower expert so I will leave that to another member! 🙂

[User]

Reply 2 of 11 • 25 October 2017 at 19:35:45 #871241

Hi teensy –

Wildflowers are better in June, especially in the Alps. Late June, because early June is still pretty much late Winter at high altitudes. At lower altitudes, Spring starts in May, so the wild flowers will be blooming from May onward.

Here is some general information:

http://www.myswissalps.com/ab outswitzerland/nature

Slowpoke

[rockoyster]

Reply 3 of 11 • 26 October 2017 at 7:30:15 #871242

Hiya teensy,

I was in Lucerne 2 June 2017 and found lots of spring flowers on Mt Rigi. See http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/spring-flowers-on-rigi

[User]

Reply 4 of 11 • 26 October 2017 at 8:07:09 #871243

Hi Rockoyster-

Rigi-Kulm and the western face of the Rigi get a bit more sun than some of the high Alps, and are at a bit lower altitude than, for example, Männlichen. And, it was a warm summer.

And, there are plenty of meadows to walk through. Great place for wild flowers, as you note.

There is an Alpine Plant Garden at Schynige Platte, at about 1970 meters a bit below the highest elevations there:

http://www.alpengarten.ch/en/

The cograil up to Schnyige Platte opens for the Spring on May 18, next year.

Slowpoke

[Arno]

Reply 5 of 11 • 27 October 2017 at 9:42:42 #871244

Hello Teensy,

This page might be helpful too: http://www.myswissalps.com/be sttimetovisit

[rockoyster]

Reply 6 of 11 • 27 October 2017 at 9:48:06 #871245

Thanks Slow’

Bonzer link thanks. Another one for the bucket list for our next visit.

Last May we just missed the Schynige Platte (gee I wish Arno would grant me the ability to add links to these places – would make it all so much more readable) start up by a couple of days. Will be better organised next time.

[Arno]

Reply 7 of 11 • 27 October 2017 at 9:56:42 #871246

Hi Rockoyster,

For now you can just copy any URL from the address bar of your browser and paste it into your post. It will be converted to a clickable link. Like this:

http://www.myswissalps.com/sc hynigeplatte

I know that’s not exactly what you’re looking for, but it’s what I can offer right now 😉

[rockoyster]

Reply 8 of 11 • 27 October 2017 at 10:14:03 #871247

I know Arno. Just can’t resist stirring – it’s an Aussie trait. When do you reckon the new WordPress-based version of MySwissAlps will be launched? See?

[Arno]

Reply 9 of 11 • 27 October 2017 at 10:25:07 #871248

No worries, I know you really want that option 🙂 However managing a site like this unfortunately means that there is an extremely long to-do list, and not every idea can be implemented soon, or ever. This isn’t a WordPress-based site but we’re working on improvements and upgrades – all the time actually.

[User]

Reply 10 of 11 • 27 October 2017 at 14:00:17 #871249

Thanks! I looked at pictures of that area and it is a must do. I think I am leaning toward going the last week of June/early July after reading the post and seeing pictures. I would welcome any other tips.

[User]

Reply 11 of 11 • 27 October 2017 at 23:50:45 #871250

>> I would welcome any other tips.

You will probably get some useful tips once you post details of your itinerary, including dates of travel, where you will be staying overnight (and for how many nights), and what you plan to do at each of your overnight locations.

For an 11-day trip, I would suggest no more than 4 overnight stops. If you plan on incorporating scenic train trips into your itinerary, your overnight stops should be chosen with those routes and travel times in mind.

This map of scenic routes in Switzerland might help with your planning:

http://www.sbb.ch/content/dam /sbb/en/pdf/en_bahnhof -services/en_am-bahnhof/en_unsere-bahnhoefe/panoramic-routes.pdf

The Wilhelm Tell Express is now called the Gotthard Panorama Express.

Travel times for the scenic routes (one way) are as follows:

• Glacier Express from Zermatt to St Moritz: 8 hours 06

• Bernina Express from Chur to Tirano: 4 hours 13

• Golden Pass line (full) from Luzern to Montreux: 5 hours 08

• Golden Pass Line (part) from Luzern to Interlaken Ost: 1 hour 50

• Golden Pass line (part) from Interlaken Ost to Montreux: 3 hours 05

• Gotthard Panorama Express (boat and train) from Luzern to Lugano: 5 hours 26

• Palm Express (PostBus) from Lugano to St Moritz: 3 hours 48

• Voralpen-Express from Luzern to St. Gallen: 2 hours 16

• RegioExpress Lötschberger (full) from Bern to Brig: 1 hour 41

• RegioExpress Lötschberger (part) from Spiez to Brig: 1 hour 08

• Centovalli Railway from Locarno to Domodossola: 1 hour 46

If you want to calculate travel time for short sectors along these routes, you can use the Swiss Timetable:

http://www.myswissalps .com/timetable

Alpenrose