[Removed user]

13 March 2018 at 17:17:07 #814752

Hi everyone,

I will be spending just shy of a month exploring Switzerland, Italy, and Spain by rail (starting from Germany) in late mid-late May and early June 2018. The interrail ticket means I am fairly flexible, however as of right now my plan is to roughly spend May 17-20 in Lucerne, May 20-24 in Interlaken, and May 24-27 in Zermatt before leaving Switzerland for Italy. My hope in all of these locations is to spend as much time (weather permitting) outside/hiking as possible.

I’ve been doing quite some reading, a lot of it on this forum as well, and it seems like May is off season as far as tourism is concerned, and can be a hit or miss in regards to the weather, although it seems like thats the case all year round in many parts of the Alps. I did see that the Europaweg which ends in Zermatt is likely closed this early (?), but more specifically, I had also looked at the Vom Pilatus über das Mittaggüpfi nach Gfellen hike and the Vom Brienzer Rothorn nach Turren hike in Lucerne, the Schynige Platte Hike and part of the Hardergrat trail that goes from Interlaken to Brienz in Interlaken, and the Gornergrat cog wheel as well as some day hikes (http://www.alpenwild.com/stat icpage/the-best-day-hikes-in-zermatt/) in Zermatt.

I will be traveling alone, and I have done some multi-day hiking in the alps before, although that was in late summer in Austria.

If anyone has feedback on any of the hikes I mentioned, or recommendations on places to visit or what to do/not to do in mid May I would love to hear your feedback. I know its hard to plan things this early, and I’ll probably get the best advice once I get into town, but I figured I’d post here so I’ve got a better idea of what to expect.

Thank you all for your input!

Cheers.

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[Removed user]

14 March 2018 at 19:41:40 #878730

Hi najusten and welcome to MySwissAlps!

I don’t have any personal experience on those hikes, but I would say that you may come into difficulty on any hikes over 2000 meters in May. If we get a good amount of sun and heat this spring you may luck out at the end of the month – but we’ve had a lot of snow in the mountains this year. Certainly the best option is to consult with the local tourist offices when you are in the area to see what is available to you.

We have shorter hikes described on our website here and you can search for more details on multi-day hikes in the search bar; as there have been other discussions and you may find something of use there. 🙂