Rescheduled Swiss holiday for Spring 2023

For the second time in 2 years, my wife and I are cancelling our September trip to Switzerland, this time due to unscheduled foot surgery that came up just last week.We were scheduled to travel from Sept. 20 to Oct. 5, 2022. Luckily, we have been reimbursed everything except for a few train reservations. We plan to reschedule this 15 day trip to the Spring, 2023 and I am looking for advice of when to travel. I believe that traveling in Spring will result in more snow on the mountains which I think will be very pretty. We are both retired so there is no restrictions to prevent any dates. Obviously it has to be late enough in Spring to be able to go up all of the mountains and not be limited because of the snow. We are very moderate hikers so we don't plan any difficult or lengthy hikes. We also want to travel before the busy season. I am a daily reader of My Swiss Alps and I appreciate any advice that I can get from the moderators and travelers. Thanks

Joejax

I really like the last couple of weeks of June. Since 2001, I've planned 6 different trips utilizing the 15 day Swiss Travel Pass (used to be called a SwissPass in days gone by) during this time frame. The weather has always been very nice with maybe one or two partially rainy days during each of these trips. I also really like the extra long days that time of year. It doesn't get dark until 9:30-ish.

One trip had to be postponed (due to a death in my family) to the last two weeks of July, and the weather was nice then as well but it is a bit busier at that time of year and of course that is summer, not spring. If you do happen to go at the end of July, you might want to stay through August 1st, to enjoy Swiss National Day festivities.

Hi Joejax,

I am so sorry to hear that you have to reschedule your holiday because of health reasons. I hope that you will as fast as possible over it!

I think late May is the best Spring month to come as you see many flowers but also there will be still snow on the mountain tops. I also like June, but snow is not guaranteed because of global warming. At www.myswissalps.com/besttimetovisit and also at www.myswissalps.com/weather you can read about the months.

Ildiko

IIdiko, Thank you. Late May is when I hoped that you would recommend. I also like the mention of the flowers.

Joejax

Lastlook,

thank you for your response. If we travel in June, when do the travel crowds begin to travel. I want to avoid that busy season. I’m glad that June is still an attractive time to travel to Switzerland.

Joejax

Hi Joejax,

July and August are the most crowded months, so if you are coming in late May, early June, you'll be OK.

Ildiko

Joejax,

Be aware that, in the Jungfrau region, some of the attractive high mountain outings do not open until mid-June. Examples:

1. The train up to Schynige Platte doesn't start running until end of May. For 2022 it started May 26. There is often still snow at the top until mid-June.

2. The lovely "Granny's Walk" (wide, gently sloping downhill path about 2.5 miles long) from Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg) doesn't open until at least 15 June. The Männlichen gondola from Wengen up to the top also started operation 26 May 2022 but the path is still covered by snow for a few week.

A comprehensive resource for transport operating dates in the entire region is at www.regionalpass-berneroberland.ch/de/verkehrsmittel/

Further information not included on that site:

Männlichenbahn operating information (from Wengen and from Grindelwald) is at www.myswissalps.com/mannlichen/gettingthere

Schilthorn gondola information at www.myswissalps.com/schilthorn/gettingthere

Allmendhubel cable train timetables and fares are at muerren.swiss/en/summer/see-and-do/excursions/trip-destinations/allmendhubel/

Schynige Platte train information at www.myswissalps.com/schynigeplatte/gettingthere.

It is usually not too crowded any time in June.

Kim11,

Great information that you sent. Perhaps I should consider mid June for my trip? How is the weather that time of year?

Joejax

Kim,

With all of your extensive writings about Wengen and the Jungfrau Region, what is your favorite time of year to visit Switzerland?

Joejax

Joejax, with the caveat that no one can predict weather in the mountains best case more than a day (perhaps two days), in advance our favorite time of year is first two weeks September. Weather is usually delightful with occasional late afternoon very brief showers (we call these 'cocktail hour thunderstorms") that blow up quickly and leave just as rapidly.

After that i would say late June perhaps into early July. We were in Wengen for 12 days beginning July 1 this year. It had been a quite rainy two weeks before we arrived but cleared up on our second day. The tourist level was down about 50% from what I've seen in pre-Covid years. The large tour groups were still absent and that makes a huge difference. Who knows what 2023 will bring?

Our experience is that June usually has more rain than September does.

Given a choice I always go for September. But that is a long time to wait after your recent need to cancel again. I'm so sorry. It's very disappointing. Our most recent trip was our fourth try in 10 months. Then we got Covid the third day and that was that. )-: Best wishes for speedy recovery from foot surgery and happy planning!

Hi there!

@Kim11, cancelling 4 times, I am sorry for that. That must be terrible. I hope you can come back to Switzerland soon!

@Joejax, true that some of the mountain transports are still closed in May but there are still many others that work, for example, you can reach Mürren, Wengen, Grindelwald and Grindelwald First, Jungfraujoch, Kleine Scheidegg, Mannlichen (usually from end of May), Schilthorn, Harder Kulm, not to mention the boat rides on Lake Brienz and Lake Thun.

If you would like to visit everything in the Jungfrau region I think you need at least 2 weeks.

Are you planning to visit other regions in Switzerland too? Like Lake Lucerne or Zermatt or Ticino?

Ildiko

As others here have mentioned, July and August are the busiest. My hiking trips have always involved bringing family or friends with me who have never been to Switzerland, so I cover a lot of territory in order to show them as much as possible. So I don't focus on just one area and like having the extra daylight in mid to late June, to make the most of our days. I agree that early September is pleasant as well. I took a non-hiking trip with my husband and another couple many years ago and we actually had snow in St. Moritz in early September.

I was glad to have avoided the heatwave this year, but even in June, I noticed it was warmer than usual and was surprised to see water levels lower than usual in many places. If you go in June, you might find some places aren't fully open but you can plan around that. I remember on my first hiking trip in Switzerland, that I was planning to stay at Fluhalp (Zermatt) but it wasn't open yet and that was the 3rd week of June. However, other mountain hotels were open, so we changed our hiking plan that day and hiked to Grünsee. This year, one of the newer lifts that I wanted to take in Zermatt was not open so we worked around that as well. There are lots of wildflowers to enjoy in June as well.

Whenever you decide to go, I wish you a wonderful trip. Lots of great suggestions here from others with valuable experience.