[violetlam]

17 June 2017 at 4:38:27 #812299

Hi, i am wondering when is the best time to travel off-peak season in switzerland. In my mind I am thinking of either May or September. Hope someone can give me some advise.

Places to visit are Zurich, Lucerne, Engelberg and the Benese Oberland.

Violet

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[Arno]

17 June 2017 at 7:22:08 #865252

Hi Violet,

September is probably a little less off-peak than May, but does offer better chances on good weather (all averages!). But both are fine depending on your expectations. Did you read myswissalps.com/ besttimetovisit?

[violetlam]

17 June 2017 at 7:56:10 #865253

Hi Arno

Both of us like the cold and not the hot season as we have plenty of sunshine where we are. But we do want to have good weather to do outdoors activities as well.

[Arno]

17 June 2017 at 17:06:59 #865254

Hi Violet,

Then I’d say you like early May best for the weather, but it is really off-season so you should check opening dates and transportation schedules for places you’d like to visit. In September basically everything will be open.

I can’t stress enough that it’s all averages when it comes to the weather. Early May can be warm too, but not as warm as July and August.

[Slowpoke]

18 June 2017 at 18:03:37 #865255

Hi Arno-

<<“I can’t stress enough that it’s all averages when it comes to the weather. Early May can be warm too, but not as warm as July and August.”>>

Certainly true and there are plenty of “microclimate” regions in Switzerland to in crease the standard deviation. (That is, the degree of variability within the average.)

However, i think I’d add:

<<“I can’t stress enough that it’s all ALTITUDE when it comes to the weather. Early May can be warm too, but not as warm as July and August.”>>

So, early June at 2300 meters may look like late Winter, while Spring will have arrived long before, in May or June, at lower elevations.

The corollary is that in parts of May and early June, many alpine regions will have taken a break. Skiing has deteriorated, but hiking is still not possible at higher altitudes. So, many, but not all, hotels and restaurants near the Jungfrau are closed. Mountain transport tends to start up at approximately May25th.

Slowpoke

[Arno]

18 June 2017 at 18:17:40 #865256

Yes, good one, altitude matters a lot. Minus 0.7 °C for every 100 m going up I believe. Again an average, not a guarantee 🙂

[violetlam]

20 June 2017 at 4:37:15 #865257

Thank you for both your views and quick response.

Another item is how many days would i need to cover these places.

Zurich, Lucerne, Engelberg, Bernese Oberland.

I do not want it to get boring so any suggestions would be most welcome and appreciated.

Also is Lauterbrunnen a good spot to make it a hub for Bernese Oberland.

Regards.

Violet

[Removed user]

20 June 2017 at 8:17:01 #865258

Hi Violet,
It really depends on what you want to do in these areas. The Bernese Oberland would take many weeks to explore it fully. How much time do you have for this trip and what activities do you want to see and do?
I think Lauterbrunnen is indeed a nice base for the Bernese Oberland region. If you want a slightly larger town with better train connections consider Interlaken – but it isn’t that interesting a city unto itself.

In planning your train trips be sure to use the Swiss railways timetable here.

See the following links for ideas on what to do in each town:

• Zurich
• Luzern
• Lauterbrunnen
• Interlaken
• Bernese Oberland Region

Lucas

[Slowpoke]

20 June 2017 at 12:05:23 #865259

Hi Violet –

This may be helpful for understanding more about the Jungrau region, wich is, of course, only part of the Bernese Oberland:

http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/tips-about-wengen-and-the-jungfrau-region-by-kim

I personally like to stay in Wengen, but Lauterbrunnen might be a bit better hub.

A map will be helpful to guide your use of the timetable:

map.search.ch/?pos=640088,162696&z=32 &poi=bergbahn,halteste lle,zug

I have zoomed in so that you can see the rail and mountain transport lines, and, by using the menu under Points of Interest/Traffic, I have turned on a layer with icons for transport stops. If you expand the map to larger areas, you may wish to turn of the transport stops, because they become to crowded on the map to be useful.

Slowpoke