When to visit Switzerland for Hiking

Hello Sue601,

Well, you can hike all year round, but indeed there are much more options in Summer. I would say that July, August and September are the best months, as the chance of the higher trails being inaccessible because of snow is very low. In Winter you're limited to the Winter trails that have been cleared from snow. In Spring and Fall there are still lots of options, but mostly in lower altitudes. Trails might be snow covered or muddy in those seasons, so it takes a bit more preparation to pick the best options. Also, Spring and Fall are low-season, which means that some cable cars are closed.

It all depends on your expectations, but for high altitude trails, Summer is best.

I think the pages below may be interesting for you:

• http://www.myswissalps.com/hiking
• http://www.myswissalps.com/hiking/preparation
• http://www.myswissalps.com/aboutswitzerland/nature

April, May, and early June are not good times for hiking in the Alps around Bernese Oberland. Most of the high mountain transports will be shut down until at least early to mid-May and the walks (which are the truly stunning ones) accessible from those points are usually not open until mid-June, sometimes later. Most likely nothing at all will be open in Gimmelwald and very little in Mürren or Wengen. Even the lower elevation walks might still be snow-covered and/or muddy in April.

Suggest you plan for late June through mid-September.

Good to see we're on the same page here Kim! Thanks for posting!

Hello Arno, looks like we pressed the "Post" button about the same time! Glad we didn't provide conflicting/confusing info :-)