My Way Alpine Tour

Here's a report from last year that might help.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/my-way-alpine-tour-tips

I haven't personally done this tour, but I certainly read enough reports in this forum to know that people generally love this tour. Some people even do it again.

Here is a link to a scrapbook that one tour participant put together in 2019
https://robindeacle.wixsite.com/epicalpine2019

Thanks LIZinPA for posting the past tour comments. I really enjoyed reading it. This tour is on my wishlist.

Thanks Carol Now Retired (I'm from Lynnwood too) for the link to the scrapbook. So many options!

Thank you so much for all the amazingly detailed info; appreciate it! It’s unfortunate that they do not tell you which town you are staying in near Alpe de Suisse; big difference between Bolzano and Kastelruth!

The first few years, they stayed in Bolzano. By the time I took the tour in 2015, they'd moved to Kastelruth because it was much closer to the hiking trails. Either way (or another place in the area), the tour is great.

I went in early June and the weather wasn't great. However the tours just before and just after (late May and late June) had near-perfect weather. None of the places we visited were swamped with tourists.

We went in mid-September several years ago, and absolutely loved it. The tour manager provided helpful suggestions regarding hiking trails and restaurants. And the best was the wine tasting she organized for some of us in Chamonix. We had rain on bus days, and beautiful weather, albeit cold, on hiking days. The best thing was that we were on a bus for the very curvy, narrow roads. I would not want to have to navigate and tell my husband how to get to these places. I say TAKE THIS TOUR!

We went in May 2018 and it was one of the best tours we have ever been on. The country side lent itself to personalized hiking, and then we would see members of our group to join for dinner. Absolutely beautiful country side - especially the Alpe de Suisse and the Lautenbrunnen valley. We did a lot of hiking on our own, but also went to some places with the group. Our guide helped us when most of the group wanted to do something like the Zugspitze or the Eagles Nest. I would do it again!

I did mid-June 2019 and thought it was great, highly recommend.

Thank you for the last two posts; appreciate the insight. I am curious which town you stayed in near the Alpe di Suisse? Looking forward to their 2024 schedule.
Thanks again,
Gary

I believe the past few years have been Katelruth/Castelrotto. I'm going on this tour in July so I've read all the past trip reports from the past few years. We should know soon once the May tour people get their final itineraries!

Hi - mid- June 2019 we stayed in Alpe di Siusi, Castelrotto at the Hotel Cavallino D'Oro, about a five minute walk from the cover picture on the (2019?) RS Guidebook.

As always, thanks for all the info. Looking forward to the new schedule coming out for 2024, I am trying to stay on top it it, checking the site regularly for updates. Do the tour dates fill up really fast? Also, I kind of scratch my head as to why the would stay in Bolzano over Catelrotto. Castelrotto seems like a no brainer to me.
Thanks again,
Gary

Thanks dovetraveler. Keeping our fingers crossed that we stay there and not Bolzano!

It's definitely one of the tours that sells out the quickest (If not THE tour) But I think it takes a few months to sell out. I booked last August at which point I started checking the remaining available dates regularly. I'd say it wasn't until December or so that availability became really limited.

Thanks, appreciate the info. I plan on booking the day the schedule comes out, so should be fine!!

Hi. I took this tour one of the first weeks it was offered, and we stayed in Bolzano. As noted by others, the stop pretty quickly changed to Kastelruth. One thing I have done in the past is phoned the office and asked if they can tell the town/location where you will spend the night for any particular date. While it may be the exact hotel is not yet finalized, they may be able and willing to share largish differences like Bolzano vs Kastelruth. It does not hurt to ask.

I took this tour in mid summer, as noted, the first year it was offered. I like to think I was among the alums who advocated for an alpine itinerary - and it transpired! It is one of my favorite tours because it is one of my favorite bits of Europe, and because it is not a typical tour. Basically, you spend the time as you wish, just adhering to being on the bus when you need to be. I found having the transportation and hotels taken care of by RS and the availability of a group of like-minded travelers very satisfying. My group was very friendly. Sometimes people planned activities together or just spontaneously came together as a group, say for meals, on our own. Yet there were group members who spent their days much differently than I did. I like to walk; some like to hike, for instance.

I went in July. The weather was hot. Were I to do this again, and I may, I would perhaps opt for optimal wild flower times OR perhaps for cow parade times in autumn. The highlights for me were perhaps gentle highs: I discarded my to-do list and got to know others in the group, and did unplanned things. It might not sound like much, but I loved joining tour mates for the Boar Burger at Schwangau (restaurant on the lake near the castles, easy to walk to if at castles); the Greek restaurant at Fuessen was wonderful (may be closed now), as was wandering the town at dusk and coming on an outdoor concert; an impromptu group wine party on the lawn at the Chamonix hotel (fantastic hotel by the river); a really long lunch at the Gimmelwald hostel/pension - outdoors of course with the best views in the world. If I go again, I want to walk the valley floor from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg and imagine I am in Middle Earth with Tolkien.

BTW, this tour lends itself to time on your own before or after. I stayed in Innsbruck a few days ahead of time. Lots of options in the area to explore, Munich, even Verona, if you want to land in Italy, or Zurich or Vienna. Many, many options. I probably will take this tour again. Enjoy.

We took this tour last August. It was our first tour and we loved it. Except for transport on the bus between cities, you could be on your own or hang out with other people. We ended up hiking and dining with others far more than we expected to. We met so many fun people. And the guide exceeded expectations. He knew so much about the hikes! If we didn't have other places we want to see first, we would take this tour again next year.

In 2022, some tours stayed in Bolzano and some in Kastleruth. I was disappointed when I heard our hotel was in Bolzano but it was fine. We had a bit longer bus ride to the hiking was all. But it was only one day.

I wish we had a 4th night in Lauterbrunnen. We were very lucky and had perfect weather the entire trip.

Mary:
Thank you for the information, we appreciate it. Looking forward to the schedule coming out for the 2024 season.
Thanks again,
Gary

Just booked the My Way Alpine Europe tour for June 26- July 7. ‘24. Any ideas on how the wildflowers are at that time of year? I know it varies year to year depending on their winters.
Also, they show the hotel in Salzburg as Hotel Hofwirt and Chamanoix as Hotel Plan B. They both seem nice enough, but hardly the “alpine “ vibe I was expecting. Anyone been to either of those two? Or other hotels in the other towns?
Just curious, thanks!
Gary

Hi Gary:
So glad you signed up for the next summer’s tour. I’m going next month, on June 21. We are also staying at those two hotels. The other hotels may feel more alpine-y, in Castelrotto and Wengen (for my tour).

For the wildflowers, I can tell you that they were out in the Alpi di Suisi meadow last summer in mid June. Gorgeous.

I can’t wait to explore these areas! The scrapbooks and shared posts sound like an amazing adventure awaits us ;)

Shawn:
Thanks so much for the info; appreciate it! I hope you have an incredible trip. Hope to hear more about your adventures down the road.
Safe travels,
Gary

You'll love this tour! I went last year in late May/early June and had a wonderful time. I've considered doing it again, it's a beautiful trip! In Alpe di Siusi we stayed in Castelrotto. I think the hotels vary depending on availability, not sure. We stayed in Hotel Hofwirt in Salzburg. It's a great location for all the things to do. In Chamonix we stayed in Hotel L'Arve. Not all the hotels have a huge "alpine" feel but they were all nice with delicious breakfasts. I hardly spent time in the hotels except in the evenings, each one was unique in it's own way. You're going to have a fabulous time!

Thanks Virginia:
We are really looking forward to this trip.
And you are correct, we are going for the scenery and the hiking, not the hotels. Although, I do appreciate starting the day with a delicious breakfast!!
Take care,
Gary & Shirleen
Sisters, Oregon

Checking to see how the My Way Alpine Tour was in the late June/ early July time frame ? How was the weather, wildflowers, etc? Anything place or experience that really stood out? Love to hear from some people that did the trip!!
Thanks,
Gary

we were there mid-july during the heatwave. So, very hot. It did cool down at night to the 70s so not too bad at night. I think we were a little late for peak wildflowers. There were some, but not as spectacular as I had hoped. But Ive never been before, so I didn't really know what to expect.

Our favorite parts of the trip were everything during our Lauterbrunnen stay, Alpe di Suisi (stayed in Bolzano), and Fussen/the castles. Also, our guide/bus driver took us to Innsbruck and Lucerne on 2 of the bus days instead of stopping at a highway restaurant which I really loved. It sounded like this is something they don't normally do, but maybe they will make a regular stop. I liked being able to see cities we normally wouldnt have.

Lamb616:
Thanks so much for the reply , appreciate it!
We are there 6-26 thru 7-6, so we may hit the wildflowers and cooler weather. I’m sure it varies from year to year.
Thanks again,
Gary

Now that I've done it, if I were to do it again (which I totally would!!!) I'd probably choose to go early- to mid-June.
I still have a kid that's in school til late June, so all of our summer Europe trips have unfortunately been restricted to July-August.🔥🌞🥵.

2 more years!!

lamb616:
Thanks for the insight! Enjoy them while you can!! Our trip next summer is to celebrate our 50th anniversary!! Seems like just yesterday my girls were in high school 🤗

Exactly, feels like yesterday that mine were in diapers!
Enjoy counting down the days until your tour. There are several blogs and scrapbooks out there that you can check out if you haven't already.

Are the blogs and scrapbooks on this particular trip? I’m not very good on the computer, but I will try to track them down. Are they on the Rick Steve’s forum? Thanks as always!

Yes! The My Way Alpine tour. Some are personal blogs and some are posted on this site in the scrapbook section.
I have some saved on my work computer, I'll send you the links tomorrow.

Thanks so much, very kind of you!

These should keep you busy! I can't figure out how to get to the Scrapbooks on this site. They're here somewhere.....

https://harp-rhubarb-792m.squarespace.com/

https://marielleanddaninvt.wixsite.com/alps2017

https://seysalpineeurope.weebly.com/

https://robindeacle.wixsite.com/epicalpine2019

I’m very interested in this tour as well, even though it seems a departure from what I love about my usual tour experience. I love the great guides and sites with the built in history lessons and cultural insights etc etc. This tour seems like it will be natural beauty to soak in from start to finish, walk as much or not as you want, no brain power needed! 😁 I’m just debating when would be the best time of the year to go on it. I’m leaning to the fall.

On my iPad, on safari browser, if you hit the ‘our tours’ page you will see several links to choose: ‘Our small tours’, ‘tour experience videos’, and ‘tour scrapbooks’ is one of them to choose.

I can't figure out how to get to the Scrapbooks on this site.

They can be found here:

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/scrapbooks/tour-alum-scrapbooks

Just click on the year and scroll down to look for my way alpine.

aaah, there they are!

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/scrapbooks/tour-alum-scrapbooks

you just look through each year and look for My Way Alpine......

Lamb616 and Carrie:
Thank you both so much for all the great info / links; really appreciate them!! We are sequestered indoors due to wildfire smoke and heat, so this is a great time to check them all out!!
This is our first My Way tour and I think it will be great. Having never been to the area (Switzerland decades ago) , I can’t say what time of year is best; all depends on what you are after. The Fall is probably much quieter, pretty colors and the cows with their bells on the move. We picked late June / early July hoping it won’t be quite as crowded or as hot at mid- July and August, and hoping to catch the wildflowers (depending on what kind of winter they have.
Thanks again for all the info!! Having so much fun with the research and planning !
Take care,
Gary & Shirleen
Sisters, Oregon

This is a great resource for your time in Switzerland. This was put together by forum member shoe.

https://lauterbrunnenhiking.wordpress.com/

Looks like you’ll have 3 nights in the Lauterbrunnen Valley. My top recommendation would be a trip up to Mannlichen. Here’s a great you tube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsp2XG8lPyw

Thanks Carrie 🤗