Cows down the Mountains

Here's a link to the Switzerland website with information about when and where (I just googled it):

http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/themen/culture/alpine-ascent-and-descent-of-the-cattle.html

In general it's called transhumance, and it happens all over the world.

We saw the cow parade in early June one year in Wengen. It started early in the morning (we were awakened by bells) and hundreds of cows and their guides passed right in front of the hotel. Wonderful treat! we threw on some clothes and raced down to get pics. The dates probably vary from village to village.

Jan,

I'm not sure that event takes place on the same day every year (I don't know if there's a set date, as I've only seen it once in 2012). The parade of Cows that I saw was in Lauterbrunnen, which I didn't see listed on the website that is linked above, and it occurred on 27 September. It was an interesting vacation experience.

Hi, Jan. The myswitzerland link is a good one. For more granular info, look also at areas or location names of places you want to visit with search words like: Almabtrieb, Viehscheid, Alpabtrieb, Alpabfahrt. The terms vary depending on location. There are various Italian and French terms, too, but I would have to check my notes. I have not done much research for a year or two so transhumance might pull up useful results, too.

I attended an Almabtrieb in Mutters near Innsbruck in September 2011. I began researching in June of that year. I swear I knew every event from the west of Switzerland to Salzburg down to the Dolomites, too. However, I was on my way to the Village Italy tour starting in Padua. My criteria included, as little travel agony as possible, easy access / transportation, preferably near someplace I had been previously, which turned out to be Innsbruck.

There is not one set day for this occurrence. The timing is generally from early September through early October. You may want to start off looking at the cantons that you already plan to visit. Don't forget to search YouTube, as well, as folks seem to like making videos of their visits. I have lots of photos of coyly posing cows in their beautiful head-dresses. Oh, and there are versions of the event that focus on sheep, too - and sometimes horses depending on locale.

What fun. Have a good time searching and visiting.

PS, the autumn parades are when the cattle come down from the mountains. I did not know there were events in spring to celebrate the trip up to the mountains. More to learn.

Debbie

In Switzerland it really depends on the weather and conditions both up in the alps and down in the flatlands and published dates often change. Personally I'd email the tourist office in the area you're going to be an ask them for a date. They'll have a better idea. In some villages, the goats (and sheep sometimes) have a day to themselves too and its just about as fun.

In Oberstdorf in Germany, there's a small herd that makes the trek daily from their barn in the town up to the pastures. It's not a parade, or any kind of special event. More like a daily commute for the cows. But still find of neat to watch the herd walk through the town, almost like they're saying, "Don't mind us, we're just on our way to work."