Early June Switzerland

That sounds lovely!I am like you about pairing far-flung locales, but this is efficient and works.
I would have loved three nights in Lucerne. Two nights gave us time to see the town and time for a day trip to Mt Pilatus, but I easily could have spent another day. I'd be less enthused about a morning in Zurich, and three stops will be plenty. The hiking in Murren was otherworldly good, and I will never forget those views.

Late May has historically been a wonderful time to be in Italy for me--hopefully 1/3 of the people going to the AC will forget about it by next year, lol.

One thing to keep in mind is that many hiking trails may still be closed in early June as many of us experienced this June.

Thank you valadelphia for your feedback! I saw that you can get a train that goes from Luzern to the airport with a brief stop in the city so perhaps if we don’t feel like a morning in Zurich that may be an option. Looking at flights that leave between 7:40-8:30pm.

I posted on the Italy board today regarding our time in Italy. My brain has to think of them as two separate trips. Yes, I have seen how crowded Amalfi has been the last few years. Let’s hope that after this year everyone has been. Lol

Hi Carrie- Yes, I saw that. We will just have to do what we can do. I know some years are better than others in June.

I am wrapping up my travel in Swiss... I am in Bern now..
I spent two nights in Luzern and one of the day was hiking the Stoos ridge in a rain.. (not fun.. but we had nothing to do, and we had hoped, sky would clear up.. it didn't.. )
Luzern is small, I thought one night was sufficient to explore the city...

Carrie is right.. early June, many hiking trail will be closed.. hopefully, you can still get some nice hikes in..
Murren still has lot of constructions.. noisy and dust everywhere.. Wengen is better.. so much more quiet.. recommend Hotel Edelweiss in Wengen.. terrific hotel and food is amazing.. the staff is top notch.. loved the time there..

Bern is small city as well.. you can probably do everything in one day.. I would spend most of my time in Wengen - that's the reason for Swiss travel..

Hi Gene- I really appreciate your feedback. Thank you for your comments on Luzern as well as Bern.

I wasn’t sure if the construction in Mürren would be in a better spot by next year but it sounds like perhaps we will want to look elsewhere. We will probably do half board as I regretted not staying somewhere with the option when we were in the Dolomites for a week. How long were you in Wengen for?

We did 6 nights in Wengen. Bought ourselves half fare card and B-O pass. - it worked out great
We had 3.5 days of great weather … hopefully some of the beautiful hikes will be open to you… northface hike was stunning…

Hi Gene- I originally looked at 6 nights in that region with 2-3 nights Luzern skipping Bern but I know a lot of people really enjoy Bern. I really just need more vacation time!

I just stayed in both Murren and Wengen and love them both. You really can’t go wrong with either. The construction in Murren did not bother me. The one negative for me is I’m not a fan of the crowded cable car to get to and from Murren. But, it wouldn’t stop me from staying there. I stayed at the Hotel Edelweiss Superior and had the most spectacular view of Lauterbrunnen Velley. In Wengen, I stayed at Hotel Schonegg.

I am not a fan of Bern and personally would not devote any nights to it. It’s an easy day trip from Lucerne if you’d like to see it.

I would maximize time in the mountains.

I should have my trip report posted next week. And there’s some recent ones you might want to check out:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-alsace-wengen-murren-lucerne

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/family-trip-to-switzerland-june-2024

Thank you Carrie!! I appreciate your feedback. Joe many nights did you base in each location? I have this fear of missing out that always plagues me but in the end somethings must get cut. I appreciate your feedback and will look forward to your trip report soon.

FWIW, I LOVE Bern.
Not as a day trip, but I used it as a base for a week (lovely apartment near Muensterplatz), exploring quaint old alleyways after the tourists and work crowds went home.

This trip I had 3 nights in Montreux, Zermatt, Murren, and Lucerne. 4 nights in Wengen.

I felt I could have done with one less night in Lucerne, but I have been there on 2 previous trips. For me, the highlight of Lucerne is the boat/train ride to Mt. Rigi. I also enjoyed walking by and on the city walls this trip. Tune in to my trip report for the big surprise of what I saw there. :-)

If you want to see 2 mountains in Lucerne, I would give it 3 nights. If just 1 mountain, I would give it 2 nights and you can walk around the old town on your arrival day. The mountain excursions there are about a half day, but could be longer of course.

Cities like Bern don’t appeal to me as much as I thought they would. I’m finding I much prefer nature. A city I do love is Bruges, Belgium with all the canals. But the medieval cities, they are just not clicking with me. I even gave Bern a second try on this last trip, and other than the bear park, I wanted to get out of there. Everyone likes different things. Watch some you tube videos. If you think you’ll like Bern, make some time for it.

If you miss out on anything you’ll just have to come back. :-)

What a great way to celebrate his 50th. My 60th was spent in Switzerland, 2 weeks of hiking with our adult kids. But this was our third trip there together, so we knew exactly where we wanted to go.

What level of hiking do you like? I am guessing at least moderate or moderate to Strenuous, based on your age and previous hiking in the Dolomites. What hikes did you love there? That would give me an idea what to suggest for Switzerland. But many of the hikes we know will likely not be open in early June, so I will have to stretch out my repertoire a bit.

Two quick comments on your itinerary so far: for half-board you cannot do better than the Bären in Wengen. They are known for their excellent cuisine. When we stayed there on my birthday trip (this was 2007) it was basically a restaurant with a few basic rooms above, and classified as a 2-star hotel because they had no reception desk or other hotel services. But they have since upped their game, renovated the rooms, and still maintained the same excellent reputation for their restaurant. Much of what they serve is from local farms and gardens; we would see Therese heading out to visit these places each morning to select strawberries or whatever for the evening meal. They had 2 kinds of butter set out for breakfast, one freshly made from the dairy down the hill. Dinner was modern and innovative, not so much traditional Swiss. (You can get that for lunch at the mountain huts on your hikes). My favorite was the coconut-lime risotto served with local Zander (white fish).

As for Bern, we love that city, but stop there only for 1 night on our way in or out of Switzerland, usually for the night before flying out of Zurich. We prefer the hotel and restaurant options there to Luzern, which is more touristy and expensive.

Lola- Thank you for your thoughtful response. I would say moderate for this upcoming trip. We have done more strenuous hikes here in the states in some of our National Parks as well as in Scotland. We spent a week in Ortisie in the Dolomites. We enjoyed the lazy walks up in the Alpe di Suisi, Seceda, etc. Adolf Munkle comes to mind as a fun walking day. The huts always delay us! Lol There is so much we didn’t do and we will need to go back someday. Thank you for your hotel suggestion. I will for sure check it out. I am struggling with staying in one base or two in the area. I see many different opinions on the matter. I am aware that the trails early June will be pot lock depending on the snow melt but it will give us an excuse to return. I have seen some years where things open and reviews of others that a lot was still closed so we will just have to be prepared.

What a wonderful trip! We just traveled to Switzerland and really enjoyed our time in Wengen. Another excellent hiking region to consider is the Alpstein, with a home base of Appenzell. In that region you can see the Aescher Berggasthaus, Saxerlucke, Seealpsee & Bodensee (lakes), as well as many other beautiful mountain vistas. We saw ibex and chamois during our time there, plus lovely cows with their tinkly bells. Just another idea, and easily reachable from Zurich.

katherineloyalcollins- Thank you!! So much to see. We will only have 9 nights at the most so trying to figure out our priorities at the moment. It is so hard! We will just have to come back it seems.

Ok, Carrie, what's the surprise from the Lucerne Walk walk? I'm thinking you saw Hairy Coos cows? We did! Anxiously awaiting your TR!

I say you want 2 bases for more hiking options below the snow level.

I agree with Gene that the Hotel Edelweiss in Wengen is excellent.

Like Carrie, I found that the construction in Mürren was not a problem. If I hadn't walked by the Schilthorn cable car, i wouldn't have even known it was happening. And I am very sensitive to dust and noise.

I liked having three nights in Lucerne to end the trip on a more relaxing note. There is plenty to do if you are interested in any of the museums and the mountain excursions. If those don't interest you, then just a night or two might be fine.

Edited to add that if I returned to Wengen, I would consider the Hotel Bären, recommended by Lola, since their restaurant is so good. But the Edelweiss restaurant was also very good the one night we ate there.

Note that at any hotel in the Swiss Alps ( or in the Dolomites), half-board is usually a good deal, price wise. Much less expensive than ordering from the menu at the same hotel restaurant. Generally they offer a choice among 2 or 3 options for your starter and main course, and there is always a vegetarian option included.

Just note that Hotel Edelweiss and Hotel Bären are downhill from the Wengen train station. Might not be an issue for you, but I wanted to mention it. I hated that hill!! I climbed up and down it so many times looking for cows during the cow parades. :-)

Pat, you guessed it. :-) I couldn’t believe it. Scottish cows in Switzerland. Talk about a shock!!

Carrie is right, that hill is a pain, but we are in our 70s and just took it slow! I think the hotels will give you a lift up to the train station when you leave with your luggage, if you ask in advance, but we managed to make it with our roll-aboards and backpacks.

Thank you for your responses everyone. Barbara, Lola, and Carrie your responses were so valuable and I am looking forward to your trip report Carrie. I do so love a highland coo so I would have been excited and surprised too!

The hill comments made me chuckle. This must be one serious hill for so many comments on it!

Everyone has given me so much to think on. I will circle back once we make decisions! Thanks again.

We have decide to go with 1N Bern, 3N Wengen, 3 Murren, 2 Luzern. As you can see we extended our stay some. Don’t know how I will manage it with work but I will figure it out. You only live once! Booked hotels Baren in Wengen and currently at Hotel Edelweiss in Murren. Have also been looking at Hotel Eiger. Any options on the two? If I don’t hear from anyone here I might start a new thread with that one once they release dates for June 2025. I was told via email that they will open those 10 months prior. For Luzern we booked Hotel de Alpes with a balcony over the river. The lack of AC is concerning to me a bit but none of the hotels have ac in Wengen or Murren so hopefully it will be cooler at the beginning of June. Thank you for your feedback!