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Heat next week- thoughts on either switching weeks between Switzerland and Paris, or CH on

We fly to Paris on Monday. Our current plan is 4 nights Paris, 1 night Strasbourg, and 4 nights Switzerland (Jungfrau region only). Given the current weather forecast for Paris next week, I am not sure I can handle the heat in Paris, even with a hotel with AC. Touring during the day sounds miserable.

Two thoughts- switch weeks and do Switzerland first. This assumes I can find new accommodations. I am willing to consider two areas, perhaps Splitting the nights between the Jungfrau region and Luzern. Paris won’t be a problem finding a hotel week 2 (starting 7/28 or 7/29). One member of our party is leaving after 5 nights and joining another group. She needs to end up in Strasbourg that day.

Other plan: skip Paris almost completely and just focus on Switzerland. Buy the 8 day Swiss Pass, and make full use of it, and enjoy a more leisurely trip through Switzerland, adding additional areas, preferably ones on the cooler side. The person who is leaving early can have a 4 or 6 day pass.

If I decide on plan 2, what other areas would you recommend? What would be good for 4-5 nights outside the Jungfrau region that would be relatively easy to find last minute accommodation?

Posted by
11507 posts

This is a hard one for me as I love Paris - but I hate Paris in the heat as the best thing about Paris is walking the neighbourhood and in that heat that is all no fun !

Posted by
8164 posts

Skip Paris especially if you've been there before and never to Switzerland.
I would do 4 nights in the valley at Interlaken or Lauterbrunnen or 4 nights in a mountain village like Murren or Wengen.
Then 4 nights around Lake Geneva near Montreux or Lausanne.
Use Booking.com to see what is available lodging wise in each place asap.

One thing for sure it is a lot cooler in the mountains and beautiful and less crowded.
I love Paris but not in the summer heat with all the tourists

Posted by
813 posts

Switzerland would be the logical choice, if you can find accommodations at this late date. If you end up going to Paris, one of things to consider is getting tickets on the Batobus. They are river boats that run a bus like loop basically from the Eiffel tower to the Ille St Louis with numerous stops. The ticket is not cheap but it is good for all day. My wife and I have found it a nice way to take a breaks from walking ... just hop on and watch the beautiful city go by for a while.

Posted by
24 posts

We just did a shorter version of your itinerary (except Colmar instead of Strasbourg). Paris at 103 F sounds like the threshold of hell.
One thing to keep in mind: even Switzerland will be quite hot, except in the mountains. Plan your train travel accordingly. The SBB website and app have a feature which shows how full a particular train usually is. Try to aim for early or late trains that are less full and therefore somewhat cooler. The upgrade to a 1st class ticket might be worth considering for the same reason.

Posted by
729 posts

We were in Switzerland a few weeks ago for the last heat wave. We stayed in Muerren, which was quite comfortable. The higher elevations had temps around 80 during the day, usually with a breeze, and cooled off at night. Which is good, because AC is not common.

The valley, however, was miserable. We traveled one day to the Ballenberg museum and couldn’t wait to escape back up to higher elevations. Even Lauterbrunnen was much hotter than Muerren.

Keep that in mind as you choose your accommodations and make daily plans.