Murren & Lucerne - middle of May

It depends on the year. April to early May is almost always too early, but mid to late May depends on how much snow fell during the winter and how cool or warm the spring has been. When I lived in Europe, I used to monitor the conditions in the Alps like a fox, eagerly awaiting the fall transition to winter and then the spring to summer change. But I'm back in the US now, so I can't say what this year has been like so far.

Luzern, being a city at lower altitude, is a much safer bet than Mürren during that timeframe.

For what it's worth, we were in charming & quaint Lucerne around the first of this month for two nights, which was just right. Stayed at Hotel Walstaetterhof across from the train station, and our one full day, which was about 40 F and clear as a bell, was spent touring the Old Town and the Lion Monument. The scenery around town was breathtaking, just as I imagined.

Took the train out the next morning & went above the snow line into a squall through the Alps, and then down to Chiasso at the Swiss/Italian border. Some of the most spectacular views I've ever experienced.

I have only 1 point of reference - on May 22, 2014 the weather could not have been more perfect in Mürren...
A view of the Eiger from a bit above Mürren

I found this gentleman's website to be a great way to see the latest from Mürren...
MürrenLover's Twitter page

Just a couple of week's earlier than our trip I 'watched' the snow disappear day by day by checking that website each morning.

OMG, Bruce! That's simply a stunning picture. And I thought Lucerne was beautiful...

I wouldn't say that Switzerland is overlooked sometimes, but for us it was, initially, a way-station, a respite between trains from Paris and to Florence. It turned out to be much more than that, even in 40-degree weather in very early March.

I will return to Switzerland, and to Murren this time.

Switzerland is only one of the best places to visit! Expensive but well worth it.

Also remember that nowadays you can access highly accurate weather reports days or hours before you travel somewhere over the internets, and there are often webcams at named attractions. We purposely left a hole of 2 days in our trip so we wouldn't have to try to do the Schilthorn if the weather wouldn't be great. Which it was, so off we went!

Thanks everyone for the responses & advice !! We are even more excited about visiting Murren after seeing that beautiful picture Bruce - thank you for sharing! Fingers crossed that the weather cooperates with our plans.

Looks like the snow is lingering around late this year. Most resorts on the Alps are still open for skiing, which is a later than normal.

Thanks for the kind words about the picture - the gods of travel were truly smiling on us that day - you could point the camera in pretty much any direction and end up with a memorable shot. If you are lucky enough to have 'Chamber of Commerce' kind of weather when you visit I strongly recommend walking from Mürren down to Gimmelwald. The views are stunning.

And if the gods of travel REALLY like you (like they did us last year), when you get to Gimmelwald you can sit outside at a picnic table with new friends enjoying the glorious weather and have a darn good pizza & a Beer at the hostel and enjoy one of the best views ever.

We will definitely be heading back to the Lauterbrünnen valley (And environs :-) in the future. And don't even get me started about the Schilthorn!