Newbie needs Help strategizing locations

I can’t tell how many days you have, so it’s a bit hard to recommend an exact itinerary. Inferring that it’s maybe 10 nights? I don’t really know so I’ll give some general thoughts….

If it’s somewhere around 10 nights, I’d personally not want to be changing hotels 5-6 times, as you’ve mentioned as a possibility. I always recommend staying places 3 nights minimum for weather buffer + true exploration of an area. Great weather/visibility up in the Alps is not guaranteed every day, so rushing in and out of somewhere isn’t advisable. Doing Milan, Como, Luzern + Wengen/Grindelwald makes that a challenge for the time you have. For example, staying 1 day in Luzern doesn’t mean it’s going to be on the day where you’d have any visibility up at Stoos.

Also, Stoos hike is TBD for early June, as it may still have snow and not be fully accessible. If your priority is to be able to do some high alpine hiking, I’d suggest pushing your timeframe back to late June when the snow has melted in the BO and most hiking trails are open.

Do not stay in both Wengen and Grindelwald. Yes, certain places will require an hour of travel, but in this region the travel is part of the trip. For example, getting from Wengen to First is gorgeous scenic train and cable cars the whole way, which is literally part of the activity. It’s not a tunnel commute with no views. Pick one or the other and stay there for 4-5 nights to experience the whole region. Wengen is a car free village, which makes it unique over Grindelwald.

If you’d like to share the specific amount of nights you have, a more specific itinerary could be suggested from various points of view here.

Thanks so much for the thoughtful reply. I have about 12 days including travel day, so about 10-11 nights. Unfortunately I can’t push my dates back much further due to my job. Projected trip date is June 4-16. Starting in Italy I thought would allow more snowmelt etc and. the only reason I added Lucerne is so we could do stoos ridge but I guess you’re right about the possibility my allotted 2 days may not cooperate weather wise.

There is great info on the Stoos ridge hike here. Of course weather is not predictable, but as a rule you can hike it in June.

https://www.stoos.ch/en/stories/stoos-ridge-hike

The hiking trail is secured with chains from approx. beginning of June

Agree with the comments. You could save time and reduce stay locations if you replace Stoos with Schynige Platte

Thanks for all of these comments and suggestions.

Schynigge Platte doesn’t open until June 15 in 2024 (or potentially later based on snow), so that’s not a substitute for Stoos for your dates.

If all 3 locations are a must, can you skip the Last Supper stuff in Milan and just go straight to Como? If so, maybe
Milan, straight to Como - 3 nights
Luzern - 3 nights (hoping you can do Stoos, if not, then Luzern is still nice)
Wengen - 5 nights (if you can’t do Stoos, the North Face Trail from Murren may be open, which is lovely. We love the ridge hike from Birg to Murren via Bryndlii but not sure about snow melt that early making it a possibility. Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg usually doesn’t open until the 20s of June….I don’t go to the BO in early June, so someone else may be able to chime in with hikes they’ve done that early in the summer season, as we don’t start hiking there until July when everything is open)
Depart Zurich (after 1 pm ideally to leisurely get there from Wengen, but no earlier than 11)

Thanks Wanderweg for the info. I would love to move my dates back just a little to ensure open trails but not sure if I can at this point due to my busy season at my job. Do you know if there’s posted anywhere the past date openings for the trails like Stoos and Schynig?

Right now Schynigge Platte is supposed to open June 15, 2024 last I looked, but that’s always somewhat tentative. There is no way for them to give hard open dates, because the high altitude trails are dependent on snow melt to make them safe. As someone else said, you may be ok for Stoos but it’s not a guarantee, so you should have a backup plan if they get a heavy snow year and snow melt is slow. Brienzer Rothorn and the ridge there has a similar feel to Stoos. They plan to open June 8, 2024 but I don’t know if that means the ridge hike will be open as well. Allmendhubel above Murren will also Open June 8, which helps with the North Face hike I mentioned. You’ll be able to do many things in June, the only up in the air portion is the trails. If you make a “1st choice” list and then backup plans for if those aren’t open yet, you’ll be good!

The opening dates of mountain trains and gondolas such as Schynige Platte are very reliable and only change in extreme conditions - but this not the same as an ‘opening date’ for the hiking trails - such a thing does not exist.

Take a look at Swiss websites for the specific hikes you are interested in. They will always give you the suggested season for the hike. This is when the route is routinely hikeable, based on years of experience.

There is always the chance that the weather will not play along, this is true any time of the year, it is always good to have a back-up plan.

The link that I gave in my post above, explains that the Stoos ridge hike is a level T3 on the SAC scale, you need to have good hiking equipment and be physically fit for the trail. Sections of it are secured with chains, which is why I put the quote that the chains go up from approx. the beginning of June.

Look at the description of the hikes you are interested in. In the details about the hike it will always tell you the best time of year for that particular hike.

Here is a link for hikes in the Jungfrau Region of the Berner Oberland. In under “See & Do” you can choose long-distance hikes, themed routes and also walks. The walks are generally open all year round and many of them are very beautiful.

https://jungfrauregion.swiss/en/summer/see-and-do/hiking/hikes/

Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg usually doesn’t open until the 20s of
June….I don’t go to the BO in early June, so someone else may be able
to chime in with hikes they’ve done that early in the summer season

In June 2022, the hike from Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg was open on June 13th.

In June 2023, it opened on June 10th.

I’m hoping it’s open early June again next year. Keeping my fingers crossed.

@Carrie - For some reason I thought I remembered Männlichen to KS not opening until the 20s of June this year. Must have misremembered. Is there somewhere they share historical data for that online or do you just personally keep track?

Is there somewhere they share historical data for that online or do
you just personally keep track?

I was there in June 2022 and this year I was keeping track for someone who was there.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/switzerland/fyi-panorama-trail-mannlichen-kleine-scheidegg-now-open

Thanks, that’s good to know! Seems like they already have way more snow this year then they did last winter, so will be interesting to see when it opens for 2024.