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Rain all this week in Switzerland. Should I still go to the Berner Oberland?

my worst fear has come true and it will pretty much be raining my entire stay in Switzerland. I already have my Swiss pass good for the 4 days I'll be there. Should I still visit the Berner Oberland/Alp region?

Posted by
32350 posts

Gabriel,

What were you planning to do in the Berner Oberland? While there are not as many "rainy day options" there, in the same situation I'd still continue with the trip. You could still.....

  • visit the Schilthorn. While the views may be a bit obscured, the trip would still be interesting and you could still have a fine hot meal in the revolving restaurant.
  • visit the Jungfraujoch. Again, the views may not be perfect, but you could tour the Ice Palace, have a look at the Sphinx Observatory and some of the other indoor areas.
  • visit Trummelbach Falls. The rain won't be a concern there!
  • explore a few of the towns in the area - Lauterbrunnen, Mürren, Gimmelwald, Wengen, Kleine Scheidegg and Grindelwald.

Although activities such as hiking may not be as pleasant, this would still give you an opportunity to see the area. Keep in mind the old saying, "there's no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing".

Posted by
594 posts

I only intended on doing a day trip to there as I'll be based in Luzern my entire stay. I guess I'll just test it out and see how it goes. With my limited time I was only going to go up the Schilthorn, explore Murren, Gimmelwald, and maybe Almendhubel. I know it's a crazy one day plan, but that's just the way the planning worked out. Thanks for the advice.

Posted by
33818 posts

And if you are in Luzern, you have the advantage of using the Brunig Pass narrow gauge train to get between Luzern and Interlaken Ost where your adventure up into the Lauterbrunnen Valley begins. Beautiful scenery, rain or shine.

Going back to Luzern you could retrace your steps, or go via the faster Spiez - Bern - Luzern route which is not as scenic but would give you a glimpse of the Thunersee and different (flat) scenery.

It usually won't rain all day.

Posted by
139 posts

"It usually won't rain all day" ...< This!

During our visit to the Lauterbrunnen valley last year we were faced with what looked like socked in weather one morning. We drove to the Trummelbach Falls and after a couple of hours there were faced with a much better view by by 1030. We rode the cable car up to the Schilthorn for lunch and several hours of downright stunning views - even though there were moments during those hours when clouds rolled straight over us (it gets really quiet inside a cloud - except if the wind is blowing).

I like checking the web cams - it's beautiful there today for sure.

Posted by
2978 posts

We had the same prediction for one of our trips to Austria. Rain everyday. We checked the forecast right up to the minute we left home. Rained part of 1 day out of 10. Does anyone here know of a weather forecast that is always accurate? Since it's a day trip to the Berner Oberland, take it one day at a time. The transportation museum near Luzern is excellent if that interests you, if you get a very rainy day.

Posted by
4853 posts

Yes you can eat at the revolving Schilthorn restaurant, but it won't be anything special and even by Swiss standards it will be quite expensive.

Why? Because there's nowhere else to eat once you're up there!

If you're lucky the storm will be below you so you will still see all the adjoining mountain peaks. But there's no way to know until you're up there. Murren will still be a nice visit regardless of weather.

Posted by
594 posts

Yeah I've been actively looking at the Swiss Meteo app, which came recommended by a Swiss friend of mine. For Thursday it shows that Lauterbrunnen will get more rain than Gimmelwald. So maybe the person who mentioned that the rain will be lower in the valley is probably accurate. I'm
Going to try for Thursday as so far that seems to be the day with the least amount of predicted rain. Thanks again everyone for all the input and the positive words.

Posted by
102 posts

I'm in Murren right now. The weather has been perfect for hiking this past week, but starting tomorrow pm through Thursday doesn't look good. I would hold off on Berner Oberland until Friday at the earliest. Saturday and Sunday look better. But the predictions here can be very iffy. I'm leaving Wednesday for the Dolomites and the predictions for solid rain there have changed for the better in just the past two days. Head to Murren over the weekend and check at the Shilthorn lift station about weather up top. Don't go if it's cloudy. It would be a waste of money. Stay in Murren, enjoy the lower hikes and beautiful views of mountains. You will see plenty of the Swiss beauty even if the weather is not perfect.

Posted by
4853 posts

You're going from the Swiss Alps to the Dolomites? Boy you really like mountains

Posted by
15781 posts

I was in Lauterbrunnen for 2 nights/1 day in June. The hotel had the Jungfrau and Schilthorn webcams on the tv. They were both completely fogged in even though there was just a little drizzling in the valley. Never saw the Swiss Alps. You can access the webcams online too.

Posted by
145 posts

Chani:

You must have been there about the same time we were :-(

It did not rain incessantly and we had sunny days as well; however, the cloud cover was sch that we spent three full days there without a glimpse of Ms. Jungfrau. However, we went with Plan B and rode a lot of trains instead :-)

  • Porcupyn
Posted by
4853 posts

Yes, there are tons of webcams available and numerous weather sites. Access as many as possible and check for consensus.

Posted by
594 posts

I made it to the Schilthorn and was welcomed with sunny skies. Goes to show how inaccurate (hard to predixt) the weather models are over here.

Posted by
328 posts

Don't let the forecast dictate what you do. Wait until the day you plan to go and see what is happening, then make your decision. Like other posters have said, what is happening in the valley may be completely different higher in the mountains. We spent 5 days in the Berner Oberland and had low cloud most days but as soon as we went up to the peaks we were found warm, sunny skies and dramatic mountain views above the clouds. Use the webcams and mountain cameras on the television to help you decide what you want to do once you are there.