Some questions about a three-week trip to Switzerland

Hello Dave:

I think it's not necessary to rent a car, even in Engadin. For most, it's actually $$ and burdensome. Finding parking everywhere in the country is not that easy.

Zermatt--don't skip. Stay there for 2-3 nights. Weather in the Alps is fickle and you may not get all days of good weather. A slightly long stay maximizes your chance of having clear skies.

Don't skip Lucerne. Make sure you do the boat trip. It's very scenic.

The Engadin gets colder than you think even in late September. Can be sunny and beautiful but you’ll want to be sure your clothing can handle cold temps, like down to 40. Ditto in the Berner Oberland by October where cold mornings can lead to warm afternoons and layers will be your friend.

In our experience at that time of year, you can hit temps from 40 to 75 and it is likely to rain at least some, and snow is very possible, but won’t stick at lower elevation.

We did a similar three week trip back in October, and frankly I think you might have trouble fitting it all in.

We managed it, but we had already been to Lucerne and Zurich so didn't bother with them.

We did two nights in St. Moritz, Glacier Express to Zermatt and spent three there.

Then we had seven nights in Wengen in the BO area, six in Montreux and a final night in Geneva before flying home.

Thank you, everyone. Honestly, it's hard to see the beauty of Engadin from videos, in which it doesn't seem to compare to other areas of Switzerland beauty-wise, so I'm taking the word of people who have been there and say it's stunning. Plus, I like the relative remoteness of it (relative being the operative word) in the off-season. I am wondering if we'll be able to fill seven days in Engadin just doing easy walks, etc. But it seems like a long way to go from the other side of the country for just a few days.

I do see, though, how it could be difficult to do Zermatt, Lucerne and Lake Geneva on this trip and still get in a week in each of Engadin and Berner Oberland, which is why I'm considering dropping Lake Geneva or Lucerne. But perhaps Engadin-Zermatt-Berner Oberland-Lucerne is a lot of the same thing (other than Lucerne). Well, we still have a while to make this decision.

You might consider starting in the Berner Oberland, then to Montreux and Luzern, and putting the Engadine last. That area is reputed to enjoy nice weather (cold, but clear rather than rainy) well into the autumn; the larches are golden and things are pretty much open until October 20, according to this 2024 Tripadvisor post.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1635395-i15376-k14883249-Engadin_in_October_when_is_best_time_to_go-Engadin_St_Moritz_Canton_of_Graubunden_Swiss_.html

See websites like this for more on autumn in the Engadine:

https://www.engadin.ch/en/guide/engadin-holiday-resorts/the-golden-autumn-in-the-engadin

As for crowds, we spent the third week of September in the Berner Oberland in 2023 (staying in Mürren) and is was not busy at all—-indeed, almost eerily quiet during the week after the day visitors departed. The weather was very nice (one day of rain, the rest dry and sunny). The cheese dairy tour to a farm above town was supposed to end on the 2d Wednesday but they extended it to the 3d Wednesday because the weather was so nice and visitors were still asking for it.

If the Engadine weather did happen to turn bad for your last week, you could always change your plans and visit a different area (Ticino? Lago Maggiore? Lake Como?); there should not be a problem getting last-minute reservations that time of year.

Thanks, Lola. I like that foliage map. https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/experiences/summer-autumn/autumn/foliage-map/