Switzerland in April? Is it an attractive time? Itinerary ideas?

I can tell you that a few years ago we went to Lauterbrunnen in early June thinking it would be warm enough to hike. We went up the lifts to hike and not only was it still pretty chilly but there was also still some snow on the ground and some trails were still closed. Not sure about the rest of the country or of what it will be like in April but if you are looking to go there expect it to be cold and a little snow on the ground. Perhaps southern France would be an option for you?

Look at the Berner Oberland area for the most spectacular views. That time may be in between seasons, so some gondolas may be closed for maintenance. But there will still be tons to do. We spent 5 nights in Wengen in June and loved it.

If you’re looking for history, culture, food, etc with decent weather, maybe look into staying on the lakes instead at lower altitude. I love the high alpine, but I wouldn’t really suggest it in April. Maybe a combination of Montreux and Luzern? Château de Chillon in Montreux is beautiful, there is great food & wine culture along Lake Geneva with historic architecture (Vevey, Yvoire, Chexbres, etc) and the 1000 year old wine terraces built by monks are fascinating to see and walk amongst. If you decide on somewhere around 5 days I’d probably just fully explore Lake Geneva (everything I mentioned above + more) but if you decide to go closer to 8 then you could add Luzern and do some day trips up into the mountains to experience early spring up in the alps.

Definitely confirmed my concerns about April weather still being dicey, we call it mud season around here. The last time we were in Geneva in early April we had flurries- I just wasn’t sure how far into the month we could expect that. That is why the last time we headed to Lyon, France which we loved. While we aren’t looking for summer like weather we would like to be able to shed our winter wear for lighter coats. We are not looking to hike but we like to do a lot of walking.
Any other suggestions- our preference is to travel by train if not too lengthy.

Weather is hard to predict. I was in the Berner Oberland the exact same week in mid-May, 10 years apart. The first trip all the trails were still covered in snow and it snowed in Murren while we were there. Last year, it was in the 80’s, with wildflowers everywhere.

I spent a week outside of Lausanne last year, in the vineyard areas. The trains took me to Vevey and Montreaux, and I rented a car for a few days to go into the mountains near Gruyère’s and Gstaad. I think the route was called the Grand Tour. It was gorgeous.

Lausanne is a good small city for cultural stuff. Gruyeres had a great old castle. Touristy, but pretty too.
Bern is easily accessed by train as well. Fribourg is another pretty old city to explore.

Is it early April or late April?
Early April is still winter season in the mountains, which is a good thing, IMO. You could explore the Berner Oberland with all lifts operating.
Late April is more challenging, as things start to close down for "mud season" indeed.

We are also traveling to Switzerland this April, and have heard dire predictions. So I picked some dates and locales from our upcoming itinerary, and ran them for historical weather information over the past three years. Locarno turned out to be the only consistently rainy stop for the chosen day, and many stops (Geneva, Zurich, Montreux, Visp) had mixes of sun, clouds, and showers. In other words, it is all a crapshoot.

Travel would roughly be April 14-21. Definitely don’t want to visit a spot in that awkward middle of closing down timeframe. Late April is awkward in our area too.