Timing of Switzerland's Cherry Blossoms

Posted by History Traveler on 03/15/24 04:42 PM

Thanks to another post, I just discovered that Switzerland has some nice cherry blossom trails. Having lived near the Tidal Basin in DC for over two decades, the idea of photographing Swiss cherry blossoms sings to me. In my quick research, I've only seen general "mid-April" and "late-April" suggestions for timing. Based on the below (admittedly broad) itinerary, can anyone suggest some towns, trails, regions, etc. where cherry blossom "peeping" and photography might be possible. (I know it is not exact science -- Mother Nature does as she pleases!)

First two weeks of April -- Lake Geneva and French Alps
Third Week of April -- Valais/Southern Switzerland (Brig, Visp, Martigny, Zermatt)
Fourth Week of April -- Ticino (Locarno, Lugano)
Last days of April and first week of May -- Lake Zurich, Zug, Lucerne

Posted by hopper18

Switzerland

03/15/24 06:17 PM

383 posts

The Zug region is famous for cherries. They have the following website with info on some good walks and the “cherry blossom phone hotline” which gives details on current conditions. Usually late April is good.
https://www.zug-tourismus.ch/en/chriesiwanderungen After a walk, try some Zuger Kirschtorte at a bakery or even some cherry liqueur.
I’ve also done the cherry blossom trail near Frick mentioned in the other post (northern Switzerland between Baden and Basel) and that one was quite nice too.

Posted by Lola

Seattle, WA

03/15/24 07:19 PM

16285 posts

Won’t most of those be fruit trees in orchards? Those are beautiful, in large drifts of white across the green landscape—we saw sights like that in Puglia exactly one year ago. But quite a different sight from the pink or white ornamental flowering cherries in DC, and the sakura in Japan.

Posted by Maureen🇨🇭

Thun, Switzerland

03/16/24 07:23 AM

485 posts

I just saw the first pink blossoms opening up here in Thun a few days ago.

General list of blossoms, locations, and time of year:

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/experiences/summer-autumn/listicles/the-magic-of-blossoms/

The Morges tulip festival is small but very pretty, partly due to the location of this quaint town on the Lake Geneva, with the lake and mountains in the background. The boardwalk along the lake is very colourful as well with blossoms and spring flowers. Could be a nice outing from Geneva.

https://www.morges-tourisme.ch/en/P91876/tulip-festival-2024

Zurich has a blossom tracker along with maps of walks you can do to see them - currently at 'level 3', so it might be a bit late by the time you are there.

https://www.zuerich.com/en/visit/the-seasons-in-zurich/blossoms

Won’t most of those be fruit trees in orchards?

Yes, indeed many of them are. What is lovely is the white blossoms contrasted with the lush green fields all around. Beautiful to view from the train or to walk through. Like most Swiss farms, the hiking trails go right through them, so lots of opportunities for great photos and natural enjoyment.

A Swiss photographer, Martin Mägli, shares some of his photos here:

https://naturbild.ch/galleries/aargau/