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Where to spend for 3-4 nights in early May for Alpine scenes?

Hello all!

We are three sisters taking a river cruise that ends in Basel on May 3 - in the midst of the "turn-over" season. We want to spend 3-4 nights in Switzerland. We'll end up flying out of Zurich. Train rides are welcome.

We're looking for:
- Alpine views
- charming Swiss village vibe
- some shopping of the craft / "authentic Swiss stuff" variety.
- a walk would be great but we're not looking for any major hikes.

We don't need:
- fancy restaurants (just decent food).
- fancy shopping.

Any recommendations (towns & hotels?) would be welcome!
Thank you,
Judy

Posted by
1245 posts

The easiest option is Luzern for convenience and fairly central to a lot of options. Since you're coming too early for the mountain season, I'd stay on a lake. Another option to look into is Thun. From either Luzern or Thun you can take a day trip up into the mountains if you end up with a nice weather day, but still have lower elevation options around the lake for days that may not be as great at elevation.

Posted by
391 posts

Thun is very beautiful in May, if you choose it as a destination then I recommend this spring promotion. I purchase it every year - you can do three of the 5 experiences and I always choose the three mountain excursions. These mountains are around 60.00 each to travel up and down again, so 59.00 for three is a steal! And there are really no crowds yet at this time of year.

Stockhorn mountain has a wonderful one hour walk around the lake at the mid-station, quite easy and often snow free, or mostly so, at this time of year. The views from all three mountains are pretty incredible.

You can also choose to ride on the lake, see the St.Beatus Caves, eat lunch there, head up the Niederhorn - all in the same area, minimal additional expense for the bus, can also choose to return to Thun by boat. To reach the Stockhorn and Niesen you need to travel by train, but for around 40 minutes or so.

If you are in Thun on a Wednesday or Saturday you can walk through the market. Sometimes you find authentic crafts and other Swissness there, but, like all markets, you also find things that are mass produced - still, it is worth taking a look.

Here is the Spring promotion. Be sure to read through it to see when to purchase it, etc.

https://www.bls.ch/en/freizeit-und-ferien/ausfluege/fruehlings-aktion-thunersee


Edited to add: here is the link where you can purchase it online. The BLS site also provides a link to this site. I always have bought it online in the past, not in person.

https://shop.e-guma.ch/thunersee/en/gutscheine

Posted by
2 posts

Thanks to Wanderweg & Swissnomad for your thoughts. I'll dig into these!
Any other folks have thoughts?
Judy

Posted by
13 posts

If you end up as far as Interlaken/Thun/Brienz, you could take the boat across Lake Brienz to the town of Brienz, which is famous for its woodworking and carving. Lots of shops supplied by local artists and a nice way to spend a couple of hours until the boat returns to Interlaken. You could also eat lunch there and then take a train or bus back to Interlaken Ost and your next destination.