Switzerland in October

Sept is actually a great time to go - near the end of the season and I think less rain than mid summer. There should be plenty of choices to get great B&B or small family hotels. The wine-making areas of the french part may have festivals that get a bit busy, but the alpine resort towns and villages should still have plenty of hiking action and rooms into late sept. The cities will always have spaces but may be expensive if there is a lot of business traffic. Id have a plan of where youd like to go as a group - take a good RS and or LP/RoughGuide book along and/or ask the locals at the restaurants where you come in (by train, etc). Or just walk in a nice looking place and ask!

I've been to Switzerland four times, all in October. Its a great time to visit, hotel prices are a bit cheaper, and hardly any crowds. In terms of transportation, it has the best public transport network in the world. Most anywhere you want to go there will be a train, bus, boat, or cable car to take you there; all integrated. The Swiss Pass covers all trains, boats, buses, some cable cars and 400 museums. For high mountain trans/cable cars you get a 50% discount. Weather is usually mild, but of course when your at higher altitudes, it can get colder and possibly snow. In October a lot of hotels in small mountain villages will close down until the ski season starts up, but there will always be a few place still open. In terms of costs, Switzerland is one of the most expensive countries in the world. Hotel prices are reasonable, but food prices are brutal! Swiss law requires restaurants use mostly swiss ingredients, so it drives up the price. Rick's guidebook has tips on how to save

I think October would be the PERFECT time to go and Switzerland is the PERFECT country as far as scenery and public transportation.

Hi colleen,

We went to Switzerland in October also and LOVED it! We went to St. Moritz, Zermatt, Wengen and Luzern. Although we'd leave St. Moritz off the list for a return visit, we would do it again, in Oct., in a minute. Public transportation is the only way to go there. I wouldn't even consider renting a car.

Paul

Hey, thanks everyone! This is great. First time posting. Still wondering if anyone has gone without hotel reservations in Switzerland in October? We never had a problem finding a basic room walking into any town in Italy in Oct but not sure if that applies here. Also, when you say food prices are brutal... can you expand? Sounds too rich for us average class girls.

Food expenses will typically be twice what you paid in Italy. Another example, a Big Mac at a Swiss McDonald's will cost close to $5 USD. But there are ways to get around this. Like picnicking, and eating at the many cafeterias found in the supermarkets. A lot of this can also be offset by the traveling off-season(like October) and purchasing a rail pass (like the Swiss Pass). I'm an average "joe" as well, and traveling through Switzerland didn't put me into bankruptcy:)

My husband and I were in Grindelwald last Oct. It is cold so make sure to have a warm jacket. It is colder the higher up you go. We did see some B&B's advertising rooms. We felt that we paid more and it did not include breakfast. I love Switzerland it is so beautiful! The Swiss pass worked well for us. We were there for a week and had a 4 day flexi pass. They also have the Jungfrau pass that covers more high mountain lifts.

I was also in Switzerland in October. Minimal crowds and the leaves were changing in the Alps. Absolutely spectacular. I am envious!

Hi,
I really hope you are able to go to Switzerland. We went there in the summer of 2006 and had a great time. Food in Switzerland isn't cheep but there are alternitives. All the hotels we stayed at included breakfast and they were all good with plunty of food to choose from. For lunch a lot of the train stations in the bigger cities have at least one shop that sells sandwiches and other food. I think the prices ranged from about 3 to 5 chf. A lot of the cities we were at had a co-op grocery store near the train station. You have a lot of choices there. Another option that we liked for dinner was the Manora Resturant in the Manor Department Stores. It is kind of like a buffet but you just pay for what you get. I think we averaged about 10 to 12 chf per meal. Some evenings we had dinner at our hotel. Most of those dinners were about 30 chf. They were kind of expensive but the food was real good.