Berner Oberland in May?

By the third week of May, you might catch some of the businesses open. But, I would check to verify. Opening for the summer season varies from year to year, depending on how much work there is to do.

As stated before, most businesses in the valley should be open. Even if Murren and Gimmewald haven't awoken from their slumber, you can still visit.

I went to Murren last year May 25 - 28 and Hotel Alpina was open (other hotels too) and was where I stayed. There were at least 4 restaurants open when we were there in addition to the supermarket and a gift shop. We are going back again this year during the same time period. I did notice the hotel has earlier opening (May 17) than last year (May 23 or so) and I have no idea why.

We loved being in Murren this time of year - weather was fantastic and there wasn't a lot of people around which we enjoyed.

Do a search on this board to find hotel suggestions. We were quite content with Hotel Alpina but there is a quite a few who will suggest Chalet Fontina as well.

Hi! We went to Murren a couple of years ago at the same time. We had beautiful weather (sunny and cool). We loved our stay at Chalet Fontana. We stayed in the large upstairs room which had four beds. Yes, there were only a few restaurants and hotels open, but we had the path to Gimmelwald all to ourselves and the cool spring air was wonderful! Denise at Chalet Fontana is very helpful and could tell you more about what is open, etc. Some of our family has also stayed at Chalet Bobs. I'm not sure if he is open that time of year or not. We contacted him through the Murren website. Enjoy your trip!

Hi Everyone

Thank you all very much for your quick responses. My family will be thrilled to hear that at least some hotels and restaurants will be open in Murren. After reading Rick's guidebook, they were worried that it might be too early in the season and that we would miss out on a great part of Switzerland.

I will contact the hotels and see if I can reserve us a room.

Penn

Penn: I noticed you used the phrase hill towns referring to Mürren and Gimmelwald. It's even better than hill towns, they're cliff towns. If you've been to Yosemite Valley, then imagine villages built on the top of the Yosemite cliffs--that's Mürren and Gimmelwald--as in (Gimmelwald shown here).....

We were there the last week in May 2 years ago. They had had a huge snow storm just prior to our arrival. We just stayed in the valley as the locals told us that most everything in the mountains was pretty slow and the trails were either closed or real sloppy. Visability in Lauterbruen was near zero for the 2 days stayed. So, I'm saying the weather can be "iffy" that time of the year. On the other hand, we were back in late August of last year and it was gorgeous.
Hope you enjoy your trip.
Duane

Thanks everyone for all your input. I do hope that the weather is as great as in the picture when we get to the "cliff towns"! I've sent a couple of E-Mails out to the recommended hotels in Murren, so now I have to wait and see what their response says about room availability.

Penn

We're staying at the Chalet Fontana in Murren May 14-16 and have already made the reservations. Densie has been very helpful with the questions I've sent her about what will be availabe during that time. I've had the same concerns and done a lot of research. I've come to the conclusion that it's a 50/50 chance for us....some people have had great weather and hiking during that time (and that's why we go right? So long as you have a room and one or two restuarants to choose from)....others have had wet trails, snow storms and clouds. I'm praying already for good weather!! And you're a week or two later than us, so you're odds are better!

Hi Jodi

We'll probably be just a few days behind you since we need to be back home by the end of May. I've got my fingers and toes crossed, hoping for good weather!

Penn