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Switzerland in May

Posted by (Vancouver, BC, Canada) on

Planning a month and a half backpacking trip starting end of April 2008, planning Italy, Greece, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Madrid, Marrakech, recently realized I totally forgot about Switzerland. I found flights in and out of Zurich that will work for the last week of May.

My question I would like to stay in Lauterbrunnen, but have read that the OB area shuts down to transition for summer. Will the end of May be an ok time? I would like to visit places like murren and gimmelwald as well, will these places be open?

Also is five days to many for Lauterbrunnen or is there another town between there and Zurich I should check out.

Thanks

Posted by
6898 posts

We were there in the first few days of June of this year. We were scared away from late May because of the RS book warning of snow and closures. It was fabulous. No snow in either Wengen, Murren or Gimmelwald. These villages are at the 5,000' level. There was even no snow at Klein Scheidegg which is much higher. The weather was great and warm. There was occassional rain. As for hiking, the trails looked clear from the train except we did see a lot of runoff from the melting snow crossing the trails. A big plus about this time of year is that the wildflowers are in full bloom in the alps. Of course, weather could change from year to year.

Posted by
712 posts

Kent is right, you should be okay. Email the places you are interested in staying to see if they are open. The couple who ran our hotel in Zermatt a few years ago said that they usually use that late April and early May to take a vacation. They said they don't get as many tourist then. They work so hard the rest of the year.

Posted by
191 posts

Thanks everyone for your imput I have booked a flight and I am going! I think as some of you have said it should be ok. Thanks for all the help

Posted by
152 posts

Try the Stauubach in Lauterbrueen. It is a great place. We loved watching the paragliders playing in the waterfall during breakfast. Another great mountain place in Austria is Zell am See. I loved the top of the mountain there and could have spent days watching everyone. Nothing like a bowl of zuppe and brown bread on a mountain top.

Posted by
95 posts

Cora,
I had some of the same concerns about that time of the year but we went ahead and bit the bullet based on feedback from others. I think from what I've heard most areas should be up and running. And you can never 100% say what the weather there is going to be like. We're going to be staying in Lauterbrunnen for about 3 nights somewhere around the 20th - 25th so maybe we'll see you there!

Posted by
191 posts

Thanks Michael for the reasurrance, I hope you have a wonderful trip! I'm just going to miss you I'm going to be in Lauterbrunnen May 28 - June 1. I think your right, I think it will be a fine time to visit! Have a great time!

Posted by
296 posts

Go for it. May is fine. Went last year in June. Weather was FANTASTIC. ONLY one rainy day in 7. But I'm sure it's going to be even more expensive due to our American dollar crashing.

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