When to visit Switzerland — the seasons, month by month

Switzerland has a real winter and a real summer, and — more importantly for planning — two shoulder periods when a great deal of it is shut.

The short version


July–September	mountains at their best, everything open, warmest lakes
December–March	skiing, Christmas markets, clear cold air above the fog
May–June	green, quiet, cheap; some lifts still closed, passes still shut
October	autumn colour, clear light, and the closures begin mid-month
April, November	the two dead months — avoid unless you have a specific reason

The closed seasons

This is the thing that catches people out. Between roughly mid-April and late May, and again through November, many mountain railways, cable cars and pass roads close for maintenance, hotels shut, and boat timetables thin to almost nothing.

The lower towns carry on. But if your trip is built around a specific mountain or a lake crossing, check that it is running before you book — see the operator’s own site, not a guidebook.

Month by month

January and February — cold, clear at height, and the plateau often under fog. Ski season proper. Fasnacht in Basel and Lucerne falls in February or early March.

March — the best skiing light and longer days; snow still good high up.

April — the awkward month. Skiing ends, the high country is still under snow, the lifts close. Lower towns are fine and cheap.

May — everything turns green very fast, waterfalls are at their strongest with the melt, valley walking is excellent. High passes still closed.

June — the passes open, alpine flowers, long days, and the lakes warming. The best month for walking below 2,000 m.

July and August — hot on the plateau, busy everywhere, all lifts running, lakes at their warmest, and thunderstorms most afternoons in the mountains. Swiss school holidays fill the resorts.

September — the pick of the year. Warm, stable, far fewer people, and the cattle come down from the alps with flowers and bells.

October — larches turn gold in the Engadin, the light is exceptional, and closures start mid-month.

November — the other dead month. Grey, wet, most mountain transport shut. Thermal baths and museums are what it is for.

December — Christmas markets from late November, ski season opening, and the shortest days in Europe’s deepest valleys.

Mountain weather, and the rule

Only go up on a clear day. Mountain tickets are among the most expensive things in Switzerland, and in cloud you see nothing at all.

Practically:

Check the summit webcam the evening before and again at breakfast. Every operator runs one.
Mornings are clearer than afternoons, reliably, from June to September. Cloud builds from about eleven.
MeteoSwiss is accurate and free, and gives a forecast per mountain rather than per region.
Be willing to swap days. Keep a city day and a mountain day in hand and decide each morning.

Two local phenomena

Fog on the plateau. From October to February a flat layer of cloud often sits over the lowlands — Zurich, Bern, the lakes — a few hundred metres thick, for days at a time. Above it there is full sun.

This is why locals go up Uetliberg, Rigi or Pilatus in dreary weather: you climb through the lid into a clear sky with a sea of cloud below. Check the Nebelgrenze, the fog line, which the forecasts publish.

The foehn. A warm dry wind that comes over the Alps from the south, mostly in spring and autumn, and can raise the temperature by ten degrees in an hour. It brings extraordinary visibility — the Alps look an hour away from Zurich — and it is followed by rain. A significant part of the population blames it for headaches, and studies have been inconclusive for a century.

Crowds and prices

The expensive weeks are Christmas and New Year, the February half-terms staggered through the month, Easter, and mid-July to mid-August.

September, January and late March give the same country at a fraction of the price. See Switzerland on a budget.