insearchofheaven

Hi

We are in paris tonight and taking morning train to Basel( Monday August 17) which reaches there at 10 am.

We are disappointed to see that it is predicted to rain monday and Tuesday all day in Interlaken and around jungfrau. We Have a flight from Zurich Wednesday afternoon.
Fortunately we didn't have any fixed booking and can change itinerary except return flight from Zurich Wednesday at 12:45 pm
Please advise where to stay to make the best of our first trip to Switzerland in this weather. Lucerne weather looks better but all mountains show rain( rigi, Pilates) Please advise what to do

Cowboy1968

The weather forecast for Switzerland says that the mountains will stay rainy. By the way, Luzern is also IN the mountains.

Forecasts for Basel say mostly cloudy Mon/Tue but with only a slight chance of some showers and temps at 20C.
Basel has a very nice old town and several very good museums.

While most people give Zurich a bit of a bad rap, it still has a nice old town, beautiful setting on the lake, with mountains as a backdrop. Zürich's forecast also says mostly dry, cloudy with sunny intervals for Mon/Tue.

insearchofheaven

Thanks. So should we just book hotel for a night in Basel and see how it goes or book for the night in Lucerne( somehow Lucerne weather shows no rain which.. I haven't ever been to Switzerland and not familiar with the geography sorry)

Cowboy1968

Tough choice.
I was a bit vague in my above statement about Lucerne.
What I meant was that as Lucerne is right close to the mountains, weather can change quicker for better or worse than in the flatlands.
So the forecasts for Basel and Zurich look more reliable okay for the next two days.
And I think many people go to Lucerne (which IS very pretty) to also make use of the mountains in one way or the other. It takes a bit away from the scenery when the mountains are hidden behind clouds of rain, IMO.

insearchofheaven

Thanks..I guess Lucerne is best choice.. If it rains there will be things to do around.and then will check tomorrow evening to see if Tuesday looks better for any of the mountains... Jungfrau or titles or Mt Regi/ Pilates whatever.. They say it may rain on side do valley and not other so let's see.

nytraveler

IMHO Lucerne has more to see/do and Basel - but if the mountains are all rainy - just don;t bother - since you will spend a lot of time and money and see nothing.

(The day we went up Pilatus it was sunny - at first. And we got to ascend and spend a lot of time looking around and had even order lunch at an outdoor table. Just as it was about to be served the clouds - and rain - rolled in. We ran for the building and met our waitress - who was able to get us a table indoors. On the way back down we could see nothing until we were almost at lake level - and it was raining there too. If we had been a couple of hours later it would have been useless.)

If you run out of things to do in Lucerne check out visiting Brienz and Thun - which are cute to explore and the latter has a great castle.

aliced

In Lucerne, the Museum of Transport was fascinating -- ski lifts, boats, cars, planes, everything. Take a boat ride over from in front of train station and walk the beautiful promenade along the lake back. There is a small art museum, the Rosengart Collection, that is worth an hour or two in downtown. From there, if weather is still not clear, perhaps head to Bern. From there you will be close enough to access Interlaken should the weather clear from which you can see the mountain towns. At least, you should go over to Lauterbrunnen (in the valley), very short ride from Interlaken stations. Sorry to hear of your rainy weather. I would not stay in Basel, Lucerne very pretty.

kja

I thought cowboy's recommendation for Zurich made a LOT of sense. JMO!

swandav2000

Hi insearchofheaven,

Yes, I think Luzern is a good choice. I've taken ferry rides on the lakes there in the rain, and I thought it was pretty and very dramatic -- clouds raging in the skies and mountains piling into lakes. Very memorable. Then, you can wander and shop and visit cafes in the sweet lakeside towns -- Weggis, Vitznau, Brunnen.

Have fun as you plan!

s

kja

I've been in Lucerne during a drenching rain. It is not an experience that I would willingly repeat. YMMV.

neckervd

weather forecast for tomorrow Tuesday:

Montreux: some clouds, some sun, no rain, temperature at noon 21 degrees centigrade

Sion: some clouds, some sun, no rain, temperature at noon 23 degrees centigrade

Geneva: some clouds, some sun, no rain, temperature at noon 23 degrees centigrade

Lakes Biel/Bienne, Neuchatel and Murten: some clouds, some sun, no rain, temperature at noon 21 degrees centigrade

You can easily spend a whole week in this area

insearchofheaven

Thankswe came to Lucerne direct from Basel. Met great weather here.. Did boat ride walked around
Will go to my Titlis or pilatus tomorrow. Which is better
Also out flight back of Thursday afternoon from Zurich so we have 2 days.. Maybe Wednesday will go Zhermatt where surprisingly Inheard not raining