Barb19

We are beginning to plan a trip to Italy for late April or early May and after doing some research, it seems as though many hotels and restaurants in the Dolomites and the Engadin area in Switzerland are closed for this period of time, reopening late May to early June.

Has anyone been to either place at this time? What has been your experience?

DalaiLlama

There is a trend of closing for a bit of a break and regrouping during the in-between season after winter is over. Too late for skiing, too early for hiking, not a great time to visit, so they would get few bookings and they take a breather. Are you sure you want to go then?

Anyway, it's up to you. There is no hard and fast rule about closures - it is case by case.

If the website of the individual establishment doesn't spell it out, ask.

Simply call and ask - your international access code, then 41 (Switzerland country code) or 39 for Italy, and the area code (omit the leading zero) and the number.

Account for the time difference and you should get the info.

bobthenavigator

Yes, that is common, but each town will designate some places to be open on a rotating basis.

Barb19

Thanks, DalaiLlama and bobthenavigator. Is it worth going that time of year for a few days? I think we'd be in that area around the middle of May. How's the weather then?

DalaiLlama

Middle of May should be lovely in the Engadin (www.engadin.ch/007stm_00_en.htm). No guarantee about mother nature, ever, but chances are good that it will be very pleasant, spring will have sprung, with pretty flowers and trees in bloom as long as you stay down in the valleys. Higher up there may still be snow and pass closures until early June.

For a safer bet you might consider the south of Switzerland, the region near and across the Italian border. For example the Borromean islands (www.borromeoturismo.it/scripts/home.php?lang=en) in the Lago Maggiore just off the town of Stresa will be absolutely stunning by then - that region has a mild climate where even some palm trees grow.

Hence the name Palm Express - a once-a-day coach journey from St. Moritz in the Engadin down to Lugano - check out this site:
http://tinyurl.com/7rp4lc

Maybe for you that will be the best of all worlds - go to the St. Moritz region for a few days, then take that bus down to Lugano and head on over to Stresa?

The Lago Maggiore is the long lake that begins near Locarno in Switzerland and "hangs" down into Italy. Stresa is in Italy, on the superfast train line coming down from Switzerland and headed to Milan.

St. Moritz is the Engadin's dominant town, expensive and ritzy, while others in the region are much nicer: Sils Maria (www.sils.ch/009stm_00_en.htm), Silvaplana ( www.silvaplana.ch/en/), Samedan (www.engadin.ch/007stm_010107_en.htm), Pontresina (www.pontresina.com/011stm_00_en.htm), and others.

Enjoy.

bobthenavigator

Yes, I would still go--look at Val Gardena.

pja1

Hi Barb19,

While we usually travel to the Dolomites in October, we spent a few days the Val Venosta/Vinschgau area (Sud Tirol, between Meran/Merano and the Swiss border) the last week of April a few years ago plus we spent an afternoon in Val Gardena on that same trip.

While quite a few places were closed (hotels in particular) we found enough to choose from. I would agree with "bobthenavigator" and go. The Val Gardena area is a great place to base for a few days. The three towns/villages that make up Val Gardena (Ortisei, St. Christina and Selva) are just 5 min. drive from one to the next, so all are pretty convenient to the others. A drive over the Gardena and/or Sella Passes are spectacular!

www.val-gardena.com

We also liked the previously mentioned
Val Venosta/Vinschgau area also. If you like castles, one of our favorites is Churburg/Coira Castle in Val Venosta/Vinschgau.

www.churburg.com

Also, there's Castle Tirolo and mountaineer Reinhold Messners' Castle Juval.

www.schlosstirol.it

http://www.suedtirolerland.it/en/pas...o-naturno.html

Glurns/Glorenza is one (if not THE) smallest walled towns in Europe.

www.gemeinde.glurns.bz.it/

Temps there in April were pretty much like here in NJ in April. Cool to warm days and chilly nights. May should be even nicer.

Hope this helps.

Paul