I thought I'd pass this along...

We've just returned from a trip to Provence by way of Geneva. We booked our first and last night's stay in a gite located midway between Geneva and Annecy so as to be fairly close to the airport.

Upon our return, our hostess informed us that they'd had nothing but cold and rainy weather in the three weeks since we had been gone. We even had breakfast in front of her wood burning stove on July 6th. She said this was not unusual for June and that September offers a much more pleasant weather pattern in their mountainous region.

It's a toss up. Our annual town fair in September has seen within the last five years:
- heavy rain from morning to evening (last year and the year before)
- warm temperatures with blue skies
- snowflakes (about 6 years ago)

Our last two June months were warm and wonderful. The previous months were a bit like this year's, although not so wet.

I personally think October is the best. Try to come the second week. We usually get some great weather then with very clear views.

Having said that, we've gone sledding on fresh snow the first week in October.

schuler - When do the cows come down from the mountains. When do they go up? (Same every year?)

Same time every year?

No. It depends on the weather and the altitude of the alp. They usually go up end of May- mid June and come down sometime in September.

For an Alpauffahrt, see this link:
http://tinyurl.com/2hggup

I know my brother-in-law took his cows up to Glattalp in Muotathal during the second week of June this year.

>It's a toss up.<

Yes, schuler, this is what makes making plans to visit Switzerland so difficult for me. We gave serious thought to devoting our three weeks to the Alps this trip, but decided not to for this very reason. In hindsight, I'm glad we didn't!

I left our first five days unbooked, hoping for good weather to go up into the Rhone Valley and its tributaries; our first day (June 15) was beautiful and we got to go for a wonderful long hike up on Le Brévent above Chamonix and opposite Mont Blanc. Then, the next day, the weather turned and the forecast was not good, so we headed towards the south of France...

We have been there twice, both times in May, and the weather has been beautiful.

I consider September and October to be the best months: the weather is still very nice and the passes are open if you are adventurous enough to drive over the Grand Saint Bernard, the Simplon or others. Before July, the passes are still closed.

I have lived in Switzerland, and have visited frequently. I especially enjoy early September through early October.

Our last trip to Lauterbrunnen was in May 2006 and we had very good weather.

After years of traveling and living in Europe, I don't think that there is anything "typical" about the weather, no matter which month you choose.