Few here seem to really like St Moritz but prefer staying in smaller towns like nearby Pontresina, also well served by trains.

I've seen several mentions of August sun in Switzerland. I thought I remembered, from when I was doing research for a trip to Switzerland, that August was a rather rainy month. I just looked it up, and August is one of the rainiest months of the year. We went in late May and had very nice weather.

Most of my trips to Switzerland and Italy have been in May or June. I always seem to find a heat wave in June whenever I go to Italy. Last year it was sweltering when we were in Locarno. (Also, the boat operators were on strike, so no on-lake transportation while we were there.) So, you may get sun in northern Italy, but also heat.

I made one short visit to Engadine region, staying in Samedan. I used rail to/from, up the valley, and over the pass (also some hiking along the rail line that was great), with local bus when necessary. I didn't make it up all the lifts, but enjoyed the views and the rural feeling of the area.

I would brave the crowds of the BO region anytime, but my husband wouldn't enjoy peak season packed trains and towns. Even in June it can be busy, but I could usually avoid the worst by getting up early and being on the first train, first on the trail etc.

Last year we were at Zermatt in June where the town was packed during the day, but we stayed in town and again got on the train or lift early and out on the trails to avoid the crowds around the stations while enjoying the views. Also found that if we went up some lifts in the afternoon, the crowds had peaked and were headed down. A new destination for us, but I would return to BO before I returned to Zermatt.

My one visit to Vevey and other locations along the lake, we kept to the towns built right up to the shore. That photo is definitely a ways above the cities.

My research showed otherwise.

Best Time to go to Switzerland? - Climate, weather, where to go

I went to Austria last August, after finding that it's suppose to be the driest month of the year, though all of the areas in and bordering the Alps seem to get a lot of rain overall.

I did once go to Val di Gardena in early June and found that most of the services for the summer didn't start up until late June, especially some of the lifts in the valley. That same trip, I also went to Aosta and couldn't go up to Monte Bianco because late snows presented a blizzard threat.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bvlenci [img]images/buttons/viewpost.gif[/img]
I've seen several mentions of August sun in Switzerland. I thought I remembered, from when I was doing research for a trip to Switzerland, that August was a rather rainy month. I just looked it up, and August is one of the rainiest months of the year.

Curious -- that site shows August to be the 4th rainiest month, and of course, it's late enough and hot enough (for the area) that much of the snow on peaks that aren't snow-capped year round will be gone, but climate statistics never tell you what you will actually encounter.

Personally, I'd consult multiple reliable sources -- like timeanddate and wunderground -- for climate data. JMO.

You may consult whatever you want, that cannot change the fact that weather is always unpredicable in the Alps.
Summers with heavy rainfalls during weeks alternate with summers with water shortage. In some years, July is wet and August is dry, in some years it's just the contrary.
But whatever may happen, it will be drier in interalpine Valleys like Valais, Aosta Valley, Valtellina and Val Venosta than along the Northern slopes of the Alps.
It's always more cloudy and rainy in Bernese Oberland, Lake Lucerne area and St. Gallen/Appenzell than in the above mentioned valleys.
The driest places of Switzerland are Sierre (Crans-Montana), Leuk (but NOT Leukerbad!), Visp, Brig and Graechen.

I think this is the page I saw yesterday. It's for Zurich.

http://www.zurich.climatemps.com

In addition to average precipitation, it shows the average number of wet days, which is maybe more important. August has on average 14 wet days, one less than June, which has the highest number.

One reason to keep schedules flexible in Alpine areas like Jungfrau - day trip out to places like Bern or Lucerne or even do boat trips on two lakes bookending Interlaken (covered sections), etc -wet weather can set in for days alas sometimes - never can tell as neckervd shows.

Well I booked the airline tickets, in and out of Zurich, 15 full days on the ground. I did look at returning from Venice, so that I would fly from Zurich to Venice, but the only award ticket available would have required staying 6 additional days so I decided to skip Italy this time.

So far I've booked 5 nights in Wengen (going directly from ZRH) and 3 nights in Zermatt after that. For the remaining time, I'm thinking of 2 nights in Klosters and 3 nights in St. Moritz or somewhere near it and 2 or 3 nights in Luzern. Long train trips between each regions so that would be the reason to break up some of it by staying in Luzern between Zermatt and Klosters. Actually, I want to do the Bernina Express and take advantage of the cable cars by staying 2 or more nights in hotels around St. Moritz. So I could spend 5 nights there instead of breaking out 2 nights in Klosters but figured Zermatt to St. Moritz would be too long a train trip, at least 6-7 hours according to sbb.ch.

That means no Vaud because it made more sense to spend time in Luzern instead of going the other direction.

I'm hoping to spend enough time at each base to get a better chance of having dry weather or even sun on some of the days.

Sounds like 15-straight day Swiss Pass could be a great deal for you.

Could be but I will actually need a train on the first and last day I'm in the country so it adds up to 17 days, 2 of them partial.

So Half Fare Card may work better. Have to add up the fares and see.

If the Zermatt - St. Moritz journey is too long, the obvious places to stop over would be Andermatt, Disentis, Locarno or Lugano (the latter if you want to travel via Bernina Express too).

When I check SBB, it routes from Zermatt to Bern to Zurich to Landquart and onward to Davos, Kloster or St. Moritz, so goes north towards Bern and Zurich and then east.

I think Andermatt is along the Glacier Express line? Glacier Express takes longer and I guess there's a surcharge to reserve seats for people who have Swiss Travel Pass? Like I said a longer trip.

Bernina Express I would probably only ride from St. Moritz to Alp Grum, since that's included in the Engadine Pass. Unless it's worth going further south? Seems like there's a train going south in the morning and then a train in the mid afternoon, like around 15:00. Train trip itself isn't long but may have to wait hours for the return trip.

Besides the Bernina Express, are there other other cable cars and funiculars in Upper Engadine worth spending more than 3 nights in the St. Moritz area?

https://www.engadin.stmoritz.ch/somm...nen-inclusive/

I don't know how often those PostBuses run but that might be one reason to rent a car in the area, if the schedules make it difficult to get around enough. I would assume most cable cars close by 16:30 so the days are short for using them.

Hi scrb11,

I think it's worth it to continue on the train past Alp Grüm, at least to Poschiavo. Watching the landscape change from icy glacier to lush, green vegetation is really stunning. You are moving from the Alps to the lush green vegetation of the Italian section of the country. It's really worthwhile taking that journey.

Have fun!

s

I gave you the answers to your new questions in my (old) posts above:

"Buses around St. Moritz:
Surlej (Corvatsch gondola) - Champfer - St. Moritz Bad (Signal gondola) - St. Moritz (Chantarella-Corviglia rope railway, main railway station) - Schlarigna (Marguns gondola) - Punt Muragl (Muottas Muragl rope railway) - Pontresina (Alp Languard chairlift, railway station) : every 15 to 30 minutes from 7.01 until 18.31, then every hr until 23.53;
Maloja - Sils Maria - Silvaplana - Champfer - St. Moritz Bad (Signal gondola) - St. Moritz (Chantarella-Corviglia rope railway, main railway station) - Schlarigna (Marguns gondola) - Samedan (railway sttion) - La Punt - Chamues-ch: every 30 to 60 minutes from 6.20 until 23.38
Bus Pontresina - Diavolezza gondola - Lagalb gondola - Bernina Pass - La Motta: every hr from 8.12 until 19.12
Train Pontresina - Diavolezza gondola - Lagalb gondola - Bernina Pass - Poschiavo: every hr from 7.02 until 20.04

Journey times:
Brig - St. Moritz via Zurich: 5 1/2 hrs
Brig - St. Moritz via Andermatt (Glacier Express itinerary): 6 1/2 hrs
Brig - St. Moritz via Centovalli - Locarno - Lugano - Lake Lugano - Lake Como - Chiavenna: 8 hrs"

If you travel from Zurich via Bernese Oberland - Zermatt - BErnese Oberland - Zurich - Klosters to St. Moritz you will need a Swiss Travel Pass anyway. This latter gives free rides between Zermatt and St. Moritz via Zurich, Andermatt, Locarno - Bellinzona - Thusis or Locarno - Lugano - Chiavenna as well as along the whole Bernina railway up to Tirano. Therefore the Engadine Pass may not be an issue.

MOUNTAIN RAILWAYS AND GONDOLAS IN ENGADIN VALLEY:

St. Moritz - Bernina - Tiirano
St. Moritz - Albula Pass - Filisur - Davos/Chur
St. Moritz - Zernez - Klosters - Landquart
St. Moritz - Zernez - Scuol-Tarasp

St. Moritz - Chantarella - Corviglia - Piz Nair (10100 ft)
Surlej - Piz Corvatsch (10850ft)
Sils Maria - Furtschellas (9200 ft)
Pranzaira - Albigna (7300 ft)
Punt Muragl - Muottas Muragl (8100 ft)
Pontresina - Alp Languard (7700 ft)
Bernina - Diavolezza (9800 ft)
Bernina - Piz Lagalb (9500 ft)
Schlarigna - Marguns (7600 ft)
Ftan - Prui (6900 ft)
Scuol - Motta Naluns (7200 ft)
Samnaun - Alp Trida (8200 ft)

TOURISTIC BUS LINES IN ENGADIN VALLEY:

St. Moritz - Maloja Pass - Menaggio Lugano
St. Moritz - Maloja Pass - Soglio
St. Moritz - Maloja Pass - Chiavenna Trenitalia railway station
St. Moritz - Julier Pass - Casti - Chur
Pontresina - Val Roseg (horse-drawn carriage)
Pontresina - Bernina Pass - Livigno - Punt la Drossa - Zernez
Zernez - Punt la Drossa - Pass dal Fuorn - Sta Maria - Umbrail Pass - Stelvio Pass
Tirano - Umbrail Pass - Stelvio Pass
Zernez - Punt la Drossa - Pass dal Fuorn - Sta Maria - Mustair Claustra - Gluorn - Mals
Susch - Fuela Pass - Davos
Scuol - S-charl
Scuol - Val Sinestra
Scuol - Ramosch - Strada - Martina - Samnaun
Ramosch - Vna
Strada - Tschlin
Martina - Danuder - Resia Pass - Mals
Martina - Landeck OeBB railway station

Thanks it appears you can search for bus schedules at the SBB site. There are even the individual bus stops you can select.

i will have the SBB app. In my iPhone so presumably it can detect my location and displays the buses I can take to a particular destination.

Google Maps seems to know the bus routes in the area as well. As it turns out, I will arrive in the St. Moritz area on a Saturday and the car rental offices in those towns are all closed until Monday and I would only be staying until Tuesday.

So unless I rent a car in some other place like Zurich or maybe Chur and drive into the area, it will be buses.

From my perspective, penny wise pound foolish. There are, indeed, some delightful cable cars in the Engadine -- but there is so very much more! It's a LONG way to go just to try to plan around cable cars. I guess I'm just not understanding the motivation.

I'm going to a country with mountains.

And they have cable cars in those mountains, which are each about 50 CHF to ride.

As an enticement, the hotels in a given region give you passes to use those cable cars (and funiculars, cog railways, etc.) if you book a stay with them a certain number of days.

I think people who visit these areas in the summer are interested in long hikes, mountain biking and other activities. I visited Austria last year and saw people doing that, going up cable cars and coming down on bikes or even hiking down. I think some have sleds or toboggans. That's fine but it takes time to come down by foot or bikes. But you could also come back down by cable car and then go on to the next too, to visit another mountain.

Especially since most of these services close down around 5 PM each day, even in the summer.

True enough, but it isn't as though the ONLY thing to do in the area is to visit mountain tops. But perhaps that's the only thing that interests you.