Next year around April or May we are travelling to Switzerland, Germany and France for fun filled vacation. We travelled to Switzerland last year and stayed in Zermatt for 3 days. We absolutely loved it. Next year we are thinking about staying in Wengen as it has been highly recommended by real good friends of ours. Any recommedations on hotels? I have been reading the threads and many of you recommend Caprice (pricey), Alpenrose, Silberhorn and Hotel Regina. Any info on these and ranking of these hotels would be greatly appreciated.

we just left the Alpenrose today, and it was heaven on earth. The hotel is situated in a majestic, scenic spot. I thought it was wonderful being below the town, and enjoying the peaceful beauty of the region from the lovely terrace of our own balcony. The rooms were all comfortable and charming,decorated in the alpine spirit, and the food was good. It is a friendly environment, where the guests often talk to each other about what they have done during the day. Every night after dinner, we sat with our kids on the terrace to play cards, while looking across to the mountains, or we took a stroll to an awesome overlook, or just went next door to see the sheep in the meadow. To me, this is the perfect way to spend an evening after an active day of hiking or touring. Personally, I thought the town of Wengen was nothing that special, so I thought it was a real plus to be in a gorgeous, private location. I also thought it was a reasonable value for the price, since it included a five course dinner.

I'm another one of those Caprice lovers. April? I wonder how the weather will be. I've been twice in June and loved it. We liked Wengen because of all the beautiful scenery, the hikes, etc. It's certainly not a place for museums, art, shopping etc so if you go at a cold or rainy time, I think it would be just so-so. That's my opinion. I think there are many nice hotels there; I like the way things are spread out a bit and you still have the small village feel. We were 100% thrilled with the Caprice, though, our view was spectacular and the service was great. We enjoyed their back deck at night where we chatted with others and sipped wine as we gazed on the illuminated waterfall below in Lauterbrunnen Valley. We were there around June 23 and I think we got a slightly discounted rate.

Well, the Caprice is closed from about mid-April to mid-May, and I think you will find this to be the case with many of the other hotels in Wengen. This will tell you a LOT about the weather then, it is not so great. Rain and fog are the main events going on as winter gives over to spring. So, in the first place if you are planning a trip to Switzerland in the spring, then please, as I have said many many times on this site, either do it in March when you can do winter activities (winter walking at the least) or as late in May as possible so you have a chance of having clear paths for walking (i.e. no snow). IMO June is better. April and May are just not good months in the Jungfrau or really in Switzerland in general. I know you lucked out in Zermatt in May last year; but in many ways Zermatt is easier because you are staying at the bottom of the valley in the village, but in Wengen you are up IN the mountains. Late May is better and is OK for the Lake Geneva area, albeit it is still very brown then. (April is still pretty cold in Paris too, IMO and in 2007 you are contending with a very late Easter as well, it is in mid-April, museums could be crowded with people, or could be closed and you may find restaurant closures if you are there on Easter weekend.)

I have only stayed at the Caprice (many times) and the Silberhorn (once.) Between those two, I would put the Caprice first. I think the Silberhorn and the Alpenrose would tie, I love the outside of the Alpenrose, very charming. The rooms look charming on the website as well. I agree the Caprice is expensive but worth it. Wengen is very small and is not much, but you are not there for the town in any event, and there is certainly no noise at all so there is no reason not to stay in town if you want. You can hear the cowbells from the Caprice too....(but cows won't come up until June, another reason to wait). I think the Regina needs a bit of a redo, I have only seen the public areas, and I read several reviews on tripadvisor.com about rude management there that really put me off I have to say.

Cicerone,
you are a clever traveler and I appreciate your wisdom. I often question when a poster says "trip of a lifetime" or "perfect honeymoon" and then they say they are traveling to a location in the absolute wrong time weather-wise. Do the wedding, but postpone the honeymoon! If your vacation is locked in in April or May. do Lugano or southern Italy. We did late June for our last trip, and some of the upper trails still had lots of snow. Can you travel in June?

Our most recent of several trips to Wengen was in mid-April to Mid-May several years ago, and the Alpenrose (where we had stayed before) was closed. In fact, many, many hotels in Wengen were closed. We ended up as the only guests at the Alpenruhe (? sp) in Wengen. Perfectly okay, but not as nice as the Alpenrose. But, the whole area is really quiet that time of year & many cable cars, etc... are closed.

Thanks to all of you for your replies and advice. I appreciate them all very much. I'm afraid we are committed to the vacation time frame of April 19th through May 7th. After reading your comments, I'm starting to worry that perhaps Wengen may not be the best place to stay if many of the hotels, restaurants, and shops are closed. If that is the case, can you recommend a better alternative? We were looking for a quaint place with fantastic views, good restaurants, and decent shopping. Thanks again for all your help and information. Cheers! Phyllis

Phyllis -

Unfortunately most Swiss alpine villages pretty much shut down between seasons, so you'll find much the same in Grindelwald, Murren and Lauterbrunnen.

Having said that, we're very much off-season travelers, and we enjoy the peace and quiet of Switzerland between seasons.

Even though most hotels are closed, it's possible to find private apartment rentals year round. During the season most apartments rent week to week, but off season, it's possible to rent for less than a week and at pretty good rates.

Here's a site for Wengen apartment rentals:
http://www.wengen.com/hotapa.html

You might want to check with individual tourist offices to see what mountain excursions, etc will be open during your stay.

http://www.wengen-muerren.ch

I don't usually recommend Interlaken, but given the time of year and your interests, you might want to look into staying there. More will be open and you can easily take day trips to Wengen, Murren and Grindelwald.

Interlaken is more of a small city than a village, but it has more to offer in the way of shopping and restaurants than any of the villages. It's pretty enough and has some nice views of the Alps, though not as spectacular as from higher up IMO.

Just a thought...

I am having the problem with the villages closing down during the off-season. I will be in Switzerland from May 17 to May 20 next year and it seems like all of the recommended hotels in Wengen are shut down during that period. Rats!

We stayed in Grindelwald this past year (mid-May) and went to Wengen on our way back from the Jungfrau. Bought a round trip to/from Kleine Scheidegg. Wengen was like a ghost town.

In mid-May, I would stay in Grindelwald.

I personally would go to the Lake Geneva area, and would avoid the mountain areas altogether as the time of year is just not great. There is a little bit of a micro climate in the Lake Geneva area, so chances of having some warm days are better. (Having said that, in April 19 last year they had a snowstorm, quite beautiful and rare but still there was about 4 inches.) It is always beautiful at any time of year, IMO, with really stunning views across the huge lake to the Alps. There are great restaurants (several Michelin ones among them) and good shopping. Places to consider staying are Vevey, Lausanne, Montreux (not my fave but a lot of people like it) or smaller villages like Cully or Morges. You can do walks and bike rides along the lake, or up into the vineyards. You can tour the lovely castle at Chillon. You can go to Gruyere in the lovely hill country for a day by train or car. If you need a mountain fix and you get a clear day, you can get to Chateau D'ouex in about an hour. Lausanne has a lovely old town, as does Vevey. If weather is bad, there are museums in Lausanne and in Geneva as well, which is less than 40 minutes or so by train. There is a very nice preseved town called Solothurn about an hour from the Lake Geneva area by train which has lots of barouqe buildings, rare for Switzerland, that is very unvisted by US tourists and makes a nice day trip as well.

I could recco several hotels with indoor pools and good spas so if you really get a bad day you can salvage it with a swim and a spa treatment. (Don't' know if you enjoyed these at the Julen in Zermatt last year. There is only about one hotel in Interlaken which has an indoor pool and spa, and IMO Interlaken in April or any time of year is just not that interesting.)

Lugano is a thought, but my personal experience there in April is that it is rainy and cold, and no flowers are blooming yet. (They don't bloom anywhere else either, but seems more of a shame in Lugano where they bloom so beautifully almost all year.)
If you have a long time in Switzerland, maybe you could do a combination of both places and do Lugano toward the end of April or into May.


If you have not been to Zurich, it is a great little city "worth" two days or so. If you can fly into Zurich and spend a few days, a nice train ride is down to the Lake Geneva area (2-3 hours) where you could spend some more time, and then fly out of Geneva or go back to Zurich.

Hi. Compliments to cicerone for her alternative recommendations. I have never traveled in the sprintime, but the possibilities she outlines for Lac Leman are excellent. I've been to Solothurn, myself, and found it to be a lovely small city.

If Phyllis has her heart set on the Oberland, what about Brienz down below? When do the lakeboats begin? I thought of it because there are spectacular mountain views from Brienz as you look across its pretty lake. Just a thought. Hope you find the perfect place. Have swandav, schuler, or Ingo checked in with ideas yet? Let's see what they has to say. J.

I like Brienz very much myself, and ferries do start running in April, however my concerns would be that rain and fog would obscure any mountain views. You will get some close-in views of the hills which surround the lake, but not quite the same as the higher Alp views, IMO.

just got back from Grindelwald and while the Regina is very elegant, we thought it really doesn't have a great outdoor dining option with a view, its also directly across from the train station....

We loved the quaint Gletschergarten, but it is old school Swiss Chalet. Rooms all have great views and Gary the innkeeper is superb. Its at the end of the main drag so not super touristy, and its one of the original inns although its been redone several times and is very nice....Nice to be somewhere in Europe and feel like your business is actually valued....I agree the Grindelwald area might have more to do in late spring, the lifts up to the hiking trails are fantastic. We also liked the menu at the Eiger Hotel, very upscale but Swiss with a twist..

Would not miss the tram up FirstBahn in G-wald, we went to the top with my kids and the view across to the peaks is outrageous as is the hike down. Halfway down we rented trotti scooters (gliders) and glided down the remaining stretch of the valley....my kids liked it so much we went up and did it again the next morning... a highlight of the trip but not for the faint of heart although my 7 and 9 year olds handled it pretty easily.

You can take the trams to Wengen and Lauterbraunen easily as they connect in Grindelwald and view on the ride over is fantastic....

for chewy1 -- There are actually two Hotel Reginas in the area.

The one in Wengen is a four-star and is off from the main area.

The one in Grindelwald is a five-star and is across from the train station, as you note.

Easy to confuse the two!

s

Hi everyone,

Everyone has been so helpful with all your information and recommedations for our trip. My husband and I are now thinking that maybe Interlaken or Grindelwald would be our best bet for the time of year we will there. We are locked into our dates of April 19th through May 7th. We travel with another couple and we have to get our dates agreeable with each other. Is one area really much better than the other? Reading all your comments they both seem to be about the same. The four of us really love to be able to look out on our balcony and see the mountains. Decisions, decisions!!!!Thanks again for all your help.

I guess I got lucky in May also. I stayed in Lauterbrunnen and the weather was cool with some no terrible days of rain. The weather was worse in Luzern. I loved the fact that it was very quiet. I can't imagine how crowded the Jungfraujoch must be in the high tourist season. It was pretty crowded when we were there. I think Lauterbrunnen is a good option.

Bill

Hi Wojazz3,

Where did you stay in Lauterbrunnen? That is another place to consider.

It depends on what you want, Grindelwald is one 45 minute train run up into the high mountains, whereas Interlaken has the lakes. Personally, The views and trails around Grindelwald were just fantastic, and you could go down to Interlaken easily for a day trip or two. It is almost impossible to get a bad view in Grindelwald, as the peaks just go straight up and are all around you..Also enough to do and places to eat at, etc. They have great trails for all ages and abilities, and believe me, you will want to get out and walk around.

Just also noticed you like the views of the mountains...for this Grindelwald over Interlaken. Grindelwald is the snow capped peaks, Interlaken is primarily the mid-level high hills leading up to the Alps.

As for hotels, not sure the Gletschergarten is open then, but if it is, its authentic swiss, and most of the front rooms have great views, even the backs are pretty good. You are right under the Eiger, as is the Feischerblick next door, which seemed to have a bit more gourmet menu. Would also not go more than one row up the hill off the main drag, those hills are steep. A nice budget hotel is the Alpinne, one row up with a great view.
On the upscale side, Regina and Schweitzerhof are great as well. Schweitzerhof is more of the chalet style...