Hi
Considering a trip to Wengen in early October, can anyone advise what the weather might be like at that time? We have heard a lot of nice things about the place and fancy chilling out and some casual scenic walking (not hiking or yomping!) around the area. Have looked at some brochures but dont have a BSc in Small Print and Supplements, so am wondering if diy flights and hotels might be better. We woud be flying from the Midlands, Birmingham being the nearest. If anyone has any recommendations on hotels, or anything to do with Wengen we would be glad to hear of them.
Thanks Nimby
Wengen Tourist Office and look on that site for a start. The weather can be very changeable there in late September/October because it is a mountaineous region and the weather can have local variations because of the mountains and the Fohn, a wind that blows up the Swiss valleys?
Also try googling walking tours and Wengen Switzerland. This might help too.
If you are doing a diy flight you should consider flying into Basel or Zurich and then getting the train to Wengen. Swiss Railways have a website http://www.sbb.ch. You might find that the extensive network of Postbuses will help you get from one location to another especially if you are walking. I don't know the site for that but googling Swiss Post Bus network should produce some information.
I would suggest that you google Also try googling walking tours and Wengen Switzerland. This might help too.
If you are doing a diy flight you should consider flying into Basel or Zurich and then getting the train to Wengen. Swiss Railways have a website http://www.sbb.ch. You might find that the extensive network of Postbuses will help you get from one location to another especially if you are walking. I don't know the site for that but googling Swiss Post Bus network should produce some information.
placename.ch - in the case of Wengen it isn't the correct address but they obviously saw me coming so it redirects you to http://www.wengen-muerren.ch
Wengen is a traffic free village (meaning it has no road access, not that it's just pedestrianised!) and the only way in is on foot or by train - or by helicopter but presumably that's not an option in your case. See http://www.jungfraubahn.ch/en for local details although the sbb website already quoted contains the national public transport planner that allows you to do multi-modal queries.
You're very borderline on your prefered date, first week in October may be OK but it could be awful. If it is clear then it will be fantastic although cold at night but if it's cloudy it will be miserable, because of the altitude you could be in the cloud in which case it will be cold and damp. It might be better picking somewhere lower down (Spiez- Interlaken- Meiringen) and try to get half board because restaurant prices in the region live up to the Swiss reputation and rise with the altitude.
I can see your problem with small print. I've just checked the old specialist Swiss Travel Service (now absorbed into Cresta) and their Wengen holidays don't include travel between the airport and resort!
It might be worth getting a copy of the Kuoni Swiss brochure and studying it carefully for off season specials, I've used them in October some years ago and some hotels offered a free regional travel pass which would be really useful, especially if the weather was poor. The Sherlock Holmes in Meiringen was where I stayed through Kuoni and got a great deal.
Flights are also going to be a problem. Easyjet haven't got their October timetables loaded yet but they operate Luton to Zurich or Basel plus Liverpool to Basel. Unfortunately the current Basel outward times are a bit late to reach Wengen. Swiss go to Zurich from Heathrow, Birmingham and Manchester but at conventional prices, however they also do Manchester or London City to Basel at prcies which can beat Easyjet once you've added in the luggage - but only if you book a return and the current outward from Manchester is definately too late.
If all this hasn't put you off and you want details of travel passes for Switzerland leave another message.
To find any reasonable sized place in Switzerland it's always worth trying www.Wengen is a traffic free village (meaning it has no road access, not that it's just pedestrianised!) and the only way in is on foot or by train - or by helicopter but presumably that's not an option in your case. See http://www.jungfraubahn.ch/en for local details although the sbb website already quoted contains the national public transport planner that allows you to do multi-modal queries.
You're very borderline on your prefered date, first week in October may be OK but it could be awful. If it is clear then it will be fantastic although cold at night but if it's cloudy it will be miserable, because of the altitude you could be in the cloud in which case it will be cold and damp. It might be better picking somewhere lower down (Spiez- Interlaken- Meiringen) and try to get half board because restaurant prices in the region live up to the Swiss reputation and rise with the altitude.
I can see your problem with small print. I've just checked the old specialist Swiss Travel Service (now absorbed into Cresta) and their Wengen holidays don't include travel between the airport and resort!
It might be worth getting a copy of the Kuoni Swiss brochure and studying it carefully for off season specials, I've used them in October some years ago and some hotels offered a free regional travel pass which would be really useful, especially if the weather was poor. The Sherlock Holmes in Meiringen was where I stayed through Kuoni and got a great deal.
Flights are also going to be a problem. Easyjet haven't got their October timetables loaded yet but they operate Luton to Zurich or Basel plus Liverpool to Basel. Unfortunately the current Basel outward times are a bit late to reach Wengen. Swiss go to Zurich from Heathrow, Birmingham and Manchester but at conventional prices, however they also do Manchester or London City to Basel at prcies which can beat Easyjet once you've added in the luggage - but only if you book a return and the current outward from Manchester is definately too late.
If all this hasn't put you off and you want details of travel passes for Switzerland leave another message.
To add to Steve's comments about arrival times in Basel, you could always stay your first night in Basel as there is a direct bus from the airport to the train station, and tickets should be bought in the baggage reclaim hall, and then make sure you go out of the SWITZERLAND exit (not France!). There are hotels to suit all pockets in Basel, and some are adjacent to the station. Easyjet also has an easy hotel in Basel, but you will need their website to check on the exact address and prices for when you want to stay!
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