Tschuggen Bergoase at Tschuggen Grand Hotel in Arosa, Switzerland.
Spring is almost here in Switzerland, a time when relatively few people think to visit. If only they knew.
At the Tschuggen Grand Hotel in Arosa, the slopes are covered with a generous pile of snow. All 43 ski lifts at Arosa are open, including the resort’s private cable car railway that takes resort guests to the top of the mountain.
Spring can be the perfect time of year to visit. The despair of winter tourists has come and gone. Resorts like Arosa will stay open for a while – the last day of skiing was April 18 last year. This offers almost perfect conditions for spring skiing: great snow, warmer temperatures and plenty of daylight.
“Switzerland comes alive in spring,” says Nadine van Riet-Campbell, owner of Ovations Travel. “You still have all the beauty of the snow-capped Alps, while flowers bloom everywhere.”
Pilatus Kulm and cable car, peak above Lake Lucerne, Switzerland.
What’s new in Switzerland this spring?
What should you expect from a spring trip to Switzerland?
- Spring skiing is incredible. “Ski season usually runs until early April,” says Joe Cronin, president of International Citizens Insurance. “By March, it has snowed several times, so even if there have been a few warm weeks or days, the snow still won’t have melted.”
- Spring holidays. In April and May, you can catch the Tulip Festival on Lake Geneva, the Interlaken Classical Music Festival and Zermatt Unplugged. While these festivals attract a fair number of locals, spring remains a relatively quiet time for tourism. So you’re less likely to find yourself in a crowd of American tourists.
- There are many new attractions for 2023. From hotels like the Mandarin Oriental Palace, Luzern, which opened just a few months ago, to Zermatt’s new Matterhorn Alpine Pass, which will connect the resort to Cervinia, Italy, there’s no shortage of new things to try out. year.
“Switzerland is a beautiful country that offers stunning scenery and a wide range of activities,” says Adeel Khan, a product manager for hotel search engine BusinessClass.com. “During spring, there are flowers in bloom, scenic hiking trails and warmer weather, making it the perfect time to visit.”
A ski slope in the Arosa Lenzerheide ski resort in Switzerland.
The mountain oasis of Tschuggen Grand Hotel
Tschuggen Grand Hotel is one of the ideal places to spend a spring weekend. The Tschuggen Grand Hotel is said to be on the sunny side of Arosa, so there are constant reminders to bring plenty of sunscreen. On a bluebird day in the spring, after a fresh dusting of powder snow, it’s hard to get better than the resort’s ski experience, with its five restaurants and cigar lounge.
After a long day on the slopes, guests return to one of the most popular spas in the Alps. of Tschuggen Bergoase — Tschuggen Mountain Oasis — is as much an architectural experience as it is a spa. Carved into the mountain, it features hand-crafted granite and maple wood. The building, designed by Swiss architect Mario Botta, looks like a glass sail reflecting against the snow-capped mountains.
But the biggest “wow” amenity of the Tschuggen Grand Hotel is the private ski lift, the Tschuggen Mountain Express, which connects guests to the mountain without forcing them to wait in a long line. There is no elevator; just use the room key to call the cable car. The trip to the top takes just 2 1/2 minutes, depositing you near the top of the mountain and giving you full access to the famous Arosa Lenzerheide ski resort.
The lobby of the new FIVE Zürich, which opened last year.
New hotels in Switzerland this spring
There are many new properties in Switzerland this spring.
A two-hour drive from Geneva, you’ll find the French-speaking resort of Valais. The new Six Senses Crans-Montana model has just opened here. It offers ski-in and ski-out access to the ski area. The area is popular for skiing, mountain biking, hiking and events, plus scenic views across the Rhone valley.
The Mandarin Oriental Palace is an iconic landmark of the Belle Époque, first opened in 1906, recently restored. It offers a million dollar view of the Swiss Alps and 136 rooms and suites, dining and a holistic spa. There has been a lot of buzz about this new property and luxury travel advisors have been talking about it for months.
Ambassador Zürich, a small luxury hotel, is scheduled to open during the first quarter of 2023. The property, located a stone’s throw from the opera house, offers a commanding view of Lake Zurich.
And there are new hotels, like the FIVE Zürich, which opened last summer. The property is part of a hotel group that includes the über-trendy FIVE Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, and as I’ve already pointed out, it’s easily the most Instagrammable property this side of the Alps. Neon lights illuminate the hallways, glass art hangs from the ceilings and floor-to-ceiling murals of celebrities who stayed at the hotel before it became FIVE adorn the walls.
In the center of Zurich on a sunny spring day. Look for the Burning Boog.
Check out these spring festivals in Switzerland
There is no shortage of special events and festivals in Switzerland this spring.
Basel hosts the Infinity Festival from March 7 to April 5, which brings together top-class international artists and presents interdisciplinary concerts from baroque, classical and romantic to contemporary music.
The Morges Tulip Festival, which takes place from April 1 to May 14, is one of the oldest festivals of its kind in the world. In the Parc de l’Indépendance, you’ll find hundreds of thousands of tulips – more than 275 different types.
The Cully Jazz Festival from April 14 to 22 takes place in a wine village in the Lavaux vineyards on the shores of Lake Geneva. There are more than 150 concerts, and many of them are free. Singers this year include Barbara Hendricks, Gambian singer Sona Jobarteh, American hip-hop group Slum Village and soul singer Summer Pearl.
The Tschuggen Collection is hosting a Race for Nature from March 15 to 18, an event celebrating the group’s sustainability mission. Race for Nature is a ski race and event weekend championing climate conservation organizations and businesses that are committed to making a positive impact in stopping climate change.
Zermatt Unplugged, from April 11 to 15, is another popular festival, with exclusively acoustic performances by international artists. This year’s acts include Yīn Yīn, Sean Riley & The Slowriders and Valentino Vivace, among others.
One of the most famous spring festivals is Sechseläuten, which takes place on April 17 in Zurich, commemorating the end of winter. It’s a four-day event filled with parades, parties, fireworks, horse riders and food. There’s an annual ritual you can’t miss, in which local firefighters gather and stuff a 100-foot-tall snowman-like figure called the Boog, an ancient symbol of winter, with straw. Then Boog is set on fire. (Technically, his head explodes.)
Only in Switzerland.
Landwasser Viaduct in Filisur, Switzerland.
Is spring a good time to visit Switzerland?
You mean, even if you don’t ski? Yes, say people who have been there recently.
Rhonda Mincey and her husband visited Switzerland last March and she says the visit was “breathtaking”.
She boarded the Glacier Express in Chur, not far from Arosa.
“The train, with its massive windows and transparent top, gave us spectacular views of the mountains, bridges and houses along the way,” she recalls. “The snow-covered villages reminded me of gingerbread houses, painting the ideal image of winter wonderlands.”
She says the experience left an indelible impression.
“It was overwhelming,” says Mincey, a brand strategist from Bluffton, SC. “I could barely contain my excitement.”
Switzerland has that effect on visitors. Switzerland in spring – with its festivals, flowers, bluebird days and endless ski slopes – might just make you want to move to Switzerland forever.
