Europe - Weather in Switzerland in September

I have an opportunity to do a 10-day tour in Switzerland this year starting around September 1. My plan would be to stay in the valleys and away from the high passes, but it is Switzerland, after all.

Will cold and snow be a concern?

Ray

http://www.meteoswiss.admin.ch/web/en/weather.html - it will be cold and wet at altitude but snow likely rare. Check with the swiss office directly if you know where you want to go. My guess is they'll be happy to help.

It should be nice warm pre-autumn weather, wonderful for hiking and biking. Snow could be a problem, but only in very very high altitudes. If you go to the south of Switzerland, i.e. the south side of the alps weather will be even warmer and more like summer.

Suuse

There is absolutely lovely riding weather in Switzerland in September, and it's a beautiful country. There are a few things to keep in mind, however:

-the days are shorter than in midsummer, so make sure you have lights on your bike for long rides just in case!
-if you're doing serious climbs, the temperature change your body will experiences between climbing and descending will be quite big. Hot and sweaty going up, chilly going down. So make sure you have long-fingered gloves and wind gear with you.
-chances of snow are small, but over a 10 day tour you're almost guaranteed to hit a few patches of rain.

Three websites that will come in handy:

http://www.bikehotels.ch/. A collection of reasonably-priced hotels with extra facilities for cyclists.
http://www.climbbybike.com/ Lots of helpful info about all the big climbs you'll do.
Cycling in Switzerland (http://www.englishforum.ch/sports-fitness/9793-cycling-switzerland.html) Very comprehensive info about cycling in Switzerland.

Have fun!

Ginger

Dear...

dont think about bike tour to switzerland in september..much more cold temp. in there..its minus degree temp... otherwise u will get fun in hospital ....hhaaaaaaaa :lol:

Swiss weather reports often are done by elevation. Above 1000m it will be like this, and above 2000m it will be like that. Sometimes night and day differences.
I've experienced great riding weather around Easter in the area around Gruyere. At the same time the nearby downhill ski areas were boasting the best spring skiing in years. September? I say go for it. Flexibility of route would be advisable, though.

I just returned from this September bike tour around Switzerland.

For the most part, there was sunshine every day. There was some rain on 3 of 15 days.

The weather was warm but cooled considerably at higher elevations.

I wore leg warmers a few times and arm warmers only when descending from a pass under trees.

Ray

I'm glad to hear that the tour went well. This September was definitely warmer and drier than average, especially toward the end of the month. I was biking over 2,000 metre passes almost every weekend during the month - great fun :)