Contents
Visiting ski destinations like Switzerland in the offseason means cooler weather, smaller crowds and lots of festivals.
Sorry, a summary is not available for this article at this time. Please try again later.
By Michelle Tchea
If you haven’t spent much time in Europe, it’s natural to gravitate to the big cities on a summer vacation: Milan one day, Paris the next and Barcelona to cap off an exhausting trip.
But living here for the past decade has taught me a different lesson as I morphed into less of a tourist and more of a local. The truth is, the classics are overrated in the summer, with many family restaurants closed, overcrowding inevitable and temperatures scorching.
If you truly want to enjoy Europe this time of year, do what I do: Head to the mountains, for music festivals, art classes and lakeside adventures.
Not only is the mountain weather much cooler, but the reduced (if growing) crowds outside of ski season allow summer travelers to build in spontaneity. You don’t have to book everything in advance.
Claudio Zemp, director of Switzerland Tourism America, said 11 percent more Americans are visiting Switzerland this year than in 2023, on track to beating records set before the pandemic. “A big aim of ours is to invite guests to stay with us during times which are not so busy,” he said.
Switzerland’s reputation as a premier winter destination remains unrivaled, spanning east and west with alpine retreats in Zermatt and St. Moritz. But now, along with having the most open-air festivals in Europe, the Swiss Alps offer a stellar lineup of sporting and cultural activities that mostly are available only in summer, to keep visitors entertained without skiing, snowboarding or ice-skating on the itinerary. Other ski destinations such as the Dolomites, Megève in France, and even regions of Finland and Sweden are also ramping up their warm-weather attractions.
But visiting in the summer is still considered “an insider tip,” said Richard Leuenberger, general manager of Badrutt’s Palace, a historic hotel in St. Moritz.
Here’s how to do it.
How to adventure
In the Bernese Alps of western Switzerland, locals tackle trails that travel deep into alpine valleys, gorges and caves, as well as high up into the sky on glaciers and mountain peaks.
Switzerland’s westerly winds make for perfect paragliding and hot-air ballooning conditions, too, in places like Interlaken. Fabrice Bielmann, a paragliding instructor in Rougemont, said he has seen a spike in summer interest in nearby Gstaad, known internationally as a ski destination.
“You’re surrounded by waterfalls, mountain lakes for swimming and snow on the highest peaks — it’s magical,” Bielmann said.
If you’re looking for a beach, eastern Switzerland offers lakes with both soft and extreme sports. I love to sail on Lake St. Moritz, which changes color from turquoise to lime green and dark blue as days move into night, but adrenaline-seekers can head to Lake Silvaplana for kite- and windsurfing that feels straight out of coastal Spain.
“We’ve improved our summer offerings over the years to cater to a growing interest from international travelers,” said Leuenberger, who grew up in the Emmental Alps of central Switzerland. Among those improved offerings: horseback riding, paragliding and rock climbing.
Other countries’ famed alpine resorts come with their own summer action. France’s Megève, for instance, features supervised via ferrata, cave diving and self-guided hikes across natural wonders like Mont Blanc. Near Italy’s Dolomites, it’s possible to go summer skiing in the Rhaetian Alps, and there’s also mountain biking, e-biking, and canyoning in Cortina and Trentino.
Austria’s Stubai Valley region offers bungee jumping, for the brave, while Vorarlberg to the west is great for hiking and mountaineering. If you are traveling with young children, Austrian ski resorts in the summer offer activities like rock climbing and white-water rafting, and free “kid parks” can provide hours of fun.
Farther afield, consider Lahti, the anchor of Finnish Lakeland, the Nordic region’s premier cross-country-ski area and home to more than 800 lakes. In summer, you can more comfortably spend hours exploring the Pulkkilanharju ridge around the Salpausselka Geopark, which formed during the Ice Age more than 12,000 years ago. For a break, go boating, fishing or swimming — or rappel down the ski jump at the Lahti Sports Center.
How to take in the culture
Some of the world’s finest jazz musicians visit the Alps for annual sellout festivals in spots including St. Moritz and Megève. In Lahti, the annual Sibelius Festival attracts classical music lovers, and a new visual arts museum is fun for families. Austria’s Bregenzerwald region, meanwhile, displays sculptures in public spaces that function as “art stops.”
Want a more hands-on approach to art? Many Swiss hotels offer creative classes, like watercolor painting or pottery, during the summer.
And while the Alps’ mountaintop huts remain open to hungry hikers and bikers during the warmer months, Europe’s ski resort areas offer more than just fondue. Megève is the culinary capital of the French Alps, with a growing list of Michelin-starred restaurants and food events that draw the best chefs from Paris during the summer. In Swedish Lapland, famed for the northern lights and daring heli-skiing in the winter, celebrated chefs lead understated restaurants for which they forage, hunt and catch their own ingredients. Fuel up before fly-fishing in Sweden’s mountains under the midnight sun.
How to find a deal
European ski resorts are notoriously expensive during the winter season, but trip costs come down in summer, including for lodging.
Another perk is the transit discounts that some hotels will offer. In Switzerland, most hotels in St. Moritz and the region of Crans-Montana and Gstaad provide guests with passes for free cable car rides and public transport during the summer season. Some hotels in France and Italy may offer free cable car passes, too, but it’s not as common.
Explorer cards can offer extra summer discounts to museums in Switzerland and on excursions in Austria, so be sure to ask your concierge at check-in.
How to get around
The easiest and most sustainable way to the Swiss Alps from major cities is by train. “The compact size of Switzerland allows you to explore every day another highlight, with the mountaintops easily accessible by mountain railways, cable cars and funiculars,” said Zemp, of Switzerland Tourism America. The all-in-one Swiss Travel Pass allows unlimited travel on its robust rail network, plus buses, boats, funiculars and cable cars.
Driving may be the best way to reach the French Alps, unless you are patient with long train and bus connections, which can take five hours from Paris to Megève. If you do choose to drive to Europe’s ski regions in summer, though, note that you may encounter road closures and detours when traveling to destinations during the offseason, when roadwork usually takes place. Scout out the conditions ahead of time by calling your hotel or contacting the local tourism office.
Any such delays may cause frustrations, but remember: You might just appreciate all that roadwork the next time you visit, in winter.
Where to go
Our favorite destinations: Take our destination quiz to choose your own adventure. Then read about 12 dream destinations at the top of our wish list — without the crowds.
Travel like a local: Residents share their favorite places in our top city guides: New Orleans, Rome, Tokyo and Mexico City.
National parks: Explore tips from locals for visiting Yosemite, Glacier and Everglades.
Tales from the road: Trace a route along the southern coast of Puerto Rico. See how jamón gets made in the heartland of Spanish pork.