In Switzerland, you can start spring hiking at lower elevations (under about 1300m) from early April.
During this time, you can enjoy the short flowering seasons of cherry blossoms, crocus, narcissus, dandelions, as well as a wide variety of wildflowers as you wait for the snow to melt at higher elevations.
Below are our favorite hikes for enjoying flowers in this early spring season.
FYI, higher elevation trails in the Swiss mountains don’t open for hiking until about mid-June to early July, when gondolas open for summer hiking season.
Mountain wildflowers start to flower about this time, with peak bloom from July to August. For these mountain hikes, see 10 Best Wildflower Hikes in the Swiss Alps.
Note: The estimated bloom dates below are just estimates based on history. Flowers might show up earlier or later, no guarantees. Also note that farmers regularly mow wildflower fields so it’s possible flowers are gone one day to the next.
Top picks & when to go
Here are our favorites in the list and approximately when to go.
| Trail | Estimated bloom time |
| Frick Cherry Trail | second week of April |
| Walensee waterfall trail | late April |
| Illgau Muotathal | mid May |
| Les Pléiades Narcissus Trail | last week of May – check status |
Cherry Blossoms & Other Fruit Trees
1. Frick Cherry Blossom trail
This easy trail has hundreds of cherry trees that blossom around mid-April, a perfect time for a spring stroll.
The blossoms usually are ready about mid-April and last about 10 days. You can follow the #chriesiwäg hashtag and Aargau Tourism on Instagram to see pics from the trail and see if it’s blooming yet.
The walk starts in the Gipf-Oberfrick village, easy to access by car or bus. The path is a smooth dirt path, obstacle-free, suitable for beginners, children, and strollers. There is a 4 km or 8.6 km loop, both lovely.
Trail: 4 km • 1h30 / 8.6 km • 2h30
Location: Gipf-Oberfrick, 40 mins drive west of Zürich
When to go: usually 10-15 April
See details for the Frick Cherry Blossom Trail
2. Zug Cherry Blossom trail
This trail wanders along the hills above the Zugersee lake where you can enjoy the cherry blossoms in mid-April.
Athough it’s not “all cherry trees, all the time” like the Frick cherry blossom trail, it’s much quieter with more charms than just the blossoms.
To see if the cherry blossoms are in bloom, you can email or call the Zug flower hotline: 041 723 68 00 or tourism@zug.ch
See details for the Zug Cherry Blossom Trail
3. Lake Lucerne Waldstätterweg
The Waldstätterweg is a multi-stage trail around the north half of Lake Lucerne. The section near Weggis pass through lots of farms with orchards that bloom early to mid April.
We suggest the walk from Greppen to Weggis, which wanders through pretty meadows with views of many mountains including Rigi and Pilatus.
Trail: easy • 3 hours • 12 km • 332m up & down
See trail map on SchweizMobil
Start: Küssnacht am Rigi / for shorter version, Greppen, Oberhaus bus stop
End: Weggis, Dorfplatz bus stop
When to go: usually second week of April
4. Thurgau Apple Blossoms
In northeast Switzerland, near Lake Constance, the Thurgau region is filled with apple orchards. These trees bloom usually mid to late April, a great time to enjoy a walk or bike ride through this region.
In Altnau, there is a themed Apple Trail, with info boards along the way about the fruit growing business in this area.
Trail: easy • 2h • 4km loop • 80m up & down • Trail info
If you prefer to cycle, there is a nice route starting in Kreuzlingen, cycling through the apple orchards, then looping back along the lake. You can easily make this route longer, connecting to other cycling routes in the region.
Bike route: easy • 1h30 • 25km loop • 170m up & down • Bike route info
Alpine blooms – mid to late April
5. Rämisgummen “Sea of Crocus”
Crocus flowers usually start popping out in the cities and lowlands in February and March. But in the hills and mountains, the season starts later, from about mid April through May.
The hike at Ramisgummen in Emmental area is particularly well-known for its “sea of crocus,” literally thousands of crocus carpeting the hillsides there.
While it is very pretty, these crocus are tiny, so it can feel less impressive than the images you might see on social media. We were there on a rainy day, so the blooms were closed up. Would definitely be nicer on a sunny day.
We visited the crocus as part of the Grenzpfad Napfbergland trail, starting in Trubschachen, ending in Marbach. We reached the crocus after about 2h15 hiking.
Trail: 4h50 • 15k one way • 840m up 720m down
For a short walk, you can drive up a one-lane mountain road and park on the mountain near the crocus fields (park near Bergrestaurant Erika).
From there it’s an easy 30-40 min walk to one of the biggest the crocus patches. But I wouldn’t do this on the weekend as there are only a few parking spots and few passing spots on the narrow road.
6. Daffodils at Tête de Ran
My friend Hana from Our Swiss Experience suggests the daffodil hike at Les Prés-d’Orvin near Biel. You can drive directly to the daffodils or hike the 9.8 km loop hike that Hana did with her children. See details for Les Prés d’Orvin daffodil hike.
Near Neuchâtel, there are huge wild daffodil fields at Tête de Ran, another spring outing suggested by Family Earth Trek. You can drive all the way to Tete de Ran (see on map), park next to the daffodil fields and simply wander. Or you can park below next to the Vue des Alpes restaurant and summer toboggan (see on map) and hike up, doing about a 6 km loop.
The daffodils bloom around lake April to mid-May but they only last a week. So best to contact the Nechâtel tourism office and the Vue des alpes restaurant for the flower status before going. Details on Family Earth Trek.
Late April to early May
7. Walensee waterfall hike
This is one of my favorite outings for spring break. By mid-April, the fields here are usually bright green and bursting with flowers and the waterfall is starting to pick up volume.
The pic below was taken the last week of April, a perfect time to visit here. It’s about 2 km each way to the waterfalls, passing by and through fields like this the whole way.
For a short hike, start in Betlis, reached by car or boat from Weesen. Hike up to the falls and back the same way.
Short route: 1h30 • 3.5km there and back • 110m up & down • see trail info
For a longer hike, start in Wessen and hike to Quinten, where you can take a boat back to your starting point. You can make this an hour shorter, by starting with a boat ride to Betlis.
Longer hike: 4 hours • 10.7 km one way • 290m up & down • see trail info
8. Uetliberg
For an easy outing, the Uetliberg panorama trail above Zürich has lots of fields that break out in yellow, usually late-April through mid-May. We particularly like the fields near the Felsenegg restaurant and cable car.
You can do a short, easy loop that starts on the ridge line and dips through some farms before returning to your starting point. Or you could just walk back and forth along the ridge as long as you like.
Hike stats: 3.5 km loop, easy, about 90 mins with kids
See details for Felsenegg loop trail
9. Greifensee lake path
The paths around the Greifensee lake east of Zürich cut through lots of big grassy fields that are bursting with wildflowers starting in late April.
There are walking paths close to the water and a biking/skating path a bit set back from the water. Both are absolutely lovely in spring.
If you don’t want to do the whole 19km loop, there are bus stops along the way and even ferry service across the lake to get you back to your starting point.
Bike route: Easy • 1h30 • 19 k • 80m up & down
Location: Train station: Nänikon-Greifensee
See details for Greifensee lake loop
Narcissus – mid May to early June
10. Narcissus trails near Lake Geneva
In western Switzerland, there are 6 popular Narcissus trails in the hills near Lausanne and Montreux. Each of the trails pass through big fields filled with white narcissus flowers and also have beautiful views of mountains and lake Geneva.
The helpful Narcissus website has a detailed bloom forecast, showing what stage of bloom different sections of each trail are currently at and what is expected on a certain date so you can plan your visit.
The best and easiest narcissus trail is at Les Pléiades near Montreux and Lausanne. It’s also the most popular and can get very crowded on sunny weekends. But you should go anyway. See Les Pléiades hike details.
For a quieter trail, we suggest the narcissus trail at Haux de Caux (shown below), which visits some enormous fields filled with narcissus and views of Lake Geneva.
We also tried the Les Avants trail, but it didn’t have as many flowers as I expected based on the website promo pics. Plus all the narcissus fields were fenced off to protect the flowers, which I totally support. But no pics of your family standing in the middle of the flowers.
11. Seewis Narcissus Trail in eastern Switzerland
If you live in eastern Switzerland, you can instead visit the narcissus trail in Seewis, about an hour south of Zürich. The trail visits several mountain meadows that fill with narcissus flowers from mid-May to mid-June. The trail also has lots of other wildflowers as well as gorgeous mountain views.
See details for Seewis Narcissus trail.
Low elevation mountain hikes – mid May
12. Chli Aubrig
We did this hike the second week of May and the dandelions were already out in full force.
Most of the flowers were around 1200-1300m at the beginning of the hike, but I expect later in the season the whole mountain will be covered.
The full loop is about 9 km, but you could enjoy a lot of the views and flowers very near the parking area without a long hike if you prefer.
See details for Chil Aubrig hike.
13. Moorweg Gamperfin
The flowers on this trail are plentiful but small, a quiet charm to enjoy at a leisurely pace. Part of the trail passes through a delicate moor, where you have to walk on a raised walkway to protect the habit, including the tiny blooms sprinkled all over the landscape.
Other parts of the trail pass through big meadows stuffed with wildflowers. After your hike, it’s a short walk down to the lovely Voralpsee lake, a great place for a picnic. We did this hike the last week of May but probably even better in mid to late June.
See details for Moorweg Gamperfin hike.
14. Sattel Hochstückli
late April to May
Sattel is one of the first mountain gondolas to open, usually mid-April, sometimes earlier. The panorama trail has beautiful mountain views and lots of fields that gradually fill with wildflowers as the season progresses.
On this trail in mid-April we saw lots of crocus with a background of snowy peaks in the distance. By mid-May, the fields turn bright green and are filled with dandelions and other flowers.
See details for Sattel Panorama Trail.
15. Pigniu Reservoir
Visiting this lake is one of our spring traditions. We usually go in mid-May when we see this fantastic carpet of yellow dandelions. But we’ve enjoyed it as early as mid-April (all brown, almost no flowers), and as late as August (super green, lots of flowers).
Even though it’s surrounded by mountains, you can drive to the trail head without the use of mountain transport.
It’s best to visit in late May to early June. In April and early May, the trail is usually partially covered in snow and in disrepair, with the bridge missing at the far end so you can’t do the full loop. So be flexible and set your expectations accordingly.
See details for Pigniu Lake & Waterfall hike.
16. Illgau Muotathal
Illgau is another low elevation mountain area that opens a bit earlier than other mountains. We love hiking in this area in late May when the wildflowers are tall and lush.
But one time, as we got closer to the village, farmers were mowing down several fields the day we were there. So we were lucky to see what we did.
With small children, we suggest the Illgau Ladybug trail, with two playgrounds and a few activities along the way.
Kids trail: Easy • 1 h • 2.7 k • 350m down • see trail info
Otherwise, you might enjoy a longer wander through the Illgau countryside.
Trail: 2h • 6.7 km • 214m up, 578m down • see trail map
17. Moorweg Rotenthurm trail near Einsiedeln
This trail wanders through fields, forests, and moor in the lowlands near Einsiedeln with lots of wildflowers filling the meadows.
I was worried I would miss the big mountain views, but this trail was so lovely that I might make it a spring tradition.
I went in late May when there was a partial detour onto the bike path (as shown below) to protect nesting birds and other wildlife. But even these parts on the country road were still very nice.
See details for Moorweg Rotenthurm.
Flower Parks
These flowers aren’t wild and these suggestions are more strolls than hikes. But tulips are such a part of spring that I had to include them.
Mainau Island
In eastern Switzerland, we suggest Mainau Island, which is just over the border in Germany near Konstanz on the shores of the Bodensee lake.
There are lots of beautiful walking paths around the island (fee to enter) filled with flowers, a great playground for the kids, and butterfly house. See our Mainau Island review.
Morges Tulip Festival
In western Switzerland, there is a free tulip festival in Morges near Lausanne on the shores of Lake Geneva. The festival runs from late March through early May but the tulips usually are in bloom the last two weeks of April. Below is a video from our visit a couple years ago. See the Morges website for details and update on the bloom status.
Seleger Moor
Seleger Moor near Zurich is another flower park, this one focusing on rhododendrons and azaleas, which bloom a bit later than daffodils and tulips. There are lots of little stroller-friendly paths wandering through large flower bushes. My kids enjoyed looking for frogs in the lilypad ponds. There is a family picnic and grill area with tables, so you can bring your lunch or get a snack from the small cafe. See our Seleger Moor review
Keukenhof Netherlands
You could also do a road trip and visit the famous Keukenhof Gardens near Amsterdam. We’ve done this twice and loved it. The park is huge, so you’ll definitely get your steps in. You can also add on a bike ride through the tulip fields outside the park.
What are your favorite spring flower hikes in Switzerland?
2 responses
Hello Tanya,
Me and my family are big fans of your website and plan a lot of our trips beaded on your suggestions. I am a little lost on what hikes to plan during March and early April though. The weather is beautiful, but most of the hikes are not open yet. Is there a way to search for walks/strolls/hikes that are open at this time of the year?
Did you see my post about hikes for March? https://swissfamilyfun.com/switzerland-march-hikes/ For me, it’s just experience knowing what things are open and what hasn’t worked for us in the past. I had to do a lot research to pull these posts together. I haven’t found another resource that makes it easy to know what’s open.