It’s easy to see wildflowers when hiking in Switzerland; you just need to hike at the right time. In the Swiss mountains, flowers don’t appear in force until mid-June to early July, when summer hiking season starts. But when they do appear, they last all summer long through about early September.
To help you get started, here are our favorite mountain hikes in Switzerland that we like for the wildflowers. Many mountain areas have specific “flower trails” so look for that when planning your trips.
For spring flower hikes, see 15 Spring flower hikes in Switzerland (April to June)
Near Lucerne
1. Stoos panorama trail
Although you can often start hiking on Stoos in late May, the flowers really take over starting mid-June. There are flowers all along the ridge trail from Klingenstock to Fronalpstock. But the best meadows are along the easy panorama trail near Fronalpstock, accessible for even small children and those with reduced mobility. The pictures below were taken the third week of June.
See details for Stoos Ridge Trail and Stoos Easy Panorama trail.
Eastern Switzerland
2. Chäserrugg flower trail
This little flower path sits on the edge of some cliffs over looking the super blue Walensee lake below. In this breathtaking setting, you can admire a huge variety of alpine flowers with info signs with facts and stories that were more interesting that I expected. The flower path is the start of the easy Panorama trail that circles the plateau, so you should definitely do both. We’ve done this the last week of June and late July and there were definitely lots more flowers by the end of July. Hike stats: 3.5 km loop, easy, about 90 mins with kids
See details for Chäserrugg Flower Path & Panorama Trail
3. Flims Waterway Trail
So many flowers on this trail, but the very best were the yellow flowers blanketing the Segnesboden high alpine valley near the big waterfall. Such a unique and beautiful landscape. We did this hike in late July and even got to pick wild blueberries. See details for Flims Waterway Trail
Bernese Oberland & Jungfrau Region
4. Mürren Allmendhubel Flower Trail
The Allmendhubel area is great for kids, with the big flower themed playground with views of the famous Eiger, Jungfrau and Mönch peaks. Just above the playground, there is an alpine flower garden and short theme trail with educational signboards and activities. My pic below is from November, long after the blooms had faded. It’s best to visit in July and August for peak bloom. If you want a proper hike, you can hike down to Mürren through wildflower fields and more mountain views. See details for Allmendhubel Flower Park.
5. Schynige Platte Ridge Trail & Alpine Flower Garden
We go to Schynige Platte for the gorgeous ridge trail. But the area is also teaming with wildflowers and they now have an alpine flower garden, where you can visit a variety of alpine flowers all in one place, including Edelweis. The alpine garden is directly above the mountain train station and doesn’t require doing the full hike.
See details for Schynige Platte.
6. Brienzer Rothorn Ridge Trail
Although flowers are the first thing I think of when I think of this trail, so many of my pictures from my last trip there are filled with flowers. It’s an epic challenging hike along a dramatic ridge, with views like the picture below. We went at the end of June and it was practically perfect.
See details for Brienzer Rothorn Ridge hike.
Zermatt & Valais region
7. Zermatt Flower Trail
This lovely trail rambles over rocky hills and through flower filled fields ending at an adventure playground and picnic area with a view of the Matterhorn. The flowers are accompanied by informational signboards and labels (in English and German), which teach you interesting facts like which magical plant was used to restore a cow’s milk. The trail is downhill and not difficult but it is narrow and rocky, not suitable for strollers.
See details for Zermatt Flower Trail.
8. Saas-Fee Almgelleralp
I included this trail because we saw Edelweis flowers in the wild here! This almost never happens in Switzerland despite Edelweis being the national flower of this country. Flowers are only one of the many charms of this trail, which also has a cliff adventure walk and optional mountain scooter ride. We did this hike in late July, perfect timing. See details for Saas-Fee Almagelleralp Panorama trail.
9. Lake Cleuson near Nendaz
In late June, we spent a weekend in the mountain village Nendaz in southern Switzerland and everywhere we went was full of wildflowers.
See details for Lake Cleuson hike.
10. Bettmeralp mountain scooter run
I admit, this is technically not a hike. But this scooter run had the most amazing wildflowers that I seriously consider riding the gondola back up and walking down, just so I could enjoy the flowers more. There were also lots of nice flowers on our walk around the Bettmersee lake and elsewhere in the Aletsch Arena. But the flowers on this scooter run are what I remember.
See details for Bettmeralp weekend getaway (scooter info at the end of the post).
