Best Time to Visit Lucerne

Summer: warm, green and wet

July is the warmest month, with highs around 23°C and lows of 15°C. August is close behind. This is the Lucerne of postcards. You can swim off the lido (the public lake beach), walk across the Chapel Bridge and take the boat to Vitznau for the Rigi railway. The catch is rain. May to August all see about 157 mm, except June, which is a little lower. Showers come often, but they usually pass. Pick a lake-view café for the wet hour.

This is high season. Tour groups pack the Chapel Bridge and the Lion Monument, and hotels fill up. Swiss school holidays run through summer, so families are out in force. Late summer also brings the Lucerne Festival, a big classical music series based at the KKL concert hall.

September and October: the best of it

September is our top pick. Highs are around 19°C, rain drops to 104 mm and the crowds thin out. You get decent walking weather and calmer boats on the lake. Hiking Mount Pilatus or taking the cogwheel train up is much more pleasant when the heat has eased.

October is also rated Good, though it's cooler and cloudier. Expect highs near 16°C and only about 3.8 hours of sun a day. Autumn colour on the hillsides makes up for some of that. If you hate crowds but still want to be outdoors, this is your window.

Winter and early spring: quiet and grey

From November to March, the rating is Poor. Days are short, and January and December get just 2.1 hours of sun on average. Fog can sit over the lake for days. Highs hover near freezing in midwinter. It's cosy, though. The Old Town is calm, and Christmas markets bring some warmth in December.

The big event is Fasnacht, Lucerne's carnival, held before Lent, usually in February or March. Expect masks, brass bands and loud costumed parades. Book a room early if you want to go. Travelling with kids? The Swiss Museum of Transport is a good rainy-day bet at any time of year.

Spring: patchy but pretty

April is Fair, with highs of 13°C and about 97 mm of rain. May turns wetter, with rain on 20 days. Lower trails can be lovely, but higher paths may still hold snow. Spring suits you if you want flowers and fewer people, and you don't mind packing a rain jacket.