Off-season · Snow Up High, Green Below
Ski the high pistes around Kleine Scheidegg in the morning, walk the greening valley floor in shirtsleeves by afternoon. The quietest, cheapest skiing of the year.
Yes, for a particular kind of traveller. April is the quietest, cheapest shoulder month: ski the high pistes in the morning, walk the greening valley floor in shirtsleeves by afternoon, and have the place largely to yourself. The waterfalls swell with snowmelt to their most powerful. It is a transitional month, so expect some lifts and trails closed between seasons.
Lifts run up high while the valley wakes up. Easter brings small village celebrations without the peak-week prices.
Official source →Stechelberg to Lauterbrunnen along the river, past waterfall after waterfall swelling with meltwater. Flat, easy, and free.
Route details →Snowmelt turns the 72 waterfalls to full volume, Staubbach and Trümmelbach are at their most thunderous in late spring.
A wet shoulder-season afternoon is the time to make your own bars from scratch at the Funky Chocolate Club in Interlaken, an entirely indoor, hands-on couple of hours.
More →Common questions
Yes, if you value quiet and value over a packed activity list. It is one of the least crowded and cheapest times, with powerful waterfalls and high-altitude spring skiing still possible early in the month.
Excellent, April and early summer bring the snowmelt that makes the Staubbach and the valley’s 72 waterfalls at their most powerful.
Mostly quiet, with low prices and few people for much of the month. The exceptions are Easter and weekends, which can get busy, so time a midweek, non-holiday visit if you want the valley at its calmest.
On the valley floor, steps from the trailheads and the village, the practical, best-value base whatever the season (and right by the winter ski shuttle).