Switzerland in July: am i mad ? Will it be too hot and crowded ?flying into Basel should I go to.place with a pool instead ?

[Snowangles]

Just that really I'm wondering if I'm being stupid and maybe should stay in a campsite elsewhere ? With a pool we are flying into Basel

Switzerland is warm rather than hot usually. It’s not exactly Dubai. What do you consider “too hot”?

I'd check out decent hotels with aircon and a pool.
Surely a campsite will also be very hot? (And crowded!)

Basel is lovely in the summer. It can get hot but everyone swims in the river - you buy or rent a special float that you can put your clothes in! There are also lots of water fountains that children swim in around the city.

Basel won’t be too hot or too crowded at that time of year.

@tartyflette we could leave Switzerland and base ourselves in french or German areas around there . @CharBart we have spent time in Basel before and won't be staying there it's where we are flying into for refenxe.

We could go down to Lucerne or up to France /Germany ( which is much cheeper ).

I'm worried about the immense costs of staying in hotels in Switzerland and it being too hot to explore much.

Basel is really lovely in the summer, I lived there for 5 years about 10 years ago. Swimming down the Rhine is very popular, there are also lots of really lovely public pools in the suburbs. It’s easy to get into France, Germany and Austria and the mountains are stunning in the summer. Just brace yourself for eye watering prices, Switzerland is not cheap!

We are not staying in Basel it's just where we are flying into .

Geneva is getting to be VERY hot in the summer (and there’s now much, much less snow in the winter than there used to be). In late July/August, it feels like everyone leaves for cooler temps at higher elevations.

HOWEVER, Basel is a little more “soft” Mediterranean. For example, I’ve linked the temperatures for last July. As you can see, most of the month is temperate and fine, but there was a heatwave at the beginning of the month. If you go during one of the Swiss heat waves, it’s miserable - no air con anywhere. So, it should be fine, but know that you’re taking a gamble with heat waves, and that heat waves in Switzerland are becoming more frequent (accompanied by violent afternoon/early evening thunderstorms, like in the American South).
https://www.accuweather.com/en/ch/basel/312066/july-weather/312066

@Iammorethanenough thanks

We are not staying in Basel is there anywhere else you can recommend in France or Germany ?

We went to Switzerland for the first two weeks of July last year. We flew into Basel, I don’t remember it being hot or crowded. But then we went by train to st Moritz, Zermatt, Interlaken and finally Geneva. The mountains were cool, and not crowded - it’s low season there! The alpine meadows etc were gorgeous. Interlaken was quite warm and busy but not excessively so. Geneva was fine too. There was some rain.

@FFSToEverythingSince2020 thanks it's the lack of air con I'm also thinking about .
Planetary they dont really have it think they have special buildings with it in

@ErrolTheDragon thanks did you stay in Interlaken at all ? It's somewhere I'm looking at as baae

The pont people are trying to make is what is too hot for you? You might start passing out at 22 degrees, or you might happily do a marathon in 40. Switzerland isn't particularly hot compared to other areas further south. Mountainous areas are generally cooler anyway.

Yes - in the ugly big tower hotel which I wouldn’t necessarily recommend - it was just me and DH so the hotels we used probably wouldn’t be what you’d want if you’ve got kids.

its quite a good base for trips up the mountains on the train and lake trips. It depends what sort of thing you want to do.

It will be lovely, OP.
And actually, in really warm weather they swim in the Rhine in Basel!
Plus you can get out of the city - there is an easy train service to Konstanz (just over the border in Germany), which is a lovely place on the Bodensee (Llake Constance). There are beaches and thermal pools all around the lake, and it's a popular holiday destination.
As an added bonus, Germany is much better VFM.... the only problem with Switzerland is that it is very expensive.

It won't be crowded in Basel as you'll arrive during the school holidays, which start on 27th June, so a lot of families will be away.

Europa Park & Rulantica might be quite busy though, as Alsace school holidays begin around 4th July, so if you were planning to visit I'd go midweek at least.

The Titisee lake area is always nice to visit? Germany won't be on school holidays then.

This past July we did have some ridiculously hot days over 38 degrees, but it was mostly around the 28 degree average. It tends to be more unpleasant as a resident than a tourist tbh as offices are generally not allowed to have air con.

@Snowangles I saw your comment about Switzerland being expensive. Bear in mind that (just in case you didn’t know) food is VERY expensive; even buying food from a grocery store can cost as much as a takeaway in the UK. When I moved to the UK and everyone was complaining about food prices, I was absolutely floored since I hadn’t seen food this cheap in years, as meat which costs £5 here would cost £19, which is 20CHF (BUT obviously Swiss and UK salaries are very different, and I do understand that people here were talking about how much the prices have risen). It may be better for you to be based in France or Germany if cost is a concern.

I've been to Switzerland in August, and I'd describe it as warm and pleasant, rather than "hot". A lovely country and friendly people.

WWE went to Switzerland last year in July/August. We stayed in Bern and Zurich it was warm like 28/30 but I was also 7 months pregnant and we all survived and did loads. We even went swimming in Lake Zurich. I was probably crankier than normal but it fine.

I'd say it's a good time of year to go, weather wise. It should be warm. Unless there's a Europe-wide heat wave, it won't be too hot. At least not for me. It's not even southern Europe, it'll be hotter in Spain, Italy for instance and I wouldn't avoid those for the weather either.

I would agree that Swiss hotels are expensive. Everything is expensive to be honest. You need to factor that in when planning. If it's an issue for you then all the neighbouring countries are cheaper but they're also very different.

The only thing that can be good value in Switzerland is the train - buy a half-fare pass and it is suddenly quite affordable. And they have a really good train network. We've toured all over by train.

Also, to save money, in most cities your hotel will give you a free local transport card. Not all unfortunately, but a lot. They will usually give this to you when you check in. It will also get you discounts locally for food, attractions sometimes.

Switzerland is a great place to tour though. We travelled all over by train and really enjoyed it. We travelled in December though - whole different issue weather wise but it's a beautiful country.

We were in Basel this year in July for the women’s Euros. It was T-shirt weather. We stayed in France and hired a car to travel around France/ Switzerland/ Germany. Even with the football on it was only what I’d consider busy for the short periods of time around the matches around the stadiums. If I went again I’d probably spend more time in Germany. It is very expensive to be a tourist in Switzerland but it is a lovely country and we met nice people there.

Why book somewhere then panic about it?

@ErrolTheDragon what the hotel called ? I'm looking at the dorint hotel .
My initial idea was to stay in Interlaken and go to grindwald and some other places from there ( not hikers )

@IwishIcouldconfess it's not booked ? We are staying elsewhere for half the trip and I'm working out where to spend the other half !

The resent heatwave hots eg 30 and above really

We went to interlaken for a week. It was nice except for the one day it rained. We did some walking (not too much as had two eight year olds with us) went on mountain railways and went to see the Sherlock Holmes waterfall.

it was a good holiday. Not too hot.