With a now eight year old and a five year old in tow, the MBFF family is beginning to find its 🏔 hiking mojo (we hope). Here, below, you will find some of MBFF’s favourite (and tried and tested!) family hikes 🏔 au Pays du Mont-Blanc, with suggestions for buvettes and refuges: For general tips on hiking with small children see MBFF post . . . FAMILY HIKES – … Continue reading MBFF’s recommended family hikes au Pays du Mont-Blanc
MBFF has now spent 8 years discovering and testing 🌈 playgrounds 🏔 au Pays du Mont-Blanc. We are fairly confident that we have tested most of them (please let us know of any treasures we may have missed along the way!). The following list highlights our personal favourites (this is clearly subjective!). At certain points on our journey of discovery, we had to avoid certain playgrounds, as with two energetic boys … Continue reading 10 of MBFF’s FAVOURITE PLAYGROUNDS au Pays du Mont-Blanc
We are 🐯 HUGE ANIMAL LOVERS here at MBFF . . . and we are lucky to share our home with a couple of affectionate (and fairly tolerant!) 🐱🐱 felines. But perhaps some of you don’t have the home set-up to accommodate animal friends, or perhaps allergies are preventing you from doing so . . . Luckily – whether you live 🗻 au Pays du Mont-Blanc or you are visiting – … Continue reading ANIMAL PARKS & AQUARIUMS au Pays du Mont-Blanc (and beyond)
There are plenty of ⛷ SPORTS EVENTS for families and children au Pays du Mont-Blanc, and this article currently concentrates on those during the ❄️ winter 2019 & 2020 season: – 🏃♀️ winter trail running (sometimes on ❄️ snow!); ⛷ biathlon, ski rando & alpine ski and snowboard races and competitions; ❄️ fun runs and obstacle races in the snow; 🛷 sledging, paret & yooner events; … Continue reading SPORTS EVENTS for families au Pays du Mont-Blanc (winter 2019 ⇒ 2020)
You have perhaps heard that saying ☔️ “ there’s no such thing as bad weather; just badly dressed people “ ? (I heard this several times on a couple of work trips to 🇮🇸 Iceland!) . . . that may well be, but even the strongest of resolves can be broken by days and days of 🌧 rainy weather in the mountains (especially when you can no longer actually see … Continue reading RAINY DAYS au Pays du Mont-Blanc
Whether you live 🏔 au Pays du Mont-Blanc or you are visiting at this ❄️ WINTER WONDERLAND time of year, then this is the article for you! We all need FRESH IDEAS for family days out (and ideas that don’t only involve ❄️ winter sports!) and – lucky for us – the 🏔Pays du Mont-Blanc is located at the crossroads with 🇨🇭 Switzerland and 🇮🇹 Italy and close to other parts of 🇫🇷 Haute-Savoie and Savoie, with plenty … Continue reading WINTER ACTIVITIES for families au Pays du Mont-Blanc (and beyond)
It’s that time of year when the ⛸ seasonal ice-skating rinks begin to appear in town centres throughout 🏔 le Pays du Mont-Blanc (and beyond) . . . a lovely way to spend some time en famille, or to let the youngsters play with their friends. Sometimes, next to the ice-skating rink, you might find yourself rewarded with a mulled wine stand or a small🎄Christmas market! As well as the ⛸ ice-skating … Continue reading SEASONAL ICE-SKATING au Pays du Mont-Blanc (and beyond)
At🎄Christmastime, we are spoiled 🏔 au Pays du Mont-Blanc (and beyond) with🎄Villages & Marchés de Noël and ⛸seasonal outdoor ice-skating rinks too . . . ➡️ for information about🎄CHRISTMAS MARKETS (villages & marchés de Noël), see separate MBFF article; ➡️ for information about ⛸ SEASONAL ICE-SKATING RINKS, see separate MBFF article; And also, lots of other 🎄CHRISTMAS EVENTS . . . and so, in this article, you will find a 🗓 CHRISTMASTIME & HOLIDAY … Continue reading CHRISTMASTIME & HOLIDAY SEASON au Pays du Mont-Blanc (and beyond)
It’s official: the🎄CHRISTMAS SEASON is truly kicking off this week . . . The ❄️ snow has begun to fall and settle up high and not too far from 🏔️ le Pays du Mont-Blanc, 🎁 Villages de Noël & 🎄Marchés de Noël are beginning to appear in the centre of bigger towns and villages (🇫🇷 Annecy, Lyon, 🇨🇭 Montreux, Château de Coppet, Lausanne, 🇮🇹 Aosta . . .), bringing warming winter … Continue reading CHRISTMAS MARKETS au Pays du Mont-Blanc (and beyond)
It is now ☀️ officially summertime, scorching hot, and paddling pools have become fixtures in gardens – so I thought this the opportune moment to re-post an article about the 💦 WATERSLIDES, WATER GAMES & WIBIT PARKS, PADDLING POOLS, SWIMMING POOLS & AQUATIC CENTRES au Pays du Mont-Blanc and beyond! In the following article, you will find information about: 💦 summer waterslides – over the last few years, some ephemeral … Continue reading SUMMER SPLASH! – waterslides, wibit games, paddling pools and parcs aquatiques au Pays du Mont-Blanc (and beyond)
I shall be honest, I had never even heard of a 🚵♀️ pumptrack before we discovered the pumptrack in Combloux! So, what is a pumptrack? It is a circuit, with ups and downs and turns, on which the 🚵♂️ cyclist / 🛹 skater / 🛴 scooter can keep moving simply through “pumping” (no need for pedal action, once moving). Not just for cyclists (BMX, VTT), it is also open … Continue reading PUMPTRACKS au Pays du Mont-Blanc
A couple of years ago for 🎄Christmas, I offered the MBFF family a 🐺 husky dog-sledding outing with 3D Nordic in Praz-sur-Arly. I had noticed that this was to be 3D Nordic‘s last ❄️ winter season in Praz-sur-Arly, before they headed off to new adventures in 🇸🇪 Lapland . . . so I seized the opportunity and booked us a baptême chiens de traîneau! What a treat … Continue reading 3D Nordic – husky sledding in Praz-sur-Arly
❄️ NOVEMBER SNOWFALL au Pays du Mont-Blanc . . . when the ❄ first snow arrives, the delight and excitement is catching: walks knee-deep (or shoulder-deep for the little ones!) in the white fluffy stuff, ❄ snowball fights, ⛄️ making a snowman (or perhaps a snowcat or other snow animal) . . . and 🛷 SLEDGING FUN! With the first ❄️ snowfall of the season, the MBFF team regularly head up … Continue reading PISTES de LUGE au Pays du Mont-Blanc (and beyond)
🏔 Le Pays du Mont-Blanc has THREE ⛸ indoor ice-skating rinks that are 🗓 open all year round, and so are good places to head to escape the heat or rain during the summer months, as well as to visit in the wintertime! In addition, during the ❄️ winter holiday season, there are several ⛸ seasonal outdoor ice-skating rinks (usually set up right in the centre of towns 🏔 au Pays du Mont-Blanc), that open … Continue reading Ice-Skating au Pays du Mont-Blanc
🏔 Praz-sur-Arly is another of our local ski resorts 🏔 au Pays du Mont-Blanc that ticks all of the boxes for family skiing: a mixture of gentle and more difficult pistes (60% of the pistes are GREEN and BLUE!), the Opoualand & Waouland pistes reserved for children (adults are only permitted here if they accompany a child!), an outdoor softplay games area called the 🐉 Dragon Tirecorde, 🛷 a sledging … Continue reading PRAZ-sur-ARLY Skiing
2019 update – this appears to be a very popular article on the MBFF website, so I have updated it with a few new suggestions for family walks! ⛰ Family hiking with small children is not a simple task! Well, perhaps it is for some families . . . perhaps your children were born hikers! But for many of us, getting our children to 🏔 LOVE hiking in the … Continue reading FAMILY HIKES – tips for hiking with small children
🏔 Au Pays du Mont-Blanc, there is one large cinema complex in Sallanches – the 🎥 Ciné Mont-Blanc, and then a scattering of smaller screens, which have lots of personality! During the summer months, many of the communes screen FREE outdoor films, so be sure to look at Tourist Office agendas for this lovely initiative. Chamonix Chamonix’s 🎥 Cinéma VOX is a bit of an institution. There are VO films … Continue reading Cinemas au Pays du Mont-Blanc
We discovered this outdoor leisure space and playground in Praz-sur-Arly, on a 🍁 sunny autumn day a few years ago now . . . our boys were delighted to be able to play in the vast open space surrounding the playgrounds, and we were able to lift our faces to the sun and relax (for a short period!). The leisure space is much more than just playgrounds, however, … Continue reading Base de Loisirs des Belles (PRAZ-sur-ARLY)
Newly renovated and opened in December 2017, Megève’s Le Palais is all at once a : 🏀 sports centre; 💦 spa & wellness centre; 🎭 conference & events centre; 📚 médiathèque; 🎨 cultual centre hosting workshops & classes for children and adults alike; good to know: be sure to enquire about discounts available with the Formule Liberté and the Carte d’Hotes; For more information, Le Palais has its own website and FB page . . … Continue reading Le Palais (Megève)
Megève town centre has a couple of playgrounds to keep your little ones entertained, and a short walk during the summer months will take you take you to another play area located in the middle of 💦 nature . . . Aire d’Activités du Petit Arly This is a 🌈 NEW playground in Megève (the previous Aire de Jeux du Paddock playground was moved across the road, and was … Continue reading Megève Playgrounds
📚 Megève’s Médiathèque is found within the Le Palais, which makes it a fabulous ☔️ RAINY DAY destination, as you can hop from 📚 books, 🎲 games, 🎨 workshops and 📖 storytelling, to the 🧗♀️ sports centre (swimming, climbing, ice-skating and more). It comprises: L’Espace Jeunesse (Children’s Section) Located up on the first floor, this is a great place for children (from babies to teenagers) to enjoy: books, comic strips and mangas, documentaries, CDs, DVDs and CD-ROMs. There … Continue reading Megève Médiathèque
