🌸 Springtime has arrived . . . and while I dream of one day being in Japan for its famous 🌸 springtime cherry blossoms, for now I am excited to share this little 🏛 Sallanches town stroll with you. While there is still snow on the higher altitude walks, why not take a leisurely amble through the streets of Sallanches, enjoy the 🌸 spring blossoms, and discover a little history as … Continue reading BUGGY WALKS : a springtime stroll in Sallanches
I think that most kids enjoy 💦 paddling in shallow water, correct ? Here au Pays du Mont-Blanc, we have great options for 💦 paddling pools at public swimming pools, but also out in our glorious nature ! Here are some of your options for 💦 indoor or outdoor (or both) paddling pools, where babies and toddlers can play safely, at our local swimming pools : … Continue reading 5 TOP SPOTS for PADDLING in NATURE au Pays du Mont-Blanc
Yvoire is a 14th century medieval fishing village, located on the southern shores of the French coast of Lac Léman. Known as « la perle du Léman » and classified as one of the « plus beaux villages de la France » (see here), with its narrow streets filled with pretty stone buildings, their wooden balconies overflowing with flowers, Yvoire attracts a fair number of tourists, especially over the summer months. Yvoire: a little geography & history Lac Léman – this Swiss – French … Continue reading YVOIRE – a lakeside family day out ! (Lac Léman)
With the Télécabine du Jaillet (Megève, Portes du Mont-Blanc), you can swiftly get up to ⛰ the altitude 1585m, while exerting minimal energy! And, at the arrival station, so much FUN awaits : the aire de jeux panoramique, a chill-out zone, a superb view of Mont-Blanc, picnic spots (and a new foodtruck on-site and a restaurant option a short stroll away) and plenty of 🥾 … Continue reading TÉLÉCABINE du JAILLET in summertime : aire de jeux panoramique, relaxation zone, hikes & activities (Megève)
A couple of summers ago, on ☀ a very hot day, I finally ventured to 💦 Arly-Plage for some river fun with the boys . . . We’d visited 🌈 the Base de Loisirs des Belles several times, and we’d been ⛷ skiing in Praz-sur-Arly, but we’d never gone for 💦 a paddle and a splash around in the shallow Arly river! Arly-Plage: splashing fun … Continue reading ARLY-PLAGE & BERGES d’ARLY: the perfect spot for splashing & paddling ! (PRAZ-sur-ARLY)
A few summers ago, I put together this article, detailing some 🥗 Chamonix Valley restaurants & cafés with terraces, that are particularly suitable for families with little ones. By this I mean that they either have 🌈 a play area for children, a grassy area for games, have suitable children’s menus and are NOT located next to main roads (unless there is a secured area). … Continue reading 20+ SUMMER TERRACES for families in the Chamonix Valley!
It took MBFF a very long time to discover the wonderful 🐸 mare aux têtards & 🌈 playground in the 🌲 moraine woods of Argentière! But we are so glad that we finally made our way there! I had been wanting to hunt out this elusive playground (not so elusive if you live in Argentière!) for many, many years, but never quite managed it. And one day … Continue reading An AIRE de JEUX, a MARE aux TÊTARDS and a PARCOURS ORIENTATION (Argentière)
With all of our wonderful 🧗♂️ rock climbing and Via-Ferrata routes 🏔 au Pays du Mont-Blanc, it is only natural that so many 🌳 accrobranches ® should also appear over recent years! We’ve tried out a few of them, and they are very popular with our 🐵 monkey climbing boys . . . 🌳 some tree climbing terminology: 🌳 accrobranches ® – it is a rope course … Continue reading ACCROBRANCHES ®, GRIMPE d’ARBRE & TYROLIENNES au Pays du Mont-Blanc
A couple of years ago in late May, MBFF went for 🍏 a picnic with friends up at 🎣 Lac de Javen in Megève – it was a mild May that year! 🎣 Lac de Javen is a popular picnic spot for families in the summertime, as it is just a short hike to get there and there are plenty of activities on offer: ☕️ buvette … Continue reading Where to observe TADPOLES & FROGS au Pays du Mont-Blanc
A 🍏 picnic en famille gets everyone outdoors, and is often accompanied by a short walk or activity with 🏔 superb views! In this article, I shall share with you 🍏 MBFF’s favourite (tried and tested!) picnic spots, specifically for families with babies and small children. That means that they are all easily accessible and with no dangerous precipices nearby! Being easy to access also means that most … Continue reading MBFF’s 20 favourite PICNIC SPOTS (with small children) au Pays du Mont-Blanc!
I used to get some inspiration for family visits from my boys’ outings with their garderies, and I remembered that one summer my younger son had headed up to Le Reposoir (between Cluses and Le Grand-Bornand) to do a parcours d’orientation with his local garderie, and that he had loved this excursion . . . I also knew that Cluses Arve & Montagnes had developed … Continue reading PARCOURS d’ORIENTATION: L’Œuf de Plume La Gypaète (Le Reposoir)
If you live at altitude 🗻 au Pays du Mont-Blanc, it can be a challenge to find a suitable path for buggy walks in nature over the ❄️ winter months: snow, ice, muddy ground underfoot . . . Luckily, if you head down to the Arve Valley, then you’ll descend about 500m in altitude . . . and here you will find our 💦 two … Continue reading WINTER BUGGY STROLLS: Lac de Passy & Lacs des Ilettes
Currently SHUT ! A couple of 🍁 autumns ago now, MBFF had a super adventure: we were invited to test out 🚃 VerticAlp Emosson ! We had the most gloriously ☀️ sunny day to experience this phenomenal feat of engineering, which also has a rich history. I would say that 🍂 autumn – before closure for the season at the end of October – is the … Continue reading VERTICALP EMOSSON – a vertiginous day out en famille! (SWITZERLAND)
🍁 Autumn is a lovely season to visit 🌳 parks and gardens: on the trees, a rich palette of gold, rust, brown, red, orange and yellow . . . underfoot, 🍂 a blanket of leaves crunching and sent fluttering when the children find a mound to run through . . . a crisp, and often ☀️ sunny day to accompany your exploits: playing and running, tree-climbing, LandArt, cabane-making . … Continue reading AUTUMN PARKS & GARDENS au Pays du Mont-Blanc (and beyond)
As residents of Sallanches, we have watched the 🎭 children’s festival « Les Enfants d’Abord » get bigger and better each year! (the festival has now been running for a quarter of a century, with a couple of years of absence due to Covid!). Over 4 days, every afternoon and evening (15h30 until 18h30) the pedestrian streets of Sallanches, as well as the quais, the Pré de … Continue reading Festival « Les Enfants d’Abord » (SALLANCES)
Have you ever been to 💦 Flumet’s Plan d’Eau? If not, then MBFF highly recommends a visit! The little swimming lake is located within the 🌈 Base de Loisirs de l’Arrondine . . . which means that, as well as the lake, you’ll find a playground, skatepark and a terrain multi-sports on-site. Swimming lake The 💦 lake is just lovely! It is surrounded by plenty of grass to … Continue reading Plan d’Eau de Flumet (VAL d’ARLY)
💦 Lac des Chavants in Les Houches is a lovely destination for families throughout the year. [ ⚠ note – please note that 💦 Lac des Chavants is NOT a swimming lake! ] These days, the lake is referred to as a Base de Loisirs, as there are so many activities available. You can: 🌲 there are walking paths through the woods (suitable for buggies and … Continue reading Lac des Chavants (LES HOUCHES)
The 🌲 Paradis des Praz is a natural playground, a hidden jewel cocooned in 🌲 the woods, well-known to families living in the region, but perhaps not to those visiting. As well as being a popular spot in the ☀️ summertime, over the winter school holidays the buvette is also often open – so you can have a magical walk through the ❄️ snowy forest and then warm … Continue reading Paradis des Praz (Les Praz-de-Chamonix)
The MBFF tribe is a huge fan of the ⛳️ Parc de Loisirs du Pontet, the largest parc de loisirs 🏔 au Pays du Mont-Blanc. This giant leisure park in the beautiful Les Contamines-Montjoie offers more than 20 sports and leisure activities and also has 💦 a small swimming lake and boating lake. Being located next to Notre Dame de la Gorge, opposite the 🚡 Téléphérique de la … Continue reading Parc de Loisirs du Pontet (Les Contamines-Montjoie)
I first went to the 🌈 Grand Parc d’Andilly (back then known as the 🌈 Parc des Épouvantails) a few years ago, when I accompanied my elder son’s school class on his sortie de fin de l’année scolaire. I’ll admit that I hadn’t heard much about it until that point and when I heard that it was a fun park ” inhabited by resident scarecrows … Continue reading Le Grand Parc d’Andilly (ANDILLY)
🌳 Filenvol is a FABULOUS place to go with children, and especially with 🍁 the colours of autumn in full swing! On our visits in autumn, I was personally won over by the location (before the fun in the trees even began), as the afternoon light filtering through the 🍂 golden leaves was magical. And then I heard the laughter of children and adults alike, as … Continue reading FILENVOL – capers high up in the trees (near Annemasse)
On a short family hike in Combloux a few summers ago, we found ourselves playground-hopping before we’d even begun walking (quite difficult, hence, to get our boys walking!). First of all, we headed to the playground we already knew and loved, right next to our parking spot . . . Adventure playground The adventure playground is by far one of our favourites in the 🏔 Pays … Continue reading Combloux PLAYGROUNDS
The 🌈 Domaine des Planards, Chamonix’s very own little amusement park with 🏔 views of Mont Blanc, makes for a great family day out! As well as the 🛷 Chamonix Luge-Alpine Coaster, which is open year-round, there is a 🌈 FREE playground, great slides, motorbikes and cars to ride, diggers to operate, trampolines, and 💦 water-themed rides. In addition, during the ❄️ winter season, ⛷ Domaine des Planards … Continue reading DOMAINE des PLANARDS in summertime (Chamonix)
🇨🇭🌷 « La Fête de la Tulipe » in Morges celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020, and this year’s 53rd edition will run from 1st April ⇒ 14th May 2023 . . . You don’t have to travel too far from the 🏔 Pays du Mont-Blanc to experience total dépaysement, to distance yourself from the mountain valleys and high snowy peaks; just the other side of 🇨🇭 … Continue reading « Fête de la Tulipe » in Morges ( 1st April ⇒ 14th May 2023 )
The MBFF family visited 🎨 La Maison de la Créativité in 🇨🇭 Conches (on the outskirts of Geneva), on a crisp, sunny day in 2016 . . . what a magical discovery, for children and adults alike! A beautiful house (Villa Calandrini) set in copious grounds and surrounded by 🌳 woodland, with views of ⛰ the Salève mountain, and it even has its very own Faraway Tree ® (reference to … Continue reading LA MAISON de la CRÉATIVITÉ (Conches, Geneva)
Mont Blanc Family Fun 