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Kid-friendly first stop between Zurich and Chamonix

My husband and I are taking our two kids (ages almost 2 and 5) to Switzerland and France for 2 weeks in mid-June. We have been before (including with our older child at age 2) so we have some familiarity. This will be my 5th trip to Switzerland.

We will fly into Zurich on a Friday midday and have until Tuesday morning before we travel to Chamonix, France, to meet my cousin and family. We will be in Chamonix for a few days before heading to the Lauterbrunnen area for a week.

I am looking for recommendations for a kid-friendly town/city and activities. We are considering a visit to Gruyere but it seems quite touristy. We do love cheese and chocolate. Is there much in the Bulle/Fribourg area besides the chocolate and cheese factories?

We stayed in Laussane 2 nights on our last trip and visited Castle of Chillon. I am considering Vevey or Montreux and hanging out by the lake but I wonder how the younger child will do being so close to water and not allowed to play in it (like from a boat).

My husband is also keen on seeing a glacier - so perhaps the Aletsch Glacier - and then a day trip to Zermatt? Not sure how much there is to do in Brig or Visp.

Ideally we would like to stay in the same place for the 4 nights and plan day trips or have activities in the town (playgrounds, hikes, kid-friendly museums). We have been to Bern twice but maybe we should head there again? Anyway, lots of options and would love some suggestions!

Posted by
21709 posts

If you going to Chamonix, there are huge glaciers on Mt Blanc.

Posted by
2 posts

Thank you Pat, I am still figuring out the search function here. Based on the suggestions in the search you shared, Bettmeralp seems really interesting. We love mountains and this would be a fun way to see them! It also seems very kid-friendly.
And yes, there are glaciers in Chamonix too.