Month long Switzerland trip august 2026. Looking for small farms.

Since you're getting a one-year head start on planning your trip, I suggest casting the net wide at this point. Contact the uncle, the friends, the folks you nannied for, etc., to make sure they will be around when you're coming over, etc., and see what they suggest.
One of the biggest considerations is how to get 7 people over the Atlantic. If you're in Maine, I'm going to assume you will fly from Boston, direct to...Munich? I see that there are direct flights to Zurich and Vienna, as well. I would put Regensburg on the map, along with wherever your friends are in Austria, and then look at the connections between those places and Uri and Engleberg (and other places you're thinking of). This can help you plan an overall route and general timeline of how long it takes to get to the places you want to go. I would look for airfares that are open jaw or two one-ways to/from all three airports (plus maybe others like Frankfurt or even London--with a month, you can build in a little add-on trip).
A vehicle for 7 passengers with carseats and boosters sounds like it will break the bank, but it gives you direct access to more remote areas for hiking. And camping, if that's an option for your family. Campgrounds are great places to meet other kids. And many have "glamping" cabins or yurts or other creative options if you don't want to sleep in a tent. The only way to know is to price it out.
You mentioned church. Maybe reach out through your pastor to like-minded churches in the areas you plan to visit. They might have information about farm stays or home exchange or anything else that might help with your planning.
I would also encourage your husband to reach out in the music community to see what events are happening and whether there are opportunities for him to perform (or teach or learn).
Actually, home exchange might be a very good idea for you to look into. It's not just simultaneous home exchange. There is a point system. Don't limit yourself to AirBnB. It's a great platform, but there are loads of others, as well. Hostels often have family rooms with bunks, for example.
Good luck to you.

Thank you. Those are good ideas.
Now that I’m thinking about it I have some more narrow questions.

If we can budget for a rental car with our amount of kids is it worth it? I’ve heard a lot of big families say public transit was their least favorite part. Not because of it not being efficient/safe/clean just because traveling with kids, especially a lot;/makes it stressful. I see a lot of people saying you don’t need a car in Switzerland and I know that’s true. But thinking of us with 5 kids. We may want one.

Do you think it’s better to stay one month in one area and add in the Austria and uncle visit at one end of the trip or split the trip into with one two week segment nearer to Swiss mountains like lauterbrunnen and one two near Dolomites/northern Italy for maybe less crowds?
I know everyone wants mess crowds and we aren’t special in that regard. Thinking the length of our stay will give us flexibility to do things at a slow pace and earlier etc.

In case you are not aware, the rail fares on the SBB website show the cost with a half-fare card unless you manually change the setting. That could affect the economics of staying in one or two locations and taking a lot of day trips. Rail fares are high, like the cost of virtually everything in Switzerland.

I know nothing about Swiss rules, but it seems that every time the idea of doing something like WOOFing in Europe comes up, someone points out that it would be considered working and thus not OK without the right kind of visa. Something to check out before moving in that direction.

If budget is a consideration and you want to do alpine farms, I’d look into Austria and Slovenia. They are much more affordable, way less touristy and very beautiful. You can do farm stays in the Logar Valley of Slovenia, which is an incredible place with lovely, kind people. There are TONS of family friendly farm stays all over Austria. Like tons.

Switzerland is great, but it’s extremely expensive and I think for what you’re describing, Austria & Slovenia would be a great fit.

From my understanding, we would not need a visa because no matter what we end up doing it will be under 90 days.
Looking more into car rentals; we may be able to swing it. Especially if train prices are going to be comparable. The ease of traveling at our own pace may win out. Obviously we will still have cable cars.

Thanks for the tips about other countries. I will look into that. The dealbreaker will be alpine cheese. As long as they make that. We are also very inspired by alpine farming, steep hilly ground with seemingly small hay land. We love that they still value farming and making hay in such harsh areas. It’s a contrast to a lot of American farms, bigger and more and less hands on.

we would not need a visa because no matter what we end up doing it will be under 90 days.

that is true for pure tourism. Once you start working or exchanging work for food and lodging it is a completely different game. I imagine the last thing you want is to be pulled up in front of the kids

Different areas will have a preponderance of either Catholic or Protestant churches, unlikely that rural or small towns will be holding services in English. Do you just want any church with English or a particular religion?

Okay good to know. I will look into that. I do feel it will be hard to find someone willing to exchange a lot with us anyway since we have so many. We would be willing and eager to participate in hay making in the alps for no exchange.

We are Protestant but are open to catholic services if they are open to us.

Don't worry too much about being Protestants. In Europe, faith is more of a personal matter.

Here is an article on alpine cheesemaking in Italy. I don't know how much more affordable things are on the Italian side, but it was mentioned, so:
https://italicsmag.com/2023/06/01/alpine-cheeses-at-artisanal-altitude/
And here's a class you can take in Slovenia:
https://www.socavalley.com/alpine-meadow-cheesemaking-experience/
How about walking the "Cheese trail" like this guy: https://milktrekker.substack.com/p/mountain-cheese-at-a-planina-in-bohinj
There is an alpine dairy museum in Bohinj. https://www.bohinj.si/en/museums/alpine-dairy-museum/
My vote is now firmly for Slovenia.

Thank you,

You might find these sites helpful

https://farm.myswitzerland.com/en

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/switzerland/stays/farmstays

https://www.myfarm.ch/en

I have no k owledge of them I just found them and thought they might help.