Morzine With Kids Ultimate Winter Itinerary
Finding winter sports lessons for kids under 3 can prove tricky, sometimes kids don’t have the strength in their legs yet. However, finding alternate activities to entertain them is not tricky at all!
We have been collating some of the most successful outings with young ones to provide you with some ideas. Note: If you are worried about taking a little one to altitude, BabyCenter has a great article here.
Mon : Morzine
Why Morzine today? You can get your bearings, go to the tourist office and pick up information specific to your needs, get oriented and start introducing your little accomplice to snow-based activities.
What is the plan? Go to the tourist office, maybe outdoor ice skating and/or the merry-go-round, tour the village via foot/stroller/sleigh! Meet for lunch at the Action Sport and go sledging.
What to bring? Shoes for walking in the snow. Gloves, waterproof clothes if you plan to sledge and/or ice skate.
Navigate your way to the Morzine Tourist Office Here you can pick up all the leaflets/information specific to your interests. Of note is that if you are in our Prodains chalets or Montriond Chalets, it is worth popping into the tourist offices there too during your trip. Montriond Tourist Office, Avoriaz Tourist Office for Prodains.
If you come out of the back exit of the Morzine Tourist Office, you will see an outdoor ice skating rink to your right and a merry-go-round straight ahead! From here you could take a horse-drawn sleigh tour of the village (opposite the tourist office), rent a stroller suitable for use in the snow (from Alpes Attitude, or Intersport) or simply continue on foot. The village stretches down to your left and down the hill, here you will find interior shops, wine shops, chocolate artisans, ski shops, coffee shops, saucisson shops etc!
What goes down must come up! So back up the hill we go! When you get back to the tourist office, walk down the pedestrianised street towards the Pleney cable car. Take a left at the top and continue until you see the Action Sports on your right. Here you can meet the rest of the team for lunch, take advantage of the sledging area or skiiers/snowboarders can loop round on the button lift.
Tue : Nyon
Why Nyon today? Nyon is a great place to visit if the weather is fine, it is a nice sunny plateau with a lot to see while having a bite to eat. If the weather is not fine Nyon is also a great place to sit and soak up the skiing atmosphere by a big open fire and while watching the snowboard park, the slalom, the snake run and the pistes all from one point! Nyon is also the least expensive cable car to take you up into the mountains.
What’s the plan? Take the bus to Nyon, go up the cable car, have coffee/lunch and soak in the atmosphere.
What to bring? Shoes for walking in the snow, your camera and possibly sun cream too.
Navigate to the Pleney cable car. From Pleney take bus line N to Nyon roughly every 20 minutes. Take the Nyon cable car up to the Plateau. If it is a nice sunny day you can sit outside the Pointe de Nyon restaurant/Aigle Du Leman (at the top of the cable car on the right) have a lovely bite to eat and kill hours watching the skiers/boarders in the snow park/boarder cross/slalom/piste! If the weather is not so great, snuggle down inside by the great open fire. The restaurant has a regular bird show and a soft play in the picnic room at the bottom! Walking back to Morzine along the river at the bottom of the cable car is also a nice thing to do.
Weds : Morzine
Why Morzine today? It is market day!
What’s the plan? What is the plan? Go to the market. Walk along the river. Swim or ice skate.
What to bring? A bag for your shopping. Baby stroller, if applicable. Walking shoes. Swimming suit and towel if applicable.
A.M: Either navigate towards the Super Morzine cable car, then take the elevator down to the ground level of the valley and take a right towards the market. Or walk down to the church as you did on Monday, as you walk down the hill, on the left-hand side you will see the market. Or take the bus to the Maire. When you see the church follow the road round to your left (keep the Marie on your right), left over the bridge and down through the car park to the market. The market is in the car park of the town center Carrefour, opposite the post office.
The market goes on for as long as there is demand, so be sure to be there before 10:30/11:00. After the market, you can follow the river downstream as far as you like for about 3 km / 1hr, there are around 3 different bridges that you can use to cross back over and come up the other side. This is a lovely quiet, flat riverside walk flanked by trees. If you reach the main road at the end of the path, you could consider walking on to Woody’s entertainment complex with a restaurant. Here you will find a soft play, laser game, karaoke, axe throwing and bowling.
P.M: There are plenty of places to grab lunch or a light bite in Morzine. You could even tuck into your produce from the market! Colibri is a great choice with kids. After lunch, you could either go back down to the market area and cross the river to access the indoor swimming pool (with a heated pool to 33 degrees for little ones) or indoor ice rink.
Thurs : Avoriaz
Why Avoriaz today? You are doing so well with your adventures; you might as well see all there is to see, and from the top here you certainly can!
What’s the plan? Sleigh ride. All meet for lunch. Water park (heated for little ones). Tourist office to book more activities like husky rides!
What to bring? Shoes for walking in the snow. Swimming suit and towel if applicable.
A.M: Navigate to the Prodains cable car. At the bottom of the cable car, buy a return pedestrian ticket. At the top of the cable car, go up the escalator and there will be a black phone straight ahead of you. Pick this up and book your sleigh ride if you wish. While you wait for the sleigh, you can take in the view or go for coffee in one of the restaurants opposite. There are 6 different sleigh rides from €15.
P.M: Meet the family for lunch, La Tanniere is one of our guests’ favourites (opposite the cable car station). After allowing time to digest, on to swimming at Aquariaz the water park! There is a well-trodden route if you follow the path up alongside the piste to the pedestrian lift in the Sassanka apartment block. Take the lift up then follow the path round to the left to Aquariaz. Aquariaz opens at 14:00, costs around €10 pp and parts are heated to 34 degrees so perfect for little ones! Avoriaz is a car-free area so nice to walk around IF the snow is not too hard! My mum found it magical and asked why we had never taken her before. One can also visit the tourist office and book activities such as mini snowmobiles and husky sledging.
Of note however a steeper short walk is the Igloo, a restaurant, snack stop, and boutique hotel made of ice!
Friday : Lac Montriond
Why Lac Montriond today? Saving some of the best to close to the last!
What’s the plan? Bus ride to the lake. Walk around the lake. Lunch, then walk back around the lake.
What to bring? Shoes for walking in the snow. Baby stroller, if applicable.
Take the M bus to Montriond Lake. Starting at the near end, at the bus stop – Montriond Lac (salle polyvalene), you can choose to walk either clockwise or counterclockwise to the Bout Du Lac end. Be aware that if going clockwise, one of the first things you will encounter is a kids playground, which may or may not be a good thing! Auberge Bout Du Lac is a nice place for lunch. Then continue your loop of the lake back around or take the bus from this end (be aware no bus shelter at this end).
Sat : Ergine
Why Ergine today? Well, we might as well complete all the destinations!
What’s the plan? Bus ride to Ergine. Visit the igloo. Walk, up to the secluded Crapahute for lunch.
What to bring? Shoes for walking in the snow. Baby stroller, if applicable.
Take the E bus to Ergine. We love it here it, it can feel like you are on the fringe of nature with the option to adventure deeper! Opposite the bus stop, you will find an igloo, which is a nice visit. From the igloo, you can follow the cross-country ski track up to a super secluded secret restaurant called the Crapahute. Only accessible by off-piste skiers, snowshoers, cross-country skiers, and you, makes for a great mix and lunchtime. Be aware of skiers coming down as you walk up.
Bonus items!
Where did the week go? So little time and so many excursions left. You could go up Super Morzine and meet the team for lunch at the charming La Grenouille du Marais with a lovely log burner and resident cat or L’Passage. Or you could go up the Pleney cable car for coffee. Feeling REALLY adventurous? Navigate to Les Gets and meet the team at Le Grand Cry at the top of the Chavannes bubble. Or take the Mont Cheri cable car up to the self-service restaurant at the top with stunning views of Mont Blanc Le Belvedere Got a car? Take a day trip to Annecy, France’s 4th most visited town or Chamonix France’s 3rd most visited town both within 1 1/2 hrs reach!
Please let us know of your adventures so that we can add them!
