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I am lucky enough to be staying near to Evian on Lake Geneva in the Summer.

Is there anywhere that you would suggest that we "must see or do" while I am there.

My sister lived in Annency,  so I am familiar with some of the area.

Thanks

Smudger

Mont Blanc Tunnel was quite something, fantastic drive from Le Grand Bornand across the mountains, lunch in Italy and back again!

Annecy is of course beautiful for a stroll around, oh I just love the entire area.

Ali

Do you have kids? If so there is an excellent water park at Le Bouveret at the far end of the lake plus a fantastic mini train park, and a tree climbing place at Aigle. The water park is great for adults too. A trip up Mont Blanc (or the peak next to it to be precise) in the cable car is a must but quite expensive. There are some interesting salt mines at Bex if you don't suffer from claustrophobia and also some lovely thermal baths at Lavey les Bains near St Maurice. My sister in law lives in the area so we know it quite well now and we always find plenty to do.

Susie

Thanks for those suggestions.

Thanks Susie for putting my mind at rest.  We are going to be there for a little while and it is comforting that you found lots to do.

I have done some research on the Internet and found the water park and the salt mines already, but personal recommendation is always the best.

I have 2 boys who will be 8 & 10 this summer, so I'm taking their bikes to play on, and I'm sure we'll find lots of places to ride them.

Already considered Mont Blanc, but it was expensive 13 years ago when I last went.  I'll have to find out how much it is now, the same for the Mont Blanc Tunnel.  It's definately something that my OH wants to do though.

Thanks again for your suggestions.

Smudger 

The tunnel was something like £25 return for the car last summer if that is any help.

You are right too about the cost of the cable cars to go up as others on our site were doing it.  I can't remember the cost though, sorry.

Ali

Susie,

I was looking at the waterpark on the internet, and by my reckoning for a family of four it costs £56.  Is that correct?

Thanks 

Hi Smudger,

Yes I'm afraid that is about right and it does seem quite expensive on the face of it. Having said that, during half term we went to Splashdown in Poole which is nowhere near as good for nearly 40 pounds and they only allowed us two hours whereas I think the place in Le Bourveret gives you five hours, which is more than enough. As a whole, we find most things in Switzerland more expensive than here but the exchange rate is pretty good at the moment so it's not as bad as it has been in the past.

If you need any more info, just let me know.

Susie

Susie,

Did you find in Switzerland that you could still pay for things in Euro's?

Just trying to work out how much money I need to take and when I have been looking at attractions on the French/Swiss borders they quote prices in Euro's &  Swiss Francs. 

I have been looking at this site & it may be of interest to you & others

http://www.leman-sans-frontiere.com/anglais/accueil/index.php

Thanks

Smudger

Thanks for that Debbie.  I think I will take a few Swiss francs on my hols with me.

When you stayed in Chamonix, can you remember how much it is to go to Auigille du Midi?  Also do you know how much it is for the ice train.  I have tried looking on the Internet and for us as a family we could get a pass for both those things & a couple of others that escape my memory at the moment. The pass was £100.00 for the 4 of us.  I do need to research that area a bit more though.

Also, where did you go white water rafting. My boys would love that.

I went to Chamonix quite a few years ago & it is a lovely area. I am getting really excited now, and counting down the weeks!

Thanks

Smudger 

Hi Smudger,

I think Debbie has answered all your questions about the Swiss Francs thing and thanks for the website, it looks very good. I have always fancied the Labyrinthe Aventure, the slides look crazy but perfect for our boys who are 7, 10 and 12, however we are normally there in winter for the skiing so we haven't tried it yet. I think the family ticket for Aiguille du Midi was about 100 euros to go right the way up. We went in May last year and it really was absolutely freezing at the top, enough to take your breath away, but hopefully by the time you go it won't be quite so bad.

The tree climbing place we know is at Aigle, www.parc-aventure.ch is the website I think.

Susie

Well I though I would do an update about what we did get upto in the Alps.

Went to Parc Aventure, & my boys rated that in the top 3 "best days ever". Would have gone back there, but for the rain.

Got a Chamonix multi-pass for 2 days for 156 euros plus a 12 euro deposit. Went up Aiguille du Midi twice( including lift to the top) , Montenevers & ice grotto, Brevent & Lognan cable cars. If I had done all of those seperately, it was well over 400 euros, so a multi pass is definately the way to go. Would have squeezed more in if we had been better organized. 

 I queued for over an hour to buy the tickets at Auguille du Midi, and waited another 2 hours for our cable car departure. Had to stay 3 hours at the top, before we could come back down. It was a very busy day, but specatular views. Clouds were very high, so you could see the summit of Mont Blanc.  If I had the opportunity to go again, I would have bought the multipass at another attraction, and then booked at Aigulle du Midi information desk for a departure on the following day.  Could have seen alot more on the first day of the pass that way instead of spending all day on Aigulle du Midi. We did go up there at 7.30am on the 2nd day of our pass, and alot more civilised. Full cable car going up, but hardly anyone up there & no queues to come back down. Much, much colder though. Hats scarves & thick coats the order of the day. 

Went to Swiss Vapour Parc & that was great. My boys enjoyed it, but once they had been on all the trains, they wanted to go. They would have enjoyed that more if they were a little younger. Still a lovely place though.

Went to Aosta though the Grand Bernard Tunnel, and on down to Lake Como for a couple of days camping & back through the Mont Blanc Tunnel. Wow, what views on both sides of the Swiss & Italian Alps. Aosta was lovely to walk around. Fantastic ice-creams for 2 euros! Lake Como was amazing.

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions, and to Susie for reassuring me that there was loads to do.  We only scraped the tip of the iceberg of the activities that we did, and would certainly like to return to the area again.

We had a fantastic holiday, and I would recommend the Alps for a holiday. Just be prepared for the rain!

Smudger 

Hi Smudger,

Very pleased to hear you had such a good time and that the Parc Aventure was such a hit with your boys. Shame about the rain - we got back yesterday from the Vendee and had surprisingly good weather all in all but it really has been unpredictable this year so I'm glad it didn't spoil the holiday for you.

Susie

Thanks for the update, we loved the Alps too and can't wait to go back.

Ali

Don't get me wrong, we did have some very good weather, but when it rained, it wasn't just a shower!

We went to Parc Aventure about 5 days before we were due to come home, and then the rain started & just didn't stop!

I think we saw 7 or 8 thunderstorms in 3 weeks. We had 4 in one day! Fascinating to watch, and so loud as the thunder echoes around the mountains. One clap of thunder frightened the life out of me. I had just got out of my car to go indoors, saw a flash of lightening and an almighty sound of thunder right over head. We had clouds going past about 50 feet above us. Never experienced anything like it.

I would have to think of more things to do in incliment weather, other than hitting the shops, which usually meant Cora, Decathlon etc!

Smudger