Best Resort to Experince Alps in the Summer

A snowHead

hammerite, I didn't think so - but had to ask

A snowHead

The saas valley is pretty good especially now the lifts are free if staying there in the summer.
Personally I like tne dolomites with austria a close second(mayrhofen is good late season)

Various photos of ski resorts in summer and the things you can do
http://www.prog99.com/Summer%20Holidays/index.html

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Last summer we stayed near Alpbach in a place called Kramsach. Everyone staying locally is entitled to a free activity card, valid for the duration of your stay. The mountains are not very high but we were there with 5 month old + 3 year old.
With that activity card there were 3 ski lifts - one had a huge adventure playground (for kids young and old...), swimming at 3 outdoor pools, swimming at a large indoor leisure pool. Can't remember what else was included but everything was free of charge.

We camped at a really nice site just outside Kramsach - intended staying for a few nights but ended up staying almost 2 weeks.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

We are looking for recommendations for our summer holiday - Kramsach/Alpbach was excellent last year.

We are going camping for 3 weeks, driving from UK with 1 + 4 year old.

Keen on Italy (especially Dolomites) and want somewhere with family friendly walks, swimming, playparks etc. Last year was fantastic with the (free) activity card so any recommendations appreciated.

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Really, ideally, though I love spending summer weeks in my apartment near Les Saisies, the most attractive Alpine places in summer have to be ones without ski lifts; all that ironmongery is really ugly and much of the ski-resort architecture is not that appealing, either (they might claim to be built in "traditional savoyard style" etc etc but the traditional savoyards didn't build 3 and 4 storey apartment buildings!

I'd also, personally, want to be below the treeline; in summer the landscape in some of the high resorts (Les Deux Alpes, Tignes), where some brutal work has been done to create pistes and build lifts, bears a closer resemblance to an open-cast mine than to a traditional "Heidi's grandfather" alpine village. The negative environmental impact of skiing can best be appreciated in summer....

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I've now done a couple of weeks in the summer, and now with our own place I'm really looking forward to maybe a couple of months!

Serre Chevalier and Briancon and the Parcs, Ecrins and Queyras are actually busier in the summer as there is so much to do!

I do agree about large open ski resorts such as Tignes, went there last summer to ski the glacier and was so pleased to be away from it.

Briancon old town is meant to be fantastic.

However when I've been out it's been late June and mid July, from what I hear the four weeks from mid July to mid August the mountains are mobbed, camper vans blocking roads and everywhere rammed, evidently there are parking issues where I am as the "renters" take no notice of "parking prive".

50 mins down the road from Briancon is France's largest man made lake, Serre Poncon, and they have a large kiting / windsurfing area there, though winds are gusty, so that's me sorted Smile

The other main reason for coming out in the summer as had already been allude to is the "cycling".

They have now announced "Cols Reserve" that is two weeks of the year, one in July and the other in August when they shut the roads to traffic from 09:00 to Noon - so in any one week you can get to ride some of the great Cols without any traffic to worry about in an almost festive atmosphere.

You see cyclists of every shape and size on every type of bike imaginable, family's going up together etc etc

These might not be as "major" as the Etape and Marmotte etc but if you're not up to those then the Cols Reserve weeks let you enjoy the mountains in much the same way.

Montez en toute sécurité les cols des Hautes-Alpes

Les Cols Réservés est un évènement organisé depuis 1997 par le Comité Départemental du Tourisme, en partenariat avec le Conseil Général des Hautes-Alpes, qui propose aux cyclistes sur route de monter les cols des Hautes-Alpes en toute sécurité, c’est à dire sans véhicules motorisés.
Le rendez-vous 2013

En matinée, un col par jour est fermé aux voitures et réservé aux cyclistes de 9h à 12h. La fermeture se fait généralement à la dernière intersection, des 2 côtés du col. Au pied et au sommet, un ravitaillement vous est proposé pour reprendre des forces. L’évènement est gratuit, ouvert à tous, sans inscription, sans classement et sans départ !

Acte 1 : du 1er au 5 juillet 2013
Acte 2 : du 12 au 16 août 2013
2 semaines 2 ambiances

du 1er au 5 juillet 2013 : rejoignez la légende !
Durant cette semaine sportive, venez vous mesurer aux grands cols mythiques du nord département des Hautes-Alpes!

Lundi 1er juillet de 9h à 12h : Col Agnel
Mardi 2 juillet de 9h à 12h : Col d’Izoard
Mercredi 3 juillet de 9h à 12h : Col de l’Echelle
Jeudi 5 juillet de 9h à 12h : : Col du Galibier
Vendredi 6 juillet de 9h à 12h : Col du Granon

du 12 au 16 août 2013 : découvrez nos cols insoupçonnés
Durant cette semaine ludique, profitez des boucles cyclotouristes du sud du département des Hautes-Alpes

Lundi 12 août de 9h à 12h : Col de Pommerol / Fromagère
Mardi 13 août de 9h à 12h : Montée de Chabre
Mercredi 14 août de 9h à 12h : Col d’Espréaux
Jeudi 15 août de 9h à 12h : Mont Colombis
Vendredi 16 août de 9h à 12h : Col du Noyer

After all it is free

Quote:

from what I hear the four weeks from mid July to mid August the mountains are mobbed, camper vans blocking roads and everywhere rammed, evidently there are parking issues where I am as the "renters" take no notice of "parking prive".

that's not my experience; I suppose it depends where you go. Our area is pleasantly busy from mid July to the end of August, with a number of events, a programme of lift opening for mountain bikes, free navettes with bike carriers (so you can walk, or cycle, a one-way route) etc etc. All parking in the village is free (it's not in the winter season) and at our development there is never any difficulty parking - there's a huge underground car park but nobody bothers with it in summer as there is ample outside parking. There are not nearly as many renters as there are in winter, competing for spaces, and of course there's no snow to contend with. I suspect many owners of rented apartments do not manage to rent even for the 6 school holiday weeks and everything is very, very, quiet outside those weeks. The camping van areas are much quieter in summer, because I suspect campers - sensibly - go to one of the very attractive camping sites down in the valleys - there are a couple of popular ones near the Doron river, which are great for kids.

Walking, away from roads, one sees some other people - quite a few people on popular family routes - but personally I enjoy that. I love seeing the small kids in their walking boots, carrying their little backpacks. Once you get a bit further off the beaten track it's very quiet - good to know you have a mobile phone, should you fall and damage an ankle.

The Beaufortain is a superb area in summer - most of it is well away from ski lifts, there are a lot of very picturesque mountain chalets, flowers, cows with bells on, and some attractive villages. Walking can be as easy or as hard as you want - energetic walkers can get up onto the flanks of the Mont Blanc massif in a day walk from a car park - and there are a good number of lakes to walk round. This is Roselend.

Chamonix is very busy, certainly - but worth it once in a while to get up one of the lifts and walk one of the easy but spectacular "Grand Balcon" paths.

My favourite time in summer is June; the flowers are specially wonderful before the first hay is cut. It's very quiet, just about everything is closed, but that suits me! Autumn is also spectacular.

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Lifts handy for walkers too Smile

I only use them to take the sting out of a really long ascent, and then ride (or walk) off out on a big day tour, 80% of the time that's beyond the bounds of the ski area anyway. Others loop them like a ski run.

Funnily enough, up until last year, I'd only ever seen 1 ski lift in summer. And that was the one on Raise.
Some don't seem an eyesore at all in summer , and no different to a string of power lines over a hill. Others show the destruction that goes on to keep up happy in winter.

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Can someone tell me how to add a photograph to this post please.

I think PamW Ill show you why even in the summer am I glad Ive got sheltered parking and used it!!

You know it makes sense.

I would suggest that the most beautiful and spectacular scenery is in the Dolomites, due north of Venice. I took my wife there last summer, having experienced it as a skier and she loved it so much we are going back this summer.
I have not read the whole thread but suggest it is really worth hiring a car from the airport (Treviso, or Venice would give you a day there too if you want). This would allow you to drive around the Sella Ronda and other areas. The Dolomites are fantastic for walking - perhaps the best walks I have ever done - usually parking at a pass (of which there are many) or going up a ski lift. We thought Hotel Cesa Padon, 10 minutes outside Arabba was fantastic with wonderful food and astonishingly good value (we are going back), but this might not be the best place in the area to go if you want nightlife. Someone else may be along to suggest where might satisfy that requirement.

Perhaps I should mention we were there in May so there was still snow around higher up (and even ski tracks on the Marmolada),and not all lifts were open again yet, but the wild flowers were absolutelywonderful.

First and last pic were NE of Cortina and the middle two near the Sella Pass.

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A snowHead

A snowHead

lots of Via Ferrata in the Dolomites and also First World War remains (there was ferocious fighting in the mountains).

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snowball, Great photos, specially the trail on the last one. Would you know a link/more info to this walk?

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Ian Kenvyn, The ferrata on the Toviere at Val d'Isere is IMHO the best of those readily available from La Plagne but I vaguely remember seeing somewhere that it is now closed until the suspension bridge can be repaired.

There are some other good ferrata in Champagny as well

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Tom W, you can buy good 1:50,000 Hiking Maps (Carta di Sentieri e Rifugi) which show all the trails and grade them as to difficulty. That walk was from the Passo Tre Croci, just East of Cortina starting near the Hotel Tre Croci - path No. 215 - going south around the left side of the mountain. It goes up to a small lake high up which was still frozen when we went (well worth doing the last short bit to the lake which my wife found slightly scary but has a cable to hold onto).
Here is another good one - from Passo Giau (between Arabba and Cortina by the more southerly route) North to Cinque Torri (path 443). If you look at the middle pic you can faintly see the path in the middle distance starting up through a crack in the cliff.
You could go back the way you went but we then walked East from the refuge (that's it in the second photo) down to the road and I got a lift back to our car at the pass.

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[ All parking in the village is free (it's not in the winter season) and at our development there is never any difficulty parking - there's a huge underground car park but nobody bothers with it in summer as there is ample outside parking.

These were the size of hailstones we had half an hour after arriving in Kirchberg. Lasted about 5/10 minutes. We were just fortunate that we had only arrived as the place soon flooded with the rain that followed the hailstorm and all the roof windows being smashed in.
The town was like a war zone. Roof windows, solar panels all smashed to pieces. Cars all pitted . As I said, just glad that we have parking under the house otherwise a very expensive repair bill on the car.

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After all it is free

jafa,

Yes, indeed!

reded78, another vote for annecy, les gets or chamonix - we've spent summer hols in all these places with young children and they were all great holidays.

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reded78, ....around us is great in the summer; based in crans montana or villages around. Things to do with kids:

- thermal baths at Leukerbad - fantastic for kids and surrounded by amazing cliffs
- swimming and canoes at Lac De Moubra, a small lake near the town
- a climbing experience in the trees at Lac de Moubra where you climb ladders and go on wire traverse with a harness - junior one, one for very small ones, and one for adults
- staying over in a mountain hut which is only 40mins walk along the mountain, so excellent for small ones - Jackie at Cabane de la Tieche
- amazing train ride - day out from Martingny to Argentiere (lunch in hotel dahu) or go on to Chamonix
- alpine zoo at salvan - bears, wolves, beavers, deer
- summer camp for older kids if you need some free time - contact Swiss Mountain Sports
- cable car up to plaine morte at 3000m, possibly gravity assisted walk from violettes back to montana if you carry the infant in a backpack; marmottes on the way back
- summer bobsleigh riding on the tracks at Saas Fee

and more

pm me for more details if need be
crans montana tourist info good for accommodation deals
cheaper accommodation in villages surrounding Crans Montana - eg mollens, bluche, aminona - good shops (eg Co-op) in montana

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+1 for Slovenia - very beautiful, wooded country.

A Dutch (or was it German?) bloke we met there described the Triglav area as the premier national park in Europe.

altis, just looked at some google images - stunning!

You know it makes sense.

In fact huge swathes of the Alps are just wonderful for summer holidays - and much enjoyed by most Europeans but by rather few Brits, it seems. They would rather go and sit and fry themselves on a crowded beach.

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Hi all,

Stumbling across this today I realised I never updated my original post.

Update - We ended up booking what looks like a very nice chalet in Morzine (http://www.chillypowder.com/summer-homepage.htm). Having considered much of the above thought that Morzine was a fairly safe bet, with lots of activities for the kids, the new waterpark in Avoriaz for rubbish weather days, day trips to Annecy etc , and the chalet are also providing some child care.

SO any advice on things to do with just 9 and 7 year old / activities with baby / day trips in and around the Morzine area appreciated.

A snowHead

Weathercam,

A snowHead

T Bar, have to disagree with you, quite simple many of the valleys just as Nevache, Pelvoux, Dormllouise up from Freissinieres, Cervierrres, are all closed in the winter, these all open up with camp sites, Gites etc for the summer and the same is true for many of the villages in the Queyras.

My comments are based on the little I've seen it here in the summer and more from people who live year all round and run bars / restaurants and the like.

There might not be so many actual people compared to the winter, but in the winter the vast majority of them are up the "hill" for most of the day, where as in the summer they tend to be more visible in the valley

This thread is amusing how people get almost blinkered in their praise for their own neck of the woods rolling eyes

pam w, has it right in that "huge swathes of the Alps are just wonderful for summer holidays"

I tend to use Serre as a base and explore further afield, hence I see these valleys both in the winter (ski touring) and then as the snow recedes as I cycle them.

This week alone I have:

Cycled from Serre to Sestrierre, going through some lovely villages and scenery via Sauze di Cesana
http://app.strava.com/activities/50249945

Cycled from Mont Dauphin to Col de Vars
http://app.strava.com/activities/50436167

Ski toured up Tete Noire (Grand Galibier)
http://app.strava.com/activities/50594009

And then yesterday cycled up Nevache Valley where we were ski touring around a month or so ago
http://app.strava.com/activities/50797230

Today rain and cloud at 1500m looking out, so after some painting will put the bike in the van and go down to Lac Serre Poncon where I've identified a circuit, depending on the weather though.

Andreded78, can't go wrong with what they have booked Smile

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Weathercam,

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reded78, The guys who run Chilly Powder (Paul and Francesca?) have youngish kids as far as I remember and should be able to give you some good tips. Annecy is great and you can go to the "beach" at Bout du Lac. There's also a small lake in les Gets. The tourist office website should give you loads of ideas.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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pam w, useful info on Lake Annecy thanks - we are staying in La Ros early August (first summer visit to that neck of the woods, well apart from Les Arcs in '11 Laughing

).
Quite fancy a visit to Annecy if we can get there early. If it's silly busy I'd rather stay up in the mountains Toofy Grin

I am determined to see a flippin' marmot this summer. Vanoise National Park seems a good bet.

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marmotte16, if you don't have any luck with the marmots this time, book a trip to Saas Fee. There's a particular mountain restaurant that sells food for marmots, so they follow the tourists down the mountain (along with the sheep and goats...). They are very cute.

After all it is free

marmotte16, TO see Marmottes I suggest getting up very early and heading up the lovely mountains surrounding La Rossiere. Starting walks from the Col du Petit st Bernard would ease the trek or even drive up the Combe des Moulins to the lift station. For some reason I usually see them around the time it is getting light. You will hear them before you see them (sounds like birdsong). Once you hear the whistling stop and look around, be prepared to wait for a while before they stick their heads up again. They really are quite shy.

Having misread Scarlet's, message as "There's a particular mountain restaurant that sells marmots for food." got me around to thinking "why don't we eat Marmottes?" We eat rabbits and guinea pigs so why not marmotte?

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