Zell am See, St Johann or Morzine for summer holiday?

[leddeeburdee]

We're keen to get to the alps for our summer holiday this year - DH and I have had some lovely holidays here pre-DC, and are looking forward to go back. We have two DC (4 and 2) and have narrowed our choices down to either Zell am See/ Kaprun or St Johann in Austria, and Morzine in France. All look like a good fit - because the DC are young we're really looking for gentle walking/ biking/ gondolas/ outdoor pools, etc. rather than more adventurous activities.

Has anyone been to any of these places in the summer? And do you have any good recommendations on where to stay? We normally do self catering or camping, but would be happy to stay in a hotel if it came highly recommended. Also if there is anywhere else we've overlooked in our search! Thanks for any help you can give.

We've only been for skiiing in the winter, to Kaprun with esprit.My mum and dad stayed here in Zell am See in the summer and enjoyed themselves although the weather was very mixed with a fair amount of rain, which can happen.

We have had this place in Morzine recommended to us and have thought about it for a summer holiday.

Thanks very much for those links - like the look of the place in Morzine a lot!

We stayed in Zell in August 2 years ago. DD still talks about it and it is probably the only holiday we have been on that we all loved. Looking to go back again next year.

Zell is lovely. They had a festival each Wednesday night which was good fun. Gets very busy but there is live entertainment and bouncy slides for the children.

We did mountain walking (gentle walks for dd- who loved it once we got her some cheap sticks). Went out cycling, boated on the lake, went to the outdoor pool by the lake (as well as the one at the hotel), played crazy golf, watched in the playground, ate fantastic food and did a few day trips as well.

We were so lucky with the weather. They did have a storm in Zell one day but we were in Salzburg so missed it. On occasions we could see the storm clouds coming over the mountains and then watched it go over Kaprun missing us.

We went with Thomsons and stayed in a small hotel up the hill from Zell. Could walk in and out with no problems. The hotel isn't the poshest but we loved it and couldn't fault the service we got. There were a few toys there for the children, such as a small play area, trampoline etc. Oh and we can't forget the donkey :)

We are not far from Morzine, about 45 mins drive.

Morzine is lovely but quiet in summer - particularly in the in-between-seasons. We were there in May and October and there were hardly any cafes and restaurants open. June - September is fine.

There is a big open air swimming pool in Morzine, which I have not been to but it looks good. Our DC also enjoyed walking over the massive suspension bridge - we have to do that everytime we go, always very exciting.

From Morzine you can go down to Lake Geneva - there is fantastic beach about 40 mins from Morzine which would be perfect for your DC - it is the only sandy beach on the lake and is very shallow - you can walk for ages into the water and it still only comes up as far as the knees. Very safe for little ones. Excenevex

Daytrip to Geneva could be interesting too, and take a walk around the lake and up to the old town. I blogged about this recently, here.

We stayed for two weeks in Kaprun, nr Zell am See in Aug 2009. Had a fantastic time and found plenty to do for a full two weeks. We did lots of day trips to castles and waterfalls, to Salzburg, went down a salt mine, (your two will be too young for this however) went Summer tobogganing, took the gondola's up to the mountain, visited the alpine dams and even went sledding in the snow on the glacier. We went with Esprit Summer adventures with a 6 & 3 yo and on some of the days of they went into the kids clubs and went for picnics, walking with llama's, all sorts of fun stuff.

It was a great holiday and we're repeating it again this yr with Esprit, with a week in the Alps in Belle Plagne.