Recommendations for Alps in summer

[Tallace]

Can anyone recommend a good resort for a summer holiday in the Alps next year?

Ive seen some cheap flights to Geneva or Zurich. Flying to Innsbruck is also a possibility.

I would like a medium sized resort with good and easy access to chairlifts/cable cars into the mountains and other things to do for DSs 14 11 and 7

Some resorts have summer cards giving free or reduced prices on the chair lifts but Im going around in circles a bit trying to find a nice location.
We would ideally not need a car but some of the airport transfers seem to be really expensive so we may have to as long as it isnt too far from the airport.

Any ideas?

Chamonix, Saas Fee, Engelberg, Arosa. Swiss trains can cost a lot though.

Annecy is a must.

Innsbruck is lovely, and a decent-sized town too, in case you get bored of Alpine activities. It's also home to the cafe with the most amazing cakes I've ever tasted!

Saalbach and Hinterglemm, lovely! Loads to do and lovely hotels. 2 hours from Innsbruck and you'd need a car. They have zip lines, cable cars, mountain biking (hire an ebike, they are ace!) and lovely food!

What’a the weather like in summer? Is there anywhere to compare it to?

Weather can be extreme and changeable. Warm and sunny during the day, upper 20-30oc not unusual, then thunderstorms in the late afternoon/evenings. Snow above 2500m not uncommon and most of those I suggested earlier have access to glaciers.

The Alta Badia area of the Italian Dolomites is brilliant for families. Only 2 hours from Innsbruck. We’ve stayed with Colletts Mountain Holidays there but other accommodation available too. Loads to do, stunning scenery, delicious food. Highly recommend.

This website shows you all the extra activities they put on in summer:
www.moviment.it/en/activities-moviment-alta-badia-summer.php

Grindelwald, Switzerland. We have a glorious time there, so dramatic - we were in a hotel facing the north side of the Eiger, fields and (oh so pretty!) cows and then the astonishing verticality of it all. Richenbach falls is in the next valley if you're Sherlock Holmes fans.

Chamonix was nothing like I expected, ended up being mildly disappointing and not at all 1920s!

PS You don’t need a car once you’re in resort. There are regular buses between resorts and also the cable cars of course. We flew into Venice as it was cheaper but that was 3 hours drive. Colletts offer a private transfer if you prefer. We went in August and they have good discounts for children that month.

We’ve had a couple of summer holidays in Klosters. It’s a quiet resort but has a swimming pool and tennis courts. The scenery is stunning.

Within the Graunbunden region all ski lifts, trains and buses are free if staying at a hotel in the region. Fantastic walks and mountain restaurants. Lots of mountain bike paths down the mountains.

Davos is the nearest big town and is more lively and is a quick train ride away.

Weather is mixed over the summer.

We had a wonderful couple of weeks in Samoens a couple of years ago. We flew to Geneva & hired a car, driving from there. Samoens was a lively little place with lots going on , including a fantastic weekly market, cable car & opportunities for a variety of outdoor activities, including parapenting. We drive to Annecy for a day and also to Chamonix. The highlight of the holiday was taking the cable car up to the top of the Aguille du Midi. The weather was got (29c plus) and sunny for the whole of our stay. It was a fantastic holiday.

Another vote for Annecy.

I'm with SpoonBlender. My 3 DDs tell me the week in Grindelwald was the best holiday ever - and we've had a fair few. Our appartment faced the Eiger, the balcony was enormous so some time was spent just gazing at the view...

Lauterbrunnen is a must. Also Reichenbach falls as Spoon says.
We spent our days going for medium-ish easy hikes. Balcony for sitting and Internet time. Evenings eating out under blankets for when it was cold (we went in August! be aware).

Cable car is easy walking distance. Lots of walks up high....

We hired a car because that was around £260 I think? But the train fare would have been £600+.

The whole holiday was just lovely.

Should have said it was about a 2 hour drive from Zurich.

St Gervais is nice and about an hour on the bus to Geneva airport. You can also take the train nearly all the way. further up the valley is Les Contamines mont Joly. lots of cable cars and good hiking. Lac du Passy at the bottom of the hill is great too.

We did an Alpine Elements holiday to Morzine in the Summer with a really mixed age group. Everyone enjoyed it and the activities were great and very well organised. Nice balance between free time and organised events. Flew into geneva.

If you stay in accommodation in the Saas Valley, you'll get free lift passes for the valley for the duration of your stay. And there's loads to do there.

We've stayed at Hintertux where you can ski all year round (not total beginners though), they've got an ice palace at top of mountain with boat under the mountain top, cable cars and things like white water rafting. www.hintertuxergletscher.at/en/summer/action/top10activitesinsummer/

Would need a car and fly to Innsbruck, we stayed at the Kinder Hotel there, only a small place so maybe not 2 weeks but lovely for a week or so. Hotel had excellent food and kids playground.

Innsbruck then drive to the Dolomites i.e. Sud Tirol/AltaBadia

Should have added that there are some great WW1 (Italy/Austria) sites that your DC might enjoy.

We went to Verbier last July and loved it. Train was direct from Geneva airport and we got a free pass that got us on to all lifts and free entry to the swimming pool. There were incredible walks and great supermarkets and bakers to stock up from for lunch. Great choice of restaurants to eat from at night too.

Chamonix is a lovely town year round.

DS1 did a couple of ski seasons there with Esprit, and also a summer season (lots of mountain biking etc). He loved it.

I can't offer any details personally but this is the Chamonix summer activity website There is a lot to do

If you rent a car at Geneva airport they're much cheaper on the French side, but then you're not supposed to go into Switzerland (or if you do you'll need to buy the motorway pass thing)

Annecy is absolutely heaven - turquoise clear lake, fairytale town, lots of nice restaurants. One of my favourite places in the world. Very, very popular in summer with lots of different nationalities. It’s one of the cheapest places to get to from Geneva airport because there is a direct bus. However not very cheap with regards to hotels and restaurants. Chamonix lovely too, plenty to do (don’t miss the luge!) but hotels in summer just as expensive as winter and cable car about €60 each one trip return iirc. The area around both resorts is nice to cycle if that’s your thing.

We spent a week in Kitzbühel this summer, it was absolutely brilliant. Gorgeous little town. Beautiful scenery and so much to do. We flew into Salzburg but Innsbruck is also an option. Summer card is a must, gives access to 30 lifts on 14 mountains. There's a beautiful swimming lake in walking distance with slides, splash pool and playground for the kids. Would go back there in a heartbeat. One of best holidays we had. The weather was glorious the whole week (25C - 30C) but the day after we left it snowed!