Summer break in Switzerland (Wengen/Zermatt)

[IWannaBeLikeYou]

We are thinking of going for a short, relaxing holiday to Switzerland.
We would like a place where is not very crowded this time of the year, peaceful and green, nice walks ... you get the picture.
We also need to keep in mind that I'm pregnant and we also have a 3 years old son.
We short listed Wengen and Zermatt.
Any recommendation for good quality family friendly hotels or places to stay, things to do in the area and also pros and cons of one resort over the other?
Thanks.

ooh right up my street

Wengen
If you dont mind being a bit cramped and basic (think 70's decor and cupboard for bathroom) the Bernerhof in Wengen is central , opposite the kids play area and food good. The Sunstar has a pool, some kids activities (we stayed one Easter and they did egg decorating) and will do early kids meals . The Silberhorn is next to station, if your ds like to watch trains, has a nice downstairs restaurant (great ice creams) and terrace with climbing frame. Friends have stayed in the Bellevue in winter which is a Kidshotel (part of a child friendly group on tourist website) but a little further out of the village centre.

It is one of our favourite resorts with lots of easy walking ie take train from Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg and walk back along the path down towards Wengen via the Hotel Jungfrau at Wengernalp (a must for hot chocolate if it is open but has a very limited season) and great views of the mountains or cable car up the Mannlichen and walk across to Kl Scheidegg. If you get tired on the walk down you can pick the train up again at intermediate stations, or you could take the train further up to Jungfraujoch glacier, lovely on a clear day but you may find the altitude hard going if pg and for 3 year old - we took dd at almost 4 and she got cold quickly as you walk through the glacier itself and outside onto it to see the view and husky dogs etc. Also just a short train ride away are Teddyland at Schynigge Platte (steam train ride up the mountain to lovely alpine gardens with a small teddy exhibit and themed walk), Interlaken, Trummelbach waterfalls ....

Zermatt
Less experience here and can't recall where we stayed, it was along the main street, nice but not especially family friendly. Think the Nicoletta is supposed to be child friendly or there is one listed on the Kidshotels list.
We did a horse drawn carriage ride there which dd loved, and have walked down from Sunegga and Gornergrat with young ones. There were play areas at restaurants along the way and mountain lakes. Most of the other activites seemed geared towards older children including a high ropes trail.

tbh of the two for us Wengen has the edge as it has more of the essence of the Alps - flowery meadows, wooden chalets, cows with bells etc, less motorised traffic and less touristy hth

oh forgot, there is an outdoor pool in Wengen if the weather is fine

Thanks Lizs. Wengen sounds lovely, just as I imagined Do you think it would be difficult to find a hotel this time of the year, say second part of August? Don't mind if the hotel is not right in the centre of the village.
How is the weather likely to be this time of the year?

Should n't be a problem in Wengen tbh . The Sunstar and Silberhorn are pretty large ( you do get American groups staying there sometimes) but most tourists stay in Interlaken or Grindelwald and "do" the area. We used to go for weekends and don't recall having a problem even at fairly short notice whereas in Zermatt we struggled at last minute last July for a weekend. Weather is supposed to be great atm , you do sometimes have it hot and sunny during day with thunderstorms at teatime. Very this is the first year in many we havenlt visited the Alps in summer.

Most Swiss schools return in about 3 weeks time so it should get quieter then anyway.

Sorry it was the Belvedere in Wengen(not Bellevue) which is the Kidshotel . Think Thomson use it .

Kandersteg

Yes Kandersteg is nice , although not sure I'd want to spend more than a few days there there and you have both train and road noise. You could take train over to Zermatt (probably have to change twice) for the day from there though.

bergbahnen.zermatt.ch/d/web-cam/standort.html

Have a look at the guest book on that web site for hotel info

Thank you all for your very helpful answers, especially LIZS ...
I need so more help

Ok. We decided on Wengen. Now we need to decide on a Hotel.

So far we had these offers:

Beausite Park Hotel:
1 double room with an extra bed, south-east facing with a view towards the Jungfrau and with balcony
CHF 380.-- per night for two persons and one child of 3 years

HOTEL ALPENROSE:
1 double/twin bedded corner room with an extra bed,
private bath/WC, south-east facing at the rate of
Sfr. 115.- per person per day and Sfr. 57.- per child per day
All rates include

• the room with breakfast

Schonegg Hotel:
1 double room with bath/WC, balcon east and 1 single room with
connected
door, with dinner and breakfast at CHF 320.- or CHF 230.- just with
breakfast

Anyone stayed or heard anything about these hotels. Beausite and AlpenRose have very good reviews, but seem a bit pricey...

Beausite is by the outdoor pool(has its own indoor I think), a walk from the station. I can't place the others offhand, will ask dh later, but think maybe the Schoenegg is where PIL's stayed a few years back, in which case we have eaten on their terrace(nice food), it is centrally located at end of main street near the playground and they liked it.

woah, nostalgia overload!
I stayed in the Belvedere with my family when I was about 12 - in fact there's a photo of me playing table tennis with my little sister on its terrace pinned up over my desk right now.
This was [hemhem] years ago, but we had a great time and did all the trips Lizs mentioned as well as a lot of longer hikes.

Just checked on the Wengen website, the Alpenrose is a fair walk ( quoted as 10 minutes) downhill from the station , in the opposite direction to the village centre. Nice views but may be hard work with a 3yr old if you want to find a different restaurant in the evening or go to any entertainment (there is sometimes an Alpine evening etc) in the centre .

PILs did stay at Schoenegg which is fairly central on main street (pedestrians and electric vehicles) , good views of cable car and along the valley if you can get a room facing that way, opposite play area, near Pizza restaurant and Hotel Bernerhof (good for fondue and raclette) so might be worth doing b and b. You can usually buy the HB set menu locally anyway. British tour operators don't seem to use it so can be more international than some but PILs enjoyed their stay and thought the accommodation was fine.

Beausite , a bit more of a walk away from village centre than Schoenegg but more upmarket with its own pool. Nearer the mountain cliffs below the Mannlichen cable car wires (in the avalanche zone in winter !).

Of the 3 I'd probably go for the Schoenegg hth

have you booked yet ?

I camped just outside Zermatt for a weeks one summer, thought Zermatt was lovely. There are great walks out the top end of the town across nice meadows and up to great little mountain restaurants. Zermatt itself is a car free zone so thats good. And in the afternoons the goat herder comes through the town with a big herd of goats on their way back to a barn.

The train up to Gornergrat (sp?) is lovely. Nice restaurant and then a fantastic walk down. And you can take the cable car up to Kliene Matterhorn. Ski on the glacier if you want.

Hi,

I would like to thank you all and add special thanks to LIZS for all the useful info.

We have spent 1 week in Wengen and would have stayed longer, but the weather wasn't very good. Wengen and surrounding area is truly lovely. We've been to Jungfraujoch and done other trips in the area and I can certainly say we will go back

We stayed at Beausite Park Hotel and it was brilliant...

We need to do a bit of "research" now to see what is the best part of the summer season to go there, as August seems to be quite wet there.

Maybe June would be better?

Glad you had a good time. Always nice to hear that someone else would return.

tbh it is always hit and miss weatherwise, if it is hot you get spectacualr thunder showers late afternoon/eveing. When I was pg with dd over there 6 years ago it was blisteringly hot during July and August, could barely move. Think you were pretty unlucky as overall they 've had far better weather this year than us, bar a week or so of heavy rain/snow ! We honeymooned in Muerren in late June and there was snow but mainly very sunny ! The trouble with earlier in the season is that many resort lifts don't open everyday until late June, although the Jungfrau region has its all year mountain railway.