A family stay in Leukerbad, without replanning every day

A family holiday should restore you, not add another job. Leukerbad is built for that: short walks, a lot of nature, and a village you can read at a glance with children. Winter, summer and a rainy day all work without a fixed plan. You set off, you pause, you turn round when it is enough.

Why the village is calmer than a big resort

The road ends in Leukerbad. You notice it in the evening: less traffic, and the mountains are the view, not a through-road. For children that is practical. The playground, the bakery and the walk to the baths sit in the same small circle, not in three different places.

What families like here is not one particular outing. It is being able to stop. Someone is tired, someone is wet, someone just wants to eat. Then you are back in the apartment in ten minutes, not in a car park at the far end of a resort.

And there is the water. More than 3.9 million litres of thermal water come out of the springs in Leukerbad every day. A day in the baths is not an extra excursion. It is the obvious answer when the morning outside has been long enough.

The apartment the day starts from

Alpine Siesta is 65 square metres, on the first floor, with a lift and no steps. Three rooms, two beds in each: a double room, a children’s room with two singles, and the living room with a sofa bed. A cot folds out if you are travelling with a baby. When the children are in bed, the living room is yours again. That is the point where a family holiday either gets cramped or still has an evening.

The kitchen has what you need in the evening without a special shop run: induction, an oven that heats quickly, a dishwasher and a sink that takes the pans. Fondue goes on the hob, and there is raclette too. Coffee is the CoffeeB machine or the moka pot. A high chair, a play kitchen, board games and a rocking toy are there. Two balconies: one for sitting, facing the Gemmi, one with an electric grill. Smoke outside.

Check-in is from 15:00, check-out until 11:00. On the day you arrive you are in the apartment from 15:00, and the baths still fit that afternoon. The long outing is the next morning. On the day you leave you still have the morning. One outdoor parking space is included. The guest cards are in the apartment and get you a discount on things to do in the area.

Winter: piste, snow and warm pauses

Winter in Leukerbad works for families because there is much besides skiing. A day on the piste. A day when you walk a track in the snow for half an hour and turn round. A day when the warmest part is the afternoon in the water.

• A short walk in the snow, with a pushchair or a sledge, as long as the path is firm. In the morning you see how the snow lies and choose the stretch that fits today.
• Sledging and playing in the snow, without needing a whole ski area.
• A break before someone is hungry and wet at the same time.
• Then the baths. Cold air, warm water, and you walk home.

The days with the village and the baths are often the ones the children remember.

What to look for in a ski area with children

With children you want a beginner zone you can see across, wide pistes, lifts a child understands without a lecture, and a place where you can stop and be back in the village.

Torrent is the area you reach from the apartment without a car: about seven minutes by bus to the cable car. Wide pistes, a beginner zone, and in the afternoon you are back in the village.

On the first ski day, two hours while the child still wants to go is the best block. The baths in the afternoon turn the ski day back into a holiday.

Summer: out, and back before it is too much

In summer Leukerbad is green, and the rock faces stay. You do not have to plan a summit. A cable car takes you up, a path takes you a little way, and the village is close when someone has had enough.

• Easy paths with a stop, at the pace of the shortest legs.
• The cable car when you want the height without the walk up.
• Water, a meadow, a barbecue when you simply want to stay.
• A playground in the village for the afternoon.

A gorge with a walkway on the rock is that kind of outing: the stream is loud, the path is clear, and you turn round when the legs get short. You walk as far as the legs want, and the village is close.

Another walk we like goes to the Majingsee above the village. It is short enough for a morning. Up, a pause, and back down to the village.

In the village itself the stream is the shortest loop. You walk ten minutes, look at the rock face, and you are back among the houses. That is the day you simply want to stay in the village.

When the weather will not play

Rain and wind belong to the Valais. Whether a place works for families, you see on a day like that, not on a brochure photo with a blue sky.

• The Leukerbad thermal baths, about ten minutes on foot. Warm water, and you are in the middle of the holiday.
• The sports arena, also about ten minutes. Ice, play and movement under a roof.
• The way back. Because everything is close, you can change the day whenever you want.
• The apartment. Fondue, raclette, games, the play kitchen, the fire. On a day like that, this is the plan.

The fondue in the photo is from our kitchen. The hob is induction, the caquelon sits on the burner. You eat in, and raclette works the same way.

On rainy days the baths are a busy, happy place. Go early and you have more room.

The Gemmi, when you want to go up

The Gemmi is the mountain you see from the balcony. The cable car is five minutes from the apartment. That is the point: you decide in the morning, not three days ahead.

You do not have to cross the pass. A bit of height is there without a drive. Up there it is cooler and more open than in the village. How far you walk is decided by the youngest legs.

When you come down and someone is frozen or overheated, the apartment is close. You stop the outing and walk home.

In winter the same face is the backdrop for the baths and for the snow in the village. From below the day still looks like Leukerbad: houses, forest, rock.

What you can reach from the apartment

The times start at Alpine Siesta, not at some car park in the village.

Five minutes to the Gemmi cable car means a trip up can be spontaneous. You decide in the morning.

A day that stays easy

This is a day that works for families who stay with us.

In the morning you decide outside the door, not the night before on a list. The bakery at the La Boheme stop is two minutes away. After that a short loop, the cable car, or nothing.

You eat before hunger makes the decision. In the apartment that is faster than hunting for a restaurant with a free high chair. The high chair is already there.

In the afternoon, one thing. The baths, the playground, the snow or the stream.

In the evening you are inside before the children tip over. Three rooms mean the little ones can sleep and you are still at the table. The sofa bed is a bed for two. As long as the double room is free, you sleep there.

On the day you leave, 11:00 is the end. The bags are out faster if the morning is not also an outing.

With a baby, with school children, with grandparents

The day looks different at each age. That is why we say the beds plainly.

With a baby the lift matters more than the view. You reach the first floor with no steps, you fold out the cot, and the high chair is at the table. A long day outside is rarely the plan. The baths in ten minutes, the balcony facing the Gemmi, and an early supper are enough. Inside, the way from the lift to the door has no stairs.

With school children the children’s room matters. Two singles, shelves, the play kitchen, the rocking toy. At night they shut the door and the living room is a living room again. The day is a piste, a track in the snow, or the playground. One thing is enough.

With grandparents it is the same as with the pushchair: the lift up to the apartment, a room of their own, and the chance to come back at lunch while the others are still out. Six beds mean a small family and a pair of grandparents sleep on the same floor. The sofa is then the sixth bed.

What to pack

A hairdryer, scales, a dishwasher, a washing machine, Wi-Fi and a television are there. So is an Xbox 360, and board games.

Because the day decides: swim things, and in winter a hat for the outdoor pool. Layers, because the valley can be cold in the morning and hot in the sun at noon. Slippers, so the slush does not walk through the rooms. Wet jackets belong on the balcony. You buy the fondue cheese in the village, with nappies and milk. The bakery at La Boheme is two minutes from the door.

A week at your pace

Seven days, and each one may be something else. On the day you arrive, from 15:00, you unpack. The Gemmi comes on one of the next mornings.

One day belongs to the water. You walk to the baths and come back while the children are still pleasant. Tiredness arrives faster in the warm water than on the path.

One day belongs to the snow or, in summer, to a path. One thing, then turn round. The cable car is five minutes from the door.

One day is simply yours. Playground, stream or balcony. That day is why the next one still works.

Torrent, if you want to ski: seven minutes by bus, and in the afternoon you are back in the village. Leave the last morning quiet. At 11:00 the apartment is empty. Take the baths the evening before.

Eating, without hunting for a table every night

With children, the evening in your own kitchen is often the easiest part of the day. The high chair is already there, and nobody is waiting for a table.

You can eat in every evening and end the day when the day is over. Fondue and raclette are the Valais at the table. The caquelon has a mountain scene on it, the cheese pulls, and the side plates are whatever you bought: bread, some sausage, gherkins, what the children eat.

Breakfast is at home. The bakery is the two-minute walk. Coffee is the machine or the moka pot, depending on who reaches the kitchen first.

Visitor’s tax and the guest card

On a direct booking the visitor’s tax is in the price. On Booking.com and Airbnb it is not, and it is due later. The guest cards are ready and give a discount on offers in the area.

The days, and the apartment

The important places are on foot: baths, Gemmi, sports arena, bakery. In the apartment six people sleep, each pair in their own room: four in the two bedrooms, two on the sofa bed, the cot as well.

The separate days are on their own pages: winter, summer, rain and skiing. From each of them you come back to the apartment.

• Winter with children
• Summer with children
• Rainy days with children
• Skiing with children
• The apartment