Here’s the thing that surprised us about a Swiss winter trip with children: we didn’t ski once.
We spent four days based around Montreux over New Year, and the days were full — a chocolate factory, an ice-channel tobogganing park, Christmas lights in an alpine resort, a New Year’s Day walk by Lake Geneva. Not one lift pass between us.
If you’ve been putting off Switzerland in winter because your family doesn’t ski, or because you assume it’s unaffordable, this is what the alternative actually looks like.
Quick answer: the 4-day plan
| Day | Where | The main thing |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montreux + Territet | Lakeside walk, hot chocolate, settle in |
| 2 | Broc + Leysin | Cailler Chocolate Factory in the morning, Tobogganing Park in the afternoon |
| 3 | Crans-Montana | Christmas lights in the mountains after dark |
| 4 | Champéry | Alpine village, then home |
- Base yourself in Montreux. Everything on this list is a day trip from there.
- You need a car, or you’ll spend the trip on connections.
- Book the Tobogganing Park weeks ahead — it’s the only thing here that sells out.
- Nothing on this itinerary requires skiing, or ski gear, or lessons.
- Best window: late December to early January, when the Christmas lights are up and the toboggan season has started.
Day 1 — Montreux and Territet
Arrive, check in, and don’t over-plan the first day. Montreux is a lakeside town on Lake Geneva with the Alps behind it, and the promenade is the whole point.
Territet is the quiet bit next door — a short walk or a couple of minutes on the train. We went on New Year’s Day, when Montreux itself was still asleep, and it was the right call: flat paths, lake views, snow on the peaks across the water, and almost nobody about.
There’s also a local quirk the children loved: Territet has an Instagram spot where Santa Claus is spotted running around over the festive season. My sister pointed it out and it made their morning.
Finish with Swiss hot chocolate, which is not the same drink you get anywhere else.
Full post: Territet, Switzerland on New Year’s Day →
Day 2 — Cailler Chocolate Factory and Leysin tobogganing
The best day of the trip, and the one that needs the most planning.
Morning: Cailler Chocolate Factory, Broc
A proper factory tour with interactive exhibits, the history of Swiss chocolate making, and — the part that matters to a child — a tasting room at the end where you help yourself.
Full post: Cailler Chocolate Factory →
Afternoon: Tobogganing Park, Leysin
Not sledging. Inner tubes down prepared ice channels — 13 trails, 360-degree turns, a looping, and a jump onto a giant air cushion. There’s a separate Minipark for under-5s.
This is the single thing our children remembered most from the whole trip, and it’s also the one thing on this itinerary you cannot turn up for. It runs in timed sessions, roughly four a day, and slots sell out weeks ahead over Christmas and the February holidays.
Roughly CHF 30 adult / CHF 20 child ⚠️, plus helmet hire and a per-ride charge on the Air Bag and Looping. Book at tlml.ch.
Full guide: Tobogganing Park Leysin — prices, booking and tips →
Why these two work together
Broc and Leysin are in opposite directions from Montreux, so this is a driving day. But the pairing is right: a warm, indoor, calm morning followed by a cold, loud, physical afternoon. Do it the other way round and everyone’s soaked and tired in a chocolate museum.
Day 3 — Christmas lights in Crans-Montana
Crans-Montana is a mountain resort about ⚠️ [ALA — drive time] from Montreux, and over the festive season the whole town is lit.
Go after dark. That’s obvious once you’re there and easy to get wrong when you’re planning — the lights are the point, and in December the light goes early enough that you can be up there by 17:00 and home for dinner.
We went in the week before Christmas with both families — us with two children, my sister’s family with one. What makes it different from Christmas lights in a city is the backdrop: snow, mountains, and a town small enough to walk end to end.
Lights are usually up from early December to the first week of January ⚠️. Free.
Full post: Crans-Montana Christmas lights →
Day 4 — Champéry, then home
A quiet last day. Champéry is an alpine village in Valais near the French border, and we were there to collect our nephew from ski school — which turned out to be the right way to spend a final morning.
The village is walkable and calm, the mountain views are the reason to come, and there’s no pressure to do anything. After three full days, that’s what you want.
Champéry is about an hour from Montreux by car, or roughly 1h30 by train and postbus via Aigle and Monthey ⚠️ — so Montreux in the morning and Champéry in the afternoon is comfortable if you want to combine them.
Full post: our last day in Champéry →
Doing it in 3 days instead
If you’ve only got three days, cut Day 4. Champéry is the most relaxed stop and the least essential — combine a short Montreux morning with the Crans-Montana lights in the evening and you’ve kept everything that matters.
Don’t cut Day 2. The chocolate factory and the tobogganing are the two things your children will actually talk about afterwards.
What you need to know before you book
You need a car
Broc, Leysin and Crans-Montana are all in different directions from Montreux. Swiss public transport is superb, but three legs each way with children in snow gear on a timed toboggan booking is a different holiday from the one you’re planning.
Where to stay
Base yourself in or near Montreux — everything on this list is a day trip from there and you unpack once.
We stayed with family in Montreux, so I can’t review a hotel there honestly.
The cost
Switzerland is expensive and there’s no way around it. The tobogganing alone is comfortably over CHF 100 for a family of four. But the lights are free, the walks are free, and you’re not paying for lift passes, ski hire or lessons — which is where a Swiss family ski week really goes.
When to go
Late December to early January. The Christmas lights are up, the toboggan season has started (from around 20 December), and Territet on New Year’s Day is genuinely lovely.
Avoid the run-up to Christmas itself if you can — the toboggan sessions go first.
Is Switzerland in winter worth it without skiing?
Yes — and I’d argue it’s a better trip with young children than a ski week.
A family ski holiday with a 5-year-old is mostly logistics: lessons, gear, meeting points, someone missing out. Four days like this are just days out, in a country that happens to have snow in them. Nobody has to be good at anything.
Who I’d recommend it to: families with children roughly 4–12 who want snow without the ski-school production, and anyone who’s assumed Switzerland is off the table because they don’t ski.
Who I’d send elsewhere: if your family genuinely wants to ski, this isn’t your itinerary — and if you’re on a tight budget, the Catalan Pyrenees give you snow days at a fraction of Swiss prices.
Every stop, in full
- Territet: a New Year’s Day walk near Montreux
- Cailler Chocolate Factory, Broc
- Tobogganing Park Leysin: prices, booking and tips
- Crans-Montana Christmas lights
- Champéry, our last day
- Mövenpick Touring Hotel Chiasso review
- 1 day trip to Geneva
More winter with kids:
Frequently asked questions about Switzerland with kids in winter
Can you visit Switzerland in winter without skiing?
Yes, and with young children it is often the better trip. Over four days based in Montreux we did a chocolate factory, an ice-channel tobogganing park, Christmas lights in an alpine resort and a lakeside walk on New Year’s Day, without a single lift pass. You avoid the cost of ski hire, lessons and passes, and nobody in the family has to be good at anything.
Where should you base yourself for a family winter trip near Montreux?
Montreux itself. Territet is a few minutes away, Broc and the Cailler Chocolate Factory, Leysin and Crans-Montana are all day trips from there, and you only unpack once. You will want a car — the three main day trips are in different directions and doing them by train and bus with children in snow gear adds hours to each day.
How many days do you need in Montreux and the surrounding area?
Four is comfortable and three works if you cut the final day in Champéry. Do not cut the second day: the Cailler Chocolate Factory in the morning and the Tobogganing Park in Leysin in the afternoon are the two things children remember from this trip.
What is the best time for a family winter trip to Switzerland?
Late December to early January. The Christmas lights in Crans-Montana are usually up from early December to the first week of January, the Leysin toboggan season starts around 20 December, and Territet on New Year’s Day is quiet and lovely. Book the tobogganing well ahead if you are travelling over Christmas or New Year, as sessions sell out weeks in advance.
Is the Cailler Chocolate Factory suitable for children?
Yes. The tour is interactive rather than a walk past exhibits, and it ends in a tasting room where you help yourself, which is the part children remember. It is in Broc, a drive from Montreux, and works best as a morning before something active in the afternoon.
Do you need to book the Tobogganing Park in Leysin in advance?
Yes, weeks in advance over Christmas, New Year and the February school holidays. The park runs timed sessions, around four a day, and they sell out. It is the only thing on this itinerary you cannot simply turn up for.
Is a Swiss winter trip expensive with a family?
Switzerland is expensive and the tobogganing alone comfortably exceeds CHF 100 for a family of four. But the Christmas lights, the lakeside walks and the alpine villages are all free, and skipping skiing removes the biggest costs of a Swiss winter holiday — lift passes, equipment hire and lessons.
