We spent our last day in Switzerland in Champéry, waiting for our nephew to finish ski school.
That sounds like an anticlimax and it wasn’t. Champéry turned out to be exactly the right place to end a trip: a single main street of century-old chalets under the Dents du Midi, quiet enough to walk at a child’s pace, and — as I found out afterwards — sitting at the edge of the largest cross-border ski area in Europe.
If you’re reading this because someone in your family is on the slopes and you’re not, this is the guide I wish we’d had.
Quick answer: Champéry with kids
- Where: Valais, at 1,050 m, in the Dents du Midi region near the French border.
- From Montreux: about 35 minutes by car, or 1h46 by train via Aigle and the AOMC mountain line. The car is much quicker.
- It’s part of the Portes du Soleil — 600 km of slopes across 12 resorts in France and Switzerland.
- The cable car takes pedestrians. Champéry–Croix de Culet, 1,037 m to nearly 1,936 m in under five minutes. Free for under-5s.
- If you’re not skiing: the Palladium in the village has an ice rink, an indoor pool and a climbing wall.
- There’s a pushchair-friendly walking trail — the Baby Buggy Trail.
- Village history: first Olympic site in Valais, and curling has been played here since English visitors brought it over a century ago.
Where is Champéry?
Champéry sits at 1,050 metres in the canton of Valais, in the south-west of Switzerland close to the French border, at the head of the Val-d’Illiez valley beneath the Dents du Midi — the jagged ridge you see from half of Lake Geneva.
It’s a real village rather than a purpose-built resort. Rue du Village, the main street, is lined with chalets over a hundred years old, and it’s walkable end to end in about fifteen minutes.
Two bits of history worth knowing, because they explain the place:
Curling arrived with English visitors in the early twentieth century and never left. It’s still part of village life, which is not something you can say about many alpine resorts.
Champéry was the first Olympic site in Valais.
Champéry and the Portes du Soleil
This is the fact that makes Champéry more than a pretty village, and our original post never mentioned it.
Champéry is one of the twelve resorts of the Portes du Soleil — Europe’s largest cross-border ski and bike area, with around 600 km of slopes spread across France and Switzerland. From the top of the Champéry lift you can, in principle, ski into France and back.
For a family that changes the calculation. You’re not choosing a small Swiss village with a couple of runs; you’re choosing a quiet, walkable base at the edge of an enormous ski area. The village is calm and the skiing isn’t small.
The Champéry–Croix de Culet cable car
The red cable car runs from the village up to Croix de Culet, climbing from 1,037 m to nearly 1,936 m in under five minutes. Two cabins, around a thousand people an hour, so queues move.
The important part for us: pedestrians can ride it. You don’t need skis, you don’t need a lift pass for the whole area — you can buy a pedestrian ticket, go up for the view over the Dents du Midi, and come back down.
Under-5s go free, and there are discounts for holders of the regional Multi Pass.
Winter prices and operating hours are on pds-ch.ch — confirm before you go, and note that the cable car doesn’t run in poor weather.
With children: five minutes up is about the right length. Long enough to be an event, short enough that nobody gets bored or frightened. If you’re waiting for a skier and you’ve got a couple of hours, this is the best way to spend one of them.
What to do in Champéry if you’re not skiing
This is the section our original post should have been.
We were in Champéry to wait, which is a situation a lot of families are in — one child in ski school, or one adult skiing and the others not. Here’s what’s actually available in the village.
The Palladium
Champéry’s sports centre, and the answer to a cold afternoon with children:
- an ice rink
- an indoor swimming pool
- a climbing wall
Sledging
There are sledging slopes in the village — so the non-skiers get their own snow day rather than watching someone else’s.
→ Our 12 safety tips for sledding with kids
The Baby Buggy Trail
A walking route specifically designed to be pushchair-friendly. If you have a toddler as well as a skier, this is a genuinely thoughtful piece of village infrastructure and worth knowing about before you arrive.
Walking Rue du Village
Free, and it’s what we actually did. Century-old chalets, mountain views at the end of every gap between buildings, and cafés to sit in. On our last morning that was enough — after three full days we didn’t need another activity.
The cable car
Covered above. Pedestrians welcome, five minutes, best view of the day.
Ski school
Our nephew was in ski school in Champéry, which is what brought us to the village in the first place.
What I can say generally: ski school is the thing to book before you book anything else. Christmas week, February half-term and Easter fill up, and the lift pass you can buy on the morning.
Getting to Champéry from Montreux
| By car | ~35 km, about 35 minutes |
| By train | About 1h46 — main line Montreux → Aigle, then change to the AOMC line (Aigle–Ollon–Monthey–Champéry), roughly hourly |
The gap between those two numbers matters. Driving is three times faster, because the train involves a change at Aigle onto a slow mountain railway that winds up the valley.
So: if you’re going for the day and coming back, drive. If the journey is part of the day — and with children who like trains, it genuinely can be — take the AOMC and enjoy it. It’s a proper narrow-gauge climb rather than a commuter service.
Check timetables on sbb.ch before you travel, especially for the last train back.
Can you do Montreux and Champéry in the same day? Comfortably, by car. A morning by Lake Geneva and an afternoon in the mountains is about a 35-minute drive apart, which is one of the things that makes this corner of Switzerland so easy with a family.
Is Champéry worth a visit with children?
Yes — but be clear about which visit you’re making.
As a ski base: it’s excellent. Quiet, genuinely charming, and attached to 600 km of pistes. The village keeps the calm and the lift takes you to the scale.
As a day trip from Montreux: yes, and it’s a short one. The cable car, a walk down Rue du Village, and lunch is a good half-day, and the Palladium fills a bad-weather afternoon.
As a place to wait while someone else skis: better than most. That’s the version we did, and between the sports centre, the sledging and the main street, nobody was stuck in a café for three hours.
Who I’d send elsewhere: if you want a lively resort with après-ski and things happening after dark, Champéry is not that, and it isn’t trying to be. That quietness is the point.
The rest of our Swiss winter trip
- Switzerland with kids in winter: our 4-day Montreux itinerary
- Territet: a quiet winter walk near Montreux
- Cailler Chocolate Factory, Broc
- Tobogganing Park Leysin: prices, booking and tips
- Crans-Montana Christmas lights
- 1 day trip to Geneva
- Mövenpick Touring Hotel Chiasso review
More snow with kids:
Frequently asked questions about Champéry, Switzerland
Where is Champéry located?
Champéry is a village at 1,050 metres in the canton of Valais in south-west Switzerland, close to the French border, at the head of the Val-d’Illiez valley beneath the Dents du Midi. It is one of the twelve resorts of the Portes du Soleil, Europe’s largest cross-border ski area, which covers around 600 km of slopes across France and Switzerland.
Can you visit Montreux and Champéry in one day?
Yes, comfortably by car. The two are about 35 km apart and the drive takes roughly 35 minutes, so a morning beside Lake Geneva and an afternoon in the mountains works easily. By public transport it takes considerably longer — around 1 hour 46 minutes, because you travel from Montreux to Aigle on the main line and then change onto the slower AOMC mountain railway to Champéry.
How do you get to Champéry from Montreux?
By car it is about 35 km and roughly 35 minutes. By train, take the main line from Montreux to Aigle and change onto the AOMC line — Aigle–Ollon–Monthey–Champéry — which runs roughly hourly and brings the total journey to about 1 hour 46 minutes. The train is slower but it is a proper narrow-gauge mountain railway and children tend to enjoy it.
Can you take the Champéry cable car if you don’t ski?
Yes. The Champéry–Croix de Culet cable car sells pedestrian tickets, so you can ride up for the views without skis or a full lift pass. It climbs from 1,037 metres to nearly 1,936 metres in under five minutes, runs two cabins carrying around a thousand people an hour, and children under 5 go free. Check current prices and winter opening hours before you go, as it does not run in poor weather.
What is there to do in Champéry if you’re not skiing?
More than you would expect for a village this size. The Palladium sports centre has an ice rink, an indoor swimming pool and a climbing wall, there are sledging slopes, and there is a walking route designed to be pushchair-friendly known as the Baby Buggy Trail. The cable car takes pedestrians, and Rue du Village with its century-old chalets is worth a slow walk in itself.
Is Champéry good for families?
Yes, particularly for families where not everyone skis. It is a quiet working village rather than a purpose-built resort, walkable end to end in about fifteen minutes, with a sports centre, sledging and a pushchair-friendly trail for the non-skiers, while the lift connects to 600 km of Portes du Soleil pistes for those who do. What it does not have is nightlife or après-ski, which is rather the point.
What is the Portes du Soleil?
Europe’s largest cross-border ski and bike area, made up of twelve village resorts across France and Switzerland with around 600 km of linked slopes between them. Champéry is the Swiss end of it, which means the village stays small and quiet while the skiing on the other side of the cable car is on an enormous scale.
