As promised, here's my review from our trip in June/July:
The Journey
We flew out from Heathrow Terminal 5 to Geneva with British Airways and had no problems at all with either the outbound or return flight or 1 hour minibus transfer to Morzine. We weren’t given an in-flight meal in either direction but we were given a drink and a snack. There were a lot of problems with the Terminal 5 baggage system around the time we flew out and later flights that day ended up departing without all their luggage so we were pleased that we managed to avoid that. My husband managed to leave his rucksack on the Inghams transfer bus, but this was returned to us later the same day.
The Weather
The forecasts had shown quite a bit of rain in the weeks before we travelled so we were prepared for some wet weather. In the end we had a couple of drizzly days and some overnight storms, but the rest of the time the weather was warm and sunny so I think we did quite well considering it was the start of the season.
The Journey
We flew out from Heathrow Terminal 5 to Geneva with British Airways and had no problems at all with either the outbound or return flight or 1 hour minibus transfer to Morzine. We weren’t given an in-flight meal in either direction but we were given a drink and a snack. There were a lot of problems with the Terminal 5 baggage system around the time we flew out and later flights that day ended up departing without all their luggage so we were pleased that we managed to avoid that. My husband managed to leave his rucksack on the Inghams transfer bus, but this was returned to us later the same day.
The Weather
The forecasts had shown quite a bit of rain in the weeks before we travelled so we were prepared for some wet weather. In the end we had a couple of drizzly days and some overnight storms, but the rest of the time the weather was warm and sunny so I think we did quite well considering it was the start of the season.
Accommodation
Hotel Les Champs Fleuris (http://www.hotel-champs-fleuris.com/en)
We had decided to travel to Morzine with Inghams and picked the Champs Fleuris as it seemed to have the best combination of location and price. Once we had arrived, we realised just how good the location is - just outside the main centre, about 5 minutes walk from the tourist office, and right next to the new Pleney cable car. The hotel itself is built in traditional Alpine style, but with lots of modern touches. There is a folder of photos in the bar which shows how the hotel has developed over the years – fascinating stuff! We had originally booked a village view room, but I emailed the hotel before we arrived to ask for a south facing room, so we were upgraded to a bigger mountain-view room on the 3rd floor. To be honest, I think the village view would be better in summer, although it was nice to watch the Pleney cable car in operation. We ended up being very lucky with our room though, as one night the hotel was over-run with a large and very loud group, who kept most of the other guests awake all night, but we managed to escape the worst of it. The bedroom and hallway parts of our room were very nicely decorated, but the bathroom and toilet were a bit tired, and it was very annoying that there was no proper shower, only a hose attachment. I’m sure the bathroom will be improved in future as part of the ongoing refurbishments though.
We had booked half board so had breakfast and dinner in the main restaurant every day, plus a packed lunch. The breakfast was good, but a little more variety would have been nice. The packed lunches were also good, although we ended up leaving behind some of the fruit towards the end of the week as it was getting too squashed in our rucksacks. The evening meals were undoubtedly the highlight of each day though – 4 courses including a salad buffet and the infamous cheese trolley. The food was absolutely excellent every single night and we always ended up completely stuffed. The service was excellent too, although the head waiter sometimes reminded us of Manuel in Fawlty Towers (but in a nice way). Tap water was served free of charge, or you could order other drinks from the bar – we found them to be expensive though, especially the wine and cocktails. You could also have drinks in the bar after dinner. The hotel also has an outdoor swimming pool, which has a cover for bad weather, and an indoor spa area with Jacuzzi pool, sauna and steam room. We really liked the spa area, but it was a shame that some of the other guests ignored the rules on the times when children were not allowed in there.
Despite all of this, the highlight of our holiday was the hotel dog, Gus, a collie-womble cross who completely rules the roost. We loved coming back to find him waiting outside the entrance ready for a bit of fuss. Shame we couldn’t have sneaked him back on the plane with us! The rest of the family were all very friendly and helpful too and just added to the great experience we had there. Highly recommended!
Hotel Les Champs Fleuris (http://www.hotel-champs-fleuris.com/en)
We had decided to travel to Morzine with Inghams and picked the Champs Fleuris as it seemed to have the best combination of location and price. Once we had arrived, we realised just how good the location is - just outside the main centre, about 5 minutes walk from the tourist office, and right next to the new Pleney cable car. The hotel itself is built in traditional Alpine style, but with lots of modern touches. There is a folder of photos in the bar which shows how the hotel has developed over the years – fascinating stuff! We had originally booked a village view room, but I emailed the hotel before we arrived to ask for a south facing room, so we were upgraded to a bigger mountain-view room on the 3rd floor. To be honest, I think the village view would be better in summer, although it was nice to watch the Pleney cable car in operation. We ended up being very lucky with our room though, as one night the hotel was over-run with a large and very loud group, who kept most of the other guests awake all night, but we managed to escape the worst of it. The bedroom and hallway parts of our room were very nicely decorated, but the bathroom and toilet were a bit tired, and it was very annoying that there was no proper shower, only a hose attachment. I’m sure the bathroom will be improved in future as part of the ongoing refurbishments though.
We had booked half board so had breakfast and dinner in the main restaurant every day, plus a packed lunch. The breakfast was good, but a little more variety would have been nice. The packed lunches were also good, although we ended up leaving behind some of the fruit towards the end of the week as it was getting too squashed in our rucksacks. The evening meals were undoubtedly the highlight of each day though – 4 courses including a salad buffet and the infamous cheese trolley. The food was absolutely excellent every single night and we always ended up completely stuffed. The service was excellent too, although the head waiter sometimes reminded us of Manuel in Fawlty Towers (but in a nice way). Tap water was served free of charge, or you could order other drinks from the bar – we found them to be expensive though, especially the wine and cocktails. You could also have drinks in the bar after dinner. The hotel also has an outdoor swimming pool, which has a cover for bad weather, and an indoor spa area with Jacuzzi pool, sauna and steam room. We really liked the spa area, but it was a shame that some of the other guests ignored the rules on the times when children were not allowed in there.
Despite all of this, the highlight of our holiday was the hotel dog, Gus, a collie-womble cross who completely rules the roost. We loved coming back to find him waiting outside the entrance ready for a bit of fuss. Shame we couldn’t have sneaked him back on the plane with us! The rest of the family were all very friendly and helpful too and just added to the great experience we had there. Highly recommended!
Things to do
We were given a Multipass card by the hotel on arrival which gave unlimited use of the local buses and walkers lifts in the valley, along with free entry to some attractions. The buses are not very frequent though, so make sure you check the timetable when planning excursions. We managed to cover a lot of ground in our week – here’s some info on what we did:
Mechanical Music Museum, Les Gets – To be honest, we only went here because we wanted to get out of the rain, but it turned out to be well worth the visit. The museum is laid out in 2 parts – we didn’t get enough time to go round the self-guided part properly, but the guided tour round the other section was excellent – you don’t need to speak French to appreciate the various items that they demonstrate. Definitely worth visiting if you have the Multipass as it’s free. Les Gets is worth a look around too.
Avoriaz, Les Lindarets and Pre la Joux – We took the Super Morzine cable car followed by the Zore chairlift and then walked up to Avoriaz, which took about an hour. Avoriaz hadn’t opened yet for the summer season so was a complete ghost town – but it was still interesting to walk around. Afterwards we took the Lindarets chairlift and then walked down to the goat village of Les Lindarets, which was touristy but fun. We then went on a further 3 chairlifts (Chaux Fleurie, Rochassons and Pierre Longue) to Pre La Joux and had a few goes on the summer toboggan run, which was great fun. We then had to make the reverse journey in time to reach Zore before it shut – which was a bit of a rush. A great day!
Les Gets (Mont Chery and Chavannes) – We took the bus to Les Gets and took the Mont Chery cable car followed by the Pointe chair lift. It was a clear sunny day so there was a magnificent panoramic view at the top – we could even see as far as Mont Blanc and the Aiguille du Midi. We walked back down from the top of the Pointe chair lift – an easy and pleasant walk through the forest, before taking the cable car back to the village. We then walked over to the Chavannes chair lift – for some reason you can only use this to go uphill and the nearby Nauchets chairlift is also uphill only and reserved for mountain bikers. We then walked over to the top of the Pleney cable car, stopping at a really lovely hut at the top of the golf course on the way for ice-cream. Another good (but very hot) day!
Cheese dairy tour – We woke up to drizzle on the Wednesday morning, so we decided to take advantage of the free tour (in French) of the L'Alpage Fruitière dairy in Morzine. This was really interesting and worth doing, even if you don’t speak French.
Les Gorges du Pont du Diable – The gorge is at Le Jotty, which can be reached by the local buses, which run about every 2 hrs. You will only need an hour to go round the gorge though (including the walk from the visitor’s centre. You are supposed by be taken around the actual gorge by a guide, but the one who was allocated to us made it quite clear that he didn’t want to take English people around, so we ended up going round on our own, which at least meant that we could take things at our own pace. If you have some time to kill afterwards then the Le Jotty lake is only a few minutes walk away.
Lac Montriond – We walked from Morzine to Montriond and then up to the lake, which took a couple of hours, and then we carried round the lake and on to the Ardent Waterfall. The lake itself is beautiful and you can even swim in it if you are brave enough. Some of the local buses stop at the lake if you don’t fancy walking the whole way there/back.
St Jean D’Aulps – We walked down the river Dranse to St Jean D’Aulps, which was a nice easy walk that took us a few hours. We then went to visit the Abbey ruins – entrance is included with the Multipass but it’s worth paying extra for the audio guide. Nice café too.
L’Étale Restaurant – Expensive but basic fondue and bad service – avoid!
Inghams Excursion prices as at June 2014:
Morzine Wanderwalk – 2 euros
Chamonix – 58 euros plus additional fees for Aiguille du Midi and Mer de Glace
Evian & Yvoire – 30 euros
Annecy – 58 euros plus additional fee for boat trip
Walking map – 6 euros
We were given a Multipass card by the hotel on arrival which gave unlimited use of the local buses and walkers lifts in the valley, along with free entry to some attractions. The buses are not very frequent though, so make sure you check the timetable when planning excursions. We managed to cover a lot of ground in our week – here’s some info on what we did:
Mechanical Music Museum, Les Gets – To be honest, we only went here because we wanted to get out of the rain, but it turned out to be well worth the visit. The museum is laid out in 2 parts – we didn’t get enough time to go round the self-guided part properly, but the guided tour round the other section was excellent – you don’t need to speak French to appreciate the various items that they demonstrate. Definitely worth visiting if you have the Multipass as it’s free. Les Gets is worth a look around too.
Avoriaz, Les Lindarets and Pre la Joux – We took the Super Morzine cable car followed by the Zore chairlift and then walked up to Avoriaz, which took about an hour. Avoriaz hadn’t opened yet for the summer season so was a complete ghost town – but it was still interesting to walk around. Afterwards we took the Lindarets chairlift and then walked down to the goat village of Les Lindarets, which was touristy but fun. We then went on a further 3 chairlifts (Chaux Fleurie, Rochassons and Pierre Longue) to Pre La Joux and had a few goes on the summer toboggan run, which was great fun. We then had to make the reverse journey in time to reach Zore before it shut – which was a bit of a rush. A great day!
Les Gets (Mont Chery and Chavannes) – We took the bus to Les Gets and took the Mont Chery cable car followed by the Pointe chair lift. It was a clear sunny day so there was a magnificent panoramic view at the top – we could even see as far as Mont Blanc and the Aiguille du Midi. We walked back down from the top of the Pointe chair lift – an easy and pleasant walk through the forest, before taking the cable car back to the village. We then walked over to the Chavannes chair lift – for some reason you can only use this to go uphill and the nearby Nauchets chairlift is also uphill only and reserved for mountain bikers. We then walked over to the top of the Pleney cable car, stopping at a really lovely hut at the top of the golf course on the way for ice-cream. Another good (but very hot) day!
Cheese dairy tour – We woke up to drizzle on the Wednesday morning, so we decided to take advantage of the free tour (in French) of the L'Alpage Fruitière dairy in Morzine. This was really interesting and worth doing, even if you don’t speak French.
Les Gorges du Pont du Diable – The gorge is at Le Jotty, which can be reached by the local buses, which run about every 2 hrs. You will only need an hour to go round the gorge though (including the walk from the visitor’s centre. You are supposed by be taken around the actual gorge by a guide, but the one who was allocated to us made it quite clear that he didn’t want to take English people around, so we ended up going round on our own, which at least meant that we could take things at our own pace. If you have some time to kill afterwards then the Le Jotty lake is only a few minutes walk away.
Lac Montriond – We walked from Morzine to Montriond and then up to the lake, which took a couple of hours, and then we carried round the lake and on to the Ardent Waterfall. The lake itself is beautiful and you can even swim in it if you are brave enough. Some of the local buses stop at the lake if you don’t fancy walking the whole way there/back.
St Jean D’Aulps – We walked down the river Dranse to St Jean D’Aulps, which was a nice easy walk that took us a few hours. We then went to visit the Abbey ruins – entrance is included with the Multipass but it’s worth paying extra for the audio guide. Nice café too.
L’Étale Restaurant – Expensive but basic fondue and bad service – avoid!
Inghams Excursion prices as at June 2014:
Morzine Wanderwalk – 2 euros
Chamonix – 58 euros plus additional fees for Aiguille du Midi and Mer de Glace
Evian & Yvoire – 30 euros
Annecy – 58 euros plus additional fee for boat trip
Walking map – 6 euros
Sounds lovely! One of our favourite museums was one we only went into to escape the rain:)
Shame about the guide.
Shame about the guide.
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