UKC

I was wondering if anyone had any Alps (france/switzerland/italy) destination suggetions for the following holiday;
5 days campsite camping in the Alps in mid august with 7yr old child (can walk upto 10km + 900m ascent type walks/scrambles). Will have own transport.

Desire;
No further east than a line from Zurich to Milan.
Quiet area (yep, I know its mid august, but one can hope).
Not 5 days of rain.
Interesting/quiet walking/scrambling day walks.
Rivers to jump in and picnic alongside on rest days.
Cakes.

Not desired;
Crowds.
Rain.

I haven't been to the Alps for over 15 yrs and I'm struggling a bit, so any suggestions and ideas would be much appreciated.

In reply to MattDTC: Valnontey? Zinal? Alagna (possible breaks the Zurich/Milan line)?

In reply to MG: To be clear, the cake supply in Valnontey is 2km away in Cogne but very good.

In reply to MattDTC: Cogne is a long way for five days. And if you need the sun, head for the Hautes-Alpes. Back of Gap in the Champsaur there is Camping La Pause in St Leger les Melezes. Or Camping Dauphine just above Gap. Restaurant and takeaway meals. North of Grenoble there is Camping Sept Laux on the edge of the Belledonne. Further north still the area round Lake Annecy has lots of interesting scrambly paths up peaks around 2400m. I think there is a campsite at the south end Lac Bleu.

In reply to MattDTC: Corvara in Alta Badia seems to tick a lot of your boxes and is quiet. Campsite is at Colfosco I think. Not quite the Alps though.

In reply to MattDTC:

Go to the campsite in La Fouly. It is grassy, open and very kid-friendly. And there's super walking in the area.

(I'm biased. I descovered this campsite when my kids were 5 and 7, and haven't looked elsewhere since. For kids, it's head and shoulders above any other alpine campsite I've been to.)

In reply to smblott:

More info here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/mar/22/europe-mountains

In reply to MattDTC:

Thanks for the relpies everyone - a great help. The 5 days is part of a longer holiday, so travel time from uk is not an issue. Any further suggestions would be much appreciated. Ta.

In reply to MattDTC:

I would suggest the Abondance or Aulps valleys just south of Geneva. Its not too long a journey from Calais, and has a good balance of child friendly mountains and Lake Geneva not far away for a 'beach'. The portes du Soleil offers a summer multipass which gives you access to tennis courts, swimming pools and chairlifts for walking if you want to use them for €6 a day. Theres a fair number of activities on offer around as well if there is a rainy day.

The Abondance side is a bit more French than the Aulps side, both are very friendly. And lots of campsites!

(I live here so give me a shout if you want to know more!)

In reply to MattDTC:

Last summer, I spent about a week and a half camping at Bourg D'Oisans. Plenty of walking and via ferrata around there (and you can get a free list of routes from the Tourist Info). Would recommend it!

In reply to Nic M:
The Maurienne is very family friendly but has lots of mountain activities to do too:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=3793
About 1.5 hours from Chambery, 9-10 hours from Calais.
Cheap campsites, great food, loads of diffrent activities - via Ferrata, MTB, walking, easy rock climbing, camping/bivying in the wild, lots of wild life.
Just great!

In reply to MattDTC: You could try Barcelontte, quite far south but lovely town, nice campsite and hardly any other brits! We were biking but found and excellent river to swim in. Also not too far to a couple of reservoirs. The walking from the top of the cols looked really good and very quiet.

Also better weather than northern and higher alps

Oh and a selection of good patisseries in town

In reply to MattDTC:

Thanks for the above replies - all good food for thought!

In reply to MattDTC:
Vallouise - in the valley up to Ailefroide in the Ecrin Alps. Excellent walking from there.

Further up the valley in Ailefroide there's excellent climbing although the campsite there get's fairly crowded in Aug.

Or, as has been suggested, Bourg d'Oisans...