Parc de Merlet — Attraction in Bonneville

We had a fantastic couple of hours at the park!

You must reserve a time slot on the website and show your email at the entry point, when you pay. Our slot was 17:30 and we waited a couple of minutes to enter. Our plans had changed, meaning we had to change the day and time slot we'd reserved. This was very easy to do through the email!

The drive up is steep and winding, through lovely chalets. There are 3 car parks, the furthest one is around a mile away. There are only 20 spaces in the closest one, most of which are reserved for parent and child or disabled visitors. We parked in the carpark 2, the next one down.

The walk up is very steep, so leave ample time to get to the entry. You could drop people off at the top if necessary and drive down to find a spot.

Once in the park, you meander around the winding (sometimes hilly) paths looking at the animals as they roam around the grassland and pine forest. The ibex are spectacular, the deer beautiful and the marmots hilarious! The deer are pretty much everywhere, we saw the ibex on the top path and the best place for the marmots was entering and exiting their burrow under one of the small buildings near the start.

The restaurant overlooks the most spectacular views of the mountains and the valley.

We enjoyed it all and appreciated this lovely park in one of the most beautiful places...

Reserved our entry slot the day before for arrival, from 12:30 to 13:30. When reserving your time slot, bear in mind the walk from the parking can take up to half an hour. Paid on arrival, no problem, got given a map in English. Asked about the picnic area to eat lunch, but there isn't really a great place for this, you can't eat in the park area and we had to go back outside with a stamp on our hand for re-entry. There are shaded benches beside the path leading up to the entrance for eating.

Inside the park is very nice, the walking trails are actually not that long and you could easily walk the whole area in a couple of hours. We didn't see lots of animals, maybe just the time we went. The views are amazing, definitely the highlight of the visit for me, being able to see Mont Blanc.

The inside restaurant seemed OK, but had limited shade and was not great on a hot day if you have a table in the sun, but the Ice creams were lovely for a treat (try the Merlet) and nice views of the mountains.

The drive up to the parking is steep, and the walk too, so make sure you have good brakes! The Parc is in French territory, so entry payment was in euros, but the...

We were able to see animals just wandering around— no fencing except the perimeter fence that I could see. We stuck to the inner “orange” loop because we had a 3 year old with us. Other reviews said this is not a good place for strollers. I will say that if you have a good off-roaring stroller with air-filled tires then you can do the small orange loop. The bigger “blue” loop is NOT accessible by stroller (stairs, rocks, roots all on steep slopes). Also, it is a steep climb from the parking lot for a toddler. Mine did alright and we didn’t have to carry her, but we were lucky enough to be dropped off at P1 parking area which is also the turnaround area for the shuttle that takes you up from Les Houches train station. I highly recommend the shuttle since there is limited parking and the drive is on a narrow road. The shuttle had at least one booster seat as well. There is a restaurant and a sandbox for the kids at the top once you’ve paid your entry fee. Great views from the Parc! I would go again...