Why Zermatt is different.
Zermatt is unlike any other Alpine village.
First thing you notice, it’s car-free. Only electric taxis and horse-drawn carriages. Small children can wander down the middle of a road without their parents flinching. Which honestly might be Zermatt’s quiet superpower for families.
The second thing you notice is the Matterhorn. That impossible mountain hangs over the village like someone’s painted it on the sky. For children, it becomes a landmark, a bedtime story, sometimes a bit of an obsession. There’s no overstating the effect it has on a family holiday.
Most people don’t realise that you can ski in Zermatt all year round. The Theodul Glacier means summer skiing is a real thing, and families come here in July with the Matterhorn on one side and wildflower meadows on the other. Autumn brings golden larch forests. Winter’s the classic postcard Alps. There’s no wrong time to bring the kids.
If it’s your first time visiting Zermatt with children, our best piece of advice: don’t try to see everything. This place rewards a slower pace. Long lunches at Findeln, a horse-drawn ride through the village at dusk, watching the last light catch the Matterhorn from your balcony. It’s not a resort to tick off, it’s one to settle into.
Why we wanted to be here too
For years, our Verbier families based part of their season in Zermatt kept asking the same question. Could we come to Zermatt too?
For a long time, honestly, the answer was no. We’re a small, personal operation and we didn’t want to grow just for the sake of it. But by 2024 we had the right people, the right partners, and the right hotels asking us in. So we said yes.
Petit Verbier in Zermatt runs by the same rules as Verbier. Same interview process, same training, same standards of care. Our nannies here have all been personally selected by Sarina, and most already worked with us before joining the Zermatt team. What’s different is scale. We’re smaller here, and that suits us, it means we can work closely with the finest hotels and chalets in the resort rather than taking every enquiry blindly.
If you’re staying somewhere in Zermatt, chances are we already know your concierge, your chalet manager, or your ski school. If we don’t, we’ll happily introduce ourselves.
Winter:
The winter season runs mid-November to mid-April. Peak weeks are Christmas, February half-term (British and international), and Easter. For Ski Nannies, book at least two months ahead if you’re coming for those weeks – they go fast. The After-Ski Kids Club runs Monday to Friday during every holiday week.
Summer:
Summer’s from June to early September. It’s quieter, greener, and genuinely lovely. All our nanny services are available, and we’re often asked to organise mountain hikes, swimming, and outdoor adventures, especially for the older kids who want to be busy without their parents planning it.
