New Year's Eve in the Swiss Alps with kids
Midnight is late for a five-year-old. The useful question for parents is what happens before 20:00, where to watch at midnight without a crowd, and which hotels look after children while you eat. Some resorts have published their 2026 programme; for the others we give last winter's and say so.
In this guide
- 1 Arosa: a drone show instead of fireworks
- 2 Villars: an early slot on Place du Marché
- 3 Grindelwald: an afternoon party and a midnight parade
- 4 Lenzerheide: a lit sledge run until 22:00
- 5 Saas-Fee: fireworks on the village square
- · Zermatt, Wengen and Laax
- · Planning the evening with small children
- · Hotels with evening childcare
-
Arosa: a drone show instead of fireworks
Arosa, Postplatz 31 Dec, 23:45–00:15 Free All agesArosa Tourismus replaced its fireworks with more than 100 drones that draw patterns over the village, timed to the countdown. No bangs, which matters if you have a toddler or a dog. Watch from Postplatz, next to the station.
This is the 2025 edition. Arosa has not published the 2026 programme yet; check before you promise it to the children.
Source: freizeit.ch · 2025 edition
stay nearby All 18 family hotels in Arosa Lenzerheide →5★ hotelTschuggen Grand HotelKids' club 3+Ski-in / ski-outSauna, adults-only areaA five-star hotel with its own private railway up to the ski area, a Kids Club for ages 3 and up and the Bergoase spa with a 90 °C Bergsauna, steam bath and an adults-only evening. Half board (Dine Around, CHF 90 per adult per day) can be booked, but the sauna area is for guests aged 16 and over, so plan the youngest children's afternoons around the Kids Club.
Have a look →4★ hotelHotel Altein Arosa (Faern Collection)Lift 600 mSauna, adults-only areaHalf boardA four-star hotel 600 m from the Weisshorn cable car with a playroom, game room, cinema and a spa with two saunas, a steam bath, a lazy-river pool and an adults-only Friday night. Half board costs only CHF 50 per adult and CHF 25 for ages 6 to 11, and children up to 17 get free ski lessons with the Ski School Included programme.
Have a look → -
Villars: an early slot on Place du Marché
Villars-sur-Ollon 31 Dec 2026: 17:00–19:30 and 22:30–01:00 Free 17:00 slot suits childrenPlace du Marché opens twice on New Year's Eve, with a DJ and drinks from the chalets. The 17:00–19:30 session is the one to take children to. Fireworks go up at midnight from the gardens of the Villars Palace, and the P'tit Chalet stays open all evening.
The 2026 programme is published on the Vaud tourism site.
Source: vaud.ch
stay nearby All 10 family hotels in Villars-sur-Ollon →5★ hotelVillars PalaceSaunaSleeps 6PoolA grand five-star in the village with a spa (sauna, hammam and open-air pool) and suites for four to six people. The second room is half price for a family of four in interconnecting rooms; half board and a kids' club with set ages and hours are not published, so ask the hotel before booking.
Have a look →5★ hotelChalet RoyAlp Hotel & SpaKids' club 4–12Ski-in / ski-outSauna, adults-only areaA five-star chalet with a supervised kids' club for ages 4 to 12, a spa with sauna and hammam included for guests, and fondue in its own restaurant. Residences sleep up to eight, but half board is not offered on the hotel's own pages and the Winter Family offer excludes the February school holidays.
Have a look → -
Grindelwald: an afternoon party and a midnight parade
Grindelwald, Eiger+ Platz 31 Dec 2026, from 15:00 Free All agesFood stalls and a DJ start on the Eiger+ Platz at 15:00, so families can join in daylight. Dorfstrasse closes to traffic from 23:00 to 02:00, a parade leaves the church at midnight and Trychler cowbell ringers perform. The 00:30 highlight is still marked TBA.
The programme is on Grindelwald's own events page.
Source: grindelwald.swiss
stay nearby All 18 family hotels in Grindelwald →4★ hotelHotel Belvedere GrindelwaldSauna, adults-only areaHalf boardSleeps 9A family-run four-star on the Eiger side of the village with two-room family suites that have a separate children's bedroom, a games room with a toddler play corner and a children's menu. Children up to 11 stay free in their parents' room, half board is available, and the spa has a heated indoor pool plus an adults-only sauna and steam bath.
Have a look →4★ hotelSunstar Hotel GrindelwaldSaunaHalf boardSleeps 4A four-star opposite the First gondola with a 1,200 m² wellness area (Finnish sauna, log-cabin sauna, steam bath and a 34 °C pool) and Eiger-view family rooms for four. Half board is available at CHF 65 per guest, cots are free and the Guest Card gives free travel on the local ski bus.
Have a look → -
Lenzerheide: a lit sledge run until 22:00
Lenzerheide 31 Dec, Light Ride open until 22:00 Sledging ageThe Light Ride is a sledge run with light installations and music. On New Year's Eve it stays open until 22:00, and the lift company recommends buying tickets online. Mountain restaurants serve set New Year's menus, and the Chilihütta holds a free party.
These details are from the 2025/26 season page; the 2026 times are not out yet.
Source: arosalenzerheide.swiss · 2025/26 season
stay nearby All 18 family hotels in Arosa Lenzerheide →HotelHotel Schweizerhof LenzerheideKids' club 2+Sauna, adults-only areaHalf boardA Swiss Family Hotels member with a free kids' club (Andalina) from age 2 that also supervises lunch and dinner, a family pool, and a hammam and sauna included for guests. Half board is offered daily and the family suites sleep up to 6.
Have a look →4★ hotelValbella ResortKids' club 2+Sauna, adults-only areaHalf boardA four-star resort with a 420 m² KidsInn made with LEGO that cares for children from age 2, an indoor pool with a baby pool and the Tor da Lenn spa tower with saunas and a steam bath for guests aged 16 and over. Half board is part of the resort's packages and the Large Family Suite sleeps up to 5.
Have a look → -
Saas-Fee: fireworks on the village square
Saas-Fee, Dorfplatz 31 Dec 2026, times not yet published Watch from a distance with small childrenSaas-Fee lists New Year's Eve 2026 on its events page, with fireworks on the square in a car-free village. Last year the youth association ran a party with a bar and music there.
In April 2025 Bluewin reported that a firework had exploded on the square shortly before midnight on New Year's Eve, injuring four people, one of them 14. We found no ban since. With young children, watch from a hotel balcony or the edge of the village.
Source: saas-fee.ch
stay nearby All 18 family hotels in Saas-Fee →5★ hotelWalliserhof Grand-Hotel & SpaKids' club 2+Sauna, adults-only areaHalf boardA five-star village-centre hotel with a 2,100 m² spa (indoor pool, Finnish and bio saunas, steam bath), where children under 10 have set pool hours and winter childcare takes children from 2 until 21:00. Half board is a four-course dinner at CHF 75 per adult (CHF 37.50 for ages 6 to 15), and the hotel's own Fondue-Stübli opens daily in winter.
Have a look →3★ hotelSwiss Family Hotel AlphubelKids' clubSaunaHalf boardA three-star hotel marketed at families, with a free children's club, babysitting, a games room, a sauna and an early children's dinner, as reported by ski tour operators. Half board is a four-course dinner with a weekly raclette and meat fondue.
Have a look →
Zermatt, Wengen and Laax
Zermatt and Wengen have not published a New Year's Eve programme, and we found nothing official from last winter either. Ask your hotel what it runs that night.
Laax is one of about 30 municipalities in Graubünden that restrict fireworks, according to SRF. Expect a quieter night there.
Hotels with evening childcare
The two hotels in our listings whose published winter kids' club hours run past 20:00 every day. In Laax, the Kinderhort at the valley station also has evening care with dinner until 21:00 for rocksresort and signinahotel guests; its 2026/27 hours are not out yet.
A five-star village-centre hotel with a 2,100 m² spa (indoor pool, Finnish and bio saunas, steam bath), where children under 10 have set pool hours and winter childcare takes children from 2 until 21:00. Half board is a four-course dinner at CHF 75 per adult (CHF 37.50 for ages 6 to 15), and the hotel's own Fondue-Stübli opens daily in winter.
Have a look →A four-star resort about two minutes from the cable car, with the Murmeli kids club (from 2½, daily 10:00 to 22:00 with supervised dinner), connecting rooms and kitchen apartments for up to six. The 1,000 m² GinaSPA has adults-only areas with Finnish saunas and steam baths plus a family area, and half board can be added.
Have a look →Sources
- https://www.grindelwald.swiss/de/entdecken/events/detail/silvester.html
- https://www.vaud.ch/en/tourism/events/new-years-eve-in-villars/
- https://www.saas-fee.ch/en/events/top-events-in-winter/new-years-eve
- https://www.bluewin.ch/de/news/schweiz/feuerwerk-forderte-opfer-jetzt-verklagt-ein-vater-die-gemeinde-li.2641304
- https://www.freizeit.ch/kalender/26041/silvester-drohnenshow-in-arosa
- https://arosalenzerheide.swiss/en/Ski-Area/Mountain-experiences/New-Years-Eve
- https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/silvesterfeier-feuerwerk-hier-gelten-einschraenkungen-oder-verbote
Family hotels for 26 Dec – 2 Jan
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