Introduction
If you are looking for a family friendly place in the Alps, that is very accessible by everyone, where you can experience the beauty of mountain lakes, then Melchsee-Frutt is the place to go. The two lakes you will see are Melchsee (first one you will reach to, located at 1.893 m altitude) and Tannensee (second one, located at 1.975 m altitude). The entire area around the two lakes are great for families with strollers or persons with low mobility, giving great opportunities to some spend time in the nature, do walks around the lakes, swim or ride with a small train between the two lakes and much more.
Getting there
In order to get to Melchsee-Frutt you need to head towards Melchtal Stöckalp, 6067, Kerns. You can get there by train until Sarnen and from there with a bus towards Stöckalp or directly by car. Once there, you find a big parking place in case you go with a car (it costs CHF 12 / day).
Other costs (in 2022):
- We recommend taking a Summer day ticket for full access – costs are 39 CHF/ person (29 CHF for GA or Half Fare travel card)
- With the above you get full travel access (main gondola from Stöckalp – Melchsee-Frutt, Frutt train and gondola up to Bonistock
- You can find the latest prices, schedules and more here
Hike details
The main gondola from Stöckalp – Melchsee-Frutt is very spacious for strollers, bikes etc. Once up, the views are very nice as you will see in the pictures below. We decided to take the Frutt train from the first lake towards the Tannalp end station (there are more stations on the way, last one is at a restaurant). We went past Tannensee with the Frutt train and went one more statin to Tannalp which is the end of the route, where we had lunch at a great restaurant surrounded by mountains, in the sounds of the cows spreading calm with their bells somewhere nearby.
After lunch we decided we’ll be walking back on foot, we went around Tannensee (the second lake) and returned to Mechsee in an easy walk enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. Please keep in mind that the walk around the lake is suitable for strollers with bigger wheels, sturdy ones, not the ones with smaller wheels. On the way back towards Melchsee you we took the gondola up to Bonistock hotel, situated at 2.170m, where we had a nice desert and enjoyed spectacular views towards the Melchsee and a glacier in the background. The gondola goes up and down twice an hour, and in between stays down, so you might have to wait a bit if you’re there right after departure / arrival.
For more details you can see our exact Strava walk route at the end of the article.
