Free-roaming ibex
Huge-horned animals coming close to the paths.
Rémih — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rémih — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rémih — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rémih — CC BY-SA 4.0
Yes for the enjoyment — the animals are close and real, not behind glass. But mind the access: it is a **20-minute walk up a slope**, hard with a pushchair or a child who barely walks; carry small ones or use a back carrier. Take water and a hat, as the terrace is exposed to the sun. Best early morning or late afternoon, when the animals are active and the heat drops.
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The Parc de Merlet is an alpine animal reserve on a mountain terrace at 1,500 metres above Les Houches, and it is unlike any zoo: no cages and no enclosures of the usual kind, but **twenty hectares of fenced mountain pasture** in which the animals live almost freely — and you are the one walking among them. The residents are Alpine species: **ibex** with their huge curved horns, chamois, mountain goats, marmots and deer — many of which come close to visitors on the paths. And the backdrop is the point: the Mont Blanc massif directly opposite across the valley, so you can photograph a wild ibex with western Europe's highest summit behind it in the same frame. ⚠ Getting there is part of the experience: the road is narrow and very steep, parking is severely limited, and from the lower car park it is a **20-minute walk uphill**. Strictly seasonal (roughly summer only). For families: among the valley's most enjoyable half-days.
Huge-horned animals coming close to the paths.
A wild animal and western Europe's highest summit in one frame.
Fenced mountain pasture where you do the walking.
Merlet, 74310 Les Houches