Blonay – Saint-Légier
Nursery near Blonay – Saint-Légier: bilingual childcare for ages 0-4
From the hillside villages of Blonay and Saint-Légier, our nursery in Clarens is a 12 to 18 minute drive down towards the lake, depending on where you start.
Blonay – Saint-Légier is hillside country: families live above the lake, while work, stations and services are below. Our nursery at Avenue Mayor-Vautier 23 in Clarens sits on that daily descent rather than off to one side of it.
We welcome children from around two months to four years, Monday to Friday, 7:00 to 18:30, in two small bilingual French-English groups.
Avenue Mayor-Vautier 23, 1815 Clarens+41 21 964 55 95
Getting here from the hillside
- By car
- Around 12 to 15 minutes from Saint-Légier via Vevey and the lakeside road, and 15 to 18 minutes from Blonay village. Using the A9 and the Montreux exit takes a similar time and is often steadier at peak hours.
- By train
- The hillside railway connects Blonay to Vevey, where the regional line reaches Clarens in about 8 minutes, followed by a 3 minute walk. Allow time for the connection in Vevey.
- By bus (VMCV)
- Local lines serve Saint-Légier and Blonay towards Vevey or La Tour-de-Peilz, where line 201 continues along the lake to Clarens.
For most hillside families the car remains simplest in the morning: the descent follows the commuter flow and the evening return uses the same roads.
Expat families above the lake
Blonay and Saint-Légier, now a single municipality, are a patchwork of villages and residential neighbourhoods among vineyards and woodland, with the Pléiades above. Families move here for space, quiet and schools, accepting a car-dependent routine in return.
The area is home to a significant international community, connected to private schools and to companies based between Vevey and Lausanne. English is frequently the family language at home, while French governs everything outside it.
Parents in this situation often want two things at once: a French-speaking environment that will prepare their child for local school, and staff who can also communicate with them in English during the settling-in period. That is how we work every day.
What we offer hillside families
Built around the hillside-to-lake commute:
Open 7:00 to 18:30
The margin you need when the day begins with a descent and ends with a climb back.
50 weeks a year
Including the whole summer; the only closure is around two weeks at Christmas.
On the way to work
In Clarens, 5 minutes from the Montreux motorway exit and 3 minutes from the railway station.
From the end of maternity leave
Babies from around two months, each with a key carer.
Bilingual French-English
Particularly relevant for the international families settled on the hillside.
Loczy, Montessori, daily outings
A clear pedagogical framework and a lakeside walk every day.
SCAJE
Direct enrolment, no intercommunal waiting list
We are a private nursery holding a SCAJE operating licence. Our places are not allocated by the intercommunal network your municipality belongs to.
Families from Blonay – Saint-Légier can therefore approach us directly, without first joining a central waiting list, and get a clear answer about availability in the relevant age group.
The subsidised nurseries on the hillside do valuable work for local families. We offer a complementary option lower down, on the commute, when nothing is available above within the timeframe you need.
Frequently asked questions — Blonay – Saint-Légier
Do you accept children living in Blonay or Saint-Légier?
Yes. We welcome children regardless of their municipality of residence, including hillside families who come down towards the lake each morning.
Do we need to register with the municipal childcare network?
No. We are a private SCAJE-licensed nursery and manage admissions ourselves, without the central waiting list.
How long is the journey from the hillside?
Roughly 12 to 15 minutes by car from Saint-Légier and 15 to 18 minutes from Blonay village. By public transport, allow a connection in Vevey, then 8 minutes by train to Clarens and a 3 minute walk.
Is there parking for drop-off?
Yes. A short stop in front of the entrance is possible in the morning, and short-stay parking is available nearby — convenient for families arriving by car.
Keep exploring
Useful next steps
The most useful information before a first contact:
- Fees and attendance options
- Our Babies and Toddlers groups
- Our Loczy and Montessori approach
- Current availability
- Request a pre-enrolment