5 Great Places to go with Kids in Switzerland

Need a few ideas for what to do with your kids in Switzerland? Look no further. The Frau (and Toddler M) have done some investigating for you.

Technorama (Winterthur)

This Swiss science museum has something for everyone—even Toddler M enjoyed a full day there banging drums, watching electric trains, and making gigantic bubbles. Spread across many floors, The Frau was pleasantly surprised by its non-Swiss size.

Tip: When traveling by public transport, be sure to get the RailAway offer, which will save you 10% on both the entrance fee and the transport there. They also accept payment in REKA.

Paradisimo (Pfäffikon SZ)

BMW Bobby Car. Only in Switzerland.

This is possibly Switzerland’s most perfect indoor playground. Why? It’s inexpensive, it has separate play areas for babies versus older kids, and there is a cafe with Wi-Fi for parents. And oh, the Bobby Cars are BMWs. It wouldn’t be a Swiss experience otherwise.

Children’s Museum (Baden)

The perfect balance of toys and exhibit make this place a fun day out for more than just children. Think dollhouses from the last century, a room filled with puppet shows you can put on a play with, and an entire floor of wooden games to explore.

Tip: They accept REKA checks.

Transport Museum (Lucerne)

Climb on trams. Ride scooters. Watch cars from the decades go by. The Transport Museum is all about transporting you to, well, the world of transport.

Tip: RailAway will save you 10% off the admission and the train ride there.

Emmentaler Schaukäserei (Affoltern i.E.)

Emmentaler cheese (that’s Swiss cheese for all you Americans)—comes from here. At the Emmentaler Schaukäserei, you can visit the dairy, eat at the restaurant, shop for cheese, and let your kids play on the playground and admire the statues of cows. You can also combine a visit to the Schaukäserei with a beautiful stroller hike through the rolling hills. Start in Lueg and follow the signs from Lueg-Junkholz-Schnabel-Affoltern i.E. (3.5 km).

Anyone else have tips for having fun in Switzerland with kids?

Enjoy reading about Swiss life? Then you might enjoy The Frau’s new book, Swiss Life: 30 Things I Wish I’d Known. It even has a section on Mutterhood. Available at fine online retailers and on Zurich’s most famous shopping street too (Bahnhofstrasse 70).

Go West, Young Expat

In honor of the 4th of July, The Frau would like to encourage all expats living in Switzerland to go west. To the Emmental.

The Emmental is underrated. Why so, says The Frau?

Because no one goes there.

Gruyère. Zermatt. St. Moritz. The Emmental might as well be in Canton Aargau for the amount of love it gets from expats.

Hiking in Emmental

The Frau has a remedy for this. It’s called the photo on the right. This is the Emmental, yodelers. Get out your alphorns and let the message travel for 18 miles. Because the Emmental put the hole in the cheese us Americans call "Swiss." And therefore we should give it a little more credit in this country.

Emmental has rolling landscapes. It has people who say “Grüezi” in possibly the cutest accent in all of CH. And it’s home to a town called Junkholz. What else could you want?

Don’t believe The Frau? See for yourself. Do her hike (which is stroller friendly people, so there’s no excuse even if you have a baby for not going to the Emmental).

Here’s the 3.5 km hike—which ends at a huge cheese complex. (It's Tipp 7 in the PDF).

For those who need a translation, here it is: Take the train to Burgdorf and the bus to Lueg. Start hiking in Lueg towards Junkholz. Pass Schnabel. End at Affoltern i.E. at a cheese (and admittedly somewhat cheesy) factory. It’s not as extensive as the one in Gruyère, but it’s also not as crowded. There’s a wonderful picnic area, a playground to keep kids (or adults acting like kids) busy, a cheese shop, a restaurant serving everything with a side of cheese, and possibly the oldest cheese making house in the world that can still live up to Swiss cleanliness standards.

Anyone else like the Emmental?