26 Ideas for Traveling to Switzerland with Kids
- Alexander Medvedovski
- Jan 2, 2014
- 4 min read
Last June I had clients who traveled to Switzerland with their small kids. Here are travel ideas I gave to them for their trip. They used many of them and had a lot of fun.
Ideas for Basel
1. Doll House Museum - not sure if one of your kids is a girl
http://www.spielzeug-welten-museum-basel.ch/en/
2. Basel Zoo
http://www.zoobasel.ch/en/index.php
3. Animal Park
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&eotf=1&u=http://www.erlen-verein.ch/&act=url
Bern
4. Einstein Museum and Einstein House Comments from the clients Bern - I enjoyed it. A great place to visit as a pass-through destination. We were there for a couple of hours and spent most of that time at the Einstein Museum and later - Einstein House. Very interesting!
Ideas for Lucerne
5. Transportation museum (Lucerne)
http://www.verkehrshaus.ch/en
Comment from clients If anyone is traveling to Lucerne with small children, it is definitely a place to visit. Thank you very much for recommending it! We spent hours there.
Comments from clients
The most famous part of Lucerne.
We liked Lucerne a lot! However, unlike Zurich, I don't think we'll go back there. We got to see most of the town, and if we are in the area again, I would spend my time in Zurich.
6. Cog train from Brienz
http://www.swisspasses.com/classicrail/packages/brienz/index.htm
You can get to Brienz from Luzerne
by car (37 km)
by train
by steam boat
http://www.bls.ch/e/schifffahrt/fahrplan.php
7. Glacier Garden - museum, maze, garden - can be for place for kids
8. The Picasso Gallery
http://www.rosengart.ch/picasso_en.php5
9. Pilatus Railway - the steepest cogwheel railway
http://www.pilatus.ch/en/railway-cableways/cogwheel-railway/
Day trip to Zurich
Comment from the clients
We loved Zurich. We walked for hours, but we'll need days to explore it. Definitely a place to which we want to return
10. Zurich Zoo
http://www.zoo.ch/xml_1/internet/en/intro.cfm
11. Toy Museum
http://www.zuercher-spielzeugmuseum.ch/index_en.html
12. Zoological Museum
http://www.zm.uzh.ch/index_en.html
13. Museum of Modern Arts
http://www.kunsthaus.ch/en/
Day Trip to Montreux - super expensive resort town where a tiny ice cream can cost you $10 (it is what I remember the most), but it can be fun
128 km from Lucerne; 95 km from Geneva
You can go to Montreux on your way from Luzerne to Geneva
14. Swiss Museum of Games - can be fun for kids
http://www.museedujeu.com/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=80&Itemid=201&lang=en
15. Chateau Chillon - Swiss most famous castles where Lord Bayron was imprisoned http://www.chillon.ch/en/index.cfm
Comments from the clients
Fascinating! It was built in the 13th century or something like that. So much history there. My daughter, who is ten, enjoyed it. My son who was five at the time was a little restless, but he was in a stroller we purchased for that trip, so he was fine in it. I would recommend this place for adults and older kids.
16. Food museum - can be fun, shows where food comes from http://www.montreuxriviera.com/en/culture_leisure/museums_culture/Alimentarium
Comments from the clients
This is across from Alimentarium Food Museum in Vevey. We loved Vevey! It is a small, quiet and very charming town. The Food Museum is small, but great fun for kids. There is also a very nice playground nearby, so after the museum the kids played there while we sat looking at the lake and the Swiss Alps right in front of us. It was an unbelievable experience!
17. Swiss Vapeur Parc - Miniature wonderland. Because your son loves trains. It can be great place to spend time
http://www.swissvapeur.ch/en/
Ideas for Geneva
Comments from the clients We liked it, and we loved the apartment you found for us! It was in a very nice and quiet residential neighborhood within a walking distance to the center. The owner of the apartment lives across the hall. I am originally from Minsk and my husband is from Vitebsk. The apartment with its balcony reminded us of the apartments during our childhood. This one was just so much nicer!!! 18. Musée d'Historie Naturelle
19. Animal park
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ville-geneve.ch%2Fthemes%2Fenvironnement-urbain-espaces-verts%2Fparc-animaux-bois-batie%2F
20. Barbier-Mueller Museum - Masks museum
21. City parks - 1/4 of the city is in parks
22. Trains and trolley tours
http://www.trains-tours.ch/en/trains-trolleys-tours.html
23. Forestland park & playground
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forestland.fr%2F
24. Boat trip on a lake
25. Ride the train
a red and black solar powered train that runs from along the lake’s left bank from Jardin Anglais to Parc Eaux-Vives.
26. Chocolate factory tour
http://www.chocosuisse.ch/web/chocosuisse/en/other_services/visitations.html
Interesting links about Geneva
http://www.newlyswissed.com/?p=10310
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/05/travel/05kids.html?_r=0
More about Geneva
Geneva
Activities
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g188057-s401/Geneva:Switzerland:Family.Travel.html
Sunny Day:
- Jardin Botanique http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/
-In the summer, go the the Place de Nations to play in the water fountains. Dont forget the bathing suits.
Rainy Day:
- Museum of Natural History. http://www.ville-ge.ch/mhng/
- Get onto the yellow public transport boats and cross from shore to shore until they get tired.
Restaurants:
Chez Ma Cousine, Rue Lissgnol 5, where you get delicious roast chicken with potatoes and salad (under CHF 15). Two other Chez Ma Cousine restaurants exist in Geneva, one in the Old Town and one in Petit-Saconex. http://www.chezmacousine.ch/ for more details.
Sushi Boky - South East Asian. Walk out the front of the railway station and turn left (Rue de Lausanne). Walk about 50m and it's on the right hand side, tucked into the tall building next to Mc D's.
Luigia - somewhat expensive, but kid-friendly pizza place
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g188057-d1938459-r126484301-Luigia-Geneva.html
Good website for family restaurants, but not sure if they are all in Geneva
http://geneva.angloinfo.com/af/474/geneva-family-restaurants.html
Top 10 restaurants for different budgets
http://www.resto-rang.ch/index.cfm?lang=EN
•Dunia Thai Café chemin Frank-Thomas 12 1208 Genève, Suisse tel. +41 (0)22 700 4923 www.duniadeco.com/cafe-dunia/ Thank you again L. for recommending this ultra cool concept store & Thai Café, Expat Husband and I would never have found it and so we would have missed out on a lovely birthday lunch. Lots of mums and babies too, just the sort of place I love!
•La Reserve The Bar LA RÉSERVE GENÈVE – 301, Route de Lausanne – 1293 Bellevue – Geneva tel. +41 22 959 59 59 www.lareserve.ch Expat Husband and I tried all of the restaurants at La Reserve but our personal favourite for a spot of lunch remains The Bar for its cozy, relaxed atmosphere and delicious gourmet food (and cheaper bill too!). Best bonus is that the kids can play downstairs in the hotel playroom/crèche while parents enjoy their meal. A good place for a bit of celebrity-spotting too.
Accommodations considered
Accommodation options
Luzerne
Holiday Inn Express Luzern - Neuenkirch - $150
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/906365
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/947330
Geneva
http://www.venere.com/vacation-rentals/gaillard/geneva-residence/?sd=25&sm=06&sy=2013&ed=28&em=06&ey=2013&pval=2&rval=1
http://www.venere.com/vacation-rentals/ferney-voltaire/vacation-rental-ferney-geneve/?sd=25&sm=06&sy=2013&ed=28&em=06&ey=2013&pval=2&rval=1
http://www.venere.com/inter-hotels/saint-julien-en-genevois/inter-hotel-rey/?sd=25&sm=06&sy=2013&ed=28&em=06&ey=2013&pval=2&rval=1#overview
http://www.venere.com/vacation-rentals/divonne-les-bains/residence-zenitude-la-versoix/?sd=25&sm=06&sy=2013&ed=28&em=06&ey=2013&pval=2&rval=1
http://www.venere.com/vacation-rentals/gaillard/park-suites-elegance-gaillard/?sd=25&sm=06&sy=2013&ed=28&em=06&ey=2013&pval=2&rval=1
Comments