Basel schools close for two weeks in February, and the second week belongs to Fasnacht: three days of drums, piccolos, lanterns and confetti, with Tuesday afternoon given over to kids in costume. For the days around it, we picked plans that hold up in winter. Here's what we checked, from the ice at Margarethen to the wave pool at aquabasilea.
This is the day Basel's carnival puts kids at the center. Children too young to march with a clique or Guggenmusik come out with their parents in homemade costumes and masks, hand out sweets and throw confetti (Räppli).
Older kids who already play an instrument form small groups with family and friends. It suits families who want to join in, not only watch from the curb.
Basel's Fasnacht is the biggest carnival in Switzerland and on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage. For three days the city center belongs to the cliques: pipers, drummers, Guggenmusik bands and floats in the Cortège parades.
Kids watch the parades, see the big clique lanterns on show at Münsterplatz and find Räppli (confetti) everywhere. It suits families who don't mind crowds and loud drums.
On Carnival Sunday, the evening before the Morgenstraich, several hundred carriers parade through Liestal's old town with homemade pinewood brooms ablaze. Fire carts follow, and piccolo players and drummers lead the way.
The flames reach up to the gables of the old houses, and sparks fly through the darkened streets. It suits school-age kids who can handle a dense crowd, loud drums and strong heat.
Kunsteisbahn Margarethen is a public outdoor ice rink run by the canton in Margarethenpark. It has two fields: a 4,200 m² open rink and a 1,800 m² rink under a roof, both lit for evening skating.
Skates, kids' helmets, sticks and double-runner beginner skates are for hire, and there is a restaurant. The rink is step-free, with a ramp onto the ice and wheelchair ice gliders free to use.
Two lit ice fields share the site: a large 1,800 m² field for skating and hockey, and a smaller 650 m² field that is due to open in early December. Skates, hockey sticks, kids' helmets and two-runner beginner skates are for rent at the rink, and there is a restaurant on site.
On a few Friday evenings each season, the ice turns into an ice disco.
A gondola climbs from Reigoldswil to the Wasserfallen in about 10 minutes, with six-person cabins that run continuously, so there is no timetable to learn. At the top station, families pick up kick scooters and helmets and ride a 4 km forest track back down to the valley in 20 to 30 minutes. An adventure playground with a giant wooden sled and climbing tower sits beside the top station.
aquabasilea is a big indoor water park with seven slides totaling 824 meters, from the open Family Splash tube to the near-vertical Cliffdrop and the dark Extrême, which hits 59 km/h.
There's a wave pool with kickboards, a toddler pool, two wild-water channels and a current channel. Outside are a grotto, water mushrooms and a warm kids' paddling pool.
Rulantica is the indoor water world of Europa-Park, with a Nordic theme and over 50 slides and attractions across 14 themed areas. Older kids race each other down the eight tubes of Vikingløp, while toddlers climb, roll and slide with the trolls in Trølldal.
From May to September an outdoor area opens as well, with the Svalgurok slide world, sandy beaches and the Svømmepøl pool.
Switzerland's most-visited museum covers rail, road, air, water and space travel. Kids can see original locomotives, two Swissair planes, rockets and Mars rovers, a submarine, and a 31.5-meter model of the Gotthard railway. A walk-in cube makes the floor turn into a wall.
Outside, younger kids ride scooters, climb into play buses and take the miniature garden railway. A planetarium, a film theater and a chocolate ride share the site.
The permanent galleries fill an old town building with dinosaurs, a mammoth and saber-toothed tiger, whales and fish, ammonites and other fossils, and invertebrates from squid to butterflies.
One gallery follows a butterfly from egg to adult, another covers threatened and extinct animals like the quagga and dodo, and Showcase Nature brings together the birds, mammals and minerals of Switzerland.
Four floors and more than 1,000 square meters of historical toys: over 2,500 teddy bears (the most comprehensive collection in the world, many by Steiff), dolls, old dolls' houses, grocery shops and 1:12 miniatures. Many scenes start moving at the push of a button.
On an animated tablet tour, virtual figures move through the displays, and a kids' track sends zeppelins flying and music notes dancing out of a gramophone.
MUKS is a small museum in a historic building in Riehen, the village on the Swiss-German border. Its permanent Spiel (play) exhibition fills rooms themed on dreaming, living and cheating with old toys, odd inventions and a dream bubble to slip into.
A second permanent show, Village, tells Riehen's history. Outside, a courtyard and garden have seating, sun umbrellas, games and a self-service kiosk.
Kiddy Park Basel is an indoor play hall with a ball pit, a trampoline jump area, climbing structures and obstacle courses. Babies get soft crawling zones, and under-6s have their own area with smaller equipment.
The play is active and low-tech, with no screens or entertainers. Staff supervise the floor, parents can sit in the lounge, and a snack corner and the Munchkin Island restaurant serve kids' meals.
Jump Factory Basel is a trampoline park in Münchenstein with around 20 zones on one ticket. Kids bounce on the mega and long trampolines, launch into the foam pit, run up the warped wall, race down the speed slide and take on a ninja warrior course, climbing wall, battle beam, ropes course and zip line.
Parents who don't jump can wait in the café while kids play.
ELYS Boulderloft is a bouldering gym with over 2,000 m² of climbing surface and new problems set every week. Kids under 13 boulder in the New Hall with a parent who climbs too, and can earn a bouldering license that opens the Big Hall.
Younger kids have the movement landscape, a play-and-run area with its own family bistro.
Basel schools close for two weeks in February, and the second week belongs to Fasnacht: three days of drums, piccolos, lanterns and confetti, with Tuesday afternoon given over to kids in costume. For the days around it, we picked plans that hold up in winter. Here's what we checked, from the ice at Margarethen to the wave pool at aquabasilea.
This is the day Basel's carnival puts kids at the center. Children too young to march with a clique or Guggenmusik come out with their parents in homemade costumes and masks, hand out sweets and throw confetti (Räppli).
Older kids who already play an instrument form small groups with family and friends. It suits families who want to join in, not only watch from the curb.
Basel's Fasnacht is the biggest carnival in Switzerland and on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage. For three days the city center belongs to the cliques: pipers, drummers, Guggenmusik bands and floats in the Cortège parades.
Kids watch the parades, see the big clique lanterns on show at Münsterplatz and find Räppli (confetti) everywhere. It suits families who don't mind crowds and loud drums.
On Carnival Sunday, the evening before the Morgenstraich, several hundred carriers parade through Liestal's old town with homemade pinewood brooms ablaze. Fire carts follow, and piccolo players and drummers lead the way.
The flames reach up to the gables of the old houses, and sparks fly through the darkened streets. It suits school-age kids who can handle a dense crowd, loud drums and strong heat.
Kunsteisbahn Margarethen is a public outdoor ice rink run by the canton in Margarethenpark. It has two fields: a 4,200 m² open rink and a 1,800 m² rink under a roof, both lit for evening skating.
Skates, kids' helmets, sticks and double-runner beginner skates are for hire, and there is a restaurant. The rink is step-free, with a ramp onto the ice and wheelchair ice gliders free to use.
Two lit ice fields share the site: a large 1,800 m² field for skating and hockey, and a smaller 650 m² field that is due to open in early December. Skates, hockey sticks, kids' helmets and two-runner beginner skates are for rent at the rink, and there is a restaurant on site.
On a few Friday evenings each season, the ice turns into an ice disco.
A gondola climbs from Reigoldswil to the Wasserfallen in about 10 minutes, with six-person cabins that run continuously, so there is no timetable to learn. At the top station, families pick up kick scooters and helmets and ride a 4 km forest track back down to the valley in 20 to 30 minutes. An adventure playground with a giant wooden sled and climbing tower sits beside the top station.
aquabasilea is a big indoor water park with seven slides totaling 824 meters, from the open Family Splash tube to the near-vertical Cliffdrop and the dark Extrême, which hits 59 km/h.
There's a wave pool with kickboards, a toddler pool, two wild-water channels and a current channel. Outside are a grotto, water mushrooms and a warm kids' paddling pool.
Rulantica is the indoor water world of Europa-Park, with a Nordic theme and over 50 slides and attractions across 14 themed areas. Older kids race each other down the eight tubes of Vikingløp, while toddlers climb, roll and slide with the trolls in Trølldal.
From May to September an outdoor area opens as well, with the Svalgurok slide world, sandy beaches and the Svømmepøl pool.
Switzerland's most-visited museum covers rail, road, air, water and space travel. Kids can see original locomotives, two Swissair planes, rockets and Mars rovers, a submarine, and a 31.5-meter model of the Gotthard railway. A walk-in cube makes the floor turn into a wall.
Outside, younger kids ride scooters, climb into play buses and take the miniature garden railway. A planetarium, a film theater and a chocolate ride share the site.
The permanent galleries fill an old town building with dinosaurs, a mammoth and saber-toothed tiger, whales and fish, ammonites and other fossils, and invertebrates from squid to butterflies.
One gallery follows a butterfly from egg to adult, another covers threatened and extinct animals like the quagga and dodo, and Showcase Nature brings together the birds, mammals and minerals of Switzerland.
Four floors and more than 1,000 square meters of historical toys: over 2,500 teddy bears (the most comprehensive collection in the world, many by Steiff), dolls, old dolls' houses, grocery shops and 1:12 miniatures. Many scenes start moving at the push of a button.
On an animated tablet tour, virtual figures move through the displays, and a kids' track sends zeppelins flying and music notes dancing out of a gramophone.
MUKS is a small museum in a historic building in Riehen, the village on the Swiss-German border. Its permanent Spiel (play) exhibition fills rooms themed on dreaming, living and cheating with old toys, odd inventions and a dream bubble to slip into.
A second permanent show, Village, tells Riehen's history. Outside, a courtyard and garden have seating, sun umbrellas, games and a self-service kiosk.
Kiddy Park Basel is an indoor play hall with a ball pit, a trampoline jump area, climbing structures and obstacle courses. Babies get soft crawling zones, and under-6s have their own area with smaller equipment.
The play is active and low-tech, with no screens or entertainers. Staff supervise the floor, parents can sit in the lounge, and a snack corner and the Munchkin Island restaurant serve kids' meals.
Jump Factory Basel is a trampoline park in Münchenstein with around 20 zones on one ticket. Kids bounce on the mega and long trampolines, launch into the foam pit, run up the warped wall, race down the speed slide and take on a ninja warrior course, climbing wall, battle beam, ropes course and zip line.
Parents who don't jump can wait in the café while kids play.
ELYS Boulderloft is a bouldering gym with over 2,000 m² of climbing surface and new problems set every week. Kids under 13 boulder in the New Hall with a parent who climbs too, and can earn a bouldering license that opens the Big Hall.
Younger kids have the movement landscape, a play-and-run area with its own family bistro.
