Some of the easiest days out with kids around Basel are animal days, and several of them cost nothing. Beyond the Zolli, Switzerland's oldest zoo, there are free parks with lynx, bison, ponies and rare Swiss farm breeds, plus bigger zoos a short trip over the French and German borders. Here's what we checked, from the penguin walk at the Zolli to the eagle shows at Steinen.
Switzerland's oldest zoo, opened in 1874, holds over 500 species in the Birsig stream valley, a short walk from Basel SBB station. Kids can watch king and gentoo penguins in the Vivarium aquarium, gorillas and orangutans in the monkey house, lions and cheetahs in the Etosha area, and Indian rhinos sharing their ponds with otters. Locals call it the Zolli.
A wildlife park in the Lange Erlen riverside woods along the Wiese, run by the Erlen-Verein since 1871. It keeps native animals across about 20 hectares: European bison, red and fallow deer, chamois, lynx, wildcats and foxes, plus owls in aviaries and waterbirds on the ponds.
Rare Swiss farm breeds such as Valais sheep and woolly pigs round it out.
Tierpark Weihermätteli is a 4-hectare animal park in Liestal, home to about 200 animals from some 20 mostly native breeds, several of them rare. Kids meet dwarf goats, Shetland ponies, llamas, donkeys, Highland cattle, sika deer and raccoons, and can stroke animals in the petting zoo.
A new nature playground, built on several levels with native plants, opened in 2026.
Augusta Raurica is the excavated Roman town at Augst, with more than twenty monuments to view, walk on or touch. Kids can sit in the best-preserved Roman theater north of the Alps, stand inside a Roman sewer channel and explore a furnished Roman house modeled on a Pompeii villa.
The museum puts some finds at kid eye level, and the animal park keeps breeds similar to Roman farm animals.
A 25-hectare zoo and botanical garden in the Rebberg district, at the edge of the Tannenwald forest, with about 1,200 animals. Polar bears, musk oxen and arctic foxes live in the Grand Nord area by the entrance, near the lions and tigers. Further in are red pandas, zebras, a sea lion pool, and a mini farm with a playground. Horizon Afrique, opened in 2025, adds giraffes, pygmy hippos and crocodiles.
Vogelpark Steinen is a bird and animal park in the southern Black Forest. Eagles, falcons and owls fly in an open-air falconry arena seating about 600, and kids can walk through the Barbary macaque enclosure at feeding time and feed parakeets in a covered free-flight aviary.
There are also kangaroos, a bird house on local species, a labyrinth with an eagle owl search game, several playgrounds and a water-treading pool.
Some of the easiest days out with kids around Basel are animal days, and several of them cost nothing. Beyond the Zolli, Switzerland's oldest zoo, there are free parks with lynx, bison, ponies and rare Swiss farm breeds, plus bigger zoos a short trip over the French and German borders. Here's what we checked, from the penguin walk at the Zolli to the eagle shows at Steinen.
Switzerland's oldest zoo, opened in 1874, holds over 500 species in the Birsig stream valley, a short walk from Basel SBB station. Kids can watch king and gentoo penguins in the Vivarium aquarium, gorillas and orangutans in the monkey house, lions and cheetahs in the Etosha area, and Indian rhinos sharing their ponds with otters. Locals call it the Zolli.
A wildlife park in the Lange Erlen riverside woods along the Wiese, run by the Erlen-Verein since 1871. It keeps native animals across about 20 hectares: European bison, red and fallow deer, chamois, lynx, wildcats and foxes, plus owls in aviaries and waterbirds on the ponds.
Rare Swiss farm breeds such as Valais sheep and woolly pigs round it out.
Tierpark Weihermätteli is a 4-hectare animal park in Liestal, home to about 200 animals from some 20 mostly native breeds, several of them rare. Kids meet dwarf goats, Shetland ponies, llamas, donkeys, Highland cattle, sika deer and raccoons, and can stroke animals in the petting zoo.
A new nature playground, built on several levels with native plants, opened in 2026.
Augusta Raurica is the excavated Roman town at Augst, with more than twenty monuments to view, walk on or touch. Kids can sit in the best-preserved Roman theater north of the Alps, stand inside a Roman sewer channel and explore a furnished Roman house modeled on a Pompeii villa.
The museum puts some finds at kid eye level, and the animal park keeps breeds similar to Roman farm animals.
A 25-hectare zoo and botanical garden in the Rebberg district, at the edge of the Tannenwald forest, with about 1,200 animals. Polar bears, musk oxen and arctic foxes live in the Grand Nord area by the entrance, near the lions and tigers. Further in are red pandas, zebras, a sea lion pool, and a mini farm with a playground. Horizon Afrique, opened in 2025, adds giraffes, pygmy hippos and crocodiles.
Vogelpark Steinen is a bird and animal park in the southern Black Forest. Eagles, falcons and owls fly in an open-air falconry arena seating about 600, and kids can walk through the Barbary macaque enclosure at feeding time and feed parakeets in a covered free-flight aviary.
There are also kangaroos, a bird house on local species, a labyrinth with an eagle owl search game, several playgrounds and a water-treading pool.
