Some weekends the kids want more than the playground: a ride that makes them scream, a farm day with animals to meet, or a cable car up the hill for the view. This list gathers the theme parks and family attractions around the city that are worth the trip, from full days out to easy half-day escapes by train or tram.
Juckerhof is a working farm above Lake Pfäffikon, with a farm restaurant, a farm shop and views across the lake. Kids get a playground, a goat park, a straw bouncy castle and play tractors.
The ÖpfelGarte grows nearly 6,000 apple trees into two mazes and a labyrinth, beside a barefoot trail. Each autumn the farm fills with giant pumpkin sculptures.
The Dolderbahn is a cogwheel railway that climbs 1.3 km from Römerhof up the Adlisberg in about six minutes, rising 162 m on a gradient of roughly 19%. It is one of the few rack railways inside a city.
The red cars, new in 2024, pass grand houses and woodland on the way to the Dolder top station, the stop for the Dolder ice rink, wave pool and woods.
The Felseneggbahn is the only public aerial cable car in canton Zurich. Two cabins, each holding 30 passengers, climb 307 meters from Adliswil to the Felsenegg viewpoint at 804 meters, swinging up to about 60 meters above the ground.
At the top, the Panoramaweg trail along the Albis ridge has barbecue spots, restaurants and lookouts over Lake Zurich and the mountains.
Zurich's local mountain rises to 871 meters, with forest trails, a 70-meter observation tower at the summit (178 steps) and views over the city, the lake and, on clear days, the Alps. The Planet Trail is an easy two-hour walk to Felsenegg through a scaled-down solar system.
In winter a toboggan run drops through the forest toward Triemli, and in November the top often sits above the fog.
Some weekends the kids want more than the playground: a ride that makes them scream, a farm day with animals to meet, or a cable car up the hill for the view. This list gathers the theme parks and family attractions around the city that are worth the trip, from full days out to easy half-day escapes by train or tram.
Juckerhof is a working farm above Lake Pfäffikon, with a farm restaurant, a farm shop and views across the lake. Kids get a playground, a goat park, a straw bouncy castle and play tractors.
The ÖpfelGarte grows nearly 6,000 apple trees into two mazes and a labyrinth, beside a barefoot trail. Each autumn the farm fills with giant pumpkin sculptures.
The Dolderbahn is a cogwheel railway that climbs 1.3 km from Römerhof up the Adlisberg in about six minutes, rising 162 m on a gradient of roughly 19%. It is one of the few rack railways inside a city.
The red cars, new in 2024, pass grand houses and woodland on the way to the Dolder top station, the stop for the Dolder ice rink, wave pool and woods.
The Felseneggbahn is the only public aerial cable car in canton Zurich. Two cabins, each holding 30 passengers, climb 307 meters from Adliswil to the Felsenegg viewpoint at 804 meters, swinging up to about 60 meters above the ground.
At the top, the Panoramaweg trail along the Albis ridge has barbecue spots, restaurants and lookouts over Lake Zurich and the mountains.
Zurich's local mountain rises to 871 meters, with forest trails, a 70-meter observation tower at the summit (178 steps) and views over the city, the lake and, on clear days, the Alps. The Planet Trail is an easy two-hour walk to Felsenegg through a scaled-down solar system.
In winter a toboggan run drops through the forest toward Triemli, and in November the top often sits above the fog.
