Zurich starts Christmas early: Samichlaus visits on December 6, and from late November the old town glows with lights and Advent markets. With dark falling before five, this list fills the long evenings and weekends with a circus on an island in the Limmat, a fairy-tale tram, choirs, skating to a DJ and hands-on workshops. Here's what we checked, from Circus Conelli to gingerbread houses.
Circus Conelli bills itself as Switzerland's first Christmas circus, and it comes back to the Bauschänzli in central Zurich every winter. The show mixes acrobatics, comedy, dreamy poetic numbers and music.
It suits kids who can sit through a full show with an intermission. Daytime shows are the easy pick for younger children, while the gala dinner evenings are a separate, grown-up affair.
The Märlitram is a Zurich Advent tradition: a tram that carries only children. Samichlaus, the Swiss St. Nicholas, leaves his reindeer behind and rides along while two angels read Christmas fairy tales aloud as the tram winds through the city center.
The stories are in German, so it suits kids who follow German or are happy listening. A child who won't go anywhere without a parent may not be ready.
A family tour of the Landesmuseum Zürich by lantern light. With lanterns lighting the way, kids go looking through the museum for the pictures and nativity scenes that tell the Christmas story.
It suits kids who like a search more than a lecture, and families looking for a calm, low-key start to the Christmas season.
Kids decorate their own gingerbread house in the kitchen of Atelier for Kids, a small art studio in Hottingen run by Belinda Chan Beaton. She shares tips for baking and icing, and LED lights go inside so the finished house glows as a table decoration through the holidays. Everyone gets an apron and baker's hat, and each house goes home wrapped. Grandparents and parents can join in too.
A Christmas kids disco at Maison25, an event space by Paradeplatz that turns into a festive winter party room for the afternoon. Kids dance to children's songs and Christmas hits, and animators run games and entertainment.
There are small surprises for the kids. It suits children who like to move more than sit, with parents happy to stay and join in.
A live Christmas concert made for babies and the grown-ups who bring them. A small chamber group plays traditional Christmas music from different countries, and the organizers hint that even Santa won't want to miss it.
It suits parents looking for a festive outing with a baby or toddler in the run-up to Christmas.
Six evenings a season, the outdoor Dolder rink turns into a disco: a light show, DJs Steven Sander and Marvellous80 playing hits, and a theme for each night, from a Halloween ghost ride to a Frozen night and a fireworks edition.
It suits kids who can already skate on their own and teens out with friends. Families can book a fondue table in the restaurant overlooking the ice.
Every day of the season, choirs sing from a Christmas tree on Werdmühleplatz, just off Bahnhofstrasse. Over 40 of them take turns, each with short sets that kids can watch from start to finish.
A small regional Christmas market surrounds the tree, with a children's carousel and a fondue chalet. It's outdoors and come-and-go, so it works with a baby in a stroller as well as with older kids.
Zurich starts Christmas early: Samichlaus visits on December 6, and from late November the old town glows with lights and Advent markets. With dark falling before five, this list fills the long evenings and weekends with a circus on an island in the Limmat, a fairy-tale tram, choirs, skating to a DJ and hands-on workshops. Here's what we checked, from Circus Conelli to gingerbread houses.
Circus Conelli bills itself as Switzerland's first Christmas circus, and it comes back to the Bauschänzli in central Zurich every winter. The show mixes acrobatics, comedy, dreamy poetic numbers and music.
It suits kids who can sit through a full show with an intermission. Daytime shows are the easy pick for younger children, while the gala dinner evenings are a separate, grown-up affair.
The Märlitram is a Zurich Advent tradition: a tram that carries only children. Samichlaus, the Swiss St. Nicholas, leaves his reindeer behind and rides along while two angels read Christmas fairy tales aloud as the tram winds through the city center.
The stories are in German, so it suits kids who follow German or are happy listening. A child who won't go anywhere without a parent may not be ready.
A family tour of the Landesmuseum Zürich by lantern light. With lanterns lighting the way, kids go looking through the museum for the pictures and nativity scenes that tell the Christmas story.
It suits kids who like a search more than a lecture, and families looking for a calm, low-key start to the Christmas season.
Kids decorate their own gingerbread house in the kitchen of Atelier for Kids, a small art studio in Hottingen run by Belinda Chan Beaton. She shares tips for baking and icing, and LED lights go inside so the finished house glows as a table decoration through the holidays. Everyone gets an apron and baker's hat, and each house goes home wrapped. Grandparents and parents can join in too.
A Christmas kids disco at Maison25, an event space by Paradeplatz that turns into a festive winter party room for the afternoon. Kids dance to children's songs and Christmas hits, and animators run games and entertainment.
There are small surprises for the kids. It suits children who like to move more than sit, with parents happy to stay and join in.
A live Christmas concert made for babies and the grown-ups who bring them. A small chamber group plays traditional Christmas music from different countries, and the organizers hint that even Santa won't want to miss it.
It suits parents looking for a festive outing with a baby or toddler in the run-up to Christmas.
Six evenings a season, the outdoor Dolder rink turns into a disco: a light show, DJs Steven Sander and Marvellous80 playing hits, and a theme for each night, from a Halloween ghost ride to a Frozen night and a fireworks edition.
It suits kids who can already skate on their own and teens out with friends. Families can book a fondue table in the restaurant overlooking the ice.
Every day of the season, choirs sing from a Christmas tree on Werdmühleplatz, just off Bahnhofstrasse. Over 40 of them take turns, each with short sets that kids can watch from start to finish.
A small regional Christmas market surrounds the tree, with a children's carousel and a fondue chalet. It's outdoors and come-and-go, so it works with a baby in a stroller as well as with older kids.
