Easter here starts with an egg and a coin. On Easter Monday, kids in the Old Town hold up hard-boiled eggs while adults try to throw a 20-Rappen coin so it sticks, and every coin that misses is the kid's to keep. The rest of the long weekend is for outings. Here's what we checked, from the swimming elephants at the zoo to the chocolate fountain at Lindt.
Zwänzgerle is an old Zurich Easter custom in the Old Town. A kid holds up a hard-boiled egg, and an adult tries to throw a 20-Rappen coin so it sticks in the egg. If the coin sticks, the adult wins the egg. If it drops to the ground, the kid keeps the coin.
Dating to the 18th century, it was revived in 1960 and draws locals and expats alike.
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.
Zoo Zürich covers 27 hectares on the wooded Zürichberg. The Masoala Rainforest is a miniature Madagascar rainforest under one roof, with red ruffed lemurs, Aldabra giant tortoises and an 18-meter treetop walkway.
The Lewa Savanna holds giraffes, white rhinos and Grévy's zebras around baobab trees that double as feeding stations. At the Kaeng Krachan Elephant Park, kids can watch Asian elephants swim past an underwater viewing window.
Knies Kinderzoo is a hands-on zoo run by the Knie circus family since 1962, with about 400 animals from 45 species by Lake Zurich. Kids can feed the elephants, ride ponies and camels, and loop the grounds on the electric zoo tram. Giraffes, cheetahs, penguins and a goat petting area round it out, with free keeper talks and a short animal film through the day.
The museum sits next to the historic Lindt factory, where chocolate has been made since 1899. A 9.3-meter fountain holding 1,400 kg of chocolate greets visitors as they arrive.
The audio-guided route follows cocoa from farms in Ghana to the Swiss chocolate pioneers, with tasting stations along the way and a pilot plant showing how bars are made. Kids get an audio tour of their own.
A high-ropes park in the Hardwald forest at Kloten, with 210 obstacles and about 2.5 km of ziplines strung between the trees. Courses are graded from a low green route for the youngest climbers to hard ones for teens and adults, and the newest, Melody, opened in 2024. Every climb starts with a safety briefing.
The park also runs archery, and has a kiosk and grill spots for guests.
The Swiss National Museum fills a turreted 1898 building, styled like a French Renaissance chateau, beside the Platzspitz park. Its galleries run from prehistory to the 21st century, with a section on knights, an Armoury Tower and a diorama of the Battle of Murten.
The family exhibition has three themed rooms (an Oriental Palace, a sailing ship and a railway) where kids solve puzzles, dress up and listen to stories.
Easter here starts with an egg and a coin. On Easter Monday, kids in the Old Town hold up hard-boiled eggs while adults try to throw a 20-Rappen coin so it sticks, and every coin that misses is the kid's to keep. The rest of the long weekend is for outings. Here's what we checked, from the swimming elephants at the zoo to the chocolate fountain at Lindt.
Zwänzgerle is an old Zurich Easter custom in the Old Town. A kid holds up a hard-boiled egg, and an adult tries to throw a 20-Rappen coin so it sticks in the egg. If the coin sticks, the adult wins the egg. If it drops to the ground, the kid keeps the coin.
Dating to the 18th century, it was revived in 1960 and draws locals and expats alike.
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.
Zoo Zürich covers 27 hectares on the wooded Zürichberg. The Masoala Rainforest is a miniature Madagascar rainforest under one roof, with red ruffed lemurs, Aldabra giant tortoises and an 18-meter treetop walkway.
The Lewa Savanna holds giraffes, white rhinos and Grévy's zebras around baobab trees that double as feeding stations. At the Kaeng Krachan Elephant Park, kids can watch Asian elephants swim past an underwater viewing window.
Knies Kinderzoo is a hands-on zoo run by the Knie circus family since 1962, with about 400 animals from 45 species by Lake Zurich. Kids can feed the elephants, ride ponies and camels, and loop the grounds on the electric zoo tram. Giraffes, cheetahs, penguins and a goat petting area round it out, with free keeper talks and a short animal film through the day.
The museum sits next to the historic Lindt factory, where chocolate has been made since 1899. A 9.3-meter fountain holding 1,400 kg of chocolate greets visitors as they arrive.
The audio-guided route follows cocoa from farms in Ghana to the Swiss chocolate pioneers, with tasting stations along the way and a pilot plant showing how bars are made. Kids get an audio tour of their own.
A high-ropes park in the Hardwald forest at Kloten, with 210 obstacles and about 2.5 km of ziplines strung between the trees. Courses are graded from a low green route for the youngest climbers to hard ones for teens and adults, and the newest, Melody, opened in 2024. Every climb starts with a safety briefing.
The park also runs archery, and has a kiosk and grill spots for guests.
The Swiss National Museum fills a turreted 1898 building, styled like a French Renaissance chateau, beside the Platzspitz park. Its galleries run from prehistory to the 21st century, with a section on knights, an Armoury Tower and a diorama of the Battle of Murten.
The family exhibition has three themed rooms (an Oriental Palace, a sailing ship and a railway) where kids solve puzzles, dress up and listen to stories.
