Some days you want an outing that asks nothing of you: no big plan, no long hike, no meltdown halfway up a hill. These are the spots we pick when a baby or toddler sets the pace. Here's what we checked, from soft play centers for rainy days to summer paddling pools in the city parks and farms where toddlers can get close to the animals.
Kiddy Park is an indoor play hall with a ball pit, a trampoline area, and a climbing frame with obstacles and slides. Kids under 6 get their own zone with smaller equipment. The focus is active, imaginative play, with no screens or entertainers.
A snack corner and the Munchkin Island restaurant serve kids' menus. Outside food and drink are not allowed, and socks are a must.
Kids Playland is an indoor play center inside the Letzipark shopping center in Altstetten, with room for free play and organized activities.
Birthday parties run in themed VIP rooms (ocean adventure, superheroes, disco and Ice Queen), with packages that include snacks and drink options. School classes come on group trips too. A second Kids Playland has opened in Dietlikon.
Starbie is an indoor play hall with a climbing course and adventure frame, slides, bouncy castles, a ball pit and a separate area for toddlers. Parents can sit in the bistro while kids play, and there are party rooms for birthdays.
It suits a cold or rainy afternoon with kids who need to run off energy.
Minicity is a supervised drop-off play area on level 4 of the Sihlcity mall, laid out like a small town. Kids ride Bobby-Cars around a traffic garden, climb, jump into a ball pit, play in a treehouse, watch kids' films in a mini cinema and dress up in a toy department store.
Parents can't come in, so it suits kids happy to stay with staff.
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.
A family-friendly indoor pool run by the City of Zurich. There is a 25-meter lap pool with five lanes kept at 29°C, a separate paddling pool at 31°C and a 1-meter diving board.
On sunny, warm days the rooftop terrace opens as a water playground. The building also has a Finnish sauna, a bio sauna and a steam room.
Josefwiese is a 1920s people's park beside the Viadukt arches in Zürich-West, laid out for play and sport rather than strolling. Kids get climbing frames and a paddling pool with water play.
The big lawn is for picnics, football and sunbathing, plus pétanque, table tennis, a beach volleyball court and a barbecue spot. A kiosk sells salads, grilled food and drinks.
Locals call it the Bäcki: a 1.4-hectare neighborhood park near Langstrasse, framed by Stauffacherstrasse, Feldstrasse and Hohlstrasse. Kids head for the playground and the shallow wading pool, where splashing has been allowed since the 1939 redesign.
The Quartierzentrum Aussersihl community center stands in the park, with the Restaurant Bäckeranlage inside. On summer days the lawns fill with young families from the surrounding streets.
Blatterwiese, which locals call Chinawiese after the Chinese Garden next door, is a wide lawn on the shore of Lake Zurich. Its fenced playground has a large sand area, a climbing wall, swings and water fountains for hot days.
Around it, families picnic, use the public grills nearby, kick a ball or swim in the lake, and a kiosk sells ice cream and cold drinks.
Irchelpark is a naturalistic park of about 32 hectares wrapped around the University of Zurich's Irchel campus. Paths loop past a lake with fish, ducks and herons, two streams, wildflower meadows and Monte Diggelmann, a small viewpoint hill.
Kids can play in the sand and boulder playground by the lake and follow the Irchel Nature Trail, whose 20 boards cover birds, frogs, bees and dragonflies.
GZ Buchegg is one of the city's community centers, a short walk over the footbridge from Bucheggplatz. Donkeys, ponies, llamas and goats live in pens that families can stop by and watch, and visitors can help with the morning feeding.
Inside there's a self-run play room, a café with homemade cake where nobody has to order, and a stage for dance and theater made for young audiences.
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.
A 5,500 m² city-run bike park on the Allmend Brunau, just south of Sihlcity, and the biggest of Zurich's public bike facilities.
The courses come in three difficulty levels: an Urban-BMX layout with two lines from a 4-meter start hill, a jump track with curves and bowls, a pump track with waves and banked turns, and a balance-bike track with gentle waves and curves for toddlers from age 2.
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.
Some days you want an outing that asks nothing of you: no big plan, no long hike, no meltdown halfway up a hill. These are the spots we pick when a baby or toddler sets the pace. Here's what we checked, from soft play centers for rainy days to summer paddling pools in the city parks and farms where toddlers can get close to the animals.
Kiddy Park is an indoor play hall with a ball pit, a trampoline area, and a climbing frame with obstacles and slides. Kids under 6 get their own zone with smaller equipment. The focus is active, imaginative play, with no screens or entertainers.
A snack corner and the Munchkin Island restaurant serve kids' menus. Outside food and drink are not allowed, and socks are a must.
Kids Playland is an indoor play center inside the Letzipark shopping center in Altstetten, with room for free play and organized activities.
Birthday parties run in themed VIP rooms (ocean adventure, superheroes, disco and Ice Queen), with packages that include snacks and drink options. School classes come on group trips too. A second Kids Playland has opened in Dietlikon.
Starbie is an indoor play hall with a climbing course and adventure frame, slides, bouncy castles, a ball pit and a separate area for toddlers. Parents can sit in the bistro while kids play, and there are party rooms for birthdays.
It suits a cold or rainy afternoon with kids who need to run off energy.
Minicity is a supervised drop-off play area on level 4 of the Sihlcity mall, laid out like a small town. Kids ride Bobby-Cars around a traffic garden, climb, jump into a ball pit, play in a treehouse, watch kids' films in a mini cinema and dress up in a toy department store.
Parents can't come in, so it suits kids happy to stay with staff.
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.
A family-friendly indoor pool run by the City of Zurich. There is a 25-meter lap pool with five lanes kept at 29°C, a separate paddling pool at 31°C and a 1-meter diving board.
On sunny, warm days the rooftop terrace opens as a water playground. The building also has a Finnish sauna, a bio sauna and a steam room.
Josefwiese is a 1920s people's park beside the Viadukt arches in Zürich-West, laid out for play and sport rather than strolling. Kids get climbing frames and a paddling pool with water play.
The big lawn is for picnics, football and sunbathing, plus pétanque, table tennis, a beach volleyball court and a barbecue spot. A kiosk sells salads, grilled food and drinks.
Locals call it the Bäcki: a 1.4-hectare neighborhood park near Langstrasse, framed by Stauffacherstrasse, Feldstrasse and Hohlstrasse. Kids head for the playground and the shallow wading pool, where splashing has been allowed since the 1939 redesign.
The Quartierzentrum Aussersihl community center stands in the park, with the Restaurant Bäckeranlage inside. On summer days the lawns fill with young families from the surrounding streets.
Blatterwiese, which locals call Chinawiese after the Chinese Garden next door, is a wide lawn on the shore of Lake Zurich. Its fenced playground has a large sand area, a climbing wall, swings and water fountains for hot days.
Around it, families picnic, use the public grills nearby, kick a ball or swim in the lake, and a kiosk sells ice cream and cold drinks.
Irchelpark is a naturalistic park of about 32 hectares wrapped around the University of Zurich's Irchel campus. Paths loop past a lake with fish, ducks and herons, two streams, wildflower meadows and Monte Diggelmann, a small viewpoint hill.
Kids can play in the sand and boulder playground by the lake and follow the Irchel Nature Trail, whose 20 boards cover birds, frogs, bees and dragonflies.
GZ Buchegg is one of the city's community centers, a short walk over the footbridge from Bucheggplatz. Donkeys, ponies, llamas and goats live in pens that families can stop by and watch, and visitors can help with the morning feeding.
Inside there's a self-run play room, a café with homemade cake where nobody has to order, and a stage for dance and theater made for young audiences.
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.
A 5,500 m² city-run bike park on the Allmend Brunau, just south of Sihlcity, and the biggest of Zurich's public bike facilities.
The courses come in three difficulty levels: an Urban-BMX layout with two lines from a 4-meter start hill, a jump track with curves and bowls, a pump track with waves and banked turns, and a balance-bike track with gentle waves and curves for toddlers from age 2.
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.
