Zurich suits a kid who waves at every tram. The regular transit network climbs a hill by cogwheel railway, swings up to a ridge by cable car and crosses the lake by boat, most of it on an ordinary ZVV ticket. Add a depot of old trams to climb aboard and a spinning gondola a day trip away. Here's what we checked, from the Tram Museum to the lake boats.
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.
The museum fills the 1893 Burgwies depot, the city's oldest surviving tram depot, with original trams from 1897 to 1968. Kids can climb inside most of them, look at a tram from underneath, and see the motor through a glass floor.
For younger kids there's Cobralino, a pedal-powered tram they drive themselves, plus a big wooden railway, a model layout where kids run the trams, and a tram-sound piano.
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.
ZSG runs the public boats on Lake Zurich and the River Limmat: 17 ships calling at 31 landing stages, all part of the ZVV transit network. Lake round trips leave from the Bürkliplatz pier, from a short loop to a half-day cruise. River boats on the Limmat start at the Landesmuseum. The «ZSG Tour» audio guide app narrates the mini lake and river cruises.
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.
Sattel-Hochstuckli is a family mountain reached by Stuckli Rondo, a gondola whose cabins turn a full 360 degrees as they climb. At the top, kids cross the 374-meter Skywalk suspension bridge over the Laui Gorge, ride the 600-meter Stuckli Run toboggan through tunnels and banked curves, and bounce in Rondos Playland.
In winter the slopes switch to sledding, a ski lift and a learning area for young skiers.
Zurich suits a kid who waves at every tram. The regular transit network climbs a hill by cogwheel railway, swings up to a ridge by cable car and crosses the lake by boat, most of it on an ordinary ZVV ticket. Add a depot of old trams to climb aboard and a spinning gondola a day trip away. Here's what we checked, from the Tram Museum to the lake boats.
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.
The museum fills the 1893 Burgwies depot, the city's oldest surviving tram depot, with original trams from 1897 to 1968. Kids can climb inside most of them, look at a tram from underneath, and see the motor through a glass floor.
For younger kids there's Cobralino, a pedal-powered tram they drive themselves, plus a big wooden railway, a model layout where kids run the trams, and a tram-sound piano.
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.
ZSG runs the public boats on Lake Zurich and the River Limmat: 17 ships calling at 31 landing stages, all part of the ZVV transit network. Lake round trips leave from the Bürkliplatz pier, from a short loop to a half-day cruise. River boats on the Limmat start at the Landesmuseum. The «ZSG Tour» audio guide app narrates the mini lake and river cruises.
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.
Sattel-Hochstuckli is a family mountain reached by Stuckli Rondo, a gondola whose cabins turn a full 360 degrees as they climb. At the top, kids cross the 374-meter Skywalk suspension bridge over the Laui Gorge, ride the 600-meter Stuckli Run toboggan through tunnels and banked curves, and bounce in Rondos Playland.
In winter the slopes switch to sledding, a ski lift and a learning area for young skiers.
