New in town and no German yet? A good family day here runs on doing, not reading: animals up close, science you can touch, trampolines, treetop ropes and a boat on the lake. Kids join in by watching, whatever language the signs are in. Here's what we checked, from the swimming elephants at Zoo Zürich to the forest rink at Dolder.
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.
Technorama is a hands-on science center where most exhibits are built to touch and try. Kids spin tops and pendulums in Mechanikum, kick and crank wooden marble runs, play with magnets and currents, and build machines from everyday materials in Tinkering.
Staffed labs let kids run their own chemistry, physics and biology experiments, and an outdoor park opens from late March to late October.
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 football museum on three floors, right by Bahnhof Enge. Kids stand next to the original FIFA World Cup Trophy, walk along a 35-meter rainbow of national-team shirts from all 211 FIFA member associations, and watch World Cup finals footage on a 180-degree cinema screen.
The visit ends at a giant pinball where kids test their ball skills in five games and chase a spot on the leaderboard.
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.
FLIP LAB Zürich is a trampoline and freestyle hall with 12 zones. Kids warm up, then move between a bungee zone with a harness, an airbag for first flips, a ninja course, a dodgeball court, basketball hoops for trampoline dunks, a wall walk and a trampoline parkour course. Instructors stay on the floor and explain the hall rules before each session. Parents can watch from a terrace overlooking the hall.
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.
Alpamare is a water park on the shore of Lake Zurich with 12 slides, from the Triple Slide in the toddler area to the pitch-dark Thriller tube. The wave pool sends waves over 1.2 meters high every half hour, and the outdoor Rio Mare pool has a current to float along.
The 200 m² toddler area has small slides, a paddling pool, a spraying turtle and a tipping water bucket.
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.
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.
One of Switzerland's largest open-air ice rinks, 6,000 square meters set in the Dolderwald forest. There is room for free skating, ice hockey and Chneble, and you can try Bavarian curling or Lättlischiessen. Rental skates, free kids' helmets and polar bear skating aids help beginners.
Ice discos run with live DJ sets, and a self-service restaurant and winter market sit beside the ice.
Switzerland's oldest zoo, founded in 1869, is also the country's largest by area. It keeps 19 native and formerly native mammal species in large, near-natural forest enclosures: brown bears, wolves, lynx, moose, European bison, Przewalski's horses, wild boar, ibex, otters and marmots.
Between enclosures there are two playgrounds, one with swings and a zip line and a smaller one with climbing for young children.
New in town and no German yet? A good family day here runs on doing, not reading: animals up close, science you can touch, trampolines, treetop ropes and a boat on the lake. Kids join in by watching, whatever language the signs are in. Here's what we checked, from the swimming elephants at Zoo Zürich to the forest rink at Dolder.
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.
Technorama is a hands-on science center where most exhibits are built to touch and try. Kids spin tops and pendulums in Mechanikum, kick and crank wooden marble runs, play with magnets and currents, and build machines from everyday materials in Tinkering.
Staffed labs let kids run their own chemistry, physics and biology experiments, and an outdoor park opens from late March to late October.
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 football museum on three floors, right by Bahnhof Enge. Kids stand next to the original FIFA World Cup Trophy, walk along a 35-meter rainbow of national-team shirts from all 211 FIFA member associations, and watch World Cup finals footage on a 180-degree cinema screen.
The visit ends at a giant pinball where kids test their ball skills in five games and chase a spot on the leaderboard.
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.
FLIP LAB Zürich is a trampoline and freestyle hall with 12 zones. Kids warm up, then move between a bungee zone with a harness, an airbag for first flips, a ninja course, a dodgeball court, basketball hoops for trampoline dunks, a wall walk and a trampoline parkour course. Instructors stay on the floor and explain the hall rules before each session. Parents can watch from a terrace overlooking the hall.
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.
Alpamare is a water park on the shore of Lake Zurich with 12 slides, from the Triple Slide in the toddler area to the pitch-dark Thriller tube. The wave pool sends waves over 1.2 meters high every half hour, and the outdoor Rio Mare pool has a current to float along.
The 200 m² toddler area has small slides, a paddling pool, a spraying turtle and a tipping water bucket.
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.
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.
One of Switzerland's largest open-air ice rinks, 6,000 square meters set in the Dolderwald forest. There is room for free skating, ice hockey and Chneble, and you can try Bavarian curling or Lättlischiessen. Rental skates, free kids' helmets and polar bear skating aids help beginners.
Ice discos run with live DJ sets, and a self-service restaurant and winter market sit beside the ice.
Switzerland's oldest zoo, founded in 1869, is also the country's largest by area. It keeps 19 native and formerly native mammal species in large, near-natural forest enclosures: brown bears, wolves, lynx, moose, European bison, Przewalski's horses, wild boar, ibex, otters and marmots.
Between enclosures there are two playgrounds, one with swings and a zip line and a smaller one with climbing for young children.
