How — and why — to do a family holiday in Zürich

This article is part of FT Globetrotter’s guide to Zürich

“Why Zürich?” friends asked with surprise, when I announced where my family and I were going for a summer holiday. “Isn’t it a cripplingly expensive business destination?” This preconception is what keeps this stunning lakeside Swiss city from being overrun, so I was reluctant to disabuse them of it.

In the height of summer, the city empties out. Many Zürchers (as Zürich’s inhabitants are known) and their families head to the Alps or to the canton of Ticino, Switzerland’s riviera, and business travel thins out. There are tourists, of course, but they are usually of the genteel variety, passing through the town for a night or two on a wider tour of the country. 

In summer, the city transforms into a civilised watery playground, with most activities centred around Lake Zürich and the river Limmat

In July and August the city transforms into a civilised watery playground, with most activities centred around Lake Zürich and the river Limmat, which meanders through the city centre. Weather-wise, temperatures rarely exceed 28C — a more clement alternative to the scorching Med. The lake itself heats up to 25-27C too, so you are essentially vacationing on an enormous, crystal-clear, heated swimming pool. You can virtually drink the water it is so clean, and, unlike the Med, there are no jellyfish. Only on certain days is a warning issued that there may be a slick of sunscreen residue, so it is best not to gulp down too much. 

There is no getting away from the fact that Zürich is an eye-wateringly pricey city, but if you are happy to picnic by the water, take public transport and choose your accommodation wisely, it is no more wallet-threatening than, say, London. And, unlike London, everything is just a short tram ride away, which is all part of the fun. 

Getting around

A Zürich Card is your key to the city. A 72-hour card costs SFr56 (roughly $68/£51), and SFr37 ($45/£33) for children (although those under six go free), allowing you to whizz around the extensive tram network, on buses (although why you would take a bus when you can take an absurdly punctual tram, I don’t know), trains and boats. It includes access to lake and river cruises, and the cableway up to Uetliberg — the 870-metre mini mountain towering over the city — as well as the train journey to and from the airport. Any young transport enthusiasts will probably find flexing their Zürich Card the best part of the trip. 

The card also gives you free access to various museums, including the Tram Museum, the Fifa Museum and the Kunsthalle art museum, as well as discounts to the WOW Museum of illusions, the Lindt Home of Chocolate and various restaurants. It also entitles you to a 50 per cent discount on e-bike tours, which are more suitable for teens than little ones. 

How to buy: Visit the Zürich City Guide App (a good companion to your trip), zuerich.com or the tourist office in the Hauptbahnhof, or buy at a ticket machine. You just have to specify your start date. 

Lake and river activities

Zürich in summer is all about its numerous Badis, the city’s open-air public swimming spots, situated on Lake Zürich and on the river Limmat. You will be able to lay your towel out on either decking or on a small beach (there are shady areas on each), and there are toilets and (immaculate) changing facilities — all this for a small entry fee that is far less than a sun umbrella and a lounger on an Italian beach, and you can bring a picnic and stick around all day if you like. A designated swimming area in the lake or river is cordoned off from boats. Some even have floating platforms you can swim to and sunbathe on. Many have very good cafés or even licensed bars. 

Each Badi is its own fascinating scene and, whatever your persuasion, there is one for you. 

For children of all ages

Strandbad Mythenquai

• Opening times: Daily, 7am-8pm

• How to get there: No 7 tram from Bahnhofstrasse towards Wollishofen

• Cost: Adults, SFr8; ages 16-19, SFr6; ages 6-15, SFr4

• Website; Directions

This lakeside spot, with its 250m-long sandy beach backing on to a grassy picnic and play area, is family-friendly heaven (and, unlike the other Badis listed below, is ideal for shallow pootling). Bring a picnic — or even raw sausages for the communal barbecue area — and make a day of it. There is something for everyone: table tennis, diving platforms of various heights and even a rental depot for paddleboards (see below).

For adults and teens

Seebad Enge

• Opening times: Daily, 8am-8pm

• How to get there: No 11 tram from Hauptbhanhof to Bürkliplatz, then No 5 to Rentenanstalt

• Cost: SFr8

• Website; Directions

This floating platform, accessed via a walkway from the shore, is a hip hangout on the lake, as well as a spot for serious swimmers. The latter can pound up and down the 44-metre swimming lanes or swim around the roped-off open-water area, while sun worshippers can tussle for decking space around the mixed-sex pool, where tattoos and eye-popping swimwear are mandatory. There is also a women-only area. A kiosk café offers everything from mojitos to salads and regular barbecues in the evening. Check the website for yoga, shiatsu, massage — and a seasonal sauna. 

For grown-ups, older children and thrill-seekers

Flussbad Oberer Letten

• Opening times: Daily, 9am-8pm

• How to get there: No 17 tram from Hauptbahnhof 

• Cost: Free entry

• Website; Directions

One of the reasons I wanted to come to Zürich in summer in the first place was to witness the Swiss summer river commute: locals stripping down to their swimwear after work, shoving their belongings — laptop and phone included — into a waterproof float bag and jumping into the Limmat, allowing the fast-flowing current to whisk them home. This phenomenon, which also happens in Bern and Basel (and which went viral on social media last year), has to be seen to be believed. In the summer months, the river is full of brightly coloured bobbing bags attached to swimmers opting for a leisurely float back to their apartments rather than a tram ride. 

Beginner commuters shouldn’t just dive in anywhere, however. Best to stick to the designated river swimming areas, such as Flussbad Oberer Letten, and its equivalent on the other side, Flussbad Unterer Letten. These Brutalist concrete sunbathing terraces and diving platforms, with steps down into the river dotted along the bank, were built by Elsa Burckhardt-Blum in the style of “hygienic modernism”. Today, in the summer months, both facilities teem with locals of all ages hanging out in groups, sunbathing, playing cards, drinking beer or reading books from a selection of donated book boxes. 

Strong swimmers and older children will delight in heading to one end of the 400-metre-long swimming area and letting the current swoosh them down to the exit point (look out for the sign for the hydroelectric plant, and make sure you get out before!) and do it all again. 

For grown-ups in need of a civilised break

Seebad Utoquai 

• Opening times: Daily, 7am-9pm (check before you go)

• How to get there: No 4 tram from Hauptbahnhof

• Cost: Adults, SFr8; ages 16-19, SFr6; over six, SFr4

• Website; Directions

A much-loved lakeside swim spot since 1890, Seebad Utoquai has a distinctly grown-up feel. Lounge in the central area on the sun-warmed wooden decking with a glass of rosé from the café-bar, or head to the male- or female-only upper terraces. Access to the water is from a diving board or down steps, and you can swim out to rafts or bask in a small internal pool. There is also a seasonal sauna, and you can book a massage too. 

Paddleboarding

Experiencing the still of the lake from a paddleboard is a summer must. As total beginners, my family and I opted for an hour-long private paddleboarding lesson with SupKultur at Strandbad Mythenquai. Life-jacketed up, we heaved our four-metre boards into the water, while our young instructor gave us an elementary lesson in getting on and off, and how to stand. I fully expected to spend most of our time in the water but, within 20 minutes, we were gingerly paddling across the lake, occasionally slipping in, but often just to cool down. As with all balancing activities, the children were more adept than my husband and I, our cores working overtime, but it was a surprisingly bonding experience overall. 

For skilled paddlers, SupKultur also rents out boards by the hour at Mythenquai, Strandbad Tiefenbrunen and Seebad Utoquai for SFr35 ($43/£31) an hour for adults and SFr25 ($30/£22) for children.

Animals, illusions, chocolate and a spot of art

Zoo Zürich

Zürichbergstrasse 221, 8044 Zürich

• Opening times: Daily, 9am-6pm (March–October) and 9am-5pm (November-February),

• How to get there: 17 minutes from the city centre on the No 6 tram

• Cost: Adults, from SFr31 ($38/£28); ages 13-17, from SFr26 ($32/£23); ages 6-12, SFr17 ($20/£15); under six, free

• Website; Directions

Zoos are often divisive destinations — kids generally love them, and parents generally . . . don’t. However, there are zoos and there are zoos, and befitting such a well-run and affluent city, Zoo Zürich is a cut above. It delivers a dose of welcome exoticism in the form of 6,000 animals in a 27-hectare space that is — of course — reachable by tram from the city centre. Thanks to donations, entry fee and other fundraising activities, the zoo also donates 2.5mn Swiss francs each year to endangered ecosystems in a range of eight locations, from Sumatra to the Antarctic.

The star attraction is the Kaeng Krachan Elephant Park, where eight Asian elephants live in a temperate habitat under a giant latticed wooden dome designed by Swiss architects Markus Schietsch, with numerous watering holes and indoor and outdoor pools for bathing. It is, as my children remarked, much nicer than various glamping sites we have been to. My favourite area, however, was the Lewa Savanna enclosure, where white rhinos, zebras and giraffes rub alongside one another in a vast open space. In the summer heat, I felt temporarily transported. 

Allow a half day to stroll around. No need to bring a picnic here — tasty food is available from the various kiosks around the site, with food and decor themed to match each area, such as the Australian enclosure or the African savanna. There are water refilling stations as you go. 

WOW Museum

Werdmühlestrasse 10, 8001 Zürich

• Opening times: Sunday-Thursday, 9am-8pm; Friday-Saturday, 9am-10pm

• Cost: Adults, SFr23 ($28/£21); students, SFr19 ($23/£17); ages 6-16, SFr16 ($20/£14); family ticket, SFr73 ($89/£66). See website for other offers

• Website; Directions

This illusion museum is fun for an hour or so, and so close to the Hauptbahnhof and shopping areas that you can incorporate it into your first or last day. Parents of a dizzy disposition should beware — I found the optical trickery in the 12 illusion rooms overwhelming, from dimension-shifting spaces (where your children will enjoy appearing bigger than you) to freaky mirrors, but the amusing photo opportunities make it worthwhile. 

Lindt Home of Chocolate

Schokoladenplatz 1, 8802 Kilchberg

• Opening times: Daily, 10am-7pm

• How to get there: Boat (short lake cruise 3731) or electric bus (line 165) from Bürkliplatz

• Cost: Adults, SFr17 ($21/£15); students, SFr15 ($18/£13.50); ages 8-15, SFr10 ($12/£9); under eight, free

• Website; Directions

A trip to the Lindt mothership is mandatory — at least, you will not be forgiven if you try to swerve it. You can get there easily by boat or train, and once inside the huge and pristine white building, you can easily kill a diverting couple of hours learning about the history of chocolate and the journey from bean to bar — particularly the milky Swiss kind. There are no opportunities to leap into chocolate rivers, but you do get to snaffle a few Lindors away into your pocket. Warning to parents and their credit cards: at the end you will encounter a 500-square-metre chocolate shop.

Book in advance, in case of a coachload of school kids. There are workshops too. The latest? “Design Your Own Dubai Chocolate”, of course.

Kunsthaus Zürich

Heimplatz 1, 8001 Zürich

• Opening times: Tuesday-Wednesday and Friday-Sunday, 10am-6pm; Thursday, 10am-8pm

• How to get there: Five minutes from the city centre on the no3 tram from Hauptbahnhof

• Cost: Adults, from SFr24 ($29/£21); children under 14 go free

• Website; Directions

Once you have done the zoo and WOW, you could argue it is time for a grown-up museum. The Kunsthaus, with its extraordinary treasure trove of works and stunning David Chipperfield extension, is simply unmissable — and, even on a rainy afternoon, was surprisingly quiet. 

The Kunsthaus is Switzerland’s largest art museum: smaller visitors may tire easily so targeting an era is wise. I made a mistake thinking my 12- and nine-year-old children would be enthralled by the Rothkos and Pollocks, whereas they were far more taken with the Impressionists. But most of all they loved “Turicum Pixelwald”, the immersive colour and light installation by Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist, where you can sit on the floor and let the magical changing LED display wash over you. The museum’s two shops are full of tempting, tasteful merchandise and design items, with prices to match. 

Mountain adventures

A trip up Uetliberg, Zürich’s own personal mountain

A visit to the city’s very own ridged peak, with its splendid views over the city and the lake and beyond, is an easy win. For parents desperate to get their children to stretch their legs, you can lure them to the mountain’s Planet Trail, where the planets are spread out along an easy two-hour trail, with each metre representing 1km in the solar system. Time your trip for a sundowner at the Uto Kulm hotel, a snazzy outpost at the top of the mountain with a celebratory feel. Our visit was perfectly timed for a dramatic thunderstorm. 

A day trip to Mount Rigi and a cheese farm

For a taste of the Heidi life, you can take a stunning 40-minute train journey from Zürich Hauptbahnhof past shimmering lakes to Mount Rigi, known as “Queen of the Mountains” thanks to the incredible panoramic views of surrounding peaks and valleys (although on our visit it was shrouded in cloud — check the online webcam before you plan to go). From Arth-Goldau station, take the cogwheel train — Europe’s oldest mountain railway — through the forest and past houses that could belong to the Alm-Uncle himself, all the way to Rigi Kulm, a station with café and gift shop at 1,800 metres. From here you can hike or, as we did, take a gentle downhill stroll to Chaserenholz, a rustic cheese farm that offers child-friendly tours of the cheesemaking process and serves cheese-tasting platters, fondue and other dairy delights. 

Where to eat

For picnics, you will find supermarkets dotted all over the city, as well as excellent bakeries and seasonal markets where you can pick up everything you need — and don’t forget a chocolatey treat from the Lindt & Sprüngli café in Paradeplatz. And, of course, you are never far away from a Swiss army knife to cut your sausage and cheese with. But for the odd meal out, these restaurants below were exceptionally good and worth the CHFs. 

Blowout Bavarian

Lindenhofkeller

This historic French-Swiss institution reopened as a “modern Bavarian restaurant” under chef Sebastian Roesch in 2022. On fine evenings, dine in the pretty internal courtyard and order the brotzeit — a grazing smorgasbord of breads, raw-milk butter, pickled greens, cold cuts, beef tartare and an array of small salads. I guarantee a family fight over the chef’s speciality — huge, chewy flavoursome pretzels — served with a smoked Camembert dip and, for adults, washed down with a glass of Zürich Weinland Pinot Noir. Pfalzgasse 4, 8001 Zürich. Website; Directions

Elevated vegetarian

Neue Taverne

This top-notch restaurant in Zürich’s old town is serious about vegetables, herbs and foraged plants. So serious that it earned a Michelin star, but it wears its accolade lightly. We sat in the cobbled square under sun umbrellas and next to a couple of Swiss bankers discussing the cost of their wives’ plastic surgery — a fascinating spot of eavesdropping for younger and older ears alike. Don’t miss the “Caviar of the Field” mushroom dish with finger lime and egg yolk, or — if in season — the white asparagus with truffle vinaigrette. Glockengasse 8, 8001 Zürich. Website; Directions

Low-key family friendly

Oh My Greek

This was not the sort of easy-going place I expected to find in Zürich — but it was just the ticket after a long day of museums and paddleboarding when good behaviour could not be relied on. Go for the souvlaki and fluffy pitta made from a 1957 Athenian recipe. Various locations, including takeaway only. Website

Have you taken your family on holiday to Zürich? Share your tips in the comments below. And follow FT Globetrotter on Instagram at @FTGlobetrotter

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