This little zoo is designed for young children with shows, rides and playground, particularly good for the under-6 crowd. It’s much smaller than Zurich Zoo, but focuses on the animals that small kids are interested in and makes it easy to see them and get up close. We’ve been many times over the years and my kids always had a great time.
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| Location: | Zurich Region |
| Address: | Oberseestrasse 36 CH-8640 Rapperswil CH |
| Car: | 30 mins from Zurich Parking GPS: 47°13’26.9″N 8°49’29.5″E |
| Train: | 45 mins Zürich HB to Rapperswil, then 500m walk Adult return with half-fare CHF 8.60 |
| Open: | early March through end of October, open daily 9:00-18:00 |
| Tickets (2018): | Adult CHF 22, Child age 4+ CHF 8, under 4 free |
| More info: | www.knieskinderzoo.ch |
Visit the animals
They have a mix of traditional zoo animals like elephants, giraffes, zebras, camels, birds, and monkeys as well as farm animals like donkeys, goats, and chickens. Since the place is small, you can easily see all the animals in a hour, depending on your child’s interest.
There are interactive educational signboards scattered around the park.
Feed the animals
You can purchase popcorn to feed some of the animals. Twice a day you can feed the camels and elephants (shown below) with the food (like apples) provided free of charge to guests. It’s a mad rush, so get to the animal enclosure a bit before feeding time. On this bizarre page, you can pay the upkeep for one of their animals, for example, CHF10,000 for one year for one of their elephants.
Animal Shows
The sea lion show (three times a day, no extra fee) is always a big hit, even if it’s small and short. The seats can fill up quickly, so go early if your kids want to sit in the very front.
The Playground
The older my kids got, the less time they spent with the animals and the more time they spent on the playground. The big playground has slides, water play, and lots to climb on. It can get crowded on weekends and holidays and a little dangerous for very little kids, so stay close by.
Animal Rides
The animal rides are very popular and only run during specified time windows. So plan to line up 15 minutes or so before it opens to make sure you get in. Your kids (and you) can ride camels, elephants, ponies, and a tiny “train” that circles the park. This is a big thrill for the little ones. Each ride costs a couple francs in cash, so come with lots of change and set expectations with your kids beforehand to minimize the damage.
The Kinderzoo offers a few special tours and animal encounters, like “Breakfast with the monkeys.” See this page for details (in English). They also organize birthday parties. I’ve been told that unlike the Zurich zoo, the Kinderzoo will do parties for kids under 6 years old.
Food
There are a couple cafes with the typical pricey fare. Picnics are allowed and there are plenty of picnic areas with tables.
Prices
In 2018, it costs CHF19/adult and CHF6/child 4+. Also, the animal rides are a couple francs each, which adds up pretty quickly. I find this price a little steep, but it’s probably worth it once a year if you have little kids. Zurich Zoo is a bit more expensive, but is much larger with more animals. If you can only choose one, I would probably go with Zurich Zoo.
Getting There
The Kinderzoo is in Rapperswil, easily reachable by car or public transportation.
By car: Drive to Rapperswil and follow signs to Knies Kinderzoo Oberseestrasse 36
CH-8640 Rapperswil. There are a couple large metered parking lots adjacent to the park.
By public transport: Take a train to Rapperswil, Bahnhof. The park is a short walk from the Rapperswil train station, no need to take a bus.
