You don’t need much to float down the mild rivers in Switzerland, like the Limmat flowing through Zurich. Lots of people just float on a flimsy swim tube or without anything.
But it’s safer and easier with a sturdy inflatable boat plus life vests and a few extras that will make your trip more convenient and comfortable. Here’s a list of equipment you’ll need, where to get it, and what to bring on the river.
Floating equipment
At a minimum, you need an inflatable boat, paddles, pump, life vests, and a dry bag. These supplies are available at all sports stores in Switzerland. Here’s the equipment we recommend.
1. Inflatable watercraft
You’ll need an inflatable boat, ring or other floating watercraft suitable for rivers. Pool toys generally are not sturdy enough and pop a leak too easily.
When the kids were younger, we use an inflatable boat big enough for the whole family. A boat allows the group to stay together, you can carry more supplies, and you can stay dry. But they are heavier to transport, best if you bring a trolley.
For a family of four, we prefer the Intex Excursion 5. We had Excursion 4 for a couple years but it felt to cramped when we were all in the boat.
Most boats come with paddles and a pump.
Purchase: Galaxus • 3 person boat on Ochsner Sport
Lounge Chairs
With adults and teenagers, we now to like to float on this Intex individual lounge chair. It’s very comfortable and you can stay quite dry if you want to. I like to bring a single paddle to help navigate.
Purchase: SportXX
2. Collapsible Trolley
If you plan to carry your deflated boat on public transportation (, we suggest buying a collapsible trolley to help us carry the deflated boat around. These coat around CHF 50-80. Our is very light and folds flat and small, which means we can take it on the boat with us and use it at the end of the float. Make sure yours can carry the weight of your boat.
Purchase: Galaxus
3. Air Pumps
Many boats come with a hand pump. But you may want to upgrade to an electric pump to make the process faster. If you are taking your equipment on the boat, you’ll want a small pump that fits in a dry bag.
We have the Intex QuickFill elecktro Pumpe that has enough charge for one boat and maybe a couple rings or loungers.
Purchase: Ochnser Sport
What to wear
If you float on a hot day, you’ll just need your swimsuits and life vests. As the sun went down, it got a bit chilly on the river. So my kids used the fleece jackets from the dry bag at the end of the float.
- swimsuit
- sun hat
- life vest
- water shoes
- dry clothing for after the float
4. Life Vests
Rivers can be dangerous, even if you are a good swimmer. In Zurich, you can get a fine if you are floating the river without a life vest. So best to have life vests for everyone in your group, especially children.
There are many different styles of life vests. Since our kids are older (over 10) and good swimmers, we bought the sport style on the right. For younger children, you should get the rescue style on the left, which includes head support and leg straps for extra safety. In German, these are called Schwimmweste or Rettungsweste.
Purchase on: Ochsner Sport
5. Water shoes
Unless you walk barefoot to the boat launch, you’ll need to bring your shoes in the boat with you. Since space in the dry bag is limited, there’s usually no space for shoes in the bag. I also don’t recommend having shoes loose in the bottom of the boat – too easy to lose.
So it’s best to wear a waterproof sandal that you can wear both walking to the river and during the float. Flip flops aren’t a good choice, since they can easily fall off your feet into the water. Traditional water shoes meant for boating aren’t ideal because you will also be walking around city streets and riding the train after the float.
We prefer hybrid water/hiking sandals like the Keen Newport. Our family has had several pairs of these over the years and have been very happy with them. These sandals also come in kid sizes.
Purchase: Ochsner Sport
6. Sun protection
Although you many occasionally get the water, you’ll probably spend most of the float in the boat and in the sun. The Zurich Limmat float is about two hours, which can be a long time for your skin to be exposed. So it’s important to apply sunscreen and bring sunglasses and a brimmed hat.
You may also like a swimshirt/rash guard to protect your shoulders and arms. Or perhaps a thin scarf or towel to drape over your arms/legs if the sun gets too intense.
7. Dry clothing
You’ll need to have dry clothing for before and after the float. Make sure to wear/bring non-bulky items, since everything will need to fit in the dry bag.
Since we typically ride public transportation after the float, we prefer to change out of wet swimsuits so we don’t drip all the way home. So better to bring underwear to change into after the float instead of planning to towel dry and wear your suit under your clothes.
What to bring on the river
You shouldn’t bring much on the boat because space is limited and lots of gear can make the ride uncomfortable. For our family of four, we brought:
- a large dry bag with two small towels, dry clothes, phones, keys, money,
- small soft side cooler with drinks and snacks
- small bag with waterproof camera, bluetooth speaker and sunscreen
Here are some suggestions on what to bring.
8. Dry Bags
You must have a dry bag to carry your clothes and valuables. We prefer a “swimming buoy,” which is a dry sack that partially inflates. It’s meant for triathlon swimmers who want to drag the bag behind them in the water.
But it also works great for dragging behind a boat or just peace of mind knowing it will float if it falls out of the boat.
Purchase: Decathlon
9. Microfiber towels
After the float, you’ll need to dry both your body and the boat before packing it up. We bring these thin microfiber towels, which roll small enough to pack in a dry bag.
Purchase: Galaxus
10. Softside cooler
You’ll probably want to bring drinks and snacks for the float. We like a soft sided cooler, which doesn’t hurt when it bumps against your feet and legs.
If you are just bringing a few drinks, you can get a small cooler, about 4-8L. But we prefer a 30L cooler that can fit drinks and snacks, keeping things cool and dry in case water comes overboard. To maximize room in the boat, we find it better to get a taller cooler than a wider one.
Purchase: Galaxus
11. Waterproof speaker
We liked having music on the boat, so we bring a waterproof speaker. We used to have a UE Boom 2, which we really liked. But last summer, it fell in the river and doesn’t work reliably anymore, even though it was waterproof.
Now we like the JBL Clip 4, which is small and can easily clip onto the boat, or dry bag.
Purchase: Galaxus
12. Waterproof phone/camera pouch
You will probably want to take photos and videos of your adventure. So make sure to bring a waterproof pouch with strap for your phone, preferably one that floats.
We would like to have the highly rated CaliCase Universal Floating Waterproof Pouch. But we can’t order it in Switzerland. So we settled for the JOTO 2, which has good reviews but doesn’t float.
We have a GoPro camera and bought a waterproof case and float-able handle, which the kids loved using.
Ready to float? Get details for floating down the Zürich Limmat River.
