15 Things to Do with Zurich Visitors

Friends in Zurich often ask me where to take their out-of-town guests, particularly grandparents that visit during the school holidays. They want them to have the best “Swiss” experience, while accommodating a range of budget and fitness levels.

So here is what I do with family and friends that come to visit us, where the priority is spending quality time together, while also showing off the charms of Switzerland. Below is a mix of classic Swiss nature outings, cultural experiences, and low key family fun. Enjoy!

1. Explore Zurich City

Don’t rush off to the mountains without showing off your adopted city. I usually do a short walking tour, often stopping at Sprüngli or Cafe 1842 for hot chocolate, For lunch, we’ll grab bratwurst at Sternen Grill, then ride up to Uetliberg for the views. For lots of ideas, see my Best Things to Do in Zurich, which has a a more detailed itinerary.

If your guests like history, we really like the Free Walk Zurich, which I’ve done a few times with family visitors and learned something new every time. If you want to be on your own, check out my Zurich City Walks for Families.

2. Visit a Swiss Chocolate Factory

No trip to Switzerland is complete without indulging in Swiss chocolate. As I’m sure you know, Lindt Home of Chocolate is very close to Zurich, even accessible by a short boat ride, making for more delightful excursion.

The Lindt museum is beautifully done, with lots of exhibits about the chocolate production process, history of chocolate, Swiss innovation and chocolate around the world. There are several stations where you can taste chocolate, including chocolate fountains and a wide selection of the famous Lindt truffle balls. A must do for any Zürich visitor. 

See my review of Lindt Home of Chocolate

If you’ve already visited Lindt, why not try another chocolate factory? We love Chocolarium near Appenzell. See our full list of Swiss chocolate experiences.

3. Visit the Zurich “Mountain”

No visit to Zurich is complete without a visit to Uetliberg, the highest point overlooking Zurich lake and the alps in the distance. You can simply take a short train ride to the top and climb the tower for the view.

Learn more about visiting Uetliberg.

You can also hike along the ridge on the Panorama Trail, which is stroller-friendly, has a couple playgrounds. If you have very active visitors, you can hike up Uetliberg.

We also like taking the Felsenegg cable car up and finding a nice place to build a fire and grill dinner with a view of the lake. This is a nice option to include a working parent in the evening, if they weren’t able to participate in your day trip.

4. Spectacular viewpoints near Zurich

Thankfully Switzerland has lots of mountain railways that enable you to enjoy amazing views of the Swiss alps without hiking. For my visitors, my top choices near Zurich would be Pilatus, Rigi, and Stoos.

If you don’t mind a long drive, you can visit the popular Jungfrau Region as a day trip from Zurich. For families with smaller kids, I take them to Mürren and visit the Allmendhübel flower park playground which has fantastic views of the Eiger and Jungfrau. With older kids, I would choose Grindelwald First, which has the cliff walk, amusements like zip lines and mountain scooters, plus a beautiful hike to the Bachalpsee.

See more Best views in Switzerland for non-hikers

5. Easy hikes near Zürich

Many visitors want the experience of hiking in the Swiss alps, but have limited time, budget or a low fitness level. Not to worry. There are lots of great short and easy hikes near Zurich with have amazing alpine views. Plus, they are much more affordable than the big and famous one and are usually not crowded at all.

For families with little kids and visitors with limited mobility, I like to take them to Flumserberg, which has a super easy flower trail with fantastic mountain views. Below is a picture with my 80+ year old grandmother, my aunt, and my 3 year old on the Flumserberg Flower Trail.

For adults and older children, I like Stoos and Chäserrugg, which both have short and relatively easy paths with fantastic views over the cliffs.  

See more of my Hikes for Beginners near Zurich.

6. Ballenberg Open-Air Museum – Experience Swiss history

Instead of shushing kids in a traditional museum, visit the open-air living museum at Ballenberg where buildings and landscapes from each region of Switzerland are condensed into one big park near Interlaken. There are often people dressed in traditional Swiss dress, making cheese or playing the alphorn. It has classic Swiss landscapes, gorgeous views and playgrounds and room to run for the kids. This place 

More details for Ballenberg

7. Castles & Museums

Save the famous Neuschwanstein for a long weekend and in the meantime, enjoy two delightful castles near Zurich, Kyburg or Lenzburg, with lots of history for the adults and fun interactive elements for the kids. Lenzburg has a whole children’s castle playhouse with dress-up costumes and a crafting area.

8. Cruise a lake

A relaxing lake cruise is a great way for visitors with mobility issues and little kids to enjoy the beauty of Switzerland without requiring a long walk. We like cruising Lake Lucerne the best, especially the section from Brunnen to Flüelen. If you want to add a hike, try the Swiss Path trail that parallels the lake shore.

Lake Thun is also very nice and can be combined with a stroll through the historic center of Thun or even a quick ride up one of the mountains that borders the lake like Niederhorn. 

9. Go swimming

Whether you swim in an alpine lake with a view, an elaborate indoor swimming pool, or a fancy thermal baths, chances are these experiences will be new and exciting for your visitors. This is also a nice break from sightseeing for the kids. For grandparents that aren’t so sporty, we love Sole Uno thermal baths, which has bubble pools for relaxing, scented steam rooms and a dead sea pool for quiet floating. Local to Zürich, we like the Türlersee for paddleboarding. For something extra special, we like the beautiful Caumasee for idyllic alpine lake swimming. For excitement, Alpemare is the closest indoor water slide park, with spa facilities for the older folks. Remind your visitors to pack a swimsuit, just in case.

See 10 Special Spots for Swimming in Switzerland

10. Stroll through Cute Towns

After living in Europe awhile, you may forget how fun it is for visitors simply to walk through an old European city. The roaring Rhein Falls and the nearby adorable town Stein am Rhein are a classic combo an hour north of Zurich. Kids will like the playground at the falls and ice cream in town.

See Cute Towns near Zurich

11. Visit France

Visitors love saying they visited more than one country. Within an hour or so drive of Zurich, you can be Germany, Austria or France. The ever popular Colmar is a great choice, especially in spring and summer when flower boxes are bursting all over town. We also love Strasbourg for more of a big city feel and the tiny, quiet, impossibly cute Eguisheim. Plus you get to eat real French croissants!

12. Drive the scenic route

If you can fit all your guests in the car, taking them on a scenic drive is both affordable and amazing. You can see so many beautiful things in Switzerland just from the car, many beautiful lakes and big mountain views. Our kids listen to audio books or have some screen time, while our visitors snap endless photos and tells us news from abroad.

We like to drive over the Klausenpass, which is one of the prettiest drive in Switzerland in my opinion. Lots of places to stop along the way for pictures. You can do a short detour to the Bergli waterfalls here. 

We also like this driving route loop that we often take from Zurich, driving over the Brünigpass to Interlaken, then returning over the Sustenpass. We usually include a hike or cable car ride in this trip, maybe in Meiringen, Brienzer Rothorn, or something in the Jungfrau Region.

13. Learn and play indoors

When the rain clouds gather, don’t despair. There are lots of fun indoor things to do as well. We often take visitors to Technorama, which has plenty to entertain and educate kids and adults, in English too. The interactive exhibits makes it easy for family visitors to play with our kids and get to know them better.

See all Rainy Day Ideas for Zurich Kids

14. Have lunch on a farm

Farms are a big part of Swiss culture, so it’s fun to see this life up close. We usually take Grandpa to Jucker Farm, a lovely tourist farm, with farm-fresh food, lots of play equipment, animals to pet, and a lovely view. It’s particularly nice in fall when they have the pumpkin festival.

15. Shop at a farmer’s market

I’m always a little surprised how much my visitors enjoy shopping at the farmer’s markets in downtown Zürich. Many of our visitors come from non-urban places, where shopping at an open-air market is not part of their lifestyle. So it seems a bit exotic. Plus it’s fun to show off your German skills, even if you are only A1 level. In Zürich city, the markets run on Tuesdays and Fridays at Helvetiaplatz and Bürkliplatz until 11:00. Best to bring cash.

Bonus: Just Hang Out

Sometimes visitors just like seeing a slice of your life. Living here, we forget how even the small details are delightful and strange to visitors unfamiliar with Switzerland. So we take walks around the neighborhood, hang out in our favorite parks, go grocery shopping, and take them on quiet outings that we do often with family in our regular life.

Where’s your favorite place to take visitors in Zurich?