After visiting Switzerland with kids multiple times- Here are the things I wish I would’ve known ahead of time
1. Don’t Overpack
Everyone says this but no, seriously, you WILL thank yourself later. No matter what town you choose as your base, you will have to do some traveling by train or bus. Most people get around Switzerland by train, bus, and mountain lifts. Lugging heavy suitcases up and down platforms (sometimes with short transfer times) is stressful.
Smaller bags = easier to hop on/off quickly.
Villages often have steep hills or cobbled lanes where rolling heavy bags isn’t practical. Light luggage means less sweat getting to your hotel. On our last trip, we were traveling around Europe for 15 days and so each of my kids had a backpack and then we shared a small roller bag and having even all of that and a stroller (which we had collapsed) was a lot to lug around. When getting off the train in Wengen, we had to make 2 trips from the train station and I thought we packed light.
PRO TIP: If you are planning to do a long trip like we did, book a rental with a washer/dryer in the middle of the trip so you can wash clothes! This really saved us.
2. What to actually need to pack
This is one of the most asked questions when planning a trip to Switzerland. The weather can be very unpredictable and can also change dramatically in one day. I have joked that you can experience all four seasons in one day in Switzerland.
The weather at the bottom of mountain can be 80 degrees and sunny vs the top of the mountain could be 55 degrees and windy/cloudy.
With this being said, it is important to pack and wear layers. We recently visited in August and would wear leggings with a short sleeve shirt and a zip up athletic jacket with a rain jacket over. When you leave first thing in the morning, if you are at the bottom of the mountain it might feel warm and you will think you don’t need pants or a jacket but when you get to the top of the mountain you will be cold at some point and thankful you wore layers. One morning, when we got off the mountain train to the top of Mount Rigi I had 3 layers on and was still cold (but within the hour and the sun came out and it got so much better).
But the time we were mid hike or into the afternoon, I would be taking off layers to put in my hiking backpack. Same with my kids, although they tend to run warmer I would also make sure I had a jacket packed for them.
Packing Checklist:
🥾Hiking boots or very comfortable sneakers
🧥Rain jacket
🌂Umbrella
🧦Extra socks
🔌Travel phone charger
⛲️Reusable water bottle (alpine water is actually safe and very fresh)
🕶️Sunglasses
🧢Hat (baseball cap or warm winter hat (even in the summer months)
3. Using Meteo Swiss & Mountain Cams
As previously discussed, the weather at the bottom of mountain can be warm and sunny vs the top of the mountain could be 55 degrees and cloud covered. Mountain weather is unpredictable—clouds, rain, or snow can hide famous peaks like the Matterhorn so it’s best to be prepared and to check ahead of time.
Something I have learned when visiting through asking locals is that the normal weather apps (from our iPhones or other U.S. based apps) are not extremely accurate because you cannot put “top of Matterhorn mountain” to get accurate weather. These are the two best resources I use when it comes to weather in Switzerland.
1. MeteoSwiss: An app and website from the Federal Office for Meteorology in Switzerland. This has always been the most accurate when looking at the weather forecast for the day and the radar. You can also see the radar from the top of the mountain or the bottom of the mountain - which is critical! You can also see everything from cloud cover to wind. I used this everyday when we visited Switzerland.
2. Mountain Cameras: You can google the mountain you are planning to visit and then mountain camera. From there you will be able to see the visibility and current conditions at the top of that mountain. This is actually very important because you might get all the way to the top of Grindelwald and then not be able to see almost anything because of the clouds so you can plan around that using this.
4. The playgrounds are definitely worth the trip
Not everyone knows how amazing the playgrounds truly are here. It’s tempting to focus only on “big” sights (Jungfraujoch, Matterhorn), but kids often remember the mountain scooters, themed trails, playgrounds, marble runs, or swimming in lakes more than the famous peaks. The nice thing is you can see all of these famous sights while doing the other stuff when traveling around.
There are 2 playgrounds that are standouts and that we definitely knew we wanted to go to that we actually planned some of our days around visiting them & I am sooo incredibly happy we did. My kids still ask when we are going back to these playgrounds.
1. Männlichen Playground: Nestled high in the Swiss Alps, and day trip to Männlichen is the perfect adventure for every age (when we visited, we had my parents (70 and 68), and my three kids (2, 6 and 8) in our group and everyone was more than able to hike and enjoy the views! The cow playground specifically you can spend 2-3 hours here with your kids and not be bored! There is so much to see and do without even counting a hike. We also got to pet cows that were wondering around outside of the playground with cowbells on. My kids loved watching them graze the fields and even pet them!
Things to do in Männlichen:
👑 Royal Walk to the mountain vista for 360° views
🐄 Cow playground
⛰️ Mountain hut restaurant
🥾Hiking trails
2. Allmendhubel Flower Park Playground: Located just outside of Mürren, Switzerland. After just a short walk through town and then a funicular ride up to Allmendhubel, you will reach this park, which offers both a flower trail, water sprays, a zip line and all- wood playground. There is also a mountain hut restaurant and clean bathrooms onsite. You can easily spend an entire afternoon here exploring (we spent 4 hours).
Things to do when visiting Allmendhubel in the Jungfrau region of Switzerland:
🌻 Flower trail
🌳 All wood interactive playground
⛰️ Mountain hut restaurant
🚂 Funicular ride
🥾Hiking trails
Read our Full Blog on the Best Playgrounds and Hikes with Kids in the Swiss Alps.
5. You don’t need to rent a car
Switzerland is one of the easiest countries in Europe to get around—its transport is famously reliable, clean, and scenic. The best way depends on your budget, itinerary, and whether you want speed, scenery, or flexibility. But you can use trains, buses, cable cars, funiculars and even boats to get around.
Some of the mountain towns are even CAR-FREE, meaning you can’t get there by car or bring a car there. You park your car and then take a mountain train up to these towns like Wengen and Murren.
Rental cars are expensive and so not having to rent one or pay for parking, gas, etc will save you ALOT of money.
6. Get one of the Swiss Travel Passes
Option 1: The Swiss Travel Pass has unlimited travel on trains, boats and busses for 3–15 consecutive days, depending on the pass you buy. It includes free entry to 500+ museums and full coverage on some mountain routes. Better if you’re traveling almost daily around Switzerland and moving around a lot.
Pricing: This can be very pricey, but remember you are using this to get up and down the mountains and get from one city to another.
1 Adult- 3 day pass: 244 Swiss Franc.
1 Adult- 6 day pass: 279 Swiss Franc.
** The best ting to do is take into account how much of these transportation you will take and how many days you will be there to know what to get. Go onto www.sbb.ch/en to read about all of the options for the very best pricing. You do not have to buy this ahead of time but it is helpful if you do so when you land you can immediately start using it!
Option 2: (What we got) The Swiss Half Fare Card is a travel pass that allows you to purchase tickets for trains, buses, boats, and most mountain transport in Switzerland at 50% off. It’s best if you want flexibility without committing to a continuous travel pass.
Pricing: 120 Swiss Franc and is good for 1 month (30 consecutive days) from the first day of use. You can use it on almost everything from trains, buses, boats, mountain cable cars and funiculars. Even if you only plan to be there for 1-2 weeks this can still be worth it!
IMPORTANT NOTE: The Swiss Family Card lets children 6-16 travel free of charge when accompanied by at least one parent with a valid Swiss Travel Pass or Swiss Half Fare Card. You receive the Swiss Family Card free of charge when you purchase a Swiss Travel Pass or Swiss Half Fare Card.
7. Resources to use when planning your trip
When starting to plan a trip, the most overwhelming part can be starting. I like to listen to a travel podcast when cooking dinner or driving to get my gears going and get excited about it! I personally love planning but I know not everyone does. I have done so much research on traveling to Switzerland and these are the top resources that I have personally found and LOVED using when planning my trip.
- Swiss Family Fun: Their website gives you all the practical information you need before going to Switzerland. I personally loved how they broke down how long family-friendly hikes realistically take when including stops and having kids with you,
-Holidays to Switzerland: I found this podcast to be extremely helpful in planning our trip to Switzerland. It covers everything you could have questions about and the episode “What to know before your first trip to Switzerland” is extremely helpful in where to start on planning your trip. They also have a website with so much more information and even a FREE travel planning kit and guide to get you started!
-Rick Steves Forum: This is a great resource when going to plan any trip! I have bought Rick Steves books before planning to travel to so many countries and have used and LOVED them. I found this forum on Switzerland before our most recent trip and found it helpful on everything from knowing what to pack for a specific region to where to decide to go depending on what you want to do.
-My Swiss Alps: This website has clear travel tips and sample itineraries when visiting Switzerland. I personally like how they give you very budget friendly options of not only activities but accommodations and just overall how to save money when going to one of the most expensive counties in the world.
8. Overpacking Your Itinerary
Switzerland looks small on a map, but mountains make travel so much slower. Trying to squeeze in Zermatt, Jungfrau, Lucerne, and Ticino in a week will leave everyone exhausted. Especially with kids, it best to pick 2–3 bases and explore from there. Stay in each town for at least 2-3 nights. This will save you from having to pack up your things every other day and move around. It’s also easy to explore another town nearby by taking a train or boat and making it a day trip.
For this, I say quality over quantity. Choose one or two regions you want to stay in and explore from there. Constant packing/unpacking eats into time and energy that could be spent exploring and will also save you from a meltdown or two when you are already moving around a lot.
-> Stay in - Mountain town: Wengen
From here you can travel by train or cable car to Murren, Grindelwald, & Laterbrunnen all within an hour or less and can be a day or afternoon trip.
-> Stay in - Lake town: Lugano
From here you can travel by boat or train to Gandria, Morcote, & Como all within an hour.
Read our itinerary on The Ultimate 10 days in Switzerland with Kids.
9. Build in rest times for you and your kids
We are into planning ahead but we are also a go with the flow family - meaning we like to pick one thing each day to focus on and go from there on how our energy is, We will usually pick one thing we know we want to do that day and have that planned out. Then, the rest of the day we will decide depending on multiple factors like how the weather is or how tired we are after the other activity. After traveling a lot with my children, I have come to realize that there has to be a balance of wanting to do/see a lot and not pushing them too much.
Pro Tip: Plan to do the activity you really want to do in the morning (first) when energy is usually higher and they have already ate something.
Example day we would “plan”:
7:30am : Wake up
8:00am: Have breakfast
8:30am: Do a kid-friendly hike early in the morning. Plan to be gone for about 3-4 hours (not the hiking time like total travel time to get there and counting breaks/stops)
1:00pm: Lunch
2:00pm: Go back to our rental/hotel and have just an hour of down time. This can be laying around, swimming at a pool, reading books, etc.
3:00pm: Explore the town/Go on a boat ride/Visit a playground
6:00pm Have dinner
8:00pm: Get gelato and walk around some more
9:00pm: Head back to hotel
10. You don’t have to do a hard hike to see the best views
It is a common misconception, that you need to do a long hard hike to reach the top of a mountain and see the panoramic views. This is not true at all! Most of the major well-known mountain you can take a cable car or funicular to the top and the panorama is right there.
The Swiss design their mountain infrastructure for families, seniors, and people with all type of abilities (AKA you don’t need to be a hiker). They even have cafés and restaurants right at the summit station, so you can go and see the 360° view—no hiking at all required.
Many viewpoints are just a 5–15 minute stroll from a lift station that even my 71 year old father who had a knee replacement 5 months prior was able to walk all of the ones below.
For instance:
First Cliff Walk (Grindelwald) – short 15 minute walk from the cable car.
Harder Kulm (Interlaken) – funicular up, a few steps to the viewpoint.
Monte Brè or San Salvatore (Lugano) – short 5 minute walk after the funicular.
11. You can easily save a lot of money and still have great food
Getting food from the local Grocery Store. In Switzerland, this is usually a Migros or Coop.
All of the towns have grocery stores that you can grab items from. Even if you are staying in a hotel, you can get good premade sandwiches or salads for decent prices. We did this multiple times whether it was grabbing provisions and taking them to a park bench and having lunch there or taking them back to our hotel. We also had a rental half of our trip so we actually went grocery shopping and got snacks, fruit and other items to keep in the house and pack for hikes. This is a huge money saving hack rather than sitting down at a restaurant for every meal - which kids never want to do anyways! We would usually save our sit-down meal for dinner and by that time my kids were ready to sit still cause they were tired.
PRO TIP: Many of the mountain towns are very casual you do not need to get dressed up to go there. Remember these are hiking and ski towns. Even the more expensive places are still very casual. We went to La Fondue in Wengen for our nice dinner one night and people were dressed very very casual like jeans or leggings and hoodies. Remember, you are walking everywhere and going up a lot of hills. It’s actually kind of nice after being out hiking an exploring all day to not have to get ready.
With this being said, lake towns like Lugano or Como are different and can be a little more fancy depending on where you go. Always check the website ahead of time if there is a dress code.
FAQ
Q: Should I get the Swiss Travel Pass or the Half Fare Card?
A: It depends on a few factors, including how long you will be there.
-Swiss Travel Pass: Unlimited travel for 3–15 consecutive days; includes free entry to 500+ museums and full coverage on some mountain routes. Better if you’re traveling almost daily.
-Swiss Half Fare Card: Cheaper upfront, better for trips spread out over a longer stay.
We choose the Half fare card and feel it is best for travelers staying longer than just a couple of days. Even if you only are going to be in Switzerland for 4-5 days I believe it's worth getting the half fare card because you ride so many trains, cable cars, etc.
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