Traveling by train with kids in Switzerland

From a distance, traveling families with little children can easily pass for happy and joyous groups of people.

Some truly are because kids have that effect of you if your take a breath and shift your mind in the right direction. Holidays are about taking a step back from the day-to-day and investing time to enjoy the moment.

One way to make holidays truly memorable with kids is to simply stop and listen when they talk, waiting for them to finish the sentence before jumping in to complete it for them. It also means observing what they are observing, then talking about it some more. Then they feel 'seen' and calm, and when the kids are calm the parents feel rewarded.

Going on holiday is also a financial investment in return for enjoying new culinary experiences, arriving to beautiful landscapes and enjoying quality time with your partner, because let’s face it, your relationship with your partner is pivotal to a happy family time too.

When all these boxes are checked, then holidays with kids can truly be a magical time. The truth for most of us is that these boxes are not checked 100% of time. And yet, we persist to travel after we have kids, probably because we need to change environments even for a day, or we want to show our offspring the world too. We insist on traveling, by car, plane, train, anything that can bring us from point A to B safely with our children.

From all the means of available transportation I admit that trains are the ones I have personally traveled the least in my life and with my kids. Ever since I moved to Switzerland, they are my regular choice of transport to go to the airport to catch a plane and that's usually where my train experience ends. I do admit however that it is the calmest and joyous part of the entire journey.

Trains are a great way to make your travel with children throughout Switzerland. They contribute a great deal to the whole family travel experience.

Children love trains and enjoy the trip better than any other transportation. The moment they step their tiny feet on them they often feel calmer immediately. Without a doubt it is a relaxed way to travel for adults as well as you don’t have to drive or try to listen to the voice from the gps all the time. You can sit back and enjoy the scenery, have a cup of coffee, play a board game or chat with your little ones. It’s far better than traveling by plane, more affordable and comfortable because there are no luggage restrictions and there’s more room to move about.

In Switzerland the SBB Swiss Federal Railways are extremely children-friendly thanks to the Ticki Park family Coach & Family Zone. It is an actual playground on rails for children of all ages.

Where you can find the Coach & Family Zone Ticki Park

You can find Coach & Family Zone Ticki Park at the middle part of the upper deck in all double-deck InterCity trains on long-distance routes like:

St. Gallen-Zurich HB-Bern-Geneva Airport
Romanshorn-Zurich HB-Bern-Brig
Basel SBB-Bern-Brig
Basel SBB-Bern-Interlaken Ost
Basel SBB-Zurich HB-Chur

This way all of our little travelers can move around and play freely during the trip!

The playground area is jungle-themed and spacious enough to have room for pushchairs. Next to the playground there are board games like "Jungle Hunt" and "The Snake Game" so every child can play until they drop as there is no time limit.

Pricing

Prices are fair, especially if you consider the peace of mind for parents during the trip and the available entertainment options to the little ones!

We should point out however that all children must be accompanied by an adult (free of charge) or an individual of at least 12 years old.

There are all-day passes as well and you can purchase a pass for a whole month or even a year:

price Annually Month

1st class CHF 2760 CHF 250

2nd class CHF 1645 CHF 160

Traveling with kids is easier without too much luggage. Travel light with the new luggage special service by SBB

If you have luggage that makes traveling complicated, then a luggage service is available. It allows you to travel freely without having to carry practically anything!

You can have all of your luggage collected from any address in Switzerland or Liechtenstein and delivered just two days later to selected hotels or even straight to your holiday home in some locations, and back home again when you return of course!

2 Family friendly nature destinations for the day, around Zurich

Besides the trip by train and how much fun time on board can be, Switzerland has many great destinations you can arrive to by train, while many of them are also great for children. Our highlights include:

Yeti- Park

Yeti Park at Brunnis is an amazing adventure park for children who love to play with snow or want to learn how to ski and sledge. It has a magic carpet for ski and snowboard practice, a pony lift, gates and small jumps! Yeti Park is open daily from 9:00 to 16:00 during the winter. It is located behind Ristis Restaurant so while children play with the snow, adults can enjoy a sunny day at the terrace, sit at the deck chairs and have a cup of chocolate, a hotdog, some pizza or maybe some warm soup.

Horn Richterswil

Horn Richterswil playground by the lake is a great destination for your next family trip with a train. It is a leisure facility by Richterswil’s lake with a beautiful playground and a wonderful scenery. Children can climb and swing play on the grass and enjoy a wonderful time in nature. There is also a small pub with beverages, coffee and snacks nearby, depending on the season.

Traveling by train with kids in Switzerland

And 2 short day trips around Zurich