9-Day Epic Road Trip Through Switzerland: The Ultimate Family Adventure

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Are you planning a trip to Switzerland with kids or teens? We’ve got you covered! While train travel is popular and most people choose to see the country using public transportation, we wanted to have more flexibility and decided to rent a car instead. It was the best decision ever! Switzerland has been super high on our bucket list so we were glad to finally get the chance to visit! From stunning mountains to fondue and some cities in between, there is so much to see and do in Switzerland with kids. Keep reading for our Switzerland road trip itinerary.

Things to know when traveling to Switzerland

• We didn’t take out any cash at all, we were able to pay with Apple Pay or credit cards pretty much everywhere.
• For a car rental, check out AutoEurope. We had a great experience picking up and dropping our car off in Zurich.
• Be prepared to shell out a ton for food! Even fast food is super expensive in Switzerland. We walked into a Burger King by our hotel just to see prices and one burger was nearly $20USD, and that’s without a drink or fries. We would have been fine with food cost being high but most of it wasn’t even good food, just mediocre and ovepriced. To save money, head to a local supermarket for some fresh bread and cheese. The dairy in Switzerland was surprisingly cheap.
• Keep in mind that the time of year when you visit can make a difference with activities. While winter is great for snow sports, many of the mountain activities like ziplining will be closed so plan accordingly depending on what you want to do.
• Coming from the United States, we didn’t need anything outside of our US Passports when arriving in Zurich. Customs took less than a minute, we had no line when we walked up.
• Use points and miles to save on hotels and airfare! Just like food, hotels are not cheap here but we utilized lots of our points and only paid for the nights in Lauterbrunnen since they weren’t affiliated with any hotel brands. Our airfare was covered by points.

Stop 1: Arrive in Zurich

Since we had an overnight flight, we wanted to spend our first day adjusting to the time zone. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Zurich Airport, which we booked with IHG points. They offer a free shuttle from the airport and we were able to rest before the official start of our road trip the following day.

If you plan to spend several days in the city, then I would head towards the city center. Some of the best family friendly Zurich hotels are the Zurich Marriott Hotel and Hotel Wellenberg.

Things to do in Zurich

Visit the Old Town (Altstadt). We love Old Towns and this one was super cute to walk around in and explore the different shops and restaurants. We had perfect weather (sunny and 70), making it a great day for exploring this area.

Book a family photo shoot! We love doing family photos when we travel. It helps us keep the memories alive much longer and is the best souvenir! I highly recommend booking via Flytographer (use our link to save on your first booking!). We had a great experience with our photographer and will definitely be doing it again in the near future in another city we visit.

Lindt Home of Chocolate Museum: Visit this chocolate wonderland, where you can learn about the history of Lindt chocolate and visit their huge store that has flavors you can only find here. But be warned, the store is not cheap! We spent over $150 USD on not much chocolate. Just like everything else in Switzerland, this wasn’t a cheap excursion.

Visit ShopVille: Rainy or cold day? Then head the ShopVille, one of the largest underground shopping centers inside of the train station in Zurich. It’s also open on Sunday, when many other things are closed. This is a great place to visit on a rainy day in Zurich.

Lindenhof: Want panoramic views of the city? Then head up the hill to Lindehof. Keep in mind that when it rains, this area tends to get muddy and slick.

Bahnofstrasse: A famous shopping street in Zurich, we loved walking around this area with no agenda in mind. Turn into cute little alleyways and explore the different shops.

Swiss National Museum: Want to learn about Swiss history? Then head to the Swiss National Museum! This is one of the best things to do in Zurich when it rains.

Where to eat in Zurich

I’m not going to go into detail about every place we ate at since like I mentioned previously, the food just wasn’t great here. The Raclette Factory was the only one that was somewhat decent, but you can only have so much cheese before it’s sickening!

Raclette Factory

If you’re visiting Switzerland, you’re going to have to eat cheese at some point! Since we all love raclette, we knew we had to eat at the Raclette Factory as soon as we saw it. We tried the classic as well as the blue cheese and white wine versions. The classic was really good, but the blue cheese was very overpowering and we love blue cheese. I’d skip that one! We ordered two dishes for 3 people (the waitress was surprised to see that) but it was more than enough and we had leftovers.

Stop 2: Lauterbrunnen

After picking up our rental car, we drove the 2 hours from Zurich to Lauterbrunnen. When you think of Switzerland, this is probably what comes to mind! This was our main reason for planning a family trip to Switzerland. With the waterfalls and unbelievable mountain views, this is one of the most picturesque places we have ever seen. We based ourselves here to explore the Jungfrau Region and it was a great location to be. The train station was just a 10 minute walk (it will take you to Wengen) and the cable car was also 10 minutes away, you can take it to go up to Murren.

I know many will tell you to stay somewhere quieter but we are so glad we didn’t! Murren and Wengen were nice, but nowhere near as much to do as in Lauterbrunnen. We loved being able to just walk out of our hotel and have the waterfall, lots of restaurants, shops, hikes, etc. to explore without feeling isolated. And the views were amazing!

Where to stay in Lauterbrunnen

If you’re looking for the best hotel in Lauterbrunnen, look no further than Hotel Staubbach. They have free parking if you’re driving in and the staff is absolutely incredible. Just look at their reviews! We highly recommend this hotel for you family trip to Switzerland. Our room was large and the views from our room were just amazing! Make sure to book a room with the private bathroom since some have shared ones.

Where to eat in Lauterbrunnen

Our hotel was walking distance to a supermarket and many restaurants. Here are some of the best family friendly Lauterbrunnen restaurants.

Restaurant Oberland

Just a 5 minute walk from our hotel was Restaurant Oberland. This family friendly Lauterbrunnen restaurant has lots of traditional Swiss items on the menu like roti, fondue and schnitzel. My husband got the schnitzel and I shared pizza with my daughter. Not the best food you’ll ever eat, but fine for what we needed.

Horner Pub

Almost directly across the street from our hotel was a places called the Horner Pub. This is a popular place for drinking but they also serve lots of pub food (think pretzels, nachos, bratwurst, etc). This was a great option for us since our daughter was hungry at times we were not so we were able to walk across and get her food.

Cafe-Donuts-Waffeln

If you’re in the mood for something sweet, there’s a cute little cart set up not far from the waterfall selling freshly made donuts and waffles. We had their strawberry donuts and they were hot and delicious! The two guys working the cart were Polish, so it was nice to be able to speak a language I’m familiar with!

Day trips from Lauterbrunnen

Since Lauterbrunnen is so centrally located, it was the perfect place to base ourselves for day trips. Here are some fun day trips you can take from Lauterbrunnen and how to get there.

Murren

A car free village near Lauterbrunnen, Murren is a popular destination to visit when in the Jungfrau region. To get here, we walked the 10 minutes to the cable car station. First, you take a cable car up to the top. After that, you take the train up to Murren. Alternatively, you can walk but it’s a fairly long uphill hike so the train is a much better option.

Murren is super cute with some fun shops, restaurants and amazing views. You really can’t go wrong no matter which direction you walk in. This is one of the best things to do with kids in Switzerland!

Wengen

Another car free village, this one is accessible by a train (13 minute ride) from the Lauterbrunnen train station. The views from the train alone make it worth visiting! The village is super cute and you’ll find several playgrounds while walking around, making it the perfect destination when visiting Switzerland with kids.

Interlaken

Since we had a rental car, we made the 20 minute drive to Interlaken to explore the city for a few hours. You can also take a train here if you don’t have a rental car. It’s a much busier city than Lauterbrunnen and honestly not as cute. I had originally wanted to stay here but the hotel prices were insane and I’m so glad we didn’t because it just didn’t have the same charm as Lauterbrunnen. I recommend visiting for a few hours, checking out their main walking area (Höheweg Street) and take a drive to Lake Brienz. But I personally don’t recommend staying here unless you like larger cities without the mountain views Lauterbrunnen and other areas offer.

Grindelwald

Quite possibly the most popular village in the Jungfrau region, Grindelwald is very popular with tourists. One of the most popular things to do here is Grindelwald First, where you can do a cliff walk, ride mountain go carts or zipline.

Stop 3: Liechtenstein and Feldkirch Austria

Now you can skip this section if you are just going to Switzerland. However, after seeing how close we were to Liechtenstein, my daughter really wanted to visit so we set aside a day for that. We actually stayed 20 minutes away from the capital city of Vaduz in the cutest medieval town in Austria called Feldkirch. We stayed at the Best Western Premier Central Hotel Leonhard, which was right by the Old Town.

Liechtenstein is one of the smallest countries in the world and we loved exploring their capital city, Vaduz. After, we drove through quite a bit of the country taking in the beautiful views. It’s definitely a cool place to stop if you have the time!

Stop 4: Lucerne

Lucerne is the kind of place that feels like it’s straight from a fairytale. We spent the day wandering around Old Town, crossing the Chapel Bridge and eating fondue, a must while in Switzerland. If you’re looking for a city to add to your Switzerland road trip itinerary, Lucerne is a great option!

Where to stay in Lucerne

Since we had our rental car, we didn’t need to be in the city center. We chose the Holiday Inn Luzern Neuenkirch, which we booked with IHG points. The hotel had free parking and was right off the highway, with a Coop market and several restaurants right near it. And just a 12 minute drive to the center of Lucern, which had convenient parking garages.

If you’re traveling to Lucerne with kids, there’s a playground right outside of the hotel and walking trails as well, making it a great Lucerne hotel for families.

Where to eat in Lucerne

We didn’t eat out much while here, to be honest we were so over Swiss food at this point. The only thing we wanted to try was fondue and we went to Fondue House Du Pont. If you get a table by the window, you’ll have nice views since it’s on the second level. We had cheese and chocolate fondue here and both were good. Keep in mind the portions are large. We got 2 portions of cheese and one of chocolate and still had leftovers between the 3 of us.

One the way out of Lucerne, we had lunch at Jardin Oriental, a Turkish restaurant. This was probably the best meal we’ve had in Switzerland. Their gyros are amazing and fresh and the hummus was really good. My husband said their baklava was one of the best he’s ever had. If you’re not a fan of traditional Swiss food like us, this is a great family friendly restaurant in Lucerne! The owner and his employees were all Turkish, so you know you’re getting great authentic food!

Stop 5: Zurich

Our final two nights were spent in Zurich because we wanted to explore the city more. See the first section of this blog post on things to do in Zurich with kids.

As you can see, there are lots of things to do in Switzerland with kids and you don’t have to rely on just trains. We loved having a car and being able to go wherever we wanted whenever we wanted. If you’re planning a trip to Switzerland with kids, pin one of the images below so you can read this post later!