Chic, small, modern and thoroughly beautiful; Zurich is one city you’ll absolutely fall in love with and it’s great for families. Working at the Park Hyatt, my concierge team and I have often been confronted with families asking how they can spend their day here in Zurich, leading solely to the response: “Where to begin?” Located in the heart of Europe, the charming, optimistic city of Zurich holds endless possibilities for families with children to spend an exciting and fulfilling stay.
The Park Hyatt offers various family programs; such as the offering of an additional children’s room to a booking, for kids below the age of twelve for a fifty-percent discount, keeping our kids close. Another great program is the VIB (Very Important Baby), where children’s beds, chairs, bathrobe, cosmetics, cutlery and toys are provided for the little joys in our lives – making their stay as relaxing as your own. Furthermore our kids program, which includes amenities like our famous swiss hot chocolate and cookies, popcorn and sodas, a colorful painting set, children DVD’s, but also a complimentary Playstation and X-Box available during their stay. But this is just the preface of what Zurich has to offer…
To begin with, Zurich itself beholds wonderful sights; raging from the lavishly luxurious “bahnhofstrasse” to the old-fashioned and very romantic “niederdorf”, making one day in town enough to instill awe and excitement into the impressionable minds of children.
Surrounded by a large part of the city, the famous lake of Zurich is a great place to spend the day at, or in! Swimming possibilities are everywhere to be found around the lake to enjoy the fresh and clean water, and many places offer a great selection of watersports cut out for the entire family! Renting a pedal- or motorboat for three to five people, or simply hopping on one of Zurich’s signature lake boats to enjoy the wonderful scenery of the snowy “swiss alps” has always been a popular activity.
What better place for young children to visit than a Zoo? Just one tram ride up the hill will make you feel like you’re in another world. Overlooking the city and surrounded by nature, the “Zooh” of Zurich provides a large and open habitat for a wide variety of animals from around the world. Getting “in-touch” with smaller fauna is made easy at the other tip of the Zurich lake, in the Rapperswil Zoo, where stroking and feeding animals is not only allowed, but encouraged.
One of my personal favorites is the “Atzmännig Seilpark”, a leisure and recreational park in the mountains- perfect for the entire family. The park offers toboggan run slides, swiss-style chairlifts and a large rope adventure park, taking you all the way up to the treetops at 16 meters, a height that will thrill and excite kids and adults alike! I take my nephews there all the time, and we always have a blast!
If you want to experience Switzerland’s most traditional trade, “Bucherer” offers lessons where everyone can get a hands-on view at the craftsmanship of watches, supervised by a professional “horloger”. During the seminar, children and adults of all ages work with clocks that they can assemble and dismantle, or just generally experiment with.
Confiseries that are all around town will seduce your senses with their delicately hand made swiss chocolate. “The Maestrani” chocolate factory offers tailored tours through their timeless trade, making the savoring of swiss chocolate something that every visit to Switzerland must include!
Expanding on the culinary experience of Switzerland, the renowned “Zeughauskeller” features many old army halberds, cannons and armors – a theme that continues into the dishes themselves; where long sausages are served, wrapped around a blazing sword.
Having visited the largest city in Switzerland, Zurich has charmed the senses of every last guest my Concierge team and I have had the privilege of greeting. Its colorful variety of activities and the sheer beauty of the city will make it a place that is not easily forgotten. If you and your family would like to recapture the feeling of first love, you know where to go.
By: Frederik Kubierschky, Clefs d’Or Concierge, Park Hyatt Zurich
– Christina Gobil
Director of Sales , Park Hyatt Zurich