SWITZERLAND TRIP

Switzerland with an almost 3 year old! 

I truly think our trips go so well with William because we don’t go in with a plan. We always have a list in our phones of things we could do in each city, but we wake up each day and decide what we feel most up too. It makes us less stressed as an adult and allows us to work around his temperament for the day! 

Four things we couldn’t of done without for this trip: Portable quick drying towel, Ergobaby Metro travel stroller, hand fan, and travel picnic blanket. 

Now lets jump into our trip!

We booked the bulkhead seat in Economy. It was glorious, especially for my 6'6 husband. There was so much room for William to sit on the ground and play while food was being served. I had packed William a whole dinner plus snacks since he’s an allergy kiddo. We then we pumped up our footrests once the cabin crew was done and the lights were lowered and he was able to sleep flat (5/9 hours of the trip)!

When we arrived in Zürich we booked a rental car through SIXT and picked that up (we had a great experience with this company). You can’t speed in Switzerland (even 1 km over will get you a ticket), however driving in Switzerland for the most part was fairly straightforward. Only thing to note is the roads and parking spaces are extremely narrow. We are so glad we rented a car and had the flexibility to go anywhere we wanted without having to stick to the trains schedules.

Day 1 we drove straight from the airport to Luzern and checked into the Ibis Budget Luzern City. My room was a queen with a twin bunk over the top and my mother in law/husband shared an identical one across the hall. The hotel was nothing special, just a room for us to rest our heads. We got free bus tickets from the front desk. It only took 1 bus ride to get right down to city center (about a 5 minute ride). We got dinner and some groceries at Co-op (pronounced Coop) and walked around until we were all too exhausted. Sleep this first night was good, we all woke around 1:30 am (I put on a show for William while I continued to rest my eyes) and were awake a few hours and then fell back asleep and slept until around 8.

Day 2- We ate Ibis breakfast which was deli meats, deli cheeses, yogurt, pastries, and some fruit. We then got in our rental car and went to Brünigstrasse, Alpnach and parked. We took the cogwheel up to the first stop which had the Alpine playground are for kids. He played here for almost 2 hours, plus we had packed a picnic so we enjoyed that (I had purchased a foldable picnic blanket specifically for this trip and it was 10/10). We then decided to buy another ticket and go up to the next stop which had the toboggan ride! It was a long line for us, but we are SO glad we did it. My son rode with me and my husband and mother in law both rode separately. We then got a bite to eat before walking back down to the cogwheel area. We headed back to the hotel for a rest. When we woke up we got on the bus and went into city center for dinner at Co-op and then walked around the river! 

Day 3- We got in the rental car and drove to Grindelwald. We stopped at Aldi in Interlaken and then had a picnic in Höhematte Park and watched all the Paragliders land! It was a lovely day so we put in "swimming areas" into our GPS and found The Beach - Strandbad Bönigen. It was amazing; there’s a kiddie pool, adult pool, and a private beach. It costs to get in, but we spent the rest of the afternoon there. (We had packed 1 fast drying towel for the trip that we carried with us everywhere and it saved our butts on multiple occasions). We then drove the rest of the way to Grindelwald and picked up food/groceries at Co-Op. This airbnb was 10/10. My son and I shared a king bed room and then my husband and mother in law both had a room with two twin beds in it. There was a beautiful kitchen, family room, huge outdoor patio area with dining set! It was in a great location, just a block away from the bus stop which brings you to old town Grindelwald. We slept with the windows open all night long and it was amazing. (I am so glad we brought a portable fan, it was a must have for us). https://www.airbnb.com/slink/rTMfpLB4

Day 4- We woke up, made breakfast, and got in the car to drive to Lauterburnnen. My son walked all the way up to the Waterfall all by himself, we did have to help him in a few places on the walk down, but he did amazing. There was a small cafe in town (Cafe Bar) that served vegan banana bread and my son was obsessed. We then spent time walking the streets and enjoying the beautiful weather! We drove back to Grindelwald and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening exploring old town Grindelwald. There’s a playground right in town that my mother in law and son played at/picnic’d at while my husband and I enjoyed a sit down meal just up the road. We ended up finding a cafe downtown here (Ringgenberg) that had vegan treats so we go my son a few muffins for the mornings! 

Day 5- We woke up and drove back to Interlaken for my mother in law to go paragliding. My husband, son and I sat down in Höhematte Park to wait and watch her come down which my son enjoyed his vegan muffins. We explored the shops in downtown Interlaken and then drove back to Grindelwald where we drove up the mountain a bit and found a place to picnic with the mountains in the background! 

Day 6- We woke up and my husband surprised us by taking us to St. Beatus-Höhlen Swiss Caves. It was breathtaking. (bring good walking shoes and a jacket). We couldn’t believe how big the caves were! We then drove to Thun (absolutely wonderful). We found a Co-op to pick up food from and then googled playgrounds and found Schadaupark Spielplatz where my son played and climbed trees (this park was amazing)! We we’re getting warm so we decided to find a place right by the park to get into the lake (right in front of Seepark Restaurants & Bar). We played in the water a while (there were plenty of places in the water where my son could stand on his own)! We walked back to the playground and laid our towel/picnic blanket down to dry off!  We then drove to old town Thun and walked the streets coming across their Ferris Wheel. It was a beautiful ride. We watched people surf by their famous bridge and then after watching plenty of people jump from their bridges into the river to float down I decided to jump in (clothes and all) and float down the river a bit it was exhilarating. We picked up frozen pizzas from Co-op and headed back to heat them up in our Airbnb! 

Day 7- We woke up, checked out and drove straight to Zürich. We checked into our hotel early (Courtyard Zürich North) and then found a vegan bakery (Bakery Enzian) just a few blocks away. My husband went to return the rental car while we took a nap. There’s a Co-op right across the street from the hotel that we got dinner at and then rested back at the hotel. (There is a bus and train station very close to this hotel. I would suggest not having a rental car in Zurich).

Day 8- We woke up and took the train to their downtown shopping area. We walked their streets for a while and then found Kinderspielplatz Switzerland (a playground in the city) where our son played at for a long while. My husband went to the fifa museum (he said it was good but extremely small) while we shopped some more. Our son fell asleep in his stroller so we stopped at a restaurant and got pizzas & wine while he rested! We stopped by the Swiss National Museum, which we all felt was very poorly laid out and put together and we wouldn't suggest. Instead we wish we would've gone to the Zurich Zoo, which is named top zoo in all of Europe. Then we road back to the hotel for the evening getting food at the train station.

Day 9- Travel day. The Zürich airport had two checkpoints for us to go through. They had a seperate family check in counter that let us bypass long lines. They had mascots roaming around giving the kids little gift bags. Once we got through check point one we found their family room which had a play area, changing tables, kids restrooms, forts and toys! Once our gate was assigned we got food (get all your food at gate 1 as there are limited options in the international wing) and then walked through gate check 2. We then found the outdoor observation area where they had a kids airplane playground for kids to play at! It was perfect to get fresh air and let William get energy out. We then we had a 10.5 hour flight, 5 hour layover in Chicago (due to delays) and 1 hour flight home. All in all it was a 23.5 hour travel day from when we left our hotel to when we got home. We never pressured our son to sleep, but let him rest when his body wanted. Otherwise he played, read, and watched tv! It was a wonderful trip! Let me know if you have any questions!