Switzerland

Where Play Was Part of the Landscape

We arrived in Switzerland after nearly three weeks of moving through northern Italy.

The drive from Lake Como was long, but the closer we came to Faulensee, the more the scenery began to change. Mountains rose around the road. Waterfalls appeared everywhere. By the time Lake Thun came into view, the water was such a vivid teal blue that the entire region felt newly imagined.

We had chosen Faulensee carefully, even if we did not yet understand the Bernese Oberland well. A lake-level base removed one uncertainty about traveling with such young kids — sleeping at higher elevations for a sustained period. Our rental was also within our preferred price range, easy to reach by car and well positioned for the list of places we hoped to explore.

What surprised us was not simply how beautiful Switzerland was. It was how naturally family life fit inside that beauty. Playgrounds appeared around nearly every corner, including at the top of mountains. They were not token structures beside the main attraction. They were large, inventive places where kids could climb, dig, build and stay awhile.

Often, a cafe or mountain restaurant sat close enough for the adults to have coffee, a snack or a drink while the kids played nearby. Trains, boats, gondolas and funiculars made the journey as interesting to Preston as the destination. Children seemed integrated into everyday life rather than managed around its edges.

Our two favorite experiences could not be separated: the Swiss Museum of Transport, where Preston could climb into airplanes, trains and working construction equipment; and the final journey through Mürren to the Allmendhubel Flower Park, where one of the most impressive playgrounds we had ever seen sat beneath an alpine panorama.

Six nights barely scratched the surface. Still, Switzerland showed us exactly why we would return: we could be outside in astonishing places without asking our boys to experience the day like adults.

In Switzerland, movement, play and wonder could share the same day — for the boys and for us.

Why Faulensee Worked for This Trip

A Lake-Level Decision

We were unfamiliar with the region when we planned this stay. Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald and the mountain villages all offered different versions of the Bernese Oberland, but we did not yet know how an elevated base would work with a toddler and a four-month-old.

Faulensee allowed us to stay at lake level and remove that question from the trip. The apartment fit our budget, parking was simple and we could reach our outings by car or connect into the train system. Nearly every day took us away from the apartment, so Faulensee functioned exactly as we needed it to: a comfortable home base rather than the center of the itinerary.

The Tradeoff

The location did require movement. We drove frequently and occasionally covered meaningful distances between experiences. The flexibility was worth it on this stop, but a family hoping to step outside directly into a mountain village may prefer a different base.

We would happily recommend Faulensee based on our experience. On a return, we would probably choose Mürren, Grindelwald or another mountain town simply to experience Switzerland from a different perspective.

PuraVida Garden and Lake View Apartment

PuraVida occupied the lower level of the owners' home in a residential neighborhood. The family lived upstairs and welcomed us personally, which made check-in especially easy after the long drive.

The apartment had two bedrooms, one full bathroom with a shower and a second half bathroom. Preston slept in the front bedroom. Avery slept in a pack-and-play in the bedroom Kyle and I shared.

A full kitchen, small eat-in breakfast area and laundry facilities supported a six-night stay. The living room had a fireplace, television and large windows facing Lake Thun. Outside, the patio included chairs, additional furniture and a barbecue grill.

The view was the feature we noticed everywhere. Lake Thun appeared through the windows and beyond the patio, its color dramatically different from Lake Como. Included parking near the house kept arrivals and departures simple.

Arrival in Faulensee and Spiez

After checking in around 5:20 p.m., we bought groceries and used what remained of the evening to explore nearby Spiez. We did not need a formal first-night plan. We walked, took in the lake and found a park where Preston discovered an enormous ship's wheel.

The wheel was larger than he was, which only made it more interesting. He spun it, climbed around it and turned an ordinary stop into the first family memory of Switzerland.

That evening introduced what would become a theme: even between the major sights, there was usually somewhere thoughtful for a child to move and play.

An Easy First Day Around Lake Thun

After the previous day's long drive, we kept our first full day close to the lake. We drove into Thun, walked through the Old Town and market, and stopped for coffee at Rösterei Heer and pastries from Knusperbeck Thun.

The rain came and went, limiting the day without ending it. We found a playground for Preston and, after seeing several wet days in the forecast, bought him rain boots and a rain suit. The purchase was less about rescuing one afternoon than making sure mud would not keep him from the parks for the rest of the stay.

Parking garages in Thun were easy to use and left us within a comfortable walk of the town center. We ended the outing with ice cream from Gelateria La Favolosa.

The rain gear became permission to keep playing, even when the forecast did not cooperate.

The Swiss Museum of Transport and Lauterbrunnen

One of the Best Family Museums We Have Visited

We drove to Lucerne for the Swiss Museum of Transport. It became one of our two favorite experiences in Switzerland and one of the best museums we have visited with our boys.

The museum allowed Preston to do far more than look. He could board a full-size airplane, explore historic trains, ride a working children's train, build tracks and operate equipment in a construction area that felt genuinely active. The scale and variety worked beautifully for his age, while the collections remained interesting for Kyle and me.

Families with transportation-loving kids could easily devote most of a day here. In our experience, the museum could engage kids from the preschool years into the early teenage years because the same spaces supported hands-on play and deeper curiosity.

A First Look at Lauterbrunnen

The boys slept during the drive back, so we used their car nap to add a stop in Lauterbrunnen. We walked toward Staubbach Falls and had our first close look at the valley that had appeared in so many of our planning images.

Near the parking area, a playground placed the boys in the foreground while Staubbach Falls dropped behind them. Some of our favorite photographs came from that simple alignment of childhood and landscape.

We ate at Restaurant Schützen and tried several local dishes before returning to Faulensee. Food would not become the central story of this destination, but the waterfall, playground and first feeling of the valley certainly did.

Männlichen and Oeschinen Lake

The Cow Playground Above Grindelwald

We began in Grindelwald with coffee at Eiger Bean, then boarded the gondola from Grindelwald Terminal to Männlichen. We had chosen the mountain specifically because the famous cow playground gave Preston a destination that belonged to him.

At the top, the enormous wooden cow and alpine play structures sat inside stunning mountain views. We ate at Berghaus Männlichen and allowed the morning to remain simple: play, look around, eat and stay as long as the boys' energy allowed.

Following the Nap to Oeschinen Lake

When both boys became tired, we let the drive become their nap and continued to Kandersteg. From there, we took the gondola toward Oeschinen Lake.

Because we arrived later in the afternoon, we paid the additional fee for the electric transportation from the mountain station to the lake. The walk looked manageable, but saving that time let us use the remaining afternoon beside the water.

Clouds muted the lake's famous blue, but the setting remained beautiful. Cows wandered freely nearby. Preston practiced skipping rocks, which mostly meant throwing them enthusiastically into the water. We lounged, took in the fresh air and ended the day without needing another accomplishment.

Our Seventh Anniversary on Lake Brienz

Our seventh wedding anniversary was not built around a formal celebration. We chose an easy item from our running list: a cruise across Lake Brienz.

We parked near Interlaken Ost and boarded from the landing stage just outside the station. The day gave us some of the clearest weather of the trip — bright blue sky, no rain and water so intensely teal that it seemed almost unreal.

The boat carried us to Brienz, where we walked through town and sought out Brunngasse, the picturesque street known for its traditional wooden houses. We returned by train to Interlaken Ost, which brought us directly back to the same convenient transportation hub where we had parked.

Back in Interlaken, we stopped at Funky Chocolate Club for something sweet and ate at Bierhaus. The day was not designed as an anniversary itinerary, but the lake cruise, perfect weather and time moving together made it a memorable way to mark seven years.

Mürren and the Allmendhubel Flower Park

The Journey Was Part of the Day

For our final full day, we returned to the Lauterbrunnen Valley and traveled upward: cable car from Lauterbrunnen to Grütschalp, mountain railway into car-free Mürren, then the short funicular to Allmendhubel.

We spent time walking through Mürren rather than treating the village only as a transfer point. The multiple rides delighted Preston, who loved the trains and gondolas throughout the trip and regularly found people to talk with along the way.

Our Favorite Playground in the Mountains

At the top, the Allmendhubel Flower Park exceeded what we had imagined. The play structure was enormous, with slides, climbing areas and abundant open-ended play, all set against the mountains.

Panorama Restaurant Allmendhubel sat beside the playground with a terrace overlooking it. Kyle and I could have snacks and a drink while keeping Preston nearby and in view. We met another traveling couple and enjoyed a long, easy conversation while he played.

The setup captured what we loved most about Switzerland: the boys' experience and the adults' experience did not need to compete. The same place worked for all of us.

The Defining Photograph

Before leaving the valley, we walked to the familiar viewpoint along the path toward Staubbach Falls. Our family is not in the photograph, but the path, cliffs and waterfall became the defining image of the Switzerland chapter.

What We Ate

Food is usually one of the central reasons we travel. In Switzerland, it was not. Traditional dishes built around heavier combinations of cheese, potatoes and meat simply did not match our family's preferences, particularly in the summertime.

That is a reflection of our tastes, not a judgment that the food was objectively poor. We tried local dishes, including at Restaurant Schützen and the mountain restaurants, but we did not build the days around meals or leave with a list of Swiss-food favorites.

Some of our most enjoyable meals came from restaurants serving Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines. The variety was a welcome surprise and a reminder that a destination's food story is broader than its most traditional dishes.

We would keep restaurant coverage light in a return itinerary and focus our planning energy on the landscapes, transportation and family experiences that made Switzerland exceptional for us.

Traveling with a Toddler and a Young Infant

For Preston

Switzerland met Preston at his stage. Trains, boats, gondolas, construction equipment and playgrounds gave him something to anticipate in nearly every day. He did not need to be convinced to tolerate the itinerary; much of it was already exciting to him.

The elaborate playgrounds mattered because they were treated as destinations, not five-minute breaks between adult plans. They allowed him to climb, experiment and make the landscape his own.

For Avery

Avery handled gondolas, trains and elevation without difficulty. We carried him in a soft carrier for mountain and lake outings, which kept him close and avoided relying on a stroller across varied terrain.

He strongly disliked his car seat throughout the larger trip, just as he did at home. Switzerland did not create that challenge, but the drives required us to accept some difficult stretches and continue.

The Gear We Used

• Soft carrier for Avery on mountain, village and lake outings.
• Hiking backpack for Preston when distances or terrain exceeded what he could comfortably walk.
• Pack-and-play for Avery at the apartment.
• Rain boots and a rain suit purchased in Thun after several wet days appeared in the forecast.
• Car seats and ordinary feeding supplies for a month-long family road trip.

Getting Around the Bernese Oberland

Why We Kept the Rental Car

The car gave us freedom to use Faulensee as a broad regional base. We drove to Thun, Spiez, Lucerne, Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald, Kandersteg and Interlaken. Parking was generally straightforward during our stay, including convenient garages in Thun.

Driving also let the boys nap between destinations. The Männlichen-to-Oeschinen day only worked because the car became the transition and rest period between the two outings.

When Public Transportation Became the Experience

• Lake Brienz boat from Interlaken Ost to Brienz, followed by the train back to the same transportation hub.
• Grindelwald Terminal gondola to Männlichen.
• Kandersteg gondola and paid electric transportation toward Oeschinen Lake.
• Lauterbrunnen cable car to Grütschalp, mountain railway to Mürren and funicular to Allmendhubel.

We cannot reliably remember whether we purchased a Swiss Travel Pass or another regional pass, so we would not use our trip as a basis for recommending one. Families should price the current options against the specific routes they expect to use.

Cost, Weather and Flexible Planning

Switzerland Was Expensive

Food, transportation and activities generally cost more than at the earlier stops on our trip. We expected Switzerland to be expensive, so the prices were not shocking once we arrived. They did, however, reinforce the value of knowing which experiences mattered most to us.

We Booked the Days as We Went

We did not reserve the major activities in advance during our 2024 stay. Each evening, we reviewed our running list, checked the forecast and considered how everyone felt before choosing the next day's plan.

That flexibility may have cost more and did not always create the most geographically efficient route. It also allowed us to use the clearest day for Lake Brienz, keep the first day easy and add Lauterbrunnen only because the boys had slept in the car.

Our itinerary was a list of possibilities, not a set of promises. That distinction made Switzerland easier to enjoy.

Rain Changed the Gear, Not the Trip

The first days brought intermittent rain, while later days ranged from overcast to brilliantly clear. Buying Preston proper rain gear allowed playgrounds and town walks to remain possible. Overcast skies softened some of the famous lake color, but they did not make Männlichen, Oeschinen Lake or Allmendhubel feel unsuccessful.

What We Would Repeat and Change

What We Would Do Again

• Give the Bernese Oberland at least six nights and stay longer if the larger trip allows.
• Keep the itinerary flexible enough to respond to weather, energy and naps.
• Make the Swiss Museum of Transport a priority for young kids who enjoy vehicles.
• Pair major scenery with playgrounds and transportation that make the day meaningful for the boys.
• Return to Lauterbrunnen twice if needed: once for the valley and once for the journey to Mürren.
• Use the Lake Brienz boat in one direction and the train in the other.
• Choose carriers rather than relying on a stroller for mountain outings.
• Treat rain clothing as essential outdoor gear rather than emergency backup.
• End a full outing while everyone still has enough energy to enjoy the return.

What We Would Change

We would research transportation passes more deliberately before the trip and compare them against a rough version of our itinerary. Our day-by-day flexibility worked, but advance cost modeling might reduce the expense without forcing a rigid schedule.

On a return, we would choose a mountain town rather than Faulensee. That is not a criticism of the apartment or the location. PuraVida was a lovely home base. We would simply want the next visit to reveal a different daily rhythm.

We would also stay longer if possible. Six nights felt like the beginning of a Switzerland trip rather than a complete experience.

Who Is This Trip For?

Our version of Switzerland may fit families who:

• Want extraordinary mountain and lake scenery without building every day around a difficult hike.
• Have kids who enjoy trains, gondolas, boats, vehicles and playgrounds.
• Can budget for a destination where transportation, meals and activities add up quickly.
• Prefer a flexible daily plan over reservations that cannot respond to weather.
• Are comfortable combining a rental car with public and mountain transportation.
• Value outdoor time and play as much as formal sightseeing.
• Want a base that makes several Bernese Oberland day trips possible.

It may be a less comfortable fit for travelers who need a low-cost destination, want every day planned far in advance or prefer a food-centered itinerary built primarily around traditional regional dishes.

The region supports far more ambitious hiking, winter travel and high-elevation experiences than we attempted. This guide reflects one summer road-trip chapter with a toddler and a young infant.

The Zurich Airport Overnight

Our main Switzerland stay ended on June 27 when we drove to Colmar. We returned on June 30 for an overnight near Zurich Airport before our July 1 flight home.

That night was not part of the original plan. As we read more about the airport, recommended arrival times and the multiple lines we might need to navigate, we became uncomfortable with driving from France on the morning of an international flight.

We left France one night earlier and stayed at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Zurich Airport, with direct access to the terminal. The pivot removed the risk of a long morning drive, gave us more control over the departure and became one of the best logistical decisions of the month.

The extra airport night did not add excitement. It removed uncertainty — which was exactly what the final travel day needed.

What Switzerland Left With Us

Switzerland clarified what our family loves most about mountain travel. We do not need every day to prove how far we can hike or how many viewpoints we can reach. We love being outside in beautiful places with enough structure for the boys to participate fully.

The playgrounds became the clearest expression of that idea. They were elaborate, imaginative and placed where adults also wanted to be. A child could climb beneath the mountains while a parent sat nearby with coffee. Neither experience diminished the other.

The transportation created the same shared pleasure. Preston loved the trains and gondolas. We loved where they carried us. Avery could remain close in the soft carrier. Everyone experienced the same day from a different stage.

Our favorite memories reflect that range: a museum filled with working machines; a toddler throwing rocks into a mountain lake; a bright blue anniversary cruise; a conversation with strangers while Preston played above Mürren; and one quiet photograph of a path leading toward a waterfall.

Six nights showed us how much remained. It also gave us enough to know that the mountains are somewhere we want to return to.

The scenery took our breath away. The way family life fit inside it is what made us want to stay.