European Vacation with 5 Kids - Zurich, Munich, & Amsterdam
Our family of 7 spent the month of August exploring Europe. If you missed it, you can read about the first parts of our trip in Barcelona and our time in Nice, Monaco, & Milan.
Zurich
Where We Stayed: Kieselgasse, walking distance to Tiefenbrunnen Beach
How Long We Stayed: 3 Nights
Favorite Outing: Beaches of Lake Zurich
Favorite Restaurant: Le Dezaley
What We’d Do Differently: Spend more time here!
Zurich was without a doubt everyone’s favorite part of our European adventure. We only spent three days here, but it was amazing. We stayed in a quaint, walkable area with easy access to the cable cars to get around town. Zurich is a big city that really doesn’t feel like a big city. It’s very easy to navigate, and the people are very friendly. This stop was an added treat that we coincidentally were there at the same time as our good friends from home, and got to also meet up with friends who used to live in NYC, but now live outside of Zurich! This is one of the stops that we wished we had more time at, and we will definitely be coming back to visit!
Lake Zurich
Zurich is situated around Lake Zurich, and there are plenty of things to do on and around the lake. There are several paid beach options. The cost is minimal, and you get access to the lake and plenty of activities like floating pools, water slides, water trampolines, splash pads, lawn activities, and concessions. We stayed right down the road from Tiefenbrunnen Beach and our 8 year old son jumped off his first ever diving board right into Lake Zurich there! We also had a mini reunion with our friends at the lake. We went to Badi Seerose, and it was amazing, would highly recommend this one, even if it’s a bit further!
Lindt Chocolate Factory
I said the lake was a highlight, but so was the chocolate factory tour we went on! The tour is self-guided, and let’s be honest, we really were just there for all the (very generous) samples you get. One room you get try fresh liquid chocolate by the spoonful, another room creates mini chocolate bars for you, and the final room, you get to load up on all the different chocolate bon bon flavors. It was an amazing and delicously fun experience.
Zurich Boat Ride
If we had more time in Zurich, I think we would have looked into an actual activity on the lake, but since we were pressed for time, we caught a ferry ride from Horgen to Zurich and enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the water.
Dinner Along Limmat River
We spent one evening walking along Limmat River. We ate dinner at Le Dezaley, which was honestly our favorite meal of our entire European trip. It was a fun atmosphere, great food, and a waiter who insisted he knew what we wanted to eat (which turned out to be very true!). After dinner, we got gelato and walked along the river. It’s a beautiful spot to walk, people watch, and see the swans in the river!
Adilswil Cable Car
One afternoon, we took the train out to Adilswil to ride a cable car up the mountain and get a nice view of Zurich. While up there, we discovered a super fun playground. This was a lowkey activity, but a great one!
ChinaGarten
This garden was right near where stayed and is free. It was a cute little space to walk around get some fresh air, but honestly, if you’re not staying nearby, I wouldn’t trek out to visit it.
And that’s it for Zurich! It was a very quick 3 days, and we are already plotting how we can get back there soon!
Munich
Where We Stayed: Koos Hotels & Apartments
How Long We Stayed: 3 Nights
Favorite Outing: Dachau Concentration Camp
Favorite Restaurant: Hofbrauhaus Munchen
What We’d Do Differently: Spend less time, maybe just pass through this city
From Zurich, we took a train up to Munich. This was another short leg of the trip, where we only spent 3 days in the city. Munich was one of our least favorite stops, and I think we would have rather spent more time in Zurich or other parts of Switzerland. Admittedly, the weather was not great while we were in Munich; it rained every day. So I am sure this affected our opinions. But even despite the rain, we still made the most of our time there.
BMW Museum
If you have a car aficionado in the family, this is a great museum to check out. There are two parts of the museum, one is free, and the other is across the street and requires a paid ticket. Both are worth going to, and we saw lots of fun, exotic cars!
Marienplatz
This is a famous plaza in Munich, most known for the glockenspiel show that happens a couple times a day. We timed our visit so that we could see the little performance, but of course it was pouring rain while we were there. We still stuck with it, and watched a bit of the glockenspiel show, but honestly, it was quite underwhelming, even without the rain!
Schloss Nymphenburg
We ventured a little outside of Munich to visit the Nymphenburg palace. It was a neat outing, but not a must-see.
Dachau Concentration Camp
Visiting the first concentration camp during the holecaust was without a doubt worth it. We contemplated this visit since we have such small children, but I would still highly recommend it. Our older children understood what they were seeing and it sparked lots of good conversations with them. And our younger children were able to tag along and manage, despite the somberness of it all.
Amsterdam
Where We Stayed: Near Nemo Science Center
How Long We Stayed: 3 Nights
Favorite Outing: Zaanse Schans
Favorite Restaurant: De Hallen Food Hall
What We’d Do Differently: Spend more time here, and stay in a more central location
We loved Amsterdam! It is such a unique city with its immense biking culture. We thought that while we were there, we would rent bikes and ride around the city, but honestly, it’s one thing to read about Amsterdam being a bike city, and another to see it in action. It is a nonstop flow of bike traffic, with cyclists merging on and off roads and everyone moving in a succint flow. After seeing it in person, we quickly decided that our large crew, with a couple new to biking, we would get eaten alive trying to partake in it. So perhaps when the kids are older, or if we go sans kids! But nonetheless, we had a wonderful time in Amsterdam, the kids especially loved spotting all of the teeny tiny cars!
Zaanse Schans
Zaanse Schans was one of our favorite outings while visiting Amsterdam. It was a short 20 minute bus ride out to this town. It is very touristy and cliche, but sometimes that is exactly what you want! We saw windmills up close, we watched clogs get made, ate fresh stroopwaffles, sampled lots of fresh cheese, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.
Anne Frank House
The Anne Frank House is nestled in the heart of Amsterdam, and is definitely worth a visit. It is now turned into a museum, and you can do a self-guided tour of the museum and then walk through the actual attic where Anne Frank and her family hid. My youngest two (Ages 2 & 4) quickly got bored and were not able to maintain the somber atmosphere, so we did a speedy walkthrough allowing me to see and walk through everything, and then we waited outside while my husband and our other 3 kids did a thorough walk through. One thing I was surprised by was how much my 6 year old enjoyed this visit.
Canal Tour
Amsterdam is a city built along its many canals. It is so unique to us Americans and quite fun to walk around and soak it all up. One afternoon we took a canal tour on a boat. It was very kid friendly and a great way to see the city!
Nemo Science Museum
We stayed right across the water from the Nemo Science Museum, so we decided to spend an afternoon there. Science museums are always a hit with kids, and this one was no different!
