Zurich Guide: What To Do In April

April In Zurich

April in Zürich is the month when the ski season is finally over, the birds have started singing, and the flowers are blooming. It’s also when you might finally meet your neighbors. For us, we moved from London to Zürich on October 31st and didn’t see our neighbors until April! Our neighbors go skiing every weekend and our neighborhood is quiet all winter long. Once April comes, the kids all run around outside again and it finally feels like Spring.

The city comes to life again for Spring with a fun Zürich tradition. For the local schools, there are so many school holidays in April, with the majority of the month off from school. So if you want to book a flight somewhere, this is also a great time with the long school holiday. Here are our favorite family friendly activities to do in Zürich in April.

Lindt & Sprungli Easter Chocolate Workshop

Lindt has a wonder Easter chocolate workshop. It is family friendly and our girls loved it. Make sure to get on the mailing list so that when the new chocolate workshops are announced, you can immediately book. These workshops sell out quickly, especially the ones in English. Here is our blog post from our Easter workshop last year with all the details.

Sechseläuten & The Burning of the Böögg (Snowman)

Sechseläuten is a traditional Spring holiday in Zürich celebrated on the 3rd Monday in April. It’s a public holiday in Zurich. The snowman has explosives placed in his head, and the faster the head explodes, the sunnier summer will be. The longer it takes to explode, the rainier the summer will be.

The children’s parade during Sechselauten is so sweet. I love seeing classmates of my girls walking in the parade in their traditional outfits. And they are all throwing candy and carrying flowers. Our secret is to enjoy a coffee and snack at Milchbar in Paradaplatz and when the parade comes by, we go over and watch for a while. Then, when our kids need a WC, we head back to Milchbar. Plus, the girls run around the fountain square without the crowds. We have taken our girls to the Burning of The Boogg but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend going every year. It’s very crowded. Our girls both fell asleep last time we took them. It was a new record for how long it took the Boogg to blow up, meaning our summer would be rainy. But I do think you need to do it once. It’s a very fun atmosphere and nothing like you have ever seen before. 

Carnival at Burkliplatz

I can never find a good website that tells you all about this carnival. It seems to arrive in April and leave after Sechselauten. So take your family to the Burkliplatz for a fun day out with trampolines, slides, bumper cars, games, a ferris wheel, and carnival food. The view from the ferris wheel is fun for the whole family.

Zürich Zoo Easter Bread Making

This FREE event is so much fun for the kids every year. Check the Zürich Zoo website around March to make sure to get a reservation for the Easter bread making event. It’s fun for the kids to make bunny shaped bread and listen to the Easter stories afterwards. Here’s our post from last year.

Easter Brunch

There are so many fun brunches and activities going on during the long Easter weekend. Unlike the USA Easter, in Switzerland Friday and Monday are public holidays. Jucker Farm and Fork & Bottle have fun family friendly brunches, but there are so many restaurants with wonderful brunches.

Fruhlingsferien (Spring Break)

Fruhlingsferien is a two week April school holiday in Switzerland for local schools.

Veloborse & Flohmarkt (bike sale & clothing/toy sale)

Every town has a bike sale and a children’s clothing/toy sale in April. Check with your Gemeinde for your town’s date. It’s a fun and family friendly activity. In our area the kids lay out a blanket and load it up with toys and clothes to sell. At the bike sale you can take any bike to sell as well as try to buy a used bike. We sold our girls old bikes and got them used ones. We also lucked out with a brand new pair of ice skates for 20chf. I also think it’s a pretty fun time seeing all the classmates from school and catching up with the parents.

Start of paddle boat season

Head to Enge and take the family on a paddle boat on Lake Zürich. For 14chf for a 1/2 hour you can enjoy the view of the city from the lake and have fun while pretending to know how to steer and peddle. My girls absolutely love doing this activity. We grab lunch at the Enge Kiosk right next to the paddle boats. I love their chicken baguette or their salads. The girls love their bratwurst.

Get out of Zürich

If you have the travel bug and want to take a few trips from Zürich in April, here are our favorites:
Lake Como
Mainau
Colmar
Amsterdam and Keukenhof
Tuscany
Positano

Where do you love to go in Zürich in April? Will you be in town for all the traditions or going away for the holidays?