Swiss museums – especially the Science, Art, Transport, museums have various hands-on activites that are both fun and educative.
1. CERN, Geneva:
CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire) is the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, based near Geneva. CERN is one of the largest science laboratories in the world, where physicists study particles, the tiny building blocks of matter. CERN is famous for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest particle accelerator with a length of 27 km, which is located underground. CERN was involved in the discovery of the Higgs boson, also known as the ‘God particle’, which explains why particles have mass. CERN created the World Wide Web in 1989 to share research results with scientists worldwide. Advances in detectors, computer technology and medical imaging can also be traced back to CERN’s research.
Website: Home.cern
2. Technorama, the Swiss Science Center, Winterthur:
The Swiss Science Center, Technorma is located in Winterthur and is a science museum with various experimental areas set up for kids and adults to explore.
Webpage: Technorama.ch
3. The Swiss Transport Museum, Lucerne
The Swiss Transport museum is a great museum with train engines, models of the tunnel boring machine, air travel etc. There is a lot of hand-on things for kids to do – from simulators to drive trains, to loading barges in a water canal, construction site, bungee-jumping. In addition, there is a theatre with lovely documentaries.
Set in beautiful Lucerne, the museum is located close to the Lucerne lake with beautiful views of Mount Rigi.
Webpage: Verkehrshaus.ch
4. Tram Museum, Zurich
This museum displays trams, ticket machines etc and is located on Tram Line 11. This small museum is especially recommended for smaller kids and is only open on certain days of the week. Please check the web page for details of opening days and times. This museum is also a good place to celebrate birthdays.
Webpage: Tram-museum.ch
5. Dinosaur Museum Aathal:
For dinosaur enthusiasts, there is a Dinosaur museum at Aathal. Check the website for details of the attractions.
Webpage: Sauriermuseum.ch
6. The Natural History Museum of Lucerne
The Natural History Museum of Lucerne — with exhibitions on biology, earth science, insects, minerals/crystals, and more natural world themes.
Webpage: Museumluzern.ch
7. Bodensee Planetarium:
For space enthusiasts, there is a planetarium at Bodensee. Check the website for details of the attractions.
Webpage: Bodensee-planetarium.ch
8. FIFA football museum:
For football enthusiasts, there is FIFA museum located right in the heart of Zurich city. Check the website for details of the attractions.
Webpage: Fifamuseum.com
9. Umwelt Arena:
The Umwelt Arena at Spreitenbach is an environment arena focusing on sustainability, environmentally friendly products, ecological footprints and helps understand human impact on environment . Check the website for details of the attractions.
Webpage: Umweltarena.ch
Art Museums
1. Kunst Museum Basel
Kunstmuseum Basel is widely regarded as the most important art museum in Switzerland. The collection spans art of the early 15th century to the present day, making it one of the broadest and most historically deep museum collections in Switzerland.
Webpage: Kunstmuseumbasel.ch
2. Art Museum – Kunst Museum, Zurich
Home to many masterpieces esp Impressionism – Manet, Van Gogh, Cezzanne, Monet and others, the museum is a must for any serious art lover. There a couple of large water lily paintings by Monet that are really really big, that literally take the breath away.
Webpage: Kunsthaus.ch
3. The Rietberg Museum, Zurich
This museum located a short distance from Bahnhof Enge is located in a beautiful villa and is home to art from across the world and many exhibitions.
Webpage: Rietberg.ch
4. MuDA: The Museum of Digital Art (CLOSED since Jul 2020)
The MuDA run a free educational program for children called Kibits, which is fun and educative. For details, please check: https://muda.co/kibit/
Webpage: Muda.co/zurich
5. Kunstmuseum Lucerne
The Kunst Museum is located on the 4th floor of the KKL, right next to the train station. The museum’s collection spans from the Renaissance to the present day. There’s a particular focus on Swiss art, with special emphasis on artworks from the 1970s onwards. In addition to its permanent collection, the museum hosts 5–8 temporary exhibitions per year — often featuring contemporary or international art as well as art-historical themes.
Webpage: Kunstmuseumluzern.ch
6. Rosengart Collection, Lucerne
The Rosengart Collection features major works of Impressionism and Classical Modernism — including many by the two central artists: Paul Klee and Pablo Picasso.
Webpage: Rosengart.ch
