Switzerland's great Christmas markets, its lantern parades and candlelit mountains: an editor's calendar for the season, from Zug to Zürich, Lucerne and beyond.
Advent here has a choreography all its own. The turnip lanterns come first, then Samichlaus on the castle steps, the bells and the darkened villages, and finally the slow glow of the markets by the water. This is the season, edited: what to see, when to arrive and how far it is from home.
Every outing below carries its time and approximate train journey from Zug and Baar. Filled green boxes show confirmed times; dotted boxes are still to be announced by the organiser.
Begin aboard the Samichlaus brunch cruise on Lake Zug, where every child who recites a rhyme receives a surprise. Then walk straight into the car-free Old Town for Fairytale Sunday: some thirty story rooms, carriage rides and carousels, a parade of bell-ringers and whip-crackers, and a small firework finale on the Landsgemeindeplatz.
See the day
Zürich opens the season on the first Sunday of Advent. The fairy-tale tram leads, then floats of Samichläuse and Schmutzlis handing out treats along the Bahnhofstrasse, ending with brass bands at Bürkliplatz. Arrive twenty minutes early for the front row.
See the day
A single firecracker, then total darkness, and the whole town fills with giant glowing lantern-mitres and the roar of more than fifteen hundred bell-ringers. It is one of the great winter customs of Europe, and astonishingly close to home.
See the day
A public holiday in Zug, spent on the mountain. Zugiblubbi and Samichlaus meet families at the top station and lead them along the trail of lights to the crèche, with a little surprise for every child at the end. Take bus 603 to Schönegg, then the funicular up.
See the day
Seven markets within a twenty-minute stroll. Start beneath the vaulted roof of Polarzauber in the main station, cross to the lanes of the Niederdorf, then walk along the Limmat to Bellevue Noël, where children disappear into the Elfendörfli. Finish via Münsterhof's local designers and the Singing Tree on Werdmühleplatz.
The market guide19 Nov – 23/24 Dec · daily from 11:00
With children: Elfendörfli, Polarzauber's Lindt train, the Märlitram from Bellevue.
19 Nov – 23 Dec
With children: Herti Zauber ice rink (from 6 Nov) and Baar on Ice (from 1 Dec).
20 Nov – 23 Dec
With children: the lantern walk to the Transport Museum and the Christmas Train city tour.
27 Nov – 6 Dec · ten days only
With children: the famous Diorama Bethlehem nativity, and the Samichlaus send-off.
3 – 20 Dec · Thursday to Sunday
With children: Samichlaus night, and the ice minigolf at Chalet Süd.
26 Nov – 23 Dec · daily 11:00–20:30
With children: the Märliwald on Münsterplatz, where they can dip, pour and decorate candles.
Six weeks of lanterns, bells & snow, and not a single one wasted.The full calendar follows
For the free afternoons and the unplanned weekends, these run for weeks.
