Switzerland with dogs: 203 places where dogs are allowed, 213 where they are not

🐕 Day trips with dogs: railway yes, museum no

Your dog may ride to the summit, but rarely into the museum at the foot of the mountain: 38 of 39 mountain railways and 16 of 17 boats take it, only 20 of 119 museums, 65 of them assistance dogs only.

The ConvivaPlus Hunde-Check read and sorted every one of these rules at the operator; the ConvivaPlus Hunde-Finder, our dog-trip finder, shows all 203 places with dogs by canton and by what is open today.

🎫 Dog ticket: from CHF 1.30 to CHF 10.30

Dogs ride along, rarely for free. 48 railways and boats list a dog fare: from CHF 1.30 (Funicolare Lugano-Stazione FFS) to CHF 10.30 (Luftseilbahn Kälti-Stanserhorn (CabriO)). 11 charge half fare, 11 take any dog for free.

The line that matters is measured with a tape: 21 operators name 30 centimetres at the shoulder. Smaller and in a basket, it usually rides free; bigger, it pays.

🦌 Zoo with a dog: wildlife park yes, zoo no

Of all places, BärenPark Bern lets your dog in, on a lead. At Zoo Zürich, only assistance dogs may enter.

The rule from our data: wildlife parks yes (BärenPark Bern, Tierpark Lange Erlen (Basel), Wildpark Peter und Paul (St. Gallen) and Wildpark Bruderhaus (Winterthur)), zoos and large animal parks no (Knie's Kinderzoo (Rapperswil), Natur- und Tierpark Goldau and Papiliorama (Kerzers)). The exception: Walter Zoo (Gossau SG), on a short lead and not into every animal house. 10 places offer a lead hook or a dog box at the entrance.

🌧️ With a dog on a rainy day: 20 indoor places

Rain does not have to mean the dog stays home: 20 indoor places let it in, for example Höllgrotten Baar, autobau Erlebniswelt and Gletschergarten Luzern.

The surprise: the Muséum d'histoire naturelle in Neuchâtel welcomes dogs on a lead on Saturdays from 10 to noon. We found a dog hour in a museum nowhere else.

In total, 40 places with dogs work on a rainy day. All rainy-day ideas: day trips when it rains.

🧭 Where exactly: the farm yes, the shop no

At Juckerfarm Seegräben (Pfäffikersee), your dog can go right up to the pumpkins, but not into the farm shop; the farm cites food law. Like there, 33 places allow dogs only in some areas.

20 rules explicitly name the restaurant, shop or café, 77 require a lead. Heading into the woods in spring: in the canton of Zurich, dogs must be on a lead from 1 April to 31 July in forests and within 50 metres of the forest edge (according to the Canton of Zurich leaflet, based on § 11 of the dog law and § 41 of the hunting law; paraphrased, there is no official English text).

🚫 No dogs allowed: 213 places

The strictest place is not the museum but the pool: only 4 of 28 admit dogs.

213 places do not admit the family dog, 89 of them only assistance dogs: guide dogs and therapy dogs with a certificate. The best known: Strandbad Mythenquai, Technorama and Zoo Zürich.

📋 Day trips with dogs: all cantons

Geneva has more places with dogs than Zurich (30 against 29) with a third of the population. Per head, Appenzell Innerrhoden leads: 29.6 places with dogs per 100,000 inhabitants, Zurich 1.8. Every canton with number, density and best place:

🔎 How we check

89 times the operator wrote "assistance dogs only", 77 times "on a lead". The ConvivaPlus Hunde-Check reads every rule on the operator's website, with the page and the date we checked it (31 October 2026 to 1 November 2026), every sentence by hand, and sorts it: welcome, on a lead, in some areas only, assistance dogs only, no.

"Assistance dogs only" counts as "without dogs": for the family dog it means no. Where a sentence holds no clear rule, we do not count it.