During our summer trip to Europe last year, we played a lot of things by ear. After a few days in the Alps, we moved our base to Zurich for the remainder of our vacation. And because we had a car, we were able to surprise our niece with a spontaneous day trip to Heididorf in Swizterland on our way back from Liechtenstein.

She had no idea we were going here, or even that it existed, and the look on her face when we pulled up to Heididorf was just priceless.

What is Heidiland?

If you did not grow up an uber-fan of ‎Johanna Spyri’s novel Heidi you may not know about Heididorf. Heck, even if you did grow up reading it, you may not realize that Heidi’s home is very much a place you can visit in Switzerland, even if the location is a fictitious one.

Heidiland is a region of Eastern Switzerland sandwiched among lakes and mountains. Spyri was born less than an hour by car from Maienfeld, where Heidi’s Village is today, and the high-altitude area peppered with quaint villages inspired by the stories she wrote.

Within Heidiland, you’ll find Heididorf, which is the fictitious home of the beloved literary character, staged to look just as it did in the books and movies.

How to get to Heididorf

Heidi’s house is just an hour outside of Zurich and is easy to reach if you have a car. That said, having a car in Zurich was a colossal mistake—and not one I would make again—so if you’re using public transportation, you can easily book a day tour that combines Liechtenstein and Heididorf.

You can also see four countries in one day if that’s your jam.

For us, we tacked on a spontaneous visit to Heididorf on our way home from Liechtenstein. As local friends had warned us, there wasn’t a ton to do in Valduz, so we got our stamp, wandered around a bit, had lunch in Austria, then drove back to Zurich. When I saw that we were passing through Heidiland, I thought we’d surprise my niece with a detour.

What to expect when you visit Heidi Village

Heidi’s village is very much staged like you might have visualized reading the book—incorporating all the iconic spots she and Peter visited throughout their friendship—though all the buildings are, of course, walkable to each other. You will not have to summit a peak or cross a mountain pass to get to the school house.

Within the buildings, you’ll see the rooms set up like they were in the book (or movies or TV shows). Each room also includes educational material from the era; in the classroom, for example, you’ll learn about the Swiss education system as it was in 1880.

Depending on when you visit, you may partake in some of the hands-on activities or exhibitions such as cheese-making, basket-weaving, lace-working or wood-carving. We were there at the tail end of the day within an hour of closing time, so we didn’t get to see any of the craftsmen at work.

Still, we got to step back in time to the late-1800s and experience what life might have been like in this alpine village, and it was a charming break from the bustle of the cities we’d visited on our Swiss vacation.

You may recall that Heidi’s grandfather was a goat herder so don’t be surprised by the free-roaming chickens, sheep and errant goats along the “town square.”

Heidi’s Village is open seven days a week from March through November, the days and hours reduced during the lull of winter months.

There’s a shop and small post office on site, as well. And since the whole place is an experiential museum, respectful interaction with—even touching—the props and items in the home and buildings is encouraged.

Is Heididorf worth it?

As with all tourist attractions, you may be wondering if Heidiland is worth the time and money on your Switzerland vacation. My vote in this instance is yes, particularly if you have kids or grew up loving the novel. Our niece was 18 at the time of our visit and absolutely reveled in every thoughtful detail of Heidi’s village home.

Plus, the cost of Heididorf at the time of our visit was just $15 for adults and $7 for children, an experience well worth the price (and more) in my mind. You only need an hour or two, as each building is pretty small, though there’s a film about the global impact of the book, as well as plenty of literature to read throughout the structures.

If you want to make an overnight trip of it stay nearby, there’s the Swiss Heidi Hotel and also the Hotel Restaurant Heidihof just seven minutes by foot from the museum and village. If you want to imbibe (safely) while there, you may consider booking a wine tour of Heidiland.

My favorite part of the experience wasn’t even the nostalgia factor either but the fact that this small surprise made my niece so dang happy. Of all the things we saw in Switzerland, I honestly think this might have been one of her favorite moments, and therefore it was one of mine, too.

On the drive back to Zurich, we stopped at Wallensee to take a dip in the lake. We visited Switzerland in July at the height of a heat wave and glacier-fed water was a welcome relief.

We had just enough time to park near Quarten and take a stroll through the public gardens to the lake for a quick swim and before the storm rolled in and it was time to return to Switzerland’s cultural capital.

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