The Emmental Schaukaserei is a working dairy and museum, showcasing Swiss cheese production throughout history. It’s a bit touristy, but well-done and a fun place to experience an important part of Swiss culture.

Location: Schaukäsereistr. 6 Affoltern im Emmental, near Bern
Open: daily, year round
Website: www.emmentaler-schaukaeserei.ch

You watch live 🧀 cheese making for free in their cheese shop, which has windows looking down to the factory floor. Cheese making is usually done twice a day, usually with the best action around 10:00 and 15:00. So you might want to schedule your visit so you can see this part of the process. See current schedule.

To learn about cheese making, do the "King's Way Tour," which is a series of playful multimedia presentations, walking you through the whole process in an entertaining way. It has lots of elements geared to children to help keep them engaged.

The tour is about 30 mins, available in English, French and German. At the end of the tour, you get to try a variety of Emmental cheese aged for different time periods.

How to get there

The Emmental Show Dairy is located in the countryside between Bern and Lucerne. 

Location: Schaukäsereistr. 6 Affoltern im Emmental, parking on site

Bus stop: Affoltern i.E., Dorf

From Bern: 45 mins by car, 1 h by train. From Lucerne: 1h by car, 1h30 by train.

💡For a day trip from Zürich or Lucerne, you might like this small group tour that visits the dairy, plus the nearby Kambly cookie factory and walking tour of Bern old town.

Day trip idea

The easiest way to visit the Emmental dairy is as part of a tour from Zurich or Lucerne. It includes a scenic drive through the Emmental countryside, visit to Kambly and Emmental Cheese Dairy, and walking tour of Bern.

➡️ Book here.

Tickets

You can watch the cheese making for free through windows in the cheese shop area.

For the interactive King's Way Tour, you'll need a ticket. Family discount 20%.

💡Tip: The Emmental Show Dairy is one of four dairies on the Swiss Cheese Passport. If you visit all four withing two years, you get a special prize. Ask for the cheese passport at the ticket office.

🍴Restaurant

The on-site restaurant serves tasty traditional Swiss cheese dishes, including fondue and raclette. We also like their "Käsekuchen" (savory cheese tart) and "Chäsisuppe" cheese soup, which is house speciality. For a lighter option, we really enjoyed their Emmetaler salad, a lighter option that still highlights the cheese.

In nice weather, they have a large terrace overlooking the Emmental countryside, with cows grazing nearby - very Swiss! The cozy indoor seating also has large windows to take in the view.

Other Activities

They offer a fresh cheese making workshop on Wed, Sat, and Sun afternoons. Reservations required. The workshop is not really hands-on, mostly watching the instructor make the cheese and explain the process. Workshop is in German but they can provide written translations for English.

💡Tip: This area is popular for E-bike tours, cycling around the idyllic countryside on the "Herzroute," aka Heart Route. From April - October, you can rent bikes at the show dairy. Learn more.