Emmental Show Dairy Entry Ticket, Emmental

The Emmental show dairy in Affoltern

The show dairy sits on a sunny hillside in Affoltern im Emmental, a small farming village surrounded by meadows and forests. It was created so that visitors could see a working cheese dairy without disturbing a farm, and today it is one of the most visited attractions of the Emmental. The indoor route takes you through rooms that use film, sound and objects to bring the history of the valley and its cheese to life.

Your ticket gives you a timed entry, after which you move at your own pace. Most guests spend about an hour inside, longer if they stop to watch the production. The grounds also include traditional wooden buildings, a shop selling local cheese and farm products, and a restaurant with views over the hills.

How Emmental cheese is made

Emmental is one of the oldest Swiss cheeses, made in this valley since at least the Middle Ages. Under the protected-origin rules, it must be made from raw cow's milk from local farms where the cows eat grass and hay, without silage or additives. The milk is heated in large copper vats, curdled, cut, pressed into enormous wheels weighing around 75 to 120 kilograms, then soaked in brine and left to ripen for at least four months.

The famous holes form during ripening, when natural bacteria in the cheese release small bubbles of gas that gather into round eyes. In the walk-in production area you watch cheesemakers handle the curd and the wheels, and the panels explain each step clearly. Traditional Emmental is made with animal rennet, so travellers who follow specific dietary rules may simply skip the tasting.

The Emmental valley landscape

The Emmental is the valley of the Emme river, a soft landscape of steep green hills, small farms and scattered forests between Bern and Lucerne. Its farmhouses are famous for their huge sloping roofs that reach almost to the ground and their flower-filled balconies, and several old wooden covered bridges still cross the rivers. The nearby Lueg hill offers a wide panorama that, on clear days, reaches the snow peaks of the Bernese Alps.

Many visitors look for an Emmental day trip from Bern that combines the show dairy with a scenic drive through the hills and a stop in the old town of Burgdorf with its castle. With a private car and driver, which our team can arrange, you can link these places easily in half a day, stopping wherever the views are best.

Getting there and practical tips

How to get to the Emmental show dairy: by car it is about 40 minutes from Bern; by public transport, take the train to Burgdorf and continue by regional bus, about an hour in total. Transport is not included in this ticket, but we can arrange a private transfer from Bern or your hotel in the region. The timed entry slots run from morning until mid-afternoon.

The best time to visit is in the morning, when the cheesemakers are usually busiest in the production area. Spring and summer make the surrounding hills especially green, while autumn brings golden forests. Halal food is limited in the Emmental villages, so plan lunch in Bern, where halal restaurants are easy to find.