Don't know about Zurich but in Zug, next to Coop City at Bundesplatz, there used to be a 'Velo verleih' stationary bus that offers free bikes from the town council with the deposit of an ID card. Wonder if it's still there this season? Same thing in Cham, near the Gemeinde buidling.

Try this link instead? (again, in German - sorry!)
http://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/content/...standorte.html

'Rent a bike' is not free. You have to look for 'Züri Rollt' (if it still exists)

Zueri Rollt does still exist in Zurich; I walked past their big trailer at Bahnhof Enge the other day. According ot the following page (in German),

http://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/content/...standorte.html

there are also two stations at Hauptbahnhof, one at Buerkliplatz and one at 'Globus City' (???), and of course there's the one at Enge.

Conditions given on site are what other people have stated:
- free
- ID required (just to show)
- 20 CHF deposit
- can return to any (Zueri Rollt) station
- 10 CHF to keep the bike overnight, othewise return by 21h30

Hi, do you have a car, or are you relying on public transport? There are so many great places and cities to visit within a reasonable distance from Zurich by car. All the places mentioned above are lovely, plus there is Stein am Rhein which is very pretty, or perhaps a drive to the mountains. I took my sister to Engleberg last week, and she adored the scenery etc there. I hope the weather is good for you all when they come.

Although I don't live in CH (yet), when we were visting Zurich we saved a lot of money by eating breakfast/lunch at the take away sections of COOP and Migros. The food was inexpensive and tasty-just in case you don't feel like cooking for your whole family!

Presumably for Züri rollt a passport is enough ID? A visiting relative wanted to know about bicycle hire.

From Gratis Veloverleih von Züri rollt, this electric bike thing is interesting. Does anyone know what a "Flyer" is in this sense?

"NEU! Ab sofort stehen an jeder Ausleihstation 5 Elektrovelos von Flyer zur Verfügung. Die Ausleihe für einen Tag ist gratis, pro Nacht kostet die Ausleihe CHF 20. Es muss ein gültiger Ausweis hinterlegt werden und der Flyer muss an die gleiche Station zurück."

"NEU! Ab sofort stehen an jeder Ausleihstation 5 Elektrovelos von Flyer zur Verfügung. Die Ausleihe für einen Tag ist gratis, pro Nacht kostet die Ausleihe CHF 20. Es muss ein gültiger Ausweis hinterlegt werden und der Flyer muss an die gleiche Station zurück."

Flyer is a brand name of electric bicycle

Visit a Swiss farm and stay overnight on a straw bed...it would cost
Less than 30 CHF per night per adult including rustic, authentic farmer breakfast...check out at http://www.schlaf-im-stroh.ch/

There are around 100 or mire farms across Swiss...that is a budget holiday surely...