I have an old friend coming to stay with me in Zürich from Dec 20th - 23rd. He his bringing his six year old son. I've been looking for ideas for things to do.

Outside of Zürich, someone recommended Lenzerheide to me as somewhere easy to get to (we'll be using public transport) and with a tobogganing area suitable for young children. From their website it looks like a good family resort.

http://www.lenzerheide.com/sites/wha.../familien.html

I've checked with my friend and he doesn't think zoos are to depressing, so a trip to Zürich's is on the cards.

Also possibly some ice skating at one of Zürich's outdoor winter rinks. Which is the nicest?

Food wise some pizza and some fondue at some point . . . fondue will either be at home or possibly Dezaley? Dad is a vegetarian . . . is Hiltl ok with kids?

Do the things mentioned above sound ok to you? Is there anything else I should consider?

The Dolder Rink by the zoo is nice and outdoors.

Make sure the 6 year old has his DS or whatever and your televison works; you won't be able to keep him happy all the time by taking him everywhere.

Re: food, Try the Chaesalp it's more fun than the Dezaley for fondue.

mmmm Hiltl yum yum yum. Great choice. I am not vegetarian but I love their food - and even my recent visitor to Zurich wanted to try it because he heard so much about it.

Dont worry, they cater for kids. Check it out on the left hand menu - they have on just for children: http://www.hiltl.ch/en/restaurant.php?id=007

JLP's right - Dolder's great. Think its one of the biggest open air ice skating rink in Europe...dont forget to rent him a polar bear to skate along with if he isnt that steady on ice.

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If he's a typical 6 year old boy then the transport museum in Luzern is fantastic. My boys (3 and 6) say it's their favourite place in Switzerland. There's quite a bit of interactive stuff. But the best part is outdoors - if it's not raining or snowing. There's a big area where you can just grab a scooter to ride (scooters provided). A biking area (bikes provided). A construction area where the kids can ride around on little pedal diggers and tipper trucks and actually dig. And a special "road" where the kids can drive around in pedal cars. This is all included in the entry price.

Although we've driven there, it's pretty easy to get to by train and I think you can buy a combined train and entry ticket.

For indoor ideas, I'd agree that the transport museum in Luzern is excellent, closely followed by Technorama in Winterthur. My four year old loves them both.

Also, if the weather is sh*te, I can always recommend Technorama in Wintherthur and the Verkehrshaus (museum of transports) in Luzern - there is also an Imax Theater...

Although the Masoala hall at Zurich Zoo is just as well if it's raining, but not for a whole day I guess...

Edit: I'll just have to type quicker from now on....

I've seen kids "bastel" carts at Hiltl -- just ask them for one when you're there.

The Dinosaur museum in Aathal kept my 6 year old entertained for a few hours.

Airforce Museum Dübendorf and a flight in the tri-motor Junkers JU-52 - unforgettable.
http://www.airforcecenter.ch/

My five-year old son loves:

Zurich zoo
Basel zoo
Playgrounds (the more dangerous the better)
Alpamare (good for a bad weather day)
Luzern Transport museum - especially the IMAX
Any mountain railway
Sledging

Anything else is mediocre.

Thanks for all the ideas.

BTW - Pizza Pasta Ciao was the place that recommended to me.

http://www.pizzapastaciao.ch