What time of year?

Mary.
There are plenty of fine trips out of Zurich,my fave is Freiburg,followed by Stein on Rhein and Rappeswil.All easy train ride .
P.S Get the 2 class tix its less expensive.Travelman

Oh, Mary, there are a zillion. Rapperswil is lovely, as is Stein am Rhein, but--assuming you're training--there's Lucerne and Regensburg, and Schaffhausen, and Rheinfelden, or maybe Basel or St. Gallen! I love Swiss trains. If you are driving, then ignore every place I've listed and follow a driver's advice instead. But, on second thought, if you're driving and the weather's nice, just spend your days heading in different directions -- you cannot go wrong. There's a "Phaidon Cultural Guide" on Switzerland. I say just head for the countryside and enjoy. (Of course, Bob Brown's Q about the time of year is probably a biggie. J.

Why cannot I ever get things right the first time? I should have written Regensberg, not Regensburg.

Mary---
If you are going by car, my favorite close-in places are (1) the entire circuit around Lake Lucerne; (2) Einsiedeln, with its incredible church; (3) Appenzell, the essence of country Switzerland, where they herd the cows right through the center of town returning from the meadows; (4) Baden, a lovely old town; (5) Lenzburg, with a very nice castle; (6) Regensberg, a preserved medieval village; (7) Neuhausen and the Rheinfall area, with quite a view over the waterfall; (8) Rapperswil; (9) and Stein am Rhein. Hope this helps; almost anywhere you go is good. A car gives you the utmost flexibility; without it, some of these places are in the too-hard category for a nice day trip.

Oh Wayne, your list is a dandy! I've enjoyed most of those places very much. Can you elaborate on Lenzburg and Baden? And have you ever been to Hallwil or Bremgarten? Mary, your possibilities make me so excited. J.