Zurich will be the end of our 2 week family vacation (Paris & London prior). We are a family of 5 (3 teens - 15, 15 & 16) and we are undecided on our final 2 days. We arrive from Basel on a Thursday and plan to spend the day touring Zurich. We then have Friday & Saturday free as we are leaving Sunday morning.

First consideration was renting a car and driving to Innsbruck, via Vaduz. My mother's maiden name is Lichtenstein and my kids would love to go there. Innsbruck because of Matt Lauer's ride on the Flying Fox during his last trek on "Where in the World is Matt?"

Then I found a bus tour to Mt. Titlis to see the ice grotto and possibly tube or snowboard. It's a bit pricey, but considering that we definately can't do anything like this at home (Houston, TX), I'm thinking it would be worth it. Along with Mt. Titlis, we'd also get a short stop in Lucerne (which I remember as being very pretty).

Has anyone done either of these & if so, can you share your thoughts? If you've done the Mt. Titlis trip, how much time do you actually have at the top? Are there other places we should consider? Don't we need more than part of a day in Zurich?

I had three days in Zurich and I thought that was a good amount of time. I really like impressionist art, and there are lots of good museums there and in nearby Winterthur, so if you aren't into that, you might need less time. Some interesting churches as well, and fun to walk around a bit and windowshop.

Titlis and Lucerne are doable in a day.
The train/cable car ride takes 3 hours from Zürich to the top of Titlis. On the way back, stop in Lucerne and walk past the Jesuit church, over the Spreuerbrücke back through the town till you get to the Kappelbrücke. There are some nice souvenier stores in Lucerne and if you walk by Manor, there's a nice self-service restaurant on top of the department store with seating on the rooftop.

See sbb.ch (push e for English) for more info.

You should deffinitely consider going to Berner Oberland while you are in Switzerland.
Just like other big cities, Zurich doesn't have much to see.

Interlaken Ost is only 2 hours away by train from Zurich Hbh.
See Switzerland train timetabele ; http://www.sbb.ch/en/index.htm

If I was traveling with 3 teenagers and had just arrived from Basel I would definitely schedule some outdoor/active activities. Switzerland screams of these and unless I missed it, Basel was not part of the program. With 2 days, I would get to the Berner Oberland and keep those kids busy hiking, biking, summer tobaganning or something else. There's no way I would expect them to be satisfied shopping or touring museums or churches especially when all their peers will be on the water and in the mountains.
Sorry I can't help with Zurich (will be there in August) but the Alps are home to very active young folks into extreme sports and my kids would want to be involved--even me! Good luck. Paul

I will write a longer post later on things to consider for Switzerland, but with apologies to Switzerland (which I love as I lived there), Innsbruck is surrounded by Alps (at least one winter Olympics were held there if no one else recalls), and has many outdoor active pursuits as well. If your inclination is to go there, then perhaps you should. I don't think you have searched enough about activities in the Innsbruck area. Do some website searches, and get a guidebook for Austria, and also post a new question here on active pursuits in and around Innsbruck.

Rather than renting a car to go there, I would suggest you take a train directly from Basel, you can get there in 5 hours. There is an 8:15 am train that would put you into Innsbruck main station by 1:30 pm with no changes required. This would save you the car retntal cost and gas AND the hassel of driving on a the highways on a summer weekend (assuming your trip is then), plus it is a pretty trip. I also don't think you would need a car, as it is quite likely you could do most everythig you would wnat to do in the Innsbruck area without a car (as you could in Switzerland). Go to rail.ch for schedules.

I am still laying on the floor laughing at the poster who said "like other big cities, Zurich doesn't have much to see"....