travelling around lake Zurich can be a bit difficult because lots of the land is private and you have to keep along the roads or even railroads. there are some very nice bits around the lake and you can easily travel around it via bike or car in a few hours. lovely town like Zurich, Rapperswil and Wädenswil are on the way. for a more natural experience I'd recmmend going to Lake Lucerne which has a shore path around it and some mountains to go with it.

a lovely, big park just about one mile south of the Limmat on the east side of Lake Zurich. it's in walking distance from the Stadelhofen and Tiefenbrunnen district or you can take busses, trains or trams to get to the site.
it is a quiet but very popular place with lots of people coming here to eat their lunch during mid day and even more come to play football, grill and hang out. there's an awesome view of Lake Zurich and Zurich's local hill, the Uetliberg. also, there's a huge children's playground, lot's of space for any ball games and a good restaurant at the tip, called Zurichhorn.

an awesome beach to get smashed by incoming 5 foot beach brake. get your camera out and watch all the *dumb* tourists getting their asses whipped ;)
also a very interesting sigh to see the locals with their kids and trucks hanging out just beside the water or at the beach park just on the other side of the small dunes. you can see the next Hawaiian island on a clear day.

an awesome outlook on the Pacific ocean, over the West and South coast of O'ahu and of course down on Honolulu. it takes about an hours hike to get up from the nearest bus stop, at the top there are lots of bunkers and the sights are really amazing.
don't forget the park closes at 6 PM, so you sadly enough wont be able to catch a real sunset..

an awesome place to go shopping, eat, dine and see sights. the road stretches up from the main station to Lake Zurich, passing lot's of places like watch shops, all the famous stores like Cartier, Lindt & Sprüngli, Orell Füssli, Swatch, H&M, Jelmoli, WE, and hundreds of other fashion or accessories stores.
the best thing is to walk from the main station, go shopping and eat something up at the lake on a sunny afternoon.

the Club called Alte Börse is located near the Paradeplatz in central Zurich, only about 12 minutes walk from the main station or you can also take a tram. personally, I think its one of the best clubs in Zurich. it has one large main floor, with lot's of big lounges and a very good bar. above the main floor are some private lounges, where you can look down on the crowd.
best party? visit "Hiptronic", a mix between Electronic and Hip Hop music with awesome DJ's.
sadly, the Alte Börse is closing (or changing location) in December this year, so you might want to hurry up ;)

it's one of the nicest place to shop and dine in Zurich. it has lots of clothing, street style and watch stores along the side of the road. the road, which is traffic-free, runs along the Limmat and a part of the old town. there are also lot's of Restaurants where you can get nice food.

this is my favourite place for chilling in Zurich. it's a little park in the center of the old village of Zurich, overlooking the Limmat river and the other old village part of Zurich. it's a wonderful place to eat your lunch, chat or enjoy a game of chess on a large playing board with a stranger.

a very lively and interesting long road, going up from the main station of Zurich to the Lake. it has lots and lots of shops, so it's a place for everyone. also, there are lots of restaurants, old villages and parks, which make the place really lovely.

visiting the Grossmünster in Zurich is one of the nicest things to do. it costs about 1-2 swiss franks and after entering the church there is a staircase winding it's way up to the tower to a plattform far above the Limmat and the Niederdoerfli of Zurich.

Uetliberg is the main attraction for tourists visiting Zurich and wanting a good overview over the city and the country. after about 30mins of trainride up the hill from Zurich main station, you arrive at about 800 meters with a fabulous view over the town. climbing up the tower is always recommendable and going for lunch in the restaurant is also very good.

I live near Zurich and really love coming to town in the evenings. I can recommend walking along both sides of the river, either from Lake Zurich in direction of the main station or the other way round. the west side will take you into the awesome old town of Zurich with lots of shops. on the east side there's the "niederdörfli" with it's lovely ancient buildings and shops.
after shopping stop by in one of the awesome bars / pubs or even clubs.

a wondeful city with a really large and nice old town. also, there's the lovely Aare river winding it's way through the town with a lot of bathing areas.
I can really recommend visiting the old town by day to take a look at all the touristic sights and then hanging out in one of the dozens of awesome bars in the evening after having a meal in one of the countless restaurants.