Hi mapleg,
It is correct, most stores are closed on Sundays - but you can still spend some hours in Zurich, it's about 12 minutes of a train or 15 minutes of a taxi ride from the airport to Zurich.
Things to do:
- Walk from the Zurich Main Station along the Bahnhofstrasse to the lake and back on the other side of the river through the old town called "Niederdorf"
- During this walk you have various possibilities to get some good coffee or something to drink e.g. here (this places are often quite crowded, especially on Sundays but might still be worth a visit if you like chocolate and deserts):
- Spruengli at Paradeplatz (
http://business.spruengli.ch/spruengli-filialen.php)
- Cafe Felix at Bellevue (
http://www.cafefelix.ch/)
- Conditorei Schober (
http://peclard-zurich.ch/)
- If you like to try the "Swiss Bradwurst", go to the Bellevue just next to the lake and try one including the mustard at "Sternen Grill" - the one with this American trailer
- If you walk through Niederdorf e.g. the gallery lumas is open during the afternoon (
http://ch.lumas.com/galerien/zuerich/)
- If you like to go for a proper dinner, there are a lot of good restaurants, let us know if you need recommendations (if you should be a vegetarian you have to try Hiltl (
http://www.hiltl.ch/en/) - I'm very much into meat but still enjoy the good food there quite often to be honest)
- If you are into horse sports (show jumping) one of the biggest events is on in Zurich, the Mercedes Benz CSI (
http://www.mercedes-csi.ch/en-sonntag.phtml)
- If you are into movies, many of them are shown in the original language (look for the sign E/d/f) - Corso, screen 1 at Bellevue is e.g. a nice one (
www.kitag.com)
- Apart from that there are also some museums like the Kunsthaus (
http://www.kunsthaus.ch/en/) or Landesmuseum (
http://www.musee-suisse.ch/e/index.php)
Above ideas are just some random picks - let us know if you are interested in a specific topic. Have a nice Sunday in Zurich and a good flight.
cheers,
tom