Bern , strasbourg or Colmar

the three places are very different from each other. I have been to all, repeatedly.

But which I would choose at a particular time is irrelevant - unless we have similar interests and desires.

SO, what would you and your family be interested in? Which one calls to you? What about the kids?

Is this your first trip to France and Switzerland or have you visited some before?

Curious why you picked Spiez before the short journey up into the mountains?

I picked Spiez because I want to hike lake Oeschinensee and I thought that staying in Spiez would make for shorter connection after sightseeing Bern/colmar and hiking the next day. Staying in murren adds more complexity to everything. I have been to both Switzerland and France but it’s been many many years. The rest of my family hasn’t been. As it’s a short visit, I’m not really looking for museums, just walking around sightseeing for a few hours.

For just a few hours, I'd pick Colmar. Smaller, and you cover a lot in half a day. Offhand, I don't know the luggage storage options in either of these. Something to investigate.

Yes, I would definitely have to find out the luggage storage in Colmar. I’m pretty sure Bern has lockers at the train station.
Thank you!

That is the difference between Switzerland and France. Switzerland seems to make everything easy (at a price), France, not so much. I only used luggage storage once in France, at Lyon Part Dieu, a big station. You had to pass through airport type security just to get into the luggage locker room. Very few stations have luggage lockers, unlike Switzerland, where almost all stations have lockers (and most take credit cards).

It doesn’t look like Colmar has storage lockers. It does have a few off site facilities that offer storage, but they either don’t get good reviews or have a long lunch hour which interferes with the train arrival times. Very disappointing.
Thanks again!

Here is an idea. Take a direct TGV to Basel, store luggage, then train to Colmar. It is only 45 minutes away by frequent regional trains.

Thanks for the idea! It does make sense, I’ll just have to decide if a few hours in Colmar are worth the extra stop (because I’m also considering staying in Kandesteg instead spiez, which would add another leg to the trip).
I really appreciate the help!!