Italy to Switzerland to Paris

No wheel-spinning involved. Florence to Mürren takes 7 hours, by train and cablecar, and Mürren to Paris takes 6 hours. If you went Florence to Paris without the little detour to Mürren, it would take 10 hours, so you are only adding 1.5 hours in each direction to get to Mürren. It is well worth it, especially since you have several days to spend there. You can use the Swiss rail website, www.rail.ch to see the possible routes and schedule. And you can save money by buying some of the segments in advance: Florence to milan and Milan to Spiez on Trenitalia; Mürren to Paris on rail.ch, or Basel to Paris on TGV.

Thank you so much for your quick reply. This is very helpful.

Don't miss Mürren. I'd give up Florence any day to stay in Mürren :-)

Ditto Lola and Tim. Muerren just has to be everything that you would want to see in an alpine Swiss village. No tourist cars permitted. The views are of the alps on steroids.

To answer Paul: I think that Alsace and Burgundy are both worthwhile. Alsace is basically enroute, Burgundy adds an hour of travel.

we will be leaving florence and going to Lauterbrunnen spending three nights there as our base and while there will spend one day exploring murren and one day in Wegen and then one day in Lauterbrunnen going to the Falls and exploring the town.. then we are stopping one night in Bern as we have a long trip back the next day to London through Paris.
From what I have read that area in switzerland is fabulous and worth a few days if you have the time..

I really appreciate all the input. Anyone ever stay at hotel Alpina in Murren?

People on trip advisor mentioned it.. and liked it As I mentioned we are staying in Lauterbrunnen which is at the base of Murren.. (you take the train up to Murren I believe from lauterbrunnen) at a chalet through home away very reasonable and seems nice --basic
If you want the info and decide to stay in Lauterbrunnen send me a private message.

Tom: I'm going to be in Hotel Alpina in Mürren in early June. Wife and I are bringing a group of students to stay there for 3 nights. We usually stay at the Chalet Fontana, but we booked a little late so we couldn't get the entire chalet. Alpina gets good reviews and it was within our budget.

Hey Tim, Sounds like you are an experienced traveler to that area. Any "Can't miss" experiences you recommend while in Murren? Should we visit Wegen or any of the other towns there? Have you traveled to Paris from Murren in the past?

If you are hikers there are lots of options from easy to challenging. If you are more of a "walker" than a hiker, here's a nice loop: from Mürren, walk down to Gimmelwald on the paved path. Check out the town (Rick's favorite) and then take the cablecar down to Stechelberg-quite a thrill as it swings out over several thousand feet of air. From Stechelberg, walk along the river (footpath) until you are even with Trummelbach Falls. Go visit the falls (entry fee but well worth it to see the chasm carved inside the mountain). Then continue on to lauterbrunnen (hoping no paragliders land on your head) and take the cablecar up to Grutschalp. You can either walk or train the short distance back to Mürren. If it is lunchtime when you are in Lauterbrunne, Hotel Oberland has great food. Another day, you could head over to Wengen, which is on the way to the Jungfraujoch. I like to suggest riding the cablecar up to Mannlichen (straight up!) and then you can walk the easy ridgetop trail, wtit peaks right in your face, to Kleine Scheidegg. There you can board the train for the last pitch of the ride up to Jungfraujoch. Most of it is in a tunnel; you end in a building and take the elevator up for views and activities.

Lola, "quite a thrill as it swings out over several thousand feet of air." That's even more of a thrill when coming to the edge of that cliff in a Paraglider, and suddenly being able to see the valley floor about 3000 feet straight down!

Any must sees? Not to be too pedestrian, there are several pages in the Rick Steves' Switzerland guidebook answering that specific question. There are loads of things to do on both sides of the Lauterbrunnen Valley, with the emphasis on walks and hikes. I can easily use up 4 or 5 days before I begin to slow down with "must sees".

Ken-have you done that paraglide from the cliffs? I am impressed! The cablecar ride I described is thrilling enough for me. It's fun to see the paragliders at nearly eye level as you descend in the cablecar, though. We were about scared out of our wits walking in the valley when one came to a landing practically on top of us! He didn't even acknowledge us; just quickly packed his chute and dashed off. . .