Suggestions for this itinerary

"Any suggestions or ideas of More or Less time somewhere."

It all depends on what you want to see and do in those locations. I suggest you and the others in your family took at guidebooks and rough in what you'd do each day. Then we can chime in with comments like "I could have spent all day at Museum X."

Shawnie - when is your trip? I was going to suggest to add the Swiss Berner Oberland region to your trip for a few nights.

May 27- June 10

Shawnie - Stay in Lucerne on day 13. You can train from Lucerne to Zurich airport on day 14 to fly back to Paris. Why didn't you book an open jaw flight where you would fly into Paris and fly back to U.S from Zurich on day 15. That would have made more sense and gave you an extra day to enjoy on your trip. Can you change your return flight to U.S from Paris to Zurich?

RJean
I got a r/t nonstop flight for $400 and felt it couldn’t be beat. Had no idea what we wanted to do and just wanted to surprise her with the trip. My wonderful husbands idea. First time going so didn’t know any better and honestly not sure I could have gotten an open jaw nonstop at that price. With that said I wondered if I should consider a morning flight from Zurich to Paris in time for 1600 departure. I don’t know how the airport is, but do have most of the day on the 10th. And with the comment about how bad Paris transport is I don’t quite know what to do.

I would not fly into Paris on the day your flight home is scheduled. You run the risk of missing your international flight if your flight is delayed or canceled. Your $400 RT now becomes a couple grand each.

Will you have a car for any part of this? Colmar for 4 nights is a lot without a car.

No car, and I believe it is 3 nights in Colmar.

You might want to consider Strasbourg instead of Colmar. I've been to both multiple times, Colmar is pretty small. I would do Colmar as a day trip from Strasbourg or maybe spend one night.

FWIW We visited Strasbourg a couple years ago with then 19 and 21 year old young men and they both loved Strasbourg.

We are hoping to slow things down a bit, ride bikes, taste yummy food and drink....do you still think Strassbourg for that then.
Also for the person who asked what we wanted to do in Paris
The typical, Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Seine, walk past what is left of Notre Dame.

She really wants to spend time outside, doing some biking and hiking, tasting delicious food and drinks, museums, cathedral, she enjoys beauty and history.

We don’t have a big agenda and honestly she is so over the top with classes, sports and work right now it is stressful to ask her too many questions.

I am going to assume this is our first and not or last so I don’t want to go crazy as if we/she will never be back. I want to see things, but also want to enjoy time with her just exploring.

Does that help at all?

And again, only l lock in is R/T in and out of Paris, and I have about 24 more hours to cancel Airbnb in Paris if need be otherwise that is set (within walking distance to major sites in Paris) 5/28-6/4

Both Colmar and Strasbourg will be busy. There is a lot more to do in Strasbourg though. The cathedral is beautiful, a ride along the river, plenty of restaurants and little shops.

It looks like you have a non-rushed trip planned! Congratulations! Without changing a thing, you would have a lovely time.

Any changes you might make would mostly depend upon your own interests. Lucerne is lovely (was just there 2 nights ago for a second time) and it has the potential for day trips to Pilatus and Rigi but 4 nights might be too much without those. You will miss the amazing Berner Oberland area - but as you say, you just look at this as the first trip, not the last.

Because I love trains and not flying, I myself would be tempted to train back to Paris with a one night stop somewhere along the way in a smaller town, as opposed to a night in Zurich and flying. But that is MY personal preference.

So would you recommend Oberland over Luzern? Nothing is set that can’t be changed outside of Paris. I did book hotels in both Strasbourg, thinking of day tripping to Colmar and Germany, and Luzern, but nothing is set.

In Switzerland hoping for great food, hikes, bikes, time on the water...

Shawnie - Lucerne is a wonderful base to explore the swiss alps as well. Mt. Rigi alone has several hiking trails that would excite you. I would stick with Lucerne. There is a wonderful chocolate factory near lucerne less then 2 hours away from Broc Switzerland via train. It's called Maison Cailler. You might enjoy a tour there like half a day trip from Lucerne.

https://www.outdooractive.com/en/hikes/lucerne/hiking-in-lucerne/1451773/

https://cailler.ch/en/maison-cailler

Yeah, 3N in Colmar. That's fine. Look for bike tours. I saw a couple when I was in Alsace, though more in Burgundy. You need to be a bit brave, the roads don't have shoulders, and fit - lots of hills.

I agree to stay with Lucerne - and take trips to Rigi and Pilatus for the outdoor mountain hikes and scenery. There are plenty of places you could wander to from Lucerne - and it fits in nicely with your travel times to your other stops. It makes a great place to come back to in the evenings. Save the Berner Oberland for next time.

Shawnie, I think you will love Colmar, Strassbourg, and Luzern [Swiss spelling]. I agree with OP's that staying in Strassburg will offer more activities than Colmar, but do day trip to Colmar. It's such a lovely area.

Luzern offers so much, is beautiful, friendly, walkable, and safe. You can take the ferry boat to Mt. Rigi [one hour] and then the cogwheel train [30 minutes] to the summit. You can opt to take the gondola down, then hike thru pasture areas filled with the sounds of those wonderful cow bells.

There's also Mt. Pilatus, using the ferry boat, where you can also chose to take the cogwheel train up, and the gondolas back down. And the city has weekly produce markets, set around the lake, which are charming. The hotel rates include a mobility pass, which covers the local buses/trams.

Soon you be exploring which Swiss Travel Pass to buy, Half-price or Full price passes. [Full price covers the boat and cogwheel to Mt Rigi, but only half of Mt Pilatus, not sure why.] The full price passes are great, as you don't need to purchase tickets, nor validate, as you just hop on the boat, train that fits your schedule. [The scenic trains that you aren't taking are different.] You will discover how marvelous and efficient the Swiss Transportation system is, and how easy it is to visit surrounding Swiss cities, such as Bern and/or Basel, by train, [trains usually leave hourly.]

You are planning an incredible trip!

"Also for the person who asked what we wanted to do in Paris
The typical, Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Seine, walk past what is left of Notre Dame."

That was probably me. I like art museums, palaces, gardens, history and photography, so seven days in Paris was just barely enough (this included day trips to Giverny and Versailles). You've got three days plus your arrival day (also known in my family as Zombie Day). You should be fine.