Transportation - Northern Italy & maybe Switzerland?

Gimmelwald - Alba should be doable in 7 1/2 hours. Maybe even faster if Trenitalia gets better at scheduling. But getting form a small hamlet north of the Alps to a small town south of the mountains is always going to be a bit complicated...

When is the trip?

There are challenges in train travel between Switzerland and Italy right now, due to areas where track work requires a detour and a bus link. So if you look at schedules for travel this month, you will see long journeys with lots of connections. Look instead at a date in October, and you will see the shorter travel times, like 7 hours.

But part of the problem is unavoidable, because Gimmelwald is a remote village and it requires a lot of transfers to go anywhere else. So any journey will start out with Cablecar down to Stechelberg, bus from there to Lauterbrunnen, and a train from there to Interlaken Ost. From Interlaken you have choices on your route to Italy, but in any case you have to get to Milan to start.

You could make this more pleasant by making Gimmelwald your first stop, then going to Luzern for an overnight or 2, and heading to Alba from there via a scenic train journey over the Gotthard Pass. This will get those pesky multiple transfers between Gimmelwald and Interlaken over with on your way to Luzern. Then the journey to Alba is simpler: Luzern to Milan( one change on the way if you want the scenic route over the Alps), Milan to Torino, and Torino to Alba.

If Gimmelwald seems too far and complicated a trip for your arrival day in Zurich, possibly in late afternoon, you could head from the airport straight to Bern for the first night. That is what we do. Bern is a nice small city with a charming oldtown area close to the train station, perfect for a walk to shake off travel fatigue and a nice dinner at an outside table.

This will have you spending one or 2 nights more in Switzerland than your original plan, but I believe it makes your time there far more enjoyable. And the train journeys more pleasant as well.

I hate to say this because I'm a train guy, but a group of six with some being newbies almost screams for a large van. Especially because there will be a lot of luggage to wrangle.

Also I'm going to suggest you cut your travel in half, pick Italy or Switzerland.

This has already been hugely helpful. The rail track work that is being done now was what was making the trek ridiculously long. Lola was correct - going further out on the calendar, it looks like I can do Interlaken to Alba in way less time. 7(ish) hour with fewer connections. Still a long way, but worth considering. 12 hours and 7 transfers was toooo much!
Some have asked and our timeframe is either late May or early June.
I see a few people are telling me that Alba is really not doable without a car. So I have to give that some thought. Italy is the one country I really hesitate to drive in - and we have rented a car in several EU countries. And a Van....oof! I was considering that maybe a guided tour (or two) might be our best bet?
I sense some people are concerned about the "newbie" aspect of our other companions - but we have traveled thru a couple other EU countries together - so they are not totally green. This just happens to be one area my husband and I went to years ago that I would love to see again and have our friends experience.
I see the most recent reply suggested a totally different itinerary that visits the Dolomites - I am going to do a deeper dive into that itinerary and see if travel and connections is better for our group. I had considered a Dolomites/Bologna area tour instead of the one I had listed. I may need to round back to it. Oh and also, I would say we are more of a scenery/food/wine group than a hard core hiking group. I hope that answers a number of follow-up questions. Again, love the feedback that you have shared - so helpful!!!!!!

@miuccia when you say it’s too early for Dolomites or Valle d’ Aosta - what do mean? Like impassable roads? Bad hiking conditions? Less than ideal weather? Stores and restaurants closed?

The Dolomites summer season really does not start until mid-June. There will be fewer cable ways open, depending on exactly where you want to stay. I might try early June, knowing some closures will still be in effect, but I personally would not go in May if you want to do any hiking. Gimmelwald and environs is better able to support you in May.

If you consider visiting Valle d'Aosta, the best transport from Milan to Aosta is a bus or better option is to hire a car.
Also it depends what you would like to do in Aosta Valley? If hiking I would consider hiring a car.

So option 1 is: Zurich-Lucern (1) - Gimmewald (3) - Alba (4) - CT (3)
- Florence (2). Or option 2 is: Milan-Valle de Acosta (3) - Alba (3) - CT (3) - Parma (2) - Milan (2).

I had a brief stay in Alba using public transport, just wanted to check it out en route to the coast. If we had not encountered rain we would have explored more, but I’d want a car for the area next time. So definitely consider what you will do in the area without one.
For guide books, I just search the region (at library or book store) and choose the more recent one.