14 days in Switzerland-need help w itinerary

Lucerne is pretty great. There are no bad choices, but I would consider adding a day to Geneva (even if you can see all you want to see in one day, the region has the lovely vineyards around Lausanne, Chateau de Chillon is fab) and I would also add a day to Murren.
Jungfrau will basically be a whole day. Schilthorn can be as quick as you wish. At least one full day for hiking, preferably two, and I'd have liked to spend a whole day in Lauterbrunnen seeing the waterfalls but lacked the time. Depends on your energy level and what you would do on arrival and departure days of course (such as stopping en route at any of your desired places).

We stayed at Hotel Edelweiss this summer. Great hotel. Just make sure you ask for the rooms facing the valley.

Our favorite hike in that area - the Eiger Trail. You can read more here

https://www.earthtrekkers.com/eiger-trail-hike-bernese-oberland-switzerland/

I agree, add another day to Murren. We were there a few years ago and were going to stay 5 nights. It was so glorious and the hiking incredible that we just kept canceling our other locations and ended up staying 9 nights! We stayed at the Hotel Bellevue and absolutely loved it. Had a balcony and beautiful views of the Eiger, etc.
We were not that impressed with Lucerne and it was the most expensive city I have ever been to and that is saying something since I live in Napa Valley, CA- lol. I would add another day to Geneva area as well, especially because you will be recovering from your flight.
Have a great trip, that is my favorite part of the world!

It really helps me to look at an itinerary i terms of nights spent in a location. Then I can better assess my full versus partial days to do stuff. Let me lay out what I think you have in nights.

Geneva - 2 nights, one full day (your Day 2)

Muerren - 4 nights, three full days (Days 4-5-6) partial day on arrival Day 3

Zermatt - 2 nights, one full day (your Day 9) and a partial on arrival Day 7

Glacier Express on Day 10 to somewhere. Where to sleep?

You have 4 nights left, the nights of Days 10-11-12-13

I would add a night each to Muerren and Zermatt. This is what you think of when you think of Switzerland, not Zurich nor Geneva. Mountain peaks, gondolas, trains, and great outdoors activity. The Matterhorn can be elusive so an extra night makes it more likely to get clear skies.

If you add those two nights to Muerren and Zermatt, you would have 2 nights left after the Glacier Express. You could go as far as Chur or the more charming Pontresina, then connect to Zurich or Lucerne the next day and and spend a night there before your train.

We just spent a day-and-a-half in Geneva. It was plenty of time, IMO. I would not add more time there instead of in the mountains.

agree - add 1-2 nights to Murren. there is a lot to do there - lauterbrunnen, jungfrau, gimmelwald, etc

We have flown non-stop from Atlanta to Stuttgart. This would put you closer to Switzerland and might save some time, rather than traveling to and from Paris.

Agree with everyone, add on to Murren and Zermatt. I have done the train between Zurich and Paris lots of times. If you have time, do an overnight there at least before you return. Or more. We try to do 3 nights in Paris at the end of a Switzerland trip. Alternatively you could try to fly in and out of Geneva itself. If you have time don’t stay in Geneva, take a train over to Montreux, still on the lake and MUCH better than Geneva. I would be surprised if you couldn’t get a flight to Geneva, Atlanta and Geneva both business hubs.

We never thought about Stuttgart as a destination. Thanks for that advice! Ya'll are convincing us to spend more time in the BO Region. I'm hoping someone can advise us on the Glacier Express....

Thanks, myswisslife, for your photography tips. My wife is all excited now! I did have a question though. I implied from your post that Wengen looks down on the Valley but maybe Murren doesn't? Am I reading that correctly? My wife wants to photograph the valley at night from a vantage point above it. She wants to be sure we are at a hotel where where can easily pop out at night (nearby--not too far from the hotel) and get some shots. Would the Hotel Edelweiss in Murren offer us this flexibility or should we be in Wengen for the overnight stay?

Since one of your goals is to see the Matterhorn, I would concur with Laurel and encourage you to add another day in Zermatt. That increases your chances of having a good view of the Matterhorn, especially while hiking. There are a number of trail routes in the area that combine with the cable cars and funiculars, etc. so you can ride up near the top for good views (if it’s clear), then hike back down or hike to another station, then ride back to Zermatt. One day, I enjoyed riding up to Gornergrat, then back to the Rotenboden station and hiking from there to the Riffelsee Lake, then down.

Another day, I hiked in the Blauherd/Sunnegga area. I spent 3 days/nights there (part of the first day taken up by the train ride) and didn’t feel like that was too much. There was a mountain biking race that weekend, which meant some of the trails were closed, and there was a cloudy morning, so having extra time let me adjust my schedule to still see some of the highlights I wanted.

Also, if you’re travelling to Zermatt on a Saturday, the train may be very crowded; that was the most crowded trip I had during my 3 weeks there.

For Murren, the idea of traveling to Bern by train on a rainy day is a good option. Here is an older post about rainy/cloudy day options.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/switzerland/rainy-day-cloudy-day-things-to-do-in-jungfrau-region

All the best,

Raymond

Does anyone have suggestions for maybe three base cities for the two week itinerary?

sczebra, the convenience of the non-stop flight is wasted if you're (1) not spending anytime in Paris; and (2) having to waste a day returning to Paris. Add the costs of those two rail trips to the cost of your flight, and know it's also costing two whole days. Is it too late to change that? At least a multi-city route so you dont have to go back to Paris.

Sure the Glacier Express route is worth it. The St Moritz area (the Engadine) is well worth your time, perhaps staying in Pontresina as more scenic and less expensive than St Moritz. But there's no wrong answer as far as the choices you have.

Add me to the extra time in BO crew. We prefer staying in Wengen, but it’s all amazing. We went to Zermatt for 3 days/2 nights on our last trip and saw the Matterhorn for all of 30 seconds the entire time we were there. Just be prepared that your two days there could be completely impacted by weather.