3.5 days in Switzerland - Zurich > Zermatt Recommendations

If you are heading to Zermatt, which is a fine destination, I would choose Bern rather than Luzern for that first night. Bern is on the route between either Zurich or Luzern and Zermatt, and you have to change trains there. So it will shorten your time on trains overall, and mean fewer train changes on the way.

Thus: from Zurich airport there are direct trains right to Bern, taking one hour 10-15 minutes. To reach Luzern from the airport, you must change trains at the main Zurich station, at least this summer.

From Bern to Zermatt the next day, it is a 2-hour journey, with a single change at Visp. From Luzern, you need to pass through either Bern or nearby Olten, changing trains there, and you have another change at Visp. Overall journey time is over 3 hours.

Plus we really like Bern, more than Luzern actually—-that city is too crowded and touristy, and the oldtown area is not as charming as Bern’s. I know this is not a very popular view here, but after 7; trips to Switzerland that is our opinion.

Actually, you can get train to direct to Visp from Zurich airport at 45 past the odd hour. If you can make the 12:45, you will have change t Bern. At Visp you get the train to Zermatt. Either way it is 3 1/2 hours. It is about the same mount of time going from Luzern. So unless you have something particular you want to see or do in Luzern, Bern might be a better idea.

As much as I have been grateful for Lola's advice, I must disagree and vote for Lucerne. I find the town charming, and enjoy going up to Mt Rigi , Mt Stanserhorn, and / Mt Pilatus. Bern can be very quiet on the weekends, as businesses and shops shut down late Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday, so fyi if you're there on a weekend.
Would you be too disappointed if Zermatt was all cloudy and you never saw the Matterhorn?
Have a great time at the Olympics and enjoy wherever you end up. Safe travels!

The thing about Luzern is that is deserves at least 2 days to do all that stuff, and the OP has 3 1/2 days total and wants to spend time in Zermatt. The first day will be limited as jet lag will be factor. Then, they want to leave the following afternoon, so little time for much in Luzern. My first thought was to go straight to Zermatt and stay 3 nights. That gives 2 full days in Zermatt and double the chance to see the Matterhorn.

But Pat, they will not have time for Rigi, Pilatus or Stanserhorn while in Luzern. I agree those are very nice—-we have enjoyed spending a night up on Rigi, and on other visits we have hiked up there from our base in Weggis). But they are just looking for a nice place to spend the afternoon and evening, and will depart the next morning. That means time for what? The famed Kapellbrücke was elbow-to-elbow people when we were last there (September 2023), with some selfie-takers blocking the path. There was no possibility to actually enjoy the structure.

Since they are interested in minimizing time spend on trains on their way to Zermatt, Bern just makes more sense.

We were in Bern last September on a Friday afternoon/evening, and the Altstadt street we walked to our restaurant, Gerechtigkeitsgasse (“Justice Street”), was lined with tables spilling out from the restaurants, full of people enjoying the summer evening. It was a party atmosphere, in a friendly, non-rowdy, Swiss way. We enjoyed conversation with the Swiss people at the next table, and with our waiter, who could shift seamlessly from Italian to speak to my husband, to German to speak with me.

On Saturday morning, my husband joined the locals in the river swim., and we had some lovely interactions with people on the river trail. Then we did a bit of shopping for Christmas gifts at a store with local goods (not cheese and chocolate, but handcrafts and kitchenware) before we had to board the train to Mürren.

On our recent visits we have not found a restaurant we enjoy in Luzern; it is a question of what is the “least worst”. The staff at Opus, a wine bar/cafe/restaurant where we enjoyed a nice lunch 15 years ago, was indifferent to our request for a table, and their salad bar/antipasti buffet, which was excellent before, actually looked disgusting. And definitely not worth 21.50 CHF for a small plate. So we left.

We ended up at the outside tables by the river offered by Wirthaus Taube, a well-regarded restaurant with Swiss “grandmother’s cuisine.” Here is their menu.

https://www.taube-luzern.ch/pdf/menu/Taube_2023_11_Winterkarte-CH-DE-EN_web.pdf

We were fine, but the evening was pretty much spoiled by the way the waitstaff treated the people at the next table, tourists from Asia who did not understand the menu and needed lots of help. Let’s just say the waitstaff people were not kind.

I can only attribute this lack of warmth and courtesy on the part of restaurant staff to the effect of overtourism on popular places like Luzern. Blame Instagram photos of the charming Chapel Bridhpge, or other alluring photos, or maybe popular guidebooks or YouTube videos. I not know how else to account for it. We certainly did not encounter this problem elsewhere in Switzerland on our 2022 or 2023 trips.

Also the hotel where we stayed felt cold and business-like; totally lacking the warm and friendly feeling we have usually found everywhere else in Switzerland. Maybe I just made the wrong choices, but on that trip we ended up feeling that Luzern was just interested in tour buses, convention business, and tourist money, and has lost its soul.

I warned you my view of Luzern is not popular here. . . .

Lola, have to say I agree with much of what you say. Luzern is a beautiful place in a convenient location, but the growth of mass tourism in Luzern was actually one reason I moved away...when I first lived there, the tourist crush was fairly seasonal, but it has become basically year-round and at way higher volumes. They have been victims of their own good marketing. Many apartments have now been turned into airbnbs (not a good thing in my opinion) and the old town has been shaped more and more by what tourists want to shop for, rather than services for locals. Regarding hotel/restaurant service, I think your experiences may also be in part due to personnel shortages faced by many hospitality businesses in Switzerland. It's not only a Luzern thing. One positive is that due to concerns about overtourism, the Luzern govt and tourist board (as well as Switzerland in general) are now trying to move away from encouraging large groups and focusing more on individual travelers who stay longer in one place. However, the infrastructure in place is very tempting to many tourists, so may be difficult to change travel patterns.
I'm also always a bit puzzled why many on the forum do not seem to like Bern as it offers a compact, picturesque old town with great museums/shopping and easy connections around Switzerland. Yes, many shops are closed on Sunday, but the same is true all over Switzerland. For short visits like this one, it may actually be a better option if Zermatt is the priority but they want to see a Swiss city too.
PS - to the OP, for your travel day from Zermatt to France, keep in mind that Basel may be a better connection point than Zurich (since France trains from Zurich will go via Basel anyway). Not sure about your exact travel dates, but also be aware there is a lot of construction on the rail network going on this summer so keep an eye on train schedules and delays.

Thank you all for your responses! We will review Bern as an option - less tourists and more direct travel route may be how we want to proceed, but my family may still prefer Lucerne - I appreciate the pros and cons.

Thank you so much for your time and thoughts - we know matter where we go it will be a beautiful trip.

With only 2 full days, I’d pick one location and enjoy it. Doing 2 locations means you’re wasting a valuable day moving + weather is never guaranteed and with only 1 day somewhere you may very well see nothing. Pick 1 location - Luzern, Zermatt or somewhere like Wengen in the Jungfrau Region and just enjoy it. There is plenty to occupy you in one location and you’ll actually get to do more.