4 day itinerary from Zurich to Geneva

Well, Lucerne, Interlaken, Bern, and Lausanne are obvious options. But
you say nothing about interests, economics, etc, so it's hard for anyone to
help you with specifics.

Also, Zurich to Geneva is a 3 hour train and you have 4 days, so you could
head to Lyon or places a bit farther afield in France. Tons of options.

Sorry, this was my first post. My first thought is to take a quick tour of the cities you mentioned and then maybe get into the countryside. We would enjoy e-biking and some moderate hiking. I would appreciate any tips on what kind of rail pass to buy as we do not intend to rent a car. Also, I am under the impression that with a Swiss rail pass you can hop on and off a train at any stop, I am assuming this means you can stay overnight in a spot and continue the next day. Thank you for your response, it was helpful. Tmharvey

As far as economics goes, that would be mid range. After arriving in Geneva we will be traveling to Venice and Trieste Italy.

What you're looking for is absolutely achievable, though it's challenging to answer since there are so many excellent options!

Are you basically looking at one day in Zurich and one in Geneva leaving two more for maybe a hiking day and an e-bike day?

Switzerland Mobility has a map of cycling routes in Switzerland. You will see that there are lots of them!

https://map.schweizmobil.ch/?lang=en&photos=yes&bgLayer=pk&logo=yes&season=summer&resolution=250&E=2631750&N=1189000&detours=yes&layers=Veloland

You can also explore cities by bike if you want. Here is an example in Zurich:

https://www.zuerich.com/en/visit/sport/zurich-rollt

In late October the fall colours will be starting. It is usually a good time to see the Lavaux vineyards

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/destinations/lavaux-vineyard-terraces/

This site has a few photos of what it looks like in the fall:

https://www.myvaud.ch/en/Z14243/lavaux-vineyards-steeped-in-history

Just a few thoughts to get you started.

Now that you say your eventual destination is Venice and then Trieste, I assume there
is some good reason to want to go to Geneva, which is in the opposite direction?

Geneva is a lovely city - to live in (my outsider view as a tourist). For sightseeing, there
is not all that much.

Another option would be to go to Milan/Italian Alps from Zurich. In addition to having
plenty to see, it would decrease your train travel time significantly.

For 4 days, if all you want to do is hop on/hop off trains, you won't end up seeing very
much. Pick one intermediate stop and spend the 4 days there, mixing in a day trip or
two.

For that matter, there is hiking and outdoor activities in Zurich to start with.

Ok so another question. If we are 4 nights traveling from Zurich to Luverne, interlaken, Bern, Murren, Montreux, Geneva and Zermatt and then plan to travel to Venice and Trieste along with some possible side trips in Italy. What travel pass if any should be purchase. Most of our trip will be 2 adults over 60 but we will be joining family which includes 3 children under 16. I assume we will be taking some scenic train trips while in Switzerland.
Thanks for your input.

Can't help with the question about what pass(es) to purchase/not purchase, but
that just seems like a lot of stops in 5 days/4 nights.

I think Swiss passes are for a certain # of days, so the more trips you take in those
days, the more you save, but the less you see.

You would probably need something different for Milan/Venice, but I know the Milan->
Venice ticket can be very inexpensive, so no pass needed for that, which probably
means no pass needed (not even sure one exists) for Italy.