4 days in Switzerland- Ideas

cdcclerkberg, you have to consider the time it tales to pack up and go from one place to another. Disrtances are deceiving in Switzerland when you look at the map, because the mountains slow things down. You would only have a few hours of day time in Zermatt and Luzern when you take the transit time into account.

If it were me (and it was not too long ago) I'd pick either the Berner Overland (up the valley from Interlaken) or Luzern, for all those days. Interlaken itself is not in the mountains; its at the foot of the mountains. All the good stuff is up the valley - Lauterbrunnen, Mürren, Wengen, etc. If you stay in Interlaken, much of your time is taken up by going to and from the places you really want to see. Luzern has a lot to do up the mountains and on the lake. Plus you can get right to the Zurich airport rail station from Luzern in 1.25 hours. Thats what we chose to do.

Having visited Interlaken several times including this summer I would plan a stay for Day 1 and 2 elsewhere as recommended above. After spending a few hours in the “city” I was thrilled to return to the “mountain retreats.”

My suggestion is to skip Zermatt- it's out of the way, weather could be iffy for seeing the Matterhorn, and if you stay in Wengen or Murren (or Lauterbrunen), you will actually be in the Alps. Once you're in the mountains, you won't want to leave.
Have a great trip!

Thank you all for your suggestions!! Sounds like I'm going to skip Zermatt! Would you stay in Lauterbrunen Valley. Murren or the Berner Overland area?

Lauterbrunnen and Mürren are both in the Berner Oberland region, and very close to one another. Lauterbrunnen in the town in the valley; Mürren is a car-free village perched on the cliff directly above Lauterbrunnen. You ride a large cablecar to get up there.

If you are familiar with Yosemite, picture it this way: Lauterbrunnen is on the valley floor, below Glacier Point. Mürren would be up above, at Glacier Point (but there is no rock formation comparable to Half Dome in the picture).

Search here on the Forum for past discussions of where to stay in the Berner Oberland. You can also just read the last six months of entries under the Switzerland drop- down. You will find passionate discourse advocating for each town!
Safe travels!