8 days in Murren or add Lucerne too?

I don’t think you can really go wrong either way. We spend the whole summer in Murren so to me 8 days seems like nothing, but if you are a restless person maybe you’ll want to go to Luzern for a couple days. There is 8 days worth of activities in the Jungfrau Region. Look at the 8 day Berner Oberland Pass + Half Fare Card. The map of what’s included in the pass may inspire you with ideas you hadn’t thought of.

It's only my 18 year old I'm worried about. Others love hiking but the 18 yr old is a beach bum:) I think we will be fine with that amount of time and the weather might not cooperate some days. Last year we lucked out and had great weather every day. I was planning on getting those passes that you mentioned. It makes the most sense for what we are doing. Thank you. I never use travel agents but then feel a bit of the weight of the planning as well and my Airbnb is about to hit the noncancelable point so I was starting to sweat it out. Thank you

It's only my 18 year old I'm worried about. Others love hiking but the 18 yr old is a beach bum:)

I think he/she would find Lucerne deadly boring. It has a cute picturesque core, but that doesn't scream beach bum! We spent over a week on Lake Zurich, and saw tons of water activities like windsurfing, paddle boarding, and water-skiing, as well as loads of beaches and parks. I know later in the season (we were late April/early May), there's parks with beach volleyball. See what your research around Lake Zurich shows, but maybe combine it with a ferry as well to get out on the water. Tons of options.

My 24 year old son goes Sam can suck it up! He's in Switzerland so who cares:) I just have to laugh as I try and make the trip as accommodating as possible to everyone. We end up in Zurich to fly out so that's why I was asking about Lucerne since it's on the way. I will look into Lake Zurich as well.

The beach bum can spend days at Lake Thun and Lake Brienz if they’d like. There are multiple beaches and water activities and if you have to BO pass it’s free to get over there while others hike if they prefer.

There are lots of water sports opportunities around Luzern as well.

Here is the website for the Luzern Lido, with beach, pool, and SUP rentals:

https://www.lido-luzern.ch/

Or stay in the lakeside village of Weggis, a short scenic boat ride away, and have access to more boat rentals:

https://www.weggis-vitznau.ch/en/see-do/excursions/on-by-the-water/

At Weggis one can take the cablecar up to Rigi Kaltbad and enjoy the hiking on the mountain, with views over the lake. Or soak in the Rigi Kaltbad Spa:

https://www.rigi.ch/en/experience/hiking

https://www.rigi.ch/en/experience/wellness

I think we will just stay in the Jungfrau region and forego Lucerne and that's a great idea about the visiting the lakes around Interlaken. Maybe we will stop in Lucerne on the way to Zurich for a few hours. I was trying to see if there was an overnight hut to hut around Murren that would be worth doing but haven't figured that out yet.

We have done a dayhike to Rotstockhűtte 2 hours above Műrren on the way to the Sefinenfurka.

https://rotstockhuette.ch/index.php/en

Use the tables under “surroundings” to see the hikes you can do from there, either as dayhikes from the hut, or as hikes to a different hut for the night.

Or you could hike to one of three mountain inns approached by trail from Stechelberg, in the upper valley on the way to Oberhornsee. They are listed here:

http://www.stechelberg.ch/en/accomodation-dining/mountain-hotels.html

Then from the inn take the upper trail that leads up to Gimmelwald. Or you could start with a downhill to the valley from Gimmelwald.

Hut to Hut depends on hiking skill - you could do Murren to Rotstockhutte and/or Obersteinberg/Tanzbodel….or Schilthornhutte….or all the way to Oeschinensee from Murren with a hut stop on the way. But skill and determination are important to know before recommending. If they want an adventure for a night with not intense effort and not building the whole trip around it, Murren > Rotstockhutte > Murren would be a Great Option. If you want a true epic hut to hut 2-3 day adventure, Murren to Oeschinensee but it’s not a casual hike.

For your 18 year old beach lover, there are swimming areas and beaches on both Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. Some have pools and charge fees; others are free. Just search “beaches” or “Strandbad” and the name of each lake for locations and more information.

I haven’t kayaked there yet, but here are some sites I’ve found while researching options for a future trip.

Both Lake Brienz and Lake Thun offer trips.

There are two smaller lakes, Lake Lungern and Lake Sarnen about one and a half hours from Interlaken and Lucerne.

Here are links to kayak rentals and guided tours in the Lake Brienz and Thun area.
https://hightide.ch/en/experience/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_qexBhCoARIsAFgBlesSemLdRed20kx90A8vIPd2WCEvmuMzrcDUTbuLa_giPSWjVUYgEIcaAj1eEALw_wcB

https://www.interlaken.ch/en/experiences/lakes-waterfalls/water-activities/kayaking

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/experiences/lake-thun-canoe-trail/

Here are links to Lake Lucerne information.

https://www.kanuwelt.ch/

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/experiences/paddling-fun-on-the-canoe-route-on-lake-lucerne/

Here’s one of the swimming areas on Lake Thun near Thun that also has kayak and SUP rentals.
https://strandbadoberhofen.ch/

A Thun swimming area that charges an admission fee:

https://www.thun.ch/sport/53411
https://www.interlaken.ch/en/experiences/poi/thun-lido

All the best,

Raymond

Oh thank you everyone! This helps so much. We have hiked a lot in the summers because my parents had a place in Wyoming so I consider us decently skilled. We've done 20 milers in 1 day but that would be challenging for me but doable. I will totally check out what ya'll said. We tend to like planting ourselves in one place and staying rather than hopping around from place to place. I appreciate ya'll's input so much!

Ok I know we could hike to Rotstockhutte and I did part of that hike last time but started too late in the day and had to turn around. The Lake Oeschinen loop on all Trails looks absolutely killer but that hike from Murren to Oeschinenese is no joke. I see we could get to Kandersteg in about 2 hours normally but will that route be affected by the construction around Spietz? I know our train to Milan is affected by that and couldn't tell if this was. It would be a lot I think to get do that Oeschinen loop in 1 day it seems when you include travel time to get there, etc? What do ya'll think?