Be my travel advisor?

why do you want to get close to the mountains yet stay in Interlaken? Trust me, there is little attraction in Interlaken unless you want McDonalds and trashy souvenir shops.

You are already going to the Lauterbrunnen Valley where the mountains are. Why don't you want to stay there?

If this is your rough itinerary, how detailed will the final one be?

I think that by microplanning you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

Day 1, 2 why do you want to go all the way through Switzerland on the train before getting off at Zurich? I have read your list of things to do there, but wonder what it is about Zurich, the most expensive city in Switzerland and to my mind by far the most boring, that attracts you to both go there and spend time there?

What sort of person are you? It looks like outdoors and scenery but then you are in the most cosmopolitan (and full of ex-pats) city in that part of the world.

Day 5 you don't need the brand named train unless it happens to be at the time you want. All the regular trains on the Brunig Pass route have panoramic glass. It is a very enjoyable 90 minutes no matter which train you take on that route. You could even get off at Meiringen and go up the waterfall where Sherlock Holmes had his fateful encounter.

Bike to Gimmelwald and explore the town
That is a very wide freshly paved asphalt lane down to Gimmelwald. On a bike it will take you 5 minutes. There is no town to explore. It is a hamlet where two trails cross and happens to have a cable car station.

Bike to Stechelberg and Lauterbrunnen
are you an experienced mountain biker? There are segments of that hike (I've hiked it) where the trail is reduced to rough steps as it is steep in parts, and slightly difficult on foot. You'd need to be prepared to avoid coming off the bike. Some of the rest is very very easy on a bike.

Limiting yourself to such a short period of time in the mountains is setting yourself up for failure if the weather doesn't cooperate, and the mountains have their own microclimates. Generally clearest in the mornings, with cloud bubbling up around noon.

What does it mean when sites say, “Adults with GA, half-fare, Swiss Travel Pass”?
GA is what Swiss folk get to have half price all year -it is a subscription. If you have one of those, or are half fare or have a Swiss Travel Pass then that is the price you would pay. It defaults to half price because it is for locals and most of them have a GA.

GA is an abbreviation for General Abonnement, a year long Swiss Pass which costs 3655 CHF, 2nd class.

Echoing Nigel, Instead of Venice-Milan-Zurich, you could do Venice-Milan-Luzern and put the other days onto Berner Oberland and Zermatt. You've spent a lot of time researching things to do in Zurich, so that is of course, your call.

Also, since you seem to want to spend a full day in Muerren, why not stay there instead of Interlaken?

An alternative to the long day on the train doing Interlaken-Zweisimmen-Montreux-Martigny-Visp-Zermatt, You could take a scenic route via Interlaken-Spiez-Kandersteg-Brig-Zermatt which is a lot shorter. Again, your call.

Your 3 expensive rail days are all at the end of your trip, days 7, 9, &10. You will benefit form a Half fare card for your days in Berner Oberland, Zermatt, and Luzern. Why not just spring for a 8-day Swiss Travel Pass for days 3-10. It is 363 CHF vs 239 CHF for a 3-day Flex. It will come in handy for all those cable car rides in Muerren, Zermatt, and Pilatus (50% discount). You will spend more than the 124 CHF difference on all you other trips.

Where are you going after Zurich on day 10?

We no longer go into great detail planning our itinerary day by day--other than to read about where we're going on Wikipedia. We never get around to doing 25% of what's planned. Trips have a way of evolving as I go along.
I also will look closely at GoogleMaps.com so I'm very familiar with the cities and the region.

Nigel – thank you. I agree, perhaps instead of staying in Interlaken, I should stay right in the Alps there. This is my rough itinerary and the final one won’t be much more detailed than this is. I’m just trying to get some ideas and advice. Zurich’s lake, mountains, and city charm attracts me to the city. I think I’d like to spend a bit of time there. On my old itinerary, I actually had myself spend 4 days there (haha!). Good thing I changed it. I lie to spend my time in both cities and in isolated areas. I must see them and then get away for a while. In all, I should spend two days in the Murren area and stay there it seems. Sounds good to me. I did not reflect on the weather cooperating. Then maybe if one day is rainy then I can be sure to go the other day. Thanks for the biking intel. Thank you also for the Day 5 advice.

Sam – thanks to you too. I think I’d like to see Zurich, so I’ll keep that in there. Seeing that both you and NIgel are recommending me to stay in Murren, I think I’ll do that. My goal is to do Switzerland for a cheap as possible while doing the things I want to do. Staying in a hostel in Interlaken is my initial plan, but perhaps I should reconsider that. Time isn’t a concern of mine on trains. Thank you so much for the recommendation on getting the 8-Day Swiss Travel Pass. I agree, since I am doing all of these cable cars and train ride, it would be worth the extra 100 CHF. After Switzerland, I’m off to Innsbruck and Vienna.

David – thank you for giving me something to consider.

Also, that bike ride I was referring to is from this video: https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/best-of-the-alps.

Others have given vg suggestions. Due to very changeable weather in Zermatt keep that leg flexible. Weather can chg very quickly there. Last yr i was summerplanning 4 days there and it rained for those 4 days. This yr i planned 2 nights but had flexibility to cancel and the days were one day dry the next afternoon sprinkles. It worked out ok. Zermatt is very costly more than most of Switz so plan accordingly and cancellation policys strict.
Skip zurich add those days to berner oberland where theres alot to do and see.

Thanks for the important advice, JS.

Gimmelwald will take about 5 minutes to see, particularly if you are on a bike. My companions and I do not agree with Rick Steves' recommendation. Yes, it is picturesque, but on our walk through we did not see anything particularly different than we saw throughout the alps. And other than the Honesty Shop we did not see anywhere to purchase goods if necessary. Murren seemed much more interesting.

There is a hostel at Gimmelwald, my suggestion would be staying with Denise at Chalet Fontana in the centre of Mürren which isn't a hostel but has rooms which share bathrooms at pretty good rates - the big bonus there is the host, Denise. What she doesn't know about getting around those mountains by any method doesn't need knowing. She won the women's run there one year and in addition teaches yoga. Staying there is fun.

oilers,

I haven't looked at the entire Itinerary, but a few initial thoughts....

• Day 3: Mount Pilatus Cogwheel Railway - I'm not sure you'll have time to do that along with the other activities you have planned that day. If you're planning to take the boat from Lucerne to Alpnachstad, that's going to take about an hour. The trip up the mountain is about 45 minutes to an hour on the Cog Railway (with waiting times) and if you use the Cable Car down the other side to Kriens, that will be another 30-45 minutes (with waiting times). I'd allow at least 4 hours for that trip. If you're going to spend the money to get to Mt. Pilatus, you may as well take the time to have a good look at the sights up there. There are a couple of restaurants there and the food is good (at least IMO).

I was just there a few weeks ago, so the details are still fresh in my mind.

I agree with the others that staying in Mürren or another location in the Lauterbrunnen Valley would be the best idea. I normally stay in Lauterbrunnen as it's the transportation hub for the area, but others prefer Mürren.

"Take the funicular back to Murren" - there is no "Funicular", only the Schilthornbahn, a cable car.

Which pass to buy in Switzerland is a fairly frequent question here on the forum. It's difficult to answer as which pass to buy depends largely on which lifts and routes one is going to take. The best way to decide is do some number crunching, and compare P-P tickets against the cost of a pass. In some cases, the half fare card is the best option. If you're going to be travelling mostly on the Mürren side of the valley, then the Berner Oberland Regional Pass may be the best deal. You'll have to do the math.

As with anywhere in Switzerland, bring lots of money as it's expensive!