Breisach, Germany to Zermatt

You got outvoted? I hope the others are paying for all these train trips.
Glacier Express does not go to Interlaken, or even close. It goes to Chur and St Moritz in eastern Switzerland. The train to Interlaken pretty much backtracks the same way you came from Basel, except for a short stretch from Spiez to Interlaken. Train to Luzern is nice. And if you have a 10:45 am flight from Zurich, don't go to Zurich the night before, you are only one hour from the airport on frequent direct trains. It takes almost as long to get to the airport from central Zurich (slight exaggeration).
Do 2 nights in Zermatt and hope for good weather, and 2 nights in Luzern for a whirlwind tour of Switzerland. You need to get off the train once in a while and stretch your legs.

Whoops! The errors I made.

Topic should be: Basel, Switzerland to Zermatt.

"We will disembarking from a river cruise in Basel, Germany."
Of course should be: Basel, Switzerland.

Sam, thank you for the quick and understanding response.

I need to work on schedule, and convince others.

Please follow Sam's advice. If you do your original plan, all you'll remember is train stations, and you have a high risk of getting rained out on at least one of your one-night stands (making them miserable instead of scenic).

In addition to his excellent idea of two nights at each place, he's quite correct that you can get a train from Luzern right to the Zurich airport, so there's no need to stay in Zurich itself.

Wow at the train travel...WHEW!

Yes, that is a lot.

This is a plan I came up with to spend time with our friends who want to do a different hotel/train each day.

Sun. Disembark cruise ship in Basel (early).
Train to Interlaken (2 hrs.)Take day trips. Have to figure out what to do. Open to ideas.
Mon. Interlaken

Tues. Train to Lucern (1hr.50min) Take day trips. Ideas?
Wed. Lucern

Thurs. Train to Zurich (1 hr.). 10:30 a.m. flight home.

Doable? We will catch up with friends in Interlaken and Lucern. We will forego Zermatt/Matterhorn.

Arrive at Zurich airport 2-3 hours ahead of flight? Enough time?

Our entire trip will be one month. Friends will travel 2 weeks. I feel at the Switzerland portion we could use some relaxed time.

Any and all advise accepted!

Joy

O.K. - another revised itinerary for post-cruise:

Sun. a.m.: Disembark cruise ship in Breisbach, Germany.
Bussed from Breisbach to Basel.
Train from Basel to Montreaux.
Tour Chillon Castle, or vineyard.

Overnight in Montreaux.

Mon. Montreaux to Interlaken (Golden Pass train).
Overnight in Interlaken.

Tues. a.m. : Jungfrau via cogwheel train from Interlaken.
Observation platform; ice palace; Trummelbach Falls.

p.m.: Interlaken to Luzern (Golden Pass train).
Overnight in Luzeren.

Wed. a.m.: Luzern - steamship. Tour town.
Overnight in Luzern.

Thurs. a.m. train from Luzern to Zurich.
10:45 a.m. flight home.

Does this sound like too much to cover in 4 days?

Feelings on making Jungfrau a part of this? A must-see?

I'm trying to accommodate others, but don't want to overdo it.

Joy

Why are you now getting off the boat at Breisach instead of Basel (I assume you mean Breisach, and not Breisbach)? Is the bus to Basel provided, there is no scheduled bus to Basel from Breisach, but there are trains. Where is this bus dropping you in Basel?
You have a number of hours travel from Breisach to Montreux. Depending when you get off the boat, I doubt you will have time to visit Chillon.
Jungfrau is good, but if the weather is bad be prepared to re-schedule for a different day. You may not have time for the Trummelbach falls on the same day.

Monday Montreaux to Interlaken. The Golden Pass train is an extra tourist train on this route. Just take one of the normal hourly trains.

Interlaken to Luzern - This is the Brünig pass route. The Golden Pass train is an extra tourist train on this route. Just take one of the normal hourly trains.

This is doable, but a bit busy. Be prepared to be flexible if you get a bad wetaher day.

Our cruise was scheduled to disembark in basel but due to scheduled dock work, will end in Breisach (thanks for correct spelling, Chris). Bus will be provided to Basel train station.

My husband and I are having 2nd and 3rd concerns about our proposed schedule being too many trains and hotels and little time for relaxing and enjoying the areas.

What would be the attraction of going to Montreaux?

Interlaken good for 2 days?
Jungfrau - think we'll pass on that trip.
Thanks again.

Joy, yes your post makes more sense now.
Beware there are two stations in Basel, at opposite sides of the Rhine, Basel SBB and Basel Badischer Bahnhof. Basel SBB is the one you want for trains to Switzerland (SBB = Schwiezer BundesBahn = Swiss Federal Railways). Basel Badischer Bahnhof is for trains to Germany. If your bus drops you off at the wrong one you will need to get a tram.

I would go to one place only, either Luzern or Interlaken area (past Interlaken further into the mountains). But, because you need to get to Zürich airport early Thursday, I would say just go to Luzern, and use that as a base.
There are two trains per hour from Basel SBB to Luzern, takes ~1 hour.
Monday (if any time left) - explore Luzern.
Luzern official tourist site: http://www.luzern.com/en/index.cfm
You then have 2 full days (Tue and Wed). Options include a boat trip on the lake (you may be fed up with boats), go up a mountain (Titlis, Pilatus, search this forum or http://www.pilatus.ch/ and http://www.titlis.ch/en ) and lots more.

Chris, since we'll be bussed to Basel from Breisach, and you are from Basel, would you recommend staying the first day/night in Basel?

From Interlaken and Luzern, what would be recommended day trips?

You suggested stay "past Interlaken further into the mountains". Recommendation?

If we decided to go to Jungfrau, what is a good place to start from?
Thanks for listening/answering all these questions.

Joy, Yes, but.
Yes, Basel is a nice city, and is worth a day at least to explore. But, you only have two full days for the Alps. I don't know how late on the Sunday you are getting to Basel, but it is only 1 hour by train to Luzern. If you have a few hours explore Basel, but get a train to Luzern and wake up Monday morning and walk out to a view of the Alps.
The "past Interlaken further into the mountains" is Lauterbrunnen, Mürren, Wengen, Grindelwald etc. All of which are good places to start up the Jungfrau.
But but, you have a 10:45 flight, you need to get to the airport 2-3 hours beforehand. The first train out of Lauterbrunnen in the morning is 05:33, arrive Zürich airport 08:16. From Luzern it is (for example) 07:10 arrive 08:13, with plenty of earlier trains.
Same logic applies in the other direction. Basel to Luzern is 1 hour, Basel to Lauterbrunnen is 2½ hours.

This is why I recommended Luzern. You get your full 2 days in the Alps.
Options from Luzern are as I listed, a boat trip on the lake (you may be fed up with boats), go up a mountain (Titlis, Pilatus, search this forum or http://www.pilatus.ch/ and http://www.titlis.ch/en ) and lots more. Titlis will get you a (small) glacier and wonderful views.
More info on Luzern official tourist site: http://www.luzern.com/en/index.cfm

P.S. I'm not actually from Basel, but I have lived here for a number of years. I am actually English, spent about 3/4 of my life living there, with a lot of travels around Europe for work and pleasure, and ended up here.

Thanks, Chris.
Your information has been really helpful. We may still spend the 4 days in Luzern. I just wonder if we'll miss Interlaken. Jungfrau? But then, I realize we can't do it all in 4 days, especially if we're too tired to enjoy these places. Joy