Do we need a train pass if we plan to do a lot of hiking in Juanfrau region?

You will have to do the math yourself, but certainly the Half Fare Card will save some money. A 5-day Jungfrau Travel Pass will cost you 210 CHF with the Half Fare Card. See if there are any savings, or perhaps only a convenience factor.

Based on your plans, I’m assuming you’re a very experienced and skilled hiker. Some of these hikes seem like you’re just hiking to save money, as you’re hiking routes that transportation would get you to and missing out on the hiking that gives you the best views. For example, hiking from Wilderswil to Schynige Platte is not an exciting hike at all. It offers very little views, whereas you could take the cog train up to Schynige Platte and then do the very beautiful hike from Schynige Platte to First. Same goes for hiking from Wilderswil to Grindelwald to First. That’s not a scenic hike, but the above combining Schynige Platte to First is very scenic. My husband & I spend our summers living in Murren to hike and none of your plans are ones I'd recommend.

Is your purpose just to save money or have you actually researched what’s involved with these hikes?

Hiking from Gimmelwald to Schilthorn and back is a massive hike that takes around 10 hours and involves some really rough terrain with over 5,000 ft of elevation gain and 5,000+ ft back down. I can’t see any scenario where it’s of value to hike both up and down and doing it from Gimmelwald instead of Murren makes it even harder.

Hiking up to Mannlichen from Wengen is around 3,500 ft up and very steep with views of switchbacks the whole way.

Wilderswil to Schynige Platte is almost 5,000 ft up and a lot of woods.

Wilderswil to First is going to be 4,000 ft up and the route from Wilderswil to Grindelwald is not interesting.

The Harder Grat from Harder Kulm is an extremely dangerous hike that people die on. It’s over 3,000 ft of gain but involves some very dangerous ridges. Unless you’re an extreme hiker, I do not recommend it. There are other alternatives that are just as beautiful with less death as a legitimate concern.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your insights. My husband and I do love hiking and have done quite a bit over the years, but you're absolutely right — I planned these routes mostly by studying maps and trail connections, without truly understanding the terrain or the quality of the views. Your feedback is incredibly helpful, and I really appreciate the detail you provided.

It definitely wasn’t about saving money — we’re more interested in experiencing the beauty of the region through hiking, and I now realize that some of the routes I picked may not offer the best payoff in terms of scenery or effort. I’m especially grateful for your notes on elevation gain and trail difficulty — those are things I hadn’t fully grasped.

We’ll be staying in Wilderswil for a few nights, so if you have any favorite hikes — especially ones with stunning views, interesting terrain, or good wildlife/birding opportunities — I’d love to hear your recommendations. Thanks again for helping us make the most of our time in this incredible area!

OP - do you use Caltopo, Gaia, All Trails or some other software for mapping and planning your hikes?

I ask since I make sure that I know what the elevation gain and often, more importantly, what the descent is going to entail. I just returned from doing about half the Alta Via 2 (Gran Paradiso area) and we dropped a number of segments when the elev gain was well over 5,000 ft and some where the descent was either over 6,000 and in one case almost 7,000 ft. We decided it was better to save our knees for future hikes than to attempt a couple of the descents.

Get the SwissTopo app. This app shows you a topographic map of Switzerland, and shows where all the hiking paths are. You can there plan a trip, and you will be shown distance, a height profile of your walk, and time estimates.

Your Day 1 !!!! I would love to meet the person who walks from Murren to the Schilthorn and back in a day!!! Seriously, you've set yourself an impossible task there, I'm afraid.

What seems more doable is something like what we did. From Murren (or Gimmelwald), take the cable car up to Schilthorn, and then down to Birg. From Birg there is an amazing hike down to Murren (or Gimmelwald, or Stechelberg, or as far as you want to go), including alpine lakes, 360 views, going behind waterfalls, an alpine chalet / rest spot/ restaurant, and an amazing experience. Just this downhill hike took us 3-4 hours if I recall (count on 6-8 going up this mountain). If you're interested, DM me and I can share the exact route we took.

Sounds like you will be rethinking your routes.
We were just in Lauterbrunnen for 3 days. We didn't get to hike everything we had planned due to weather. Swissfamilyfun.com was a great resource for planning our hikes.
She has very detailed posts and videos of many hikes. They all include elevation gain/loss, Approximate cost for lifts, extensions...she also has a great round up of best hikes that is a good starting point.

It’s unlikely that you are going to have perfect enough days to accomplish all these big hikes, but it doesn’t hurt to have an idealized plan and pivot from there when needed. Use MeteoSwiss and webcams to determine the best options each day once you’re there. Also, to accomplish your 5 day hiking list, you’re going to need 6 nights in Wilderswil. You can’t do any of these hikes on half days while coming from the airport or heading to Zermatt. If you do 4 nights in Wilderswil, you can try for 3 hikes. If you do 5 nights, then 4 if you have perfect weather. Alternatives that are more realistic for the areas you’ve listed that include better and more realistic hikes.

1: Wilderswil to Mürren
-Option 1 - Easy but lovely hike — ride the cable car roundtrip up to the Schilthorn for views, return to Murren, take the funicular up to Allmendhubel and do the Northface hike counterclockwise, ending in Murren and then walk down to Gimmelwald
-Option 2 - Moderate hike - ride up to Schilthorn, ride down to Birg, hike to Murren view Grauseeli and the Wasenegg Ridge. You should only do this if you have hiking poles and good grip shoes and don’t mind 3,500 ft of downhill. There is loose scree on this hike and isn’t just a casual hike. Most people mess this hike up and just walk down from Grauseeli to Murren through Gimmela (not Gimmelwald). To do it correctly you have to follow the correct route, which is best done on an app like Komoot. Once you arrive in Murren, take the cable car down to Gimmelwald. You probably won’t want to do anymore downhill hiking after that hike, as it’s a knee buster, and the detour down to Gimmelwald on this hike with Sprutz waterfall isn’t worth it. If you want the custom Komoot route, I can send it to you.
2: Wilderswil to Wengen
Ride the cable car up to Mannlichen. Walk to Kleine Scheidegg and then continue on to Wengernalp. Option to continue all the way back to Wengen via this route or ride the train from Wengernalp back to Wengen. If you just go to Wengernalp it’s a lighter day, so could be a good option for a day where you don’t have perfect weather all day, whereas you want perfect weather for your Murren and Schynige Platte days (1&3).
3: Schynige Platte
Ride the train from Wilderswil to Schynige Platte.
Option 1 - Easy/Moderate - Schynige Platte > Daube > Oberberghorn > Loucherhorn > Schynige Platte
Option 2 - Moderate/Difficult - Schynige Platte to First via Faulhorn/Bachalpsee — if you do this, make sure to time correctly so that you can make the cable car back down from First so that you don’t have to hike all the way down. This is a long hike, so you need to allow enough time to complete it.
4: Grindelwald First
If you do Option 2 from yesterday (Schynige Platte to First) then there is no reason to repeat the area. If you do Option 1 from yesterday, then this day you can ride the cable car up to First and hike either to Bachalpsee (touristy and crowded) or to Grosse Scheidegg via the Marmot Trail (hardly anyone on it)
5: Wilderswil/Harder Kulm
Do not do the Harder Grat. As I mentioned before, it’s just too dangerous. The ridge hike I mentioned from Schynige Platte is just as beautiful and way way less dangerous. This day should be considered a weather buffer for everything above or if you only have 4-5 nights, you’ve maxed out your options with the list above. If for some reason you get perfect weather the whole week and add on a night, then you can do the safer route Augstmatthorn via Lombachalp.
PASSES
In regards to passes, I’d remove your night in Zurich and add it onto Luzern or Wilderswil, depending on how many nights total you have. You can easily get to the airport from Luzern without having to make another move and if you actually want to accomplish the list you have from Wilderswil, you need 5-6 nights. At the very minimum, you need a half fare card for this trip. From there, you can consider a reduced

Thank you all so much for your thoughtful replies! I’ve saved each one in the document I’ve been preparing for our trip, and I’ll be referencing them before we head out later this week.

Trip planning can be overwhelming—there’s just so much to research, and so many place names, hikes, and logistics to keep track of. It really makes me wonder how people managed all this before the age of YouTube, Travel Forums and AllTrails!

As of now, we’ll be staying a couple of nights in Wilderswil and three nights in Wengen. I think this gives us a great base for the activities we’re planning and will help ease us into the mountains. My husband and I once hiked Mauna Kea, and I experienced altitude sickness right before the final climb. I think I’ll be fine this time, but I’m definitely keeping it in mind.

We’re likely going to get the Jungfrau Pass for four days, which will give me the flexibility to hike and use the trains and cable cars freely. My husband is more focused on spotting golden eagles (ideally in action) and unique alpine birds—he’ll be carrying his big lens, so he may not hike as much. If anyone has suggestions for great bird photography spots, I’d love to hear them!

Thanks again for all your help—it’s truly appreciated!

Last month, my wife and I traveled from Zurich airport, to Lucerne for 3 nights, to Wengen for 4 nights, to Zermatt for 3 nights and then a last night in Bern. I went through the trouble of creating a spreadsheet to see which of the various passes would make the most sense, and the Half Fare Card was the best choice in all the scenarios I looked at. Looking back at what we spent on our trip for transportation, my cost estimate was about right. Note that we hiked and took transportation every day in each region.

I'll echo what others have said as well - the hikes you mapped out are in no way realistic unless you are a super fit and experienced hiker/climber. You can't ignore distance and elevation when hiking anywhere, much less in the Alps.

Mauna Kea is nearly 10,000 ft higher in elevation than Wengen and nearly double any of the elevations you have on your list, so your experience there really isn't relevant to spending time in the Jungfrau region in regards to altitude sickness. Wengen is only around 4,000 ft, while an airplane is regulated to a relative elevation of around 7,000 ft, so Wengen is less than the plane you'll fly there on. The only place you'll even come close to being in a similar realm to Mauna Kea is if you go up to Jungfraujoch or Schilthorn, which are still around 3,000 ft lower than Mauna Kea.

It really isn’t necessary to stay in both Wilderswil and in Wengen, as they are only 30 minutes from each other and you’re talking about a difference of 2,000 ft in elevation between the two. When you move lodging, you end up losing a half day of your trip by packing up, checking in, moving with your luggage and then you often have to wait hours before you can check in again, so it really affects your ability to do a full day of activities and doesn't gain you anything by staying in both. Pick Wengen OR Wilderswil. If you want the best views and ambiance, pick Wengen. If you want pure convenience with no views and not much ambiance, pick Wilderswil.

We’re back home! Here’s a quick recap of our trip:

Day 1:
Schynige Platte was unexpectedly snowy—I didn’t bring hiking poles or proper shoes, so I hiked about 1.5 miles before making the smart call to turn back. Later, I hiked from Mürren to Gimmelwald and back, then continued from Mürren to Winteregg and Grutschalp.
Day 2:
We did the Männlichen Royal Walk, but the trail from Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg was closed. Instead, we hiked to Alpiglen and took a detour to reach Kleine Scheidegg. From there, I hiked all the way to Grindelwald while my husband stayed behind to photograph eagles.
Day 3:
We took the train to First and hiked to the lake and Faulhorn. We skipped Schynige Platte after hearing from another couple that the trails were still slippery. I also did several hikes around Wengen, catching some beautiful golden hour views and good elevation.
Day 4:
We visited Lake Brienz and hiked to the Giessbach waterfall and Grandhotel. Then we took a bus to Lauterbrunnen, explored the 10-story Staubbach Falls, and walked the scenic route to see the other waterfalls before heading back to Wengen by train.

We did get the Jungfrau Pass for 4 days, which was very helpful for all the travel.

Thank you everyone for your replies and help!! We appreciate your support!