Here’s my plan! Tell me what to take out or add?

Heads up for 9/14.... - you DO know that Brienz was flooded just 3 weeks ago, destroying the RR tracks through town?
Th rest of the town was largely untouched, and Brungasse can surely be viewed.

The earliest that train travel will resume is 29. September (but not set in stone).
Buses replace all trains leaving Brienz in both directions.
Because of this, the Rothornbahn('cogwheel train') is also out of service for the rest of this year.

@wynoka54 Ah I didn’t know that, thank you! I’ll look into it - but do you think I should just go from murren straight to Innerkirchen then for the festival and then straight back instead of trying to do things around lake Brienz?

This is GO GO GO. You're trying to a pack a ton in with little kids and your schedule depends on perfect weather and basically no rest :) Of course you want to see it all but Switzerland is beautiful everywhere and really quality is more important than quantity. You don't have to see every single thing to have "seen" it. Allow for a bit more margin to just soak in the area without feeling like you have to check off every single instagram reel bucket list item. I promise you'll enjoy it more that way. Hold loosely to this schedule and prioritize your most important activities for the best weather days, as they won't all be perfect. I'll just comment on the Vevey/Murren section, as I haven't been to all these other places you're doing towards the end. Though I can say just by looking at 9/16-9/22 it looks pretty intense.

9/7 - Chocolate Tour + Gruyeres + La Maison + Chateau de Chillon + jetlag is not realistic -- it's your first full day with little ones and I don't think you're going to accomplish all this with jetlag. Just no way. Typically on the first full day after a flight from the western US you end up being exhausted/sleeping until lunch time - this day needs to be WAY more chill or you're going to all be really really unhappy. Montreux/waterfront walk to the castle/Chateau de Chillon/boat ride back to Vevey would be more than enough. If Gruyeres is non-negotiable, then Montreux/Chillon has to go.

9/8 - Again, it's a lot to store your luggage and drag kids around mid trip, but if this is non-negotiable, it's possible I guess. I just personally think that the scenic train ride + getting to Murren is going to be plenty. Doing the long route is a lot for kids to sit there, as the view is not exciting for little kids like it may be to you. They are going to get antsy and adding a detour to Kandersteg + walk through town + cable car ride + walk or e-taxi down to the water and then all in reverse and then still have to get to where you're going. It's just a lot. It would be a lot for me with just adults, let alone kids.

9/9 - Your plan works for this day. Allow time for the playground at Allmendhubel.

9/10 - This day need to be simplified and with little kids Trummelbach Falls really isn't possible. Just go straight up to Mannlichen, enjoy the playground (it's epic) and then walk to Kleine Scheidegg before returning to Wengen and then train/cable back to Murren. DO NOT walk from Wengen to Lauterbrunnen with kids - it's steep and boring. The walk from Mannlichen to KS is significantly better and much more kid friendly.

9/11 - This is going to be a long day. This area is very crowded and lines for some of these activities have been 1-4 hours lately. Be prepared.

9/12 - This day is fine. The via ferrata starts in Murren and ends in Gimmelwald and paragliding starts in Murren and lands in Stechelberg where you can cable car up to Gimmewald, so it's possible to meet up at the end and spend time in Gimmelwald before returning to Murren together.

9/13 - This is a long day from Murren and the train to Meiringen has been replaced with a bus because of the flood. There are plenty of kid friendly fun activities closer to you in Murren without spending half of your day on buses and trains. Especially if you plan to go all the way to Innertkirchen the next day. Use this day to enjoy activities in Murren, buffer for weather, e-bike the Lauterbrunnen Valley, do one of the kid trails in the area, etc.

9/14 - Enjoy the cow festival and then maybe do 1 stop on the way back, but Brienzer Rothorn is closed for the year because of the flood and the town of Brienz was pretty devastated by the flood. Perhaps do something in the Meiringen area this day since you're already going over there. Also, note that in Murren they are having their End of Summer festival this day, so you may want to spend your afternoon/evening enjoying the festivities where you are staying.

@wanderweg this is really really helpful information! I figured it was much too ‘go go go’ so it’s helpful to hear what can be skipped out on haha vs what we shouldn’t miss. Mostly I just hate researching things while I’m on a trip (especially with kids with me). So I like to have all my best options figured out ahead of time, and then pick and choose whatever we have time for. But don’t worry, I plan to do lots of soaking it in and just enjoying where we are at :) These are just options for the days - with high likelihood to drop parts haha.

Couple quick questions about your thoughts!

For 9/9: so I’m thinking the north face trail (skipping the waterfall), although more of a hike, is probably better than the walk from murren to gimmelwald yeah? We could make this our one main hike, as long as that’s doable after Schilthorn.

9/10: yes I had lots of “maybe” ideas in that area to pick and choose from haha. This plan you wrote out sounds perfect, we’ll do exactly that! Thank you!

9/11: ah do you think First is not even worth it to do? Or is it worth it but just be prepared for those long lines being kinda miserable? I can’t decide. haha.

9/13: my kids were in LOVE with the marble runs and storybook trail watching videos before we planned the trip - have you been there? Is it magical or just not worth going that far? I’m thinking we’ll just skip these and spend the day in murren instead if it doesn’t seem worth it! If you know of anything similar closer to murren let me know! Although we already do have enough to keep us busy haha.

9/14: yeah I’ll skip Brienz and just do the festival (and hope a closer Cow Festival pops up for one of the days we’re in Murren - because someone told me they often don’t announce dates til right before so I’ll keep an eye out) If there’s anything you recommend in Meiringen let me know to stop at since we’re already over there. Otherwise we’ll just head back after it. I didn’t realize murren was doing a festival that day! Thanks for the heads up.

And ps. Thankfully the end of the trip once we get south it’s more just exploring around the area we’re staying with no solid plans at all so we shouldn’t be too busy on the parts of the trip after Murren. The main place we are staying can be somewhere we just hang out at the Airbnb for most of those days which should be good!

THANK YOU SO MUCH for all your help!

so I’m thinking the north face trail (skipping the waterfall)

Are you a hiking family? This hike is more challenging, with a duration of about 2.5 hours and significant elevation changes. I noticed from your other posts that your kids are 9, 7, 4, and one-year-old twins.

I always track my hikes to monitor elevation gain and see what I can handle. Have you done this with your kids yet? You can find the hike on the Mürren tourism website. It’s laid out as a circular route, starting in Mürren, but you can start at Allmendhubel and walk down, realising that you will still have portions of uphill climbs. My own track for this trail shows a distance of 6.32 km (3.93 mi). I usually hike it starting from Mürren going up, but hiking down would be: 166m (545 ft.) of ascent and 435m (1,427 ft.) of descent.

https://muerren.swiss/en/destination/about-murren/theme-trails.html

You might want to check out the Detective Trail from Grütschalp to Mürren, which is mentioned on the same link. It’s a mostly flat, wide path with stunning views, especially during the first half from Grütschalp to Winteregg. At Winteregg, there’s a restaurant where you can stop, and their new giant swing is great for kids. You can either continue walking or take the train back to Mürren if everyone is tired.

https://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/winteregg-muerren/panorama-swing-winteregg-muerren/

I also saw that you were considering going up Harder Kulm. I think it could be a good option for your family because:

• Easy access from Interlaken Ost
• A short funicular ride up
• You can pre-purchase tickets for faster entry (look for signs at the base)
• There’s a new playground with picnic tables and benches, this is in a separate area from the restaurant and viewing platform
• The viewing platform might be busy (as all of them are), but it could still be a fun experience for your kids
• We haven’t eaten at the restaurant, but we enjoyed the ice cream (Coupe Dänemark – a family favorite!) and the outdoor seating offers beautiful, unobstructed view
• The views are unique, different from what you will see in Mürren. From here you to see both lakes and the mountain panorama behind Interlaken

As Wanderweg stated above, I would certainly try to keep things more simple. There is so much to see in this area that you could not possibly take it all in! Check at the TI and see what things they recommend for your family. Once you are there and experience the area a bit that will help you in making decisions that suit your family.

They’ve put up a new interactive family game trail throughout Murren. You pick up the instructions at the SportZentrum and do the games at various places through Murren:
https://www.ludotrail.ch/alle-trails/spiel-dich-durch-muerren

@swissnomad yeah we’ve done harder hikes than that with them and it works great - my boys like hiking and we always wear the girls in packs. And we’d for sure start in Allmendhubel. BUT with those hikes they’re used to it’s all we’re doing for the day. With being out and about so much and traveling, I’m sure they won’t be up for so much! So I appreciate your suggestions!
Plus that hike you mention works with strollers so I’m quite tempted to get the twins not on our backs and do something easier like that haha.

@wandereg thank you for the heads up on that, that looks like fun! We’ll definitely do that in murren.

Thank you for all the help!