Itinerary check for Lucerne and Zurich with kids

How are you getting to and from Zürich? Flying I presume, if you are arriving from somewhere else overland (car, train), there may be a better direct route to Luzern than via Zürich.
Last question first. Train will be a lot more convenient than car for most of this. Parking will be difficult. You cannot drive to Wengen, you need to leave the car at Lauterbrunnen at the bottom of the valley (pay). You would also have to pay for parking in Luzern, according to your hotel's website "30 CHF daily",

If arriving by air Zürich airport has its own station, "Zürich Flughafen". Many train lines to and from there to many parts of Switzerland. You do not have to take separate transport into Zürich city centre. For example, Zürich Flughafen to Luzern is 70 minutes by train.

For Pilatus, you can do a round trip: Boat from Luzern to the "back side" of PIlatus, up by cog railway, visit summit, down the other side by cable car, back to Luzern by bus. Details here: https://www.pilatus.ch/en/discover/golden-round-trip/

Luzern to Wengen is a scenic rail route, via the Brünig Pass.

You go through Bern on the way from Wengen to Zürich. Logically you can visit Bern then. Leave your bags at the station.
Maximum 1 night in Zürich, after the other places it will be more of the same with less mountains.

I agree with the poster above--not much to do at Bern or Zurich, compared to the other places you'll be.

I personally would not want a car on the trip, unless it is necessary to transport the kid's stuff.
You should check out the Berner Oberland Pass which will cover all trains and cable cars south of Lucerne and Bern, and if you get the "family card" ($20?) with that, all kids are free.

On your point #2, when you go see the Dying Lion Monument, look to your left and you will see the entrance to the "Glacier Garden", which has a "mirror maze" which my kids always enjoyed. Maybe the youngest will get confused but it's a memorable experience. I think I've done it a half dozen times, and still enjoy it:

https://www.gletschergarten.ch/en/mirror-maze/

@Chris F: Thank you for the update on the parking fee at the hotel. I a just assumed it was free. We are flying in from Dubai to Zürich. The reason we thought to spend last two days in Zurich was because our cousins are flying in that day . Maybe instead of Zürich we move our base back to Lucerne. We could do MT Rigi on one day and Mt Titlis the other day with them. Since we don’t do both on first few days there. Do you have any other side trip suggestions?
@shoe: Thank you so much for the info on the Bernese Oberland pass. Will look into it. The mirror maze also looks entertaining . We will definitely stop there as well.
I think instead of the car if we could ship our luggage to wengen station and back. It would make life easy I guess .

I will only add that the Transportation Museum in Luzern is fabulous!

Instead of last 2 nights in Zurich I would vote to move your last 2 nights to a lakeside village like Weggis or Vitznau at the base of the Rigi. It's a peaceful holiday retreat area with rental boats, rental bikes and swimming places.

I would NOT rent a car as the Swiss Transport is so wonderful and all 3 of your kids travel with you for free everywhere all over Switzerland. Don't want to take luggage on the train then ship it ahead to your next destination via train.

Chris F
Can you use the STP on the Golden Round Trip?

Can you use the STP on the Golden Round Trip?

If you look at the official map that shows what is covered by the Swiss Travel Pass: https://www.sbb.ch/content/dam/infrastruktur/trafimage/karten/karte-sts-pass-gueltigkeit.pdf
It shows the lake boats from Luzern as solid white lines (covered), but the train up and the cable car down Pilatus as dotted (=50% reduction, see key).
If you look at the page I linked to last time, at the bottom is a button "ticket prices". That gives a full price of "Lucerne – Alpnachstad – Pilatus Kulm – Kriens – Lucerne (ship 2nd class) CHF 102.60"
If you look here: https://www.pilatus.ch/en/booking/prices/ It gives the prices for the mountain only (as the boat is covered:

Kriens/Alpnachstad–Pilatus Kulm–Kriens/Alpnachstad adult CHF 72.00
Individuals with Rail-Passes CHF 36.00 (exactly half price!)

So with a pass you pay CHF 36 instead of CHF 102

@gaya3.tcs Has anyone told you about the family cars on the double-decker Intercity trains? Essentially one car is designated for families, and the upper level has a playground. Your kids can run around as much as they want, play with other kids, and provides a lot more room than a car would. (Though a car certainly has its benefits.) You can find more information on the SBB site:
https://www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/on-the-train/family.html

You would be able to use these playground cars between Zurich and Lucerne, and Zurich and Bern. Your two youngest would travel for free on the trains. I have taken my child on the playground cars many times--she looks for the Ticki park designs whenever we catch a train. Traveling with children in Switzerland is a dream, and the transit is free for kids under 6.

Don’t get too locked into your schedule. If it’s nice outside you should head to the mountains. Save the transport museum or other “indoor” options for a rainy or not so nice days. Many hotels will provide you with a local transit pass to use for the bus etc. make sure to write your name on them and to have ID on you.

Have fun it’s beautiful there.