Itinerary for Switzerland in November | Help

Is cheese acceptable to your diet? If so, you are going to the right place. Otherwise, you should have no trouble finding vegetarian fare in Switzerland.

November is definitely shoulder season. Getting cold and snowy, but too early for skiing. So bring the right clothing to keep yourselves warm.

Note that the cable car from Muerren to Schilthorn is only to scheduled to operate until November 10, so keep that in mind for scheduling.

Berner Oberland and Luzern should certainly be in the mix. I am partial to Zermatt, but then I go there for the skiing.

We went to Switzerland last summer and have two daughters ages 11 and 10. We decided to do it slightly differently from Rick's advice due to our own interests. We flew into Zurich and spent 1 night there before taking the train through Luzern (spent lunch and a quick tour in town) to Interlaken. We spent 3 nights in Interlaken and then 3 nights in Lauterbrunnen. (From Lauterbrunnen we did take a day trip to Lake Geneva to visit the Olympic museum. and experience the Golden Pass train ride.) Our last night we spent in Bern before flying out the following day from Zurich airport.

Many folks here wouldn't do the same itinerary since they can sight see all day and then move on to a new location/ hotel. Our family doesn't travel well that way. We do better having a base and doing day trips. I suggest reading the guide book and deciding on the places and/or activities your family would enjoy doing. Then decide how many hotel changes you want to make (which also eats into sightseeing and can be very tiring for kids.) Also I strongly suggest doing the lower hills before going into the Alps. They are truly awe-inspiring and after spending time in Berner Oberland, other hills and smaller mountains (like near Lucern) just seem so dinky (which is a bit unfair for all those other lovely areas.)

For us we loved the following things when in Interlaken: Swiss Open-Air Museum at Ballenberg, Kayak trip on Interlaken lake (which won't really be option for you), and St. Beatus caves. You can easily take a day trip to Luzern and Bern as well. Also loved taking the boat ferries on the lake.

Lauterbrunnen was a nice small town, but we wish we had stayed in Wengen. I suggest trying to find a hotel with an indoor pool. There is the cable car that takes you from Wengen to the start of the Mannlichen-Kleine Scheidegg Hike. Very easy with THE most amazing view of Jungfraujoch!!!!! We also loved go up the other side of the valley to Schilthorn for the rotating restaurant and Bond museum. There are a lot of other gondola rides, hikes and of course the famous Jungfraujoch train. We couldn't go because of health reasons. Personally I don't know what the big deal was with Gimmelwald. Definitely wouldn't stay there with kids, but worth passing through. We enjoyed having a drink at the one and only restaurant in town.

We wouldn't return to Bern as a family, though I really enjoyed visiting the Paul Klee museum.

We were very disappointed in the Golden Pass train route to lake Geneva, especially after being in the Alps. Was ho-hum scenery, and the Olympic museum was not worth the special trip there.

You should be fine with vegetarian food, but there isn't a lot of variety in the smaller towns. Interlaken had more variety of restaurants than when we were in Lauterbrunnen, but not all of Rick's picks were really accurate. Did better using his guide for places to stay though.

Have an amazing time!!!

Vegetarian is no problem in Switzerland. Many Swiss are vegetarians (for health reasons, not religious); most restaurants will have at least one vegetarian option. Switzerland's most famous dish, Fondu is vegetarian. Cheese and bread will be options for breakfast, as well as Müesli with milk. Pre-prepared Müesli is available as a snack lunch in many shops and cafés.
And "Schoggi" (chocolate) is vegi!

Your plan sounds good. I presume you are flying into and out of Zürich airport, which is good. From Zürich airport you can go direct to Luzern, 70 minutes by train.
Then: Luzern - Berner Oberland - Day trip Bern - Golden Pass route to Montreux, on to Zermatt same day - Glacier Express route to Chur (overnight) - Appenzell - back to Zürich airport.
A Swiss rail map is here: https://www.sbb.ch/content/dam/sbb/de/infotexte/uebersichtskarte-sts.pdf
The red lines are rail routes. All routes have at least one train per hour, some two.

Investigate the Swiss Pass, this is probably your best option: https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/travel-in-switzerland/international-guests/swiss-travel-pass.html

November is between seasons (after summer season but too early for skiing). Some places will have closed and the first snows will have fallen on the mountains. You will still enjoy yourself.
As you are from Mumbai, I warn you about temperatures. Look up temperatures for the places you are visiting, and note if you go up mountains it will be colder. For example in Lauterbrunnen (low level), expect daily high of ~9-10°, and overnight ~4°. Do you have clothing for this?