Itinerary help 14 days Switzerland

What time of year?
With the current airline chaos, I'd build in a day at the front in the event you don't arrive as scheduled.
At first glance, I'd add another night to Luzern, and as many nights as possible in the BO. It's a hard place to leave....

Attached is my Trip Report from 2012. Thankfully, you can ignore the COVID references. Our initial plan was to take the Bernina Express regional train into Italy, onto Lake Como, but the COVID mandates at the time made crossing the border too cumbersome. Perhaps you will find some helpful info in the Trip Report.

Have a great trip in this incredible country!

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/lucerne-62eb4d28-60ab-4837-b4b4-91a2486eb732

Your sequencing is fine, but I would skip Bern in favor of 3 nights Luzern and 4 in the Berner Oberland, specifically Lauterbrunnen, Mürren, or Wengen. If you like easy, uncomplicated hiking, the Lauterbrunnen Valley and environs cannot beat. Two night stays can be dicey in the mountains. Your one full day could be cloudy or rainy and dampen your enjoyment. More nights in fewer places makes for a more rewarding trip, IMO.

If you get a miserable day in the Berner Oberland, take a day trip to Bern.

I agree with skipping overnights in Bern on this trip—you can visit as a daytrip from the Berner Oberland if you get a rainy day. By going from Luzern directly to Interlaken Ost for the BO, you will use the very scenic Golden Pass route over the Brunig pass and along Lake Brienz. See the map Inlinked below. M

There is also nice scenic route to go from Zermatt to Lugano, which coincidentally is one of the shortest journeys (4h41 minutes). Take a look at the Swiss rail map to track it:

https://cdn-doc.myswissalps.com/docs/default-source/rail-network-maps/swisstravelpass.pdf?sfvrsn=7788603a_56

The route uses the famed Centovalli railway between Domodossola in Italy and Locarno in Switzerland.

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/experiences/vigezzina-centovalli-railway/

You reach Domodossola by heading to Visp from Zermatt and changing there to a train bound for Italy ( destination Domodossola). You change there to the Centovalli railway to Locarno. Note that the train in Italian is known as FART, an acronym for Ferrovie Autolinee Regionali Ticinese.

https://showmethejourney.com/travel-info-and-tips/fart-ferrovie-autolinee-regionali-ticinesi-centovalli-express/

At Locarno you change to a train to Lugano, a short 25 minutes away.

Note on the Swiss rail map (which also shows the validity of the Swiss Travel Pass) that the entire route is fully covered with a Swiss Travel Pass, even though it starts in Italy.

Thanks for your opinions. We are arriving in Switzerland in the morning of September 20.

Susangarber13,

We are in Appenzell and I thought to mention two easy hikes for you to consider.

The Barfussweg from Gontenbad to Jakobsbad is easy and you do not have to do it barefoot, although some people do. (With ticks present this time of year, I would not, but YMMV.) It’s a little over 3 miles, well signed. At Jakobsbad you can take the gondola up to Kronberg for a look around or even for lunch. Take the Appenzellerbahn to Gontenbad and then return from Jakobsbad.

We also did the Appenzell Rundweg, a walk on the Swiss Mobility site here https://schweizmobil.ch/en/hiking-in-switzerland/route-992. Very satisfying walk of 4.5 miles even if it is not up high. Great perspective on this part of Switzerland that is quite different fro our usual haunts in the greater Berner Oberland. I also entered it in PlotaRoute which if you download to your phone, you can use live navigation to help keep you on course.
https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2368682

I also recommend the excellent Chanh, a Vietnamese restaurant. We need a break from Swiss food and this was a refreshing find. Little Italy in the Hotel Adler is good but be sure to reserve,. Very popular!

Thanks, Laurel. Very helpful.
Thanks again to those who replied earlier. I’ve re-read some of the replies now that I have more of a sense of where we are going and they are even more useful.
I ended up with the following itinerary after all your suggestions:
2 nights Appenzell
3 nights Luzern
4 nights Murren
3 nights Lausanne
2 nights Zermatt
1 night Lugano and on to Lake Como.