itinerary in and around Wengen in mid-June, 2016

Have you read Rick's writings about Switzerland and seen his related videos? That would be a good and fun start to planning your trip.

Yes, Wengen or Murren would be great destinations to spend your time. Lauterbrunnen is in the valley between those two alpine villages and also is a good place to stay. You could spend a few days there, and also a few days in Lucerne which is on your way back to Zurich. Lucerne is beautiful and will give you a chance to explore the medieval city center and numerous lakeside villages in the area. Boats depart just across the street from the train station. Boats are just another part of the integrated Swiss Transport System that includes trains, buses, gondolas, funiculars, etc that are all timed seamlessly.

It's an easy 50 minute train ride from Lucerne to Zurich.

All the lower elevation hiking trails should be open by mid-June. Most of the upper elevation ones should also be open, but there may be an odd closure here or there if they get late spring snows (very possible).

I would head straight to the mountains upon arriving in Zurich. You could be in Wengen by noon. Spend 5 nights there. There are lots of hiking trails of all difficulty levels. The tourist office in Lauterbrunnen, Grindlewald, and Wengen will have free maps of the trails. Other great stuff to do: rent a bike and tour up and down the mostly flat Lauterbrunnen valley, paragliding!, Trummelbach Falls, lake cruises around Interlaken, visits to the Schilthorn and/or Jungfraujoch, and day-trips to Bern, Thun, or the open air museum near Ballenberg.

Then I'd spend the next 2 nights in Lucerne. Cruise Lake Lucerne to visit the little towns huddled around it, museums, wander the town, excursions to the nearby Titlis and Pilatus peaks.

Lucerne has a direct rail connection to Zurich airport. Trains start running very early, leave every 30 minutes, and take 70 minutes to arrive. Thus, you can stay in Lucerne on your last night instead of Zurich.

Thanks for all this information .

From Wengen how can we get to the train known as "the top of Europe"?

That's the train to the Jungfraujoch. It leaves from Wengen's train station and makes a couple of stops. Don't worry, there are signs aplenty.

When visiting, I try to plan activities so I minimize the number of rail trips from Wengen. On the Wengen side: the Jungfraujoch, the Mannilichen Giofel (gondola ride above Wengen), and lots of walking paths. On the Murren side: Schilthorn, Murren, and Allmendhubel (ultimate relaxation where you can take an afternoon nap on the oh so comfortable benches with the sound of cow bells in the distance). In the valley, check out the Trummelbach Falls, take a heli ride, the historical museum, etc.
We enjoy staying at the Hotel Baeren in Wengen. In mid-June, you might get to see the moving of the cows to summer pasture - right through town!

You want to get to Jungfrau (or anywhere in Switzerland) you walk to the ticket counter at any rail station and tell them where you want to go - they will sell you the correct ticket. You don't have to worry at all about train journeys in Switzerland. The transportation system is wonderful.

Will hiking trails be passable in the middle of June this year? It all depends on the conditions for the remainder of the spring, which of course, is not predictable yet at this point. Everything at Wengen and below should be open. I would think everything up to Kleine Scheidegg and Männlichen should be fine too. In Zermatt, however, I've encountered some high-altitude trails that were still not completely accessible even by late June, but this was much higher than any of the points I mentioned previously and the preceding spring was unusually cold.

Am I better off staying in a hotel on the Murren side or the Wengen side of the valley? I'm looking for a large suite at a 'better' hotel - nice quality bathroom and spacious room with 2 double beds, and a nice balcony with a view of the mountains.

Is Murren harder to get to, than Wengen, or is it the same amount of travel?

Are the hotels in Murren or Wengen a better value - get more for your money. Is there one hotel that stands out as better than the rest, particularly with the characteristics I'm looking for, above?

In Murren, Hotel Eiger fits your criteria. It's fantastic. Not cheap by any means, but a good value IMO. I have not been to Wengen.

spacious room with 2 double beds, and a nice balcony with a view of
the mountains

This is a difficult requirement in Europe overall. Quad rooms are rare. Usually for two adults you get a bed that is about like queen-sized American, or the bed can be split into twins.

You might need a suite, an apartment,l or two double-rooms if you each want a big bed. We liked Hotel Alpina in Muerren. Nothing fancy but great views!!

Zurich is ok, but the Swiss Alps are Fantastic, so I wouldn't spend a day in Zurich.
Most trails will be passable. There might be some snow on the Bachalpsee trail (below).
I'll copy my overview of the best (and easy) trails from another thread:

There are loads of great trails in the area, but 3 that I consider "classic",
and they follow the 3 great ridges. The first goes
from Grutschalp to Murren. From Murren, you can go down to Gimmelwald or you
can hike uphill on a diagonal from the
Murren cablecar station, and eventually end up at the restaurant at
Spielbodalp. There you can get a drink and sit at a picnic table and watch the
cows. You can see that trail and others here:
http://www.gimmelwald.com/pics/gimmelwald/hikemap.jpg

The second goes from Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg. The walk itself is
about 2 hours, and we save this for the sunniest day, because of the panoramic
views. (Leave in the morning--most afternoons the peaks cloud up!) Take the
train from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen, then a 5 min walk to the cable car
station, where you take the cable car up to Mannlichen. Once up, you can look
left at a 30 min up and back trail to a lookout point. If you look right
there is the main tra‎il that leads toward the Jungfrau mounta‌in, which takes
1.5 hrs and you end up in Kleine Scheidegg, where you can catch a train down
to Wengen and finally Lauterbrunnen. Great panoramic views all along the
route. This trail is so easy you could do it in a wheelchair.

The 3rd classic trail is from First to Bachalpsee. Take the Lauterbrunnen
train down to Zweilutschinen. Get off to switch to the train going up to
Grindelwald. Once in Grindelwald, walk about 20 min further into town to get
to the cablecar station, where you take it all the way up to First. From there
walk south to Bachalpsee. There are trail signs, and it is about 45 min each
way. On a sunny day, you can get great pictures of the mountains reflected in
Bachalpsee, which is a small lake. Just Google image "Bachalpsee" and you'll
see what I mean.
Finally, if you get a foggy or misty day, you can walk from Lauterbrunnen to Trummelbach Falls, which is about an hour each way (or take the PostBus). Google image it to see why Trummelbach Falls are worth seeing, and the nice thing is you can actually see them just fine on a dreary and foggy day.
Allen

Allen, this is fantastic information about the best trails. Can you see which one is the most difficult interns of elevation gain or rocky difficult trail? Is there a way to take cable car up and do the walking on the way down to avoid hiking the elevation gain part of these hikes?

I want to space out anything challenging with the easier hikes.

Are each of these 3 hikes the major activity of the day or are they short enough or close enough to each other to combine 2 in one day?

None of those three hikes is particularly challenging and they are all beautiful. I would not, however, generally do two in a day.

I would walk from Muerren down to Gimmelwald (all paved, all downhill) and take the cable car to Stechelberg then the bus back to Lauterbrunnen, OR potentially walk to Lauterbrunnen through the nice flat valley if you still have energy to burn.

Sounds wonderful. Thanks!

Rail pass question :
Based on this itinerary:
Day 1 travel Zurich airport to Muerren
Day 2-5 - 3 days of hiking with cable cars cog trains and gondolas in the Muerren, Wengen and nearby mountain area,
Days 6 and 7 - travel and stay in Lucerne with boat ride and then train day trip to nearby Mount Pilatus,
Day 7 - early train from Lucerne to Zurich airport

Should we just buy separate train tickets every time or get a flexible-pass or other kind of discount rail pass.

Daughter is a student and could maybe get a student discount pass, and I am 62, so maybe could get a senior discount?

What is the lowest cost way to buy all these transportation tickets without adding much inconvenience with longer routes etc. should tickets be purchased before our trip - on-line?