Itinerary Suggestions for 8-9 days

Here are a few places to stay in the Bernese Oberland. Interlaken, Murren, Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Grindlewald. All these places have plenty of hotels and apartments to rent and are very easy and quick to reach the Alps by train or lifts for the best hiking you will ever experience. Enjoy your trip.

Zurich, Lucerne, Bern, Bernese Oberland then onto Italy

With 8 days (7 nights?) in Switzerland, I think that is too many locations. Zurich is not worth stopping in so go immediately to Luzern for 2 or 3 nights, then to Lauterbrunnen or Muerren for the remaining nights. If you like the out of doors, the Lauterbrunnen Valley is THE PLACE. Bern is OK for a day trip and easy to do from Lauterbrunnen, so if you have a bad weather day where you cannot get out and enjoy hiking, make it a rainy day trip.

I liked Lago di Como better than Lugano, FWIW.

I'm assuming you are planning to drive. I would suggest the first 2 nights in Lucerne (beautiful town/lakefront), then 3 nights in the Berner Oberland (recommend Wengen - especially if you plan to hike around up in the mountains and also want some evening options).

The leaves you 2 more nights - so I would begin working on my Italy itinerary and then backfill in the last 2 Switzerland nights by either extending in Lucerne and/or BO (with day trip options) or adding another 2 nighter on my way to Italy in a place that intrigues (i.e. Lugano).

We spent a half day in Lucerne, 4 nights in Wengen, and 1 night in Zurich in July 2017. We also spent a half day in Bern and 2 nights in Montreux (would recommend Montreux if the logistics work for you getting to Italy without going too far out of your way).

Is Bern really worth going to if it seems like people think it’s just okay? Would that time better be spent somewhere else? I’m flexible with the number of days so if it ends up being like 8 nights or so I’m open to that.

It’s definitely helpful to know what towns to look at in the Bernese area now! But it hadn’t crossed my mind to rent a car, I was thinking to take trains most places. Would it be highly recommended to get a car?

Also I’d love to do one of the scenic trains but not sure if the trip route allows for that. I think there are two main ones? Sorry again for my lack of knowledge, just trying to wrap my head around everything.

Would it be highly recommended to get a car?

No, in fact, a car is not recommended as Switzerland's public transportation is so fantastic. In many places your car would simply sit in a car park all the time.

Also I’d love to do one of the scenic trains but not sure if the trip route allows for that. I think there are two main ones?

You could stay 3 nights in Luzern then take the Golden Pass to Interlaken where you can hop off to go to Lauterbrunnen. I do think more time in the mountains (Lauterbrunnen, Muerren) is better than spending a night in Bern. As I said above, if the weather is bad so you cannot go hiking in the mountains, you could hop on a train to Bern for the day.

Do you have Rick Steves' Switzerland Guide? Lots of info there to fill in the voids. But don't make the mistake of trying to stay in too many places. So much is enticing in both Switzerland and Italy that it is tempting to do 2 nights here and 3 nights there, but you lose a lot of the enjoyment while checking off the list. Luzern and the Berner Oberland are top notch destinations.