Lucerne and Interlaken

The length of time depends to some extent on what type of holiday you want.

Lucerne has some great sights and is also a great "home base" for visiting sites like Mt. Pilatus, Rigi, take cruises on the lake, etc. The Museum of Transport is great, and if you're interested in that sort of thing you could spend almost a full day there.

Rather than staying in Interlaken, I would highly recommend taking the short (~20 minute) train ride to at least Lauterbrunnen, and stay in the valley. You could also stay in Mürren, which is popular with many here.

My suggestion would be three nights in each location, but plan your activities carefully so that you don't waste any time.

I second Ken's idea. Interlaken has a nice view of the mountains, but a few minutes further south and you can stay in the mountains. Murren and Wengen are car-free towns and Lauterbrunnen sits below them on the valley floor. Check them out on GoogleMaps and you will see what we mean. And congrats on the honeymoon!

I recommend three complete days in Interlaken (or Lauterbrunnen) - IF - you are interested in visiting both the Jungfraujoch and the Schilthorn. If you are good with just one of those you could squeeze it down to 2 days if you really want more of Lucerne.

Our experience a couple of years ago was that the Lauterbrunnen weather (and it is different at altitude) happens fast and may not be conducive to visiting one or both of those locations on any particular day so having an 'extra' day came in handy. This is what the valley looked like early in the morning (view from Interlaken), and this is what it looked like a couple of hours later. That particular day the Schilthorn had great views and the Jungfraujoch was socked in with clouds.

Although we stayed in Interlaken and were fine with it's less 'natural' location there is much to recommend staying in Lauterbrunnen instead. Check them both out and decide.

Have fun!

Interlaken : Not in the Swiss Alps
Lauterbrunnen: In the middle of the giant Swiss Alps

That's the main distinction of the 2 towns. Interlaken is a great train hub of connections and is the gateway to the extraordinarily beautiful Swiss Alps (Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Murren). Those 3 towns have plenty of restaurants, hotels, shopping - but they DO LACK a McDonalds :-) unlike Interlaken.

I'd either do 3 nights in each, or do 2 nights in Luzern and 4 nights in the Berner Oberland. The advantage of more nights in the Alps is that mountain weather is both unpredictable and rapidly changeable, and more nights there gives you more flexibility.

I agree with everyone else - don't stay in Interlaken, which is near but not in the Alps. Stay right in the Berner Oberland, in Lauterbrunnen (in the valley) in Wengen (up one side of the mountains), or in Mürren or Gimmelwald (up the other side). Of course, if you're going to Switzerland for a casino, a sex shop, a variety of large supermarkets (the Berner Oberland towns have a small one each), fancy jewelry stores, or a "Paksitani" restaurant (that's what the sign said, like Punxsutawney Phil in Groundhog Day), then stay in Interlaken.

I agree with getting up into the mountains. Murren or Wengen are worth it for your honeymoon. Why spend time in a city between two lakes when you could be up in the mountains. 3 days at least. Both are easy to get to from Train and cable car/train.

Why don't you spend 3 nights in Lucerne, ask around, and then travel down to Interlaken and decide whether to stay there or up in the Alps? We're staying in Kandersteg for 3 nights, Montreux for 2, and then Wengen for 4 in July.

Wengen is another of the car-less alpine villages. Trust us on this...Interlaken is not where you want to be. Tourists have incorrectly labeled this whole area as Interlaken and thus given the false impression to newbies that Interlaken is one of those alpine villages. It's not.

Thank you so much everyone! This was a great resource!