My husband and I are senior travelers focusing on a Spring trip to Switzerland.

cle7: We can definitely help you out, but honestly it sounds like you are lost in planning. When you land in Zurich get on the train in the airport and head directly to Murren. Do not waste your precious few days in Switzerland in Zurich. Murren is right in the middle of the Swiss Alps and the Berner Oberland which you seek. 2 nights is not NEARLY enough for this stunning little village of Murren. My father doesn't like to travel, but he LOVED Murren.

You'll pass through Interlaken Ost on your way to Murren. Likewise you'll pass through Interlaken Ost as you depart. You can pick up the Golden Pass train at Interlaken Ost if you like and travel on toward Montreux. The Golden Pass (GP) is just a train with bigger windows and the words Golden Pass painted on the side. Other "normal" trains travel the same tracks to Montreux.

The GP is not a tour inclusive of hotels. It's just a train.

All Swiss train schedules can be seen at www.sbb.ch/en You'll also be able to see the schedules for the gondolas, funiculars, boats, buses - it's all 1 big integrated system.

If you want personalized help with a schedule then just send me a private message, and I'll be glad to answer your questions.

More than likely a pass would prob not benefit u. However ck rick steves website where u can ck fares ahead once u have decided your route.
The train goes into Lauterbrunnen where u can then take a lift/ gondola to Murren. With your itin u could benefit from departing for home from Geneva international airport.

Yes, skip Zurich. No need to go there with the excellent train connections at the airport rail station.

Skip Zurich and go directly to Murren. No need to stay in Zurich when you land.

I have been told by experienced travelers to skip Zurich, skip Rome, and skip Albequerque; advice I fortunately ignored, as they were all cities I've enjoyed. We gave ourselves the time to recoup in Zurich after a long flight and wake fresh the next day., adjusting to the time zone. We enjoyed our walk down the Bahnhofstrasse, taking a scenic boat ride on the lake, and visiting the Swiss National Museum, the Chagall windows at the Fraumunster Church, and walking the historic district. Don't be deterred from visiting Zurich.

Go talk to your local travel agency in person for clear advice;
the internet is rife with people trying to swindle seniors;

If you're traveling in May, the weather in the mountains may not provide the Alpine scenery of your dreams. This is still the shoulder season, and depending on the conditions of the previous three months, the lower slopes could be still snowy, slushy, muddy or clear and blooming. What you will find in late May can not be predicted this far in advanced. The mantra on this website may be "Mürren, Mürren, Mürren, nothing else but Mürren", but this isn't the best option during every month of the year.

So because the weather could be marginal, including Zürich in your plans is completely reasonable.

Where does the BO start and end? It's basically the Alpine region in the canton of Bern. Most people on this website use the term interchanbeably with the Lauterbrunnen valley, but it includes far more territory, including the peaks on the opposite side of Brienzersee and Thünersee and several peaks and valleys that are inaccessible for general touring purposes.

Local Travel Agency --- ha ha ha. Yes, "DO" be sure to speak with someone who has never been to where you want to go and probably couldn't even find Switzerland on a map ;-)

And almost as laughable is that people here want to take advantage of seniors. Where did THAT come from???

Cle, it sounds like you "cannot see the wood for the trees" (if you know the phrase).
A Swiss Pass is valid on any rail, bus or boat route in Switzerland, except for some mountain railways. See the map here: http://www.sbb.ch/content/dam/sbb/de/pdf/freizeit-ferien/ferien-kurztrips-schweiz/internationale-gaeste/sts-geltungsbereich_en.pdf

The Berner Oberland Pass is valid in the following area (map): http://www.regiopass-berneroberland.ch/range-of-validity/
This includes more mountain railways that the Swiss Pass. That same website includes details of prices.

I agree do not waste time in Zürich, take a train direct from Zürich airport to wherver you want to go in the Alps (E.g. Mürren).
Do not get hung up about working out if it is possible to get somewhere. It will be. Every rail route and stations has at least one train per hour, and the few places without trains have connecting buses. See the first map I listed.
So just decide where you want to go, then look up the trains to get you there on the SBB (Swiss Railways) website: http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

The Golden Pass is a marketing name for a route (Luzern - Meiringen - Interlaken - Spiez - Zweisimmen - Montreux). You can either travel this route by a daily special tourist train (called the "Golden Pass Express"), or by the regular hourly trains. You see the same mountains through the windows whichever train you take.

and the part operated by the Zentralbahn, Luzern - Meiringen - Interlaken has brand new low level rack railway trains on the normal hourly service which is all panoramic windows all the way up into the roof - in both 2nd and 1st class. And the scenery is spectacular.

It has been a few years since I've done the Spiez - Zweisimmen - Montreux part so I don't know if all the trains have been replaced on that side.

My wife and I visited the Lauterbrunnen valley a couple of years ago when we were 66 and 64 respectively (along with a couple of young - mid fifties - friends). We were not focused on Switzerland - it was just part of a larger multi week-trip in late May that included Germany and Austria. Note that the Berner Oberland covers more than the Lauterbrunnen area - but the valley is certainly worthy of a dedicated visit. All that just to give you some background on anything I might say later.

We chose to drive for various reasons so I can't give you any advice regarding train passes, but it looks like Chris has covered it pretty well for you. I've traveled enough in Europe over the years to know that the trains are excellent - they go virtually everywhere, are comfortable and are reasonably priced. The only possible advice I would give is to travel light - dealing with the luggage is a pain if you don't.

Visiting Zurich, Mürren, Montreux and Fribourg in a week is packing a lot into 7 days - especially with Zurich getting 2 nights at the beginning and then needing to return there to fly out. If you can't extend the trip a couple of days you may end up not really remembering anything except a blur of mountain views through train windows and hotel decor...with 9 nights you get a much better chance of actually seeing things - Zurich (1 night - arrive in the am, see the town that day) - Mürren (3 nights) - Montreux (2 nights) - Fribourg (2 nights) - Zurich (1 night - fly out in the am). If you could drop one of the stops you could really see things at the others or shrink the trip to 7 days if you need to.

The Lauterbrunnen valley in late May should be good as long as you don't plan a lot of hiking - some of the trails we wanted to walk during our visit (22nd, 23rd, 24th May) were still not clear of snow/ice. But the views from Mürren were phenomenal. Having as many days as you can in the area helps if the weather closes in like it did one morning for us. But by lunchtime it was clear and we were able to ride the cable cars up to the Schilthorn and enjoy the view without a problem. And walking down from Mürren to Gimmelwald for an outdoor pizza lunch with some other sojourners (in our shirtsleeves!) just illustrates how pleasant it can be if you have the time to enjoy it.

Have fun!

Cle7, while it might seem like a lot of connections, I took a similar route you'd need to take, from Zürich to Wengen last May on a Swiss 4-day holiday weekend. I didn't find it too difficult once we were on our journey. I compared and can see on SBB it will take 3 hours from the Zürich main station to Mürren, and our route was very similar to what you'd take, except for the final part after Lauterbrunnen. (I have been to Mürren but was coming from Geneva that time.) To Wengen, we changed trains in Bern, Interlaken, and Lauterbrunnen, and another town, but I recall each transfer felt manageable. You would also transfer at Bern, Interlaken, and Lauterbrunnen for your route to Mürren. I'll note, I was carrying my weekender backpack while pushing a 2-year old in a stroller between connections so I really feel it's manageable unless you have mobility problems. We had time to settle into our seats -- once we were past Interlaken, we had train cars to ourselves.

The area around Wengen and Mürren is spectacular -- you will encounter some slush in mid May, but we still got around okay. We were meeting friends from Basel and Geneva who normally stay in Mürren over long weekends, but they chose Wengen for an alternative this time. We took the train up to see the Jungfraujoch and the snow. Fewer restaurants in the region were open because it is not the strong tourist season, but there are restaurants open. Clouds rolled in and out but I remember a lot of blue skies. Once you want to move on to another part of the country, connections back to Bern then onto other routes or cities are fairly easy.

If you have international data (free with T-Mobile or other carriers will let you get intl. packages), keep in mind you can download the SBB app so that as you travel, you can change routes as you need should you experience any hiccups. Otherwise, before I go, I use the SBB web site to compare all my travel route options.

Rick Steves is correct that getting into nature and the mountains are the best parts of Switzerland, and should be the priority. But spending a day in Zürich at the start or end of your trip is worthwhile if you want to check it out while getting your bearings. I was warned repeatedly before I visited Zürich that it wasn't worth visiting but I found it underrated -- there are plenty of unique things to see. I agree with the comment above that suggests the boat on the lake and the Chagall windows, along with the stroll down the Bahnhofstrasse.

I hope you have a great time in Switzerland!