Need advice and help on last minute Switzerland / Vienna trip

it seems a very long way to go to Vienna for a single day.

What one thing in Vienna is calling to you?

Simple question - for a last minute unplanned trip - do you all have your passports and are they in date?

What are the one or two things you want to do in Vienna that you are willing to spend a full day traveling by train from Zermatt to Vienna?

I love Vienna and think it's a great city. Not sure that one day there is worth a full day on the train to get there.

Looks like Nigel and I were typing similar thoughts at the same time.

Zermatt offers great boarding, but you may have difficulty finding lodging for a 2-night stay over the holidays. Most places will have a minimum stay requirement longer than that. So this is another reason for skipping the long tripmtomVienna.

As for choosing Interlaken over Lauterbrunnen over Christmas itself because of more restaurants and activities, I think that is a mistake. The hotels in Lauterbrunnen (and the higher villages of Wengen and Muerren) will offer half-board to their guests, which includes dinner as well as breakfast. The food is excellent and that is what most people do.

Wengen and Mürren are charming car-free villages with direct access to ski/boarding slopes, and activities for non-skiers, such as snowshoeing or winter walking on groomed snow: this is the area above Wengen:

https://www.maennlichen.ch/en/winter.html

Interlaken will offer traffic, slushy or icy streets and sidewalks, and no views like the ones you would have from the mountain villages.

Yeah I am not too sold on Vienna - it’s just a strong recommendation from couple of friends. Both me and my wife are OK skipping Vienna and just enjoying Switzerland and taking breaks in between. Nothing in particular in Vienna as we have heard great things about the city and love to explore.

As far as passports- yes we are all secured for the next 4 years.

Thank you @Lola that is great feedback. Based on all your feedback we will make changes to our itinerary and skip Vienna, add Lauterbrunnen and extend stays in Zermatt. Really appreciate you all helping us out.

I was lucky enough to ski 5 days in Zermatt, absolutely loved it! I still remember the Bernese Mt dogs lounging in front of shops in the snow, I recall stepping over one to get inside...
Zermatt is a GREAT place to linger. I'm not keen on dashing to see another city when I'm already in heaven, which is how I would describe the Alps during the holidays! And a midnight Christmas eve candle-lit church service might be fun too. You could ask at your hotel where there will be a candle-lit Christmas tree, literally they light candles on the tree on Christmas eve & sit around it for a bit, usually singing carols. The trees are freshly cut & carefully watched!

You should crosspost on the Austria forum, but I was just in Vienna and Salzburg for several days and you are better off staying in and enjoying Switzerland. Unless for some reason you have to fly out of Vienna. It shows as a 16 hour train ride.

Or if you're in Zermatt, go to Geneva or Chamonix.

for Day 2 in Luzern, I'd rather spend the day on a lake cruise or going up one of the three mountains there (Pilates, Rigi, or Stanserhorn) if the weather's OK. It's a nice city, but the in-town attractions are not as great as what lies just outside of town.

So your priority is get round trip airline tickets ASAP to/from Zurich. Then get hotels booked, especially Zermatt to see what is available and perhaps move your dates there around. Interlaken should not be a problem as it has a ton of big hotels and is mainly a summer resort. Luzern should be OK as well. Note lake cruises will be a tad chilly in December.

As much as I like Zermatt, it is very expensive, very dark/cold in December, and there is plenty of skiing available right in the Berner Oberland (Wengen/Grindelwald/Mürren), so I am not sure I would go to Zermatt this time.

Thanks phred. we decided to skip Vienna and as others suggested extend stay at either Zermatt or Wengen. There is cable car station construction in Murren and seems that there is a fair amount of construction noise.

Already looking at tickets Sam, and talking to a travel agent as I am getting varied pricing details from IATA as compared to directly at Airlines

Excellent suggestion on the Christmas celebrations @Sandancisco and regarding Zermatt being expensive @balso (I mean Switzerland is an expensive place but dont want to spend over the top if I can get better value for money at Wengen/Grindelwald/) so will be talking about all those options with the travel agent. It seems that Mürren has some construction going through 2026 so someone said to avoid staying there Mürren construction

As was pointed out, you will be there during super prime time ski season. Most Europeans get 2 weeks off in the Christmas-New Year break and schools are out, so family ski vacations are the thing. As such, finding lodging in Wengen or Muerren could be problematic, as in Zermatt. Lauterbrunnen could be better, but certainly Interlaken will have plenty availability. It's a commute to the slopes, but is included with a ski pass, or in your case, a walkers pas.

Additional thought: since you don't ski/board, to avoid having your daughter boarding on her own (even if you wait for her at a café on the slopes) on unfamiliar slopes, consider booking a private instructor for a few hours. It is not cheap, about 90 francs per hour, but if I am not mistaken, the same thing in the US would cost at least $200/hr...
Group instruction for the days she is there could also be an option. English-speaking instruction is available everywhere.