Planning Help: 7 day summer trip

I would highly recommend dropping Zermatt from this itinerary. You’re really cramming a lot in and only 1 day in Zermatt doesn’t guarantee even seeing the Matterhorn. I think you’d be exhausted trying to do your plan. I’d suggest something like this….

Day 1
AM: Arrive in Zurich, walk to Zurich HB, store luggage, spend a couple hours in Zurich Old Town, Lunch
PM: Train to Gimmelwald, relax

Day 2
Breakfast in Schilthorn, Thrill Walk at Birg, Walk around Murren, Allmendhubel funicular, Hike to Suppenalp for lunch, Hike to Murren, Lunch in Murren, Hike Down to Gimmelwald (highly recommend the Mountain Hostel Wood fired pizzas or the dinner and Schwarz Monch Beer at the Pension)

Day 3
Männlichen to Kleine scheidegg hike, Lunch in Kleine scheidegg > Jungfraujoch > Dinner in Wengen (we like the outdoor restaurant at Hotel Baren)

Day 4
Lauterbrunnen Valley, Trummelbach Falls, Schynigge Platte, dinner in Lauterbrunnen or Murren (Harder Kulm is an overcrowded tourist trap with bad food)

Day 5
Gimmelwald to Luzern, explore town

Day 6
Luzern, Boat, Rigi

Day 7
Luzern to Zurich airport

Thank You @wanderweg. Zermatt does seem to be risky proposition for this itinerary. We will reconsider.

I see that you have recommended Jungfraujoch in the afternoon. I thought doing it first thing in the morning would help with crowds + clouds rolling in? What do you think?

Take a snack to the delightful Mt Rigi trip. The purchased food at the summit wasn't great, in our experience, and a mid-morning energy boost is appreciated.
That same evening, you could do the Cabrio open air cable car to Mt Stanserhorn, to see the sunset. There is food and drink at this summit. This is an easy trip, 45 minutes each way ( short train and did I say, open air cable car!) if you have the STP, both are completely included.
Gimmelwald is tiny, which isn't bad, as long as you are aware. Very few options for food, and the Coop store is in Murren.
Have a great trip in this beautiful country.

I personally wouldn’t recommend doing Jungfraujoch at all because I think it’s extremely crowded, it’s 40 minutes each way in a dark tunnel inside the mountain and I think it’s an interesting view, but it’s overshadowed by the people swarming everywhere. We spend our summers living in Murren, so I’ve done all there is to do in the Jungfrau Region many many times the over and Jungfraujoch and Harder Kulm are at the bottom of my list of recommendations.

That being said, if it’s important to you to go, then go for it and yes, there are times that it’s clear in the morning and then clouds over, but that’s not a 100% guarantee. Sometimes it’s the opposite. Or it’s clear all day. Or cloudy all day. Impossible to predict and because so I don’t believe in building an itinerary out of putting it in a time frame that otherwise doesn’t make sense for the rest of your day/trip.

If you decide you really want to do it in the morning, then do this: Go straight to Jungfraujoch from Gimmelwald in the AM, then ride the Glacier Express down to Grindelwald and ride up to Mannlichen to do the hike in the afternoon and then train back to Wengen. It’s a bit of an extra loop, but if you have a BO pass where the routes are included, it’s not a big deal and gives you what you want for timeframes. I definitely wouldn’t allot 2 separate days to Jungfraujoch and Mannlichen because they’re right next to each other and you need those days for other things.

@Pat Thank you for the Cabrio Stanserhorn recommendation. I just looked it up and it looks amazing. I'm surprised this spot never came up as I was researching for our trip. Considering the time limitations of our trip, do you think boat + train to Mt. Rigi in the morning, followed by the Cabrio trip followed by the train ride to Gimmelwald is possible on Day 2 of my itinerary?

@wanderweg Thank you for the details. This will be our first trip and for Jungfraujoch, we thought "might as well". We want to do a icy mountain experience and if we're thinking of skipping Gornergrat, and Schilthorn being only partially open, Junfraujoch becomes a much more reasonable choice. I love your recommendation of combining Mannlichen and Jungfrau. We will do that.

Harshall159, with your current itinerary, you could do the Cabrio cable car the first evening, and eat at the summit. There is a cafeteria- style restaurant, and a more sit- down restaurant , but I have no idea regarding quality. We had spiked hot chocolate outside, as they supply blankets.
Anyway you can add a day at the beginning? On our last Swiss trip, our flight was delayed an entire 24 hrs, and we lost a day. Since Covid, flight delays, cancelations, strikes, etc seem to be on the rise, so now we plan for delays.

Or, especially if you skip Zermatt, after you land go straight to the Berner Oberland. Then visit Lucerne at the end of the trip, as it's very easy to go directly to the Zurich airport from Lucerne, an 1+ hour train. Zurich itself is nice, but Lucerne is so much more charming, and I'd rather spend nights in Lucerne.

Not sure if those modifications will meet your needs, but no one is ever ready to leave the BO, so I'd strongly encourage sleeping as many nights as possible actually IN the Alps.

Have a great trip!

Thank you. We can move around activities, but switching cities on the itinerary would be very difficult at this time. I booked all our hotel stays a while ago since we are very specific about where want to stay (eg. pension gimmelwald) and none of them have any availability now to reschedule. We are visiting at a very busy time of the year and that was one of the reasons we are staying in quiet Gimmelwald to ensure that we will be away from the crowds.
We can cancel a city though and I wouldn't mind skipping Zermatt and adding a day in Jungfrau or going back to lucerne again.

Also- could you pls put Swiss in your title? With these general titles, I have difficulty finding previous posts.
Glad you have secured lodging, as I suspected properties would fill up quickly.
I'm sure you will love this country and will want a return visit. I have been there three times and plan to return!
Safe travels!