Recommendation for Stopover town/city from Florence to Murren and from Murren to Zurich

What time is your flight out of Zurich?

We didn't book any flights yet.

You can play with routing for all manner of transportation options between two points with Rome2Rio.com, which is a great tool to help answer questions like yours. When I did a quick look at the route, I saw the first train change in Milan, which would be a very convenient place to spend the night-there are a ton of lodging options within walking distance or a short taxi ride of Milano Centrale, and it is (more or less) the halfway point for the train trip from Florence to Lauterbrunnen, then connect to the local, train from Lauterbrunnen to Murren. Transit time on R2R is 7.5 hours, which probably means more like 8.5-9 hours, not counting any pit stops for lunch or to get your land legs, so I would not advise doing that, especially if you have a little one with you. Another option would be to route through Lugano, with a train change in Milan-they you could take the Panorama Express from Lugano to Lucerne and connect to a train from there to Lauterbrunnen and the Murren railway. Lugano is on a lake, so it would be more scenic than downtown Milan and is not much more time than the direct train to Milan.

For your departure-you mentioned Lucerne, which according to SBB is about 60-80 minutes by train to Zurich ZRH airport, so that could be your last night if you prefer not to stay in Zurich. Bern is another possible last stop before Zurich - it is about the same transfer time to Zurich airport as Lucerne. If your flight will leave early, you may want to consider staying in Zurich, but you can decide on that after you book your flights.

Transit time on R2R is 7.5 hours, which probably means more like 8.5-9
hours, not counting any pit stops for lunch or to get your land legs,

Thats is actually not how train travel works. Which is also why you shouldn't plan train trips using Rome2Rio...

I've done Wengen - Florence in one day. Its perfectly doable. Fastest is 6 1/2 hours. And no need to have any stops for lunch as there is a restaurant on the train.

I would just spend more time in Mürren. If your flight out of Zürich is in the afternoon you can even travel direct to the airport from Mürren.

OTOH. You may want to go to Luzern first, spend two nights there, then go to Mürren, and then direct to the airport from there. I just realised that this summer the railways are planning engineering closures on the Simplon Railway again...

Thank you so much for the suggestions. We were thinking of doing the long train ride non stop so I like the idea of maybe going from Florence to Luzern for a day or two then Luzern to Murren. I'm glad to hear there is a restaurant on the train as I was wondering about whether to bring food on the train.

Then I just wanted to confirm, depending on when our flight is, to go directly from Murren to the Zurich airport? You mentioned some train section having work done this summer; as I am not familiar with any of the routes, is there a specific route I should take Murren to Zurich to avoid that construction? I am still deciding as it looks like a long travel day from Murren to Zurich so we may still stay in Zurich although it doesn't seem like that city is as fun as the other places.

We are super excited about staying in Murren; I booked a hotel for 3 nights and I'm wondering if I should make a fourth night reservation there if I can add on to my existing one. SInce you mentioned you have been to Wengen many times- which do you prefer Murren or Wengen to stay in for restuarants? And which is easier to explore the area as far as maximizing the time exploring instead of riding on trains. I picked Murren because many people have said the views and beauty are spectacular.

Traveling from Mürren to Zurich is not a big deal, as long as your flight is in the afternoon. If you have an early morning flight, then just travel from Mürren to Zurich Flughafen late at night before your departure and sleep in an Airport hotel.

I wouldn’t advise using Rome2Rio to plan when it involves trains (use SBB) and I also wouldn’t recommend Milan. Just do your full travel day and get where you’re going to have an extra day in the mountains.

Wengen is best for someone focused on doing mostly day trips in the region, wanting more hotels & slightly more shopping. Mürren is best for someone focused on hiking and wants a more authentic Swiss village feel. There are plenty of restaurants in Mürren to take care of you for 3-4 days, so the only decision point is whether you care about the extra 9 minutes & extra cable car ride whenever you “commute” to somewhere out of Mürren. Those who stay in Wengen love Wengen best. Those who stay in Mürren love Mürren best. You really can’t go wrong.

Awesome info! Thanks so much! I have decided to definitely take the long train ride in one day Florence to Murren and then work with "the commute" to and from Murren for more hiking/exploring.