Rental Car advice needed

A car will get in the way, as you will be forced to always return to where you parked it. Interlaken likes to lure unsuspecting tourists in and then slap big fines on them. But Interlaken is not that Interesting anyway. The interesting parts are in the mountains around it, and a lot of those places are not accessible by car.

What are your other plans in Switzerland? If you get the Half Fare Card all public transport is half price, and you get the family card included for free, which allows your kids to go free everywhere, as long as the adults have a ticket. And that includes adults. That way you could make an interesting trip, like go Bern - Interlaken - Grindelwald - Kleine Scheidegg - Lauterbrunnen - Interlaken - Brienz (by boat) - Luzern.

Thank you for the advice. Those 3 days will be the only portion of our trip in Switzerland. This trip is set for April.

We are also reconsidering Bern as our home base. We may switch to Lucerne. Are either Bern or Lucerne more challenging to get to Interlaken and surrounding areas via train?

Is this your first visit to Europe? No, I really don't see an advantage to renting a car, trains are frequent and take you more or less everwhere you want to go.

And as mentioned, Interlaken itself is not as attractive as the nearby mountain villages, many of which can't be reached by car.

No this will be our 3rd trip to Europe (first for kids) and fully understand trains are typically the way to go.
Thank you for the feedback on Interlaken.

I think as Americans we just automatically default to renting cars because it's often the best (or only) choice. In Europe and especially in CH it's usually the opposite. It becomes a burden.

I agree completely on rental car not being ideal. I was intrigued by the opportunity to drive at a leisurely pace in such a beautiful area but sounds like nit the right approach. Thanks

I swim against the grain on this forum, but I highly recommend a car ESPECIALLY in Switzerland.

If you are two people, its not a huge saving one way or the other. If you are more than two, car is usually cheaper. Our itinerary was Basel-Bern-Murren-Lucerne-Chur. We were two people. We priced it out and found it cheaper to rent a car for a week and park it at Stechelberg for two days while we stayed in car-free Murren, than buying point-to-point public transport. You may find trains cheaper if you use a discount card, or cars cheaper if you are more than two persons.

But even if more expensive the gigantic advantage of a car is the freedom it gives you. See a beautiful lake? Stop there for lunch. That village look charming? Park and walk around. Your hotel 15 minutes walk from the station with your luggage in the rain? No problem. You never need to check a train schedule.

Parking in Berne and Lucerne required use of internet to find a few addresses of public parking lots, and GPS to locate them, but once found they were super easy.

You can drive on a US license. IDP is not required in Switzerland. https://ch.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/#:~:text=You%20may%20drive%20in%20Switzerland,applying%20for%20a%20Swiss%20license.

We love to explore when we travel, so we always rent a car. We prefer the freedom to go where we want to go and leave when we want to leave and not be tied to a train schedule or route. We also like not having to schlep our luggage around, even thought we just take a carryon. It is also nice to leave shoes in the car, or coats, etc and not have to keep everything packed all the time. We see a village we stop and walk through it, see a lake, go and explore! We have come across village festivals and joined in! SUPER FUN!! Of course trains are nice to relax, not worry about anything, and very efficient, so you can't go wrong with them. Each are just different experiences.

Parking is a real pain in the country. For the destinations you are interested in, a car is not necessary.

We prefer the freedom to go where we want to go and leave when we want
to leave

Yesterday I encountered a tourist who was in quite a panic. He had "left his car where he wanted to leave it", and upon return found out that the licence plates had been removed.
The locals are utterly fed up with tourists in rental cars going where they please, stopping where they please and abandoning their cars where they please, and it looks that some have started to take matters in their own hands...

I had zero sympathy for the guy. He had parked his car on private property, even moving the pole that was there to prevent unauthorised parking.

Car and public transportation come with pros and cons. I have used both modes of transportation (same trip). For your itinerary the clear choice is public transportation. The SBB app is as simple as Solitaire on your phone.