Swiss+Amsterdam+Paris travel planning help

Switch to 2 days Luzern 4 in Lauterbrunnen. Or 6 days in Interlaken and daytrips to Luzern and the Berner Oberland. There is no luggage allowance on Swiss Trains you just have to be able to carry it getting on board. You should probably pay to reserve seats. That way you will be guaranteed seats together and you can put your bags under and over the seat.

I would stay in Lausanne instead of Geneva and include a trip to Montreux. You can easily go to the airport in Geneva from there to fly to Amsterdam. The Amsterdam to Paris train is operated by Thalys, It only takes 3hours 30 minutes,
https://www.thalys.com/choose-your-language-and-your-country
The earlier you book the lower the price. There is a service cheaper than Thalys but it would require a change in Brussels.

Train from AMS to Paris is easy and comfortable. Kids can be up walking around, snacks are available for purchase (and AMS Centraal station has some good food options to stock up before departure). Its easy. There are many things to do in and around AMS with kids. Zaanse-Schanse is fun to see quaint Dutch houses/surroundings, or Volendam, and then take a ferry to Markam. The kids museum in AMS ( NEMO) is really good, and even better, there is a rooftop deck where you can buy food or a beer and sit outside and have a view of the entire port area (and the roof is also interesting for kids). Vondel park is fun for a picnic, and of course just strolling around the canals is fun for kids.

Are you doing this as a single adult and the 2 children, or do you have another adult helper? Seems tricky no matter how you cut it. You might take advantage of Swiss luggage transfer service. Two young children will be a handful, so if you can get help with the big luggage, it will help immensely. You can even check the luggage at your departure airport and have it delivered same day to you lodging location in Switzerland.
https://www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/services/luggage/from-another-country-to-switzerland/airport-in-another-country-to-door.html

I say go with a train and stay in one place, like Interlaken and take the trains daily for activities. Children under 6 yo travel free. Then to Montreux or Vevey. If you fly to Amsterdam, you can get to Geneva airport direct from there. Some kind of Swiss Travel pass will also make life easier.

It will be me my wife and the two kids . I am just worried about how much time we get to board a train and whether it is sufficient to put all our luggage strollers? Do the trains come and go like city metros or they are standing there waiting for to be boarded like a plane ?

How’s Wengen as a place to station and base yourself instead of Interlaken or Lauterbrunnen?

Train westward is Golden Pass if we are going to Laussane from Lucerne or Interlaken ?

Given our itinerary above does it make sense to have.a Swiss Travel Pass? And if yes which type? Does it work on scenic trains like golden pass ?

Swiss trains work more like a city metro system. A ticket is good on the specified route for the entire day. You are not locked into any specific train or even class of train. if you miss a train or a connection, you just wait for the next one. I will tell of of my experience going to Wengen.

I purchased tickets at the station ticket office at Zurich airport. It is across the street (now with a pedestrian bridge) and go down via escalator to the basement level. You have tickets and a print out of your routing with track numbers for all the connections, leaving in say 30 minutes. You take the escalator down another level to the track level. Or train went to Bern, after stopping briefly at Zurich main station, where we changed train to Interlaken Ost (end of the line). There we changed to another train going to Lauterbrunnen, taking care to get in the carriages marked "Lauterbrunnen" because the train splits half way with the other half going to Grindelwald. At Lauterbrunnen, get off and board another train. There may be other trains standing there and the station agents will be shouting to everyone in English "Get on any train!" Yes, they all go to Wengen, one after the other, but they cannot be coupled together because the curves are too tight. After a couple of stops along a steep winding track, you are in Wengen. I recall the ticket agent in Zurich telling us at the start. "Get on the train as quickly as possible. The train will only be stopped for 2 minutes. Swiss trains run on time!" Once on board there is time to find seats and there are places to store luggage.

My preference is to always stay IN the mountains, not near them. Wengen is a beautiful little car free town with wonderful views of the mountains. Lauterbrunnen is in the valley below and may be more central because the other side of the valley is Muerren and the Schilthorn.

The Swiss Travel Pass will make life easier. It is good on the Golden Pass, but you will have to pay for train and lift rides above Wengen with a 50% discount. It is good 100% on the Schilthornbahn to the top however.

Thanks Sam. From what I understand from your reply there are more train changes required for Wengen than Interlaken or Lauterbrunnen. Also are there more facilities in these two compared to Wengen. ? Like more dining and acitivities options than Wengen?

Ask if I skip Bernes Oberland altogether and just stay in Lucerne , will I miss anything nature wise? What’s the closest place we can see bit of snow ?

Regards

Regarding getting luggage onto trains -- if you are taking a train from its initial location it will probably be waiting for you so you have ample time to onload multiple items, BUT if your train is coming in from another place there is a very short stop for people getting off and new passengers getting on. When my husband and I do this, he takes the first suitcase on and then gets the second roller bag while I carry on both personal items (one with a cross-body strap so I have a free hand for the railing.) After we and the bags are on the train (and the train is rolling toward the next stop) we put the bags in the luggage area and find our way to our seats. Since one of you will probably be getting the kids safely on the train the other may be shoving the bags and strollers inside the train doors.

ok i have to pick your brains on another idea.

If i have 10 days in Switzerland and i want no more than 2 base. Shall I do Geneva/Lake Geneva area first (as i am flying in from London) for 5 days and then move to Lucern/Bernes Oberland area (via Golden Pass train ) for 5 days.

Questions
1. Are the number of days allocated to both regions enough.
2. In Geneva / Lake Geneva area: where should i stay i.e. Geneva or Lausanne? I want to see Geneva City, Lausanne, Montreux and Chateau de Chillon. What is a good and convenient base for this?
In the Lucern / Bernes Oberland area: we want to see Lucern City and surrounding sightseeing, Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen Valley

Given we are with kids, we do not want to sleep in more than two accommodation in the whole trip and would rather take day trips and trains.