switzerland

That means you want to go to Zermatt, too. Do those eight days include your arrival and departure days?

Visiting four different locations in an eight day trip is going to be somewhat "challenging". It's important to allow for travel time between locations. My first suggestion would be to drop Zürich as (IMO) your very limited time would be better spent in more "scenic" locations.

It would help to have more detailed information about your travel plans. For example, where will you be starting in Switzerland, and will you be leaving from the same location? I assume you're planning to get around by train? Are you planning to stay in Interlaken or elsewhere in the Berner Oberland? With more detail, it will be easier to offer suggestions.

You might check your local library or bookstores and have a look at the Rick Steves Switzerland guidebook, as that has an enormous amount of information on travel in Switzerland.

definately drop Zurich, unless extreme flight times mean you have to stay very close, in which case use airport hotel. There are frequent direct trains from Luzern to Zurich in a little over one hour and they start early, you can be at checkin by 07:00.

Interlaken needs thought, many people need to travel via Interlaken but few need to stay there.

Spiez might be alternative to Interlaken and would be useful because you can reach Zermatt in well under 2 hours, allowing a good amount of time to ride the Gornergrat train for the best views of Matterhorn and return in the evening. Assuming there are views and not low cloud, one of the problems of booking a hotel for a very short stay is it may be a waste of time. If you stay in Spiez and the weather is against you there are always other options, like Bern.

My rough suggestion. Land Zurich, go straight to Spiez/Interlaken. Use as base for mountains including Zermatt. Travel via Brunig to Luzern for 2 full days/nights then train to airport for departure.

A SwissPass or Half Fare Travelcard will probbaly be a good idea given the price of the Gornergat train

Planning on landing on a Wednesday and departing following Wednesday.
Want to definitely stay in Lucerne and 1 other place, probably around the Interlaken area based on fact easy to travel from that area. Suggestions on best towns around Interlaken area.

So you have 6 full days and you want to visit 4 places. IMO…Fly into Zurich and go to your furthest point first….take train to Wengen or Murren for a few days then back to Lucern and use those two cities as your hotel bases. Easy train ride from Lucerne to airport for flight out. I would eliminate Zermatt/Matterhorn because the chances of seeing the Matterhorn on a day trip are pretty slim because of afternoon cloud buildup. It’s a long train ride to be disappointed but you never know.