Switzerland/Austria trip with large family

No experience with a group this size, but experience traveling with children.

The fewer changes the better. I would think of at least three nights in each location.(personally would spend time other places than Zurich)
Lodging will be your greatest challenge. You may need to have some flexibility about what destinations you are going to until you see what is available.
You don’t mention what prompts you to leave Switzerland and go to Austria. Is there a special reason for that addition? If none, then I would save Austria for another trip and focus in on exploring a bit more of Switzerland.
The Berner Oberland is a favorite for many on this forum

Thank you for your reply!

The only reason for adding Austria is honestly its fairly close and we don't mind 3-5 hour long drives! Our kids are used to them :)

I have planned 5 family trips to Switzerland for groups ranging in size from 6 to 11 people, including children as young as 6, but not younger. We do all our travel by train. We have combined Switzerland with the Dolomites once ( a long travel,day there) and Germany (Garmisch-Partenkirchen) once, but never Austria.

It is along way to Vienna from Switzerland, and I question the wisdom of that. Plus, to drive with children in Austria you need to provide suitable car seats for each child:

https://www.oesterreich.gv.at/en/themen/freizeit_und_strassenverkehr/kfz/10/Seite.063800.html

I don’t know if these are provided with a car rental. You may have to bring your own.

Every time you change hotels and towns with a group that size, you have to allow extra time to get everyone to the train station and aboard the train. You will have a lot to carry, plus toddlers to manage. And the car seats if you need those.

So . . . I am going to suggest you keep it simple, and limit your trip to Switzerland, or maybe Switzerland plus Salzburg or Innsbruck. And limit your stops to 3, plus the time you need in Zurich before and/or after your flight. (Depending on the timing of you flights, you could go straight to Luzern from the airport on arrival, making that your first stop. Or make it your last stop if your flight departs mid-morning or later; you can easily reChnthat from Luzern as there are direct trains right to the airport, taking only an hour or so).

And consider renting apartments for your group. You will probably need two, and can find two in the same building. In Mürren, for example, we have rented this very nice apartment that sleeps 7:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/VacationRentalReview-g188084-d6588573-Chalet_Oberdorf_Murren-Murren_Jungfrau_Region_Bernese_Oberland_Canton_of_Bern.html

This apartment is also available on AirBnB but I cannot post that link.

In the same building are two other apartments, each sleeping 4 people. Either of these could be combined with the one above.

https://www.topapartments.ch/en/4-persons

If for some reason part of your group preferred a hotel, there are two close by, Hotel Jungfrau just across the way, and Hotel Bellevue up the street.

You can find similar arrangements in Zermatt. Our apartment there was Haus Annabelle with two bedrooms; there were other units in the same building rented by the same company.

I'd suggest spending the entire trip in Switzerland. When you land, go straight to Lucerne, it's an easy 1+ hr train. Spend your first four days in Lucerne. It's a great place to unwind from jet lag, AND with the craziness of flights now, you all may not actually get to Lucerne on your first planned day. On my last two trips post COVID, our one flight was entirely canceled, and we arrived a day late, and our next flight was so late we arrived at our destination at 1am. I feel folks need to build in these type of current schedule problems. If all goes well, there's many options for activities in Lucerne and for day- trippping.
Then proceed to the Berner Oberland, and spend five nights in the Alps. This is what's Switzerland is- mountains, vistas, scenery, clean air, and just being outdoors.
Conclude your trip with one more Swiss city- maybe exploring an area specializing in Swiss chocolate??? I think three destinations are more than enough for such a group, and you will actually enjoy the trip.
A few months go an OP wrote a wonderful trip report when they took their children to Switzerland, and she detailed all the wonderful playgrounds and children activities she found. Hopefully you can find the report with a Search, or maybe she'll see this and attach the link.
Have a great trip in this beautiful country.

Thank you so much for such a detailed reply!

I appreciate the feedback about maybe trying to fit in too much, especially with a large group. We may cut out Vienna to keep the itinerary more succinct and packaged.

If you were to pick 2-3 'home bases' during a trip like this, where would you suggest? Thank you so much!

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/italy-and-switzerland-trip-recap

I agree with going directly to Luzern from the Zurich airport, and spend your first days there. Luzern is only about 1.25 hours by rail from the railstation in the airport. Its a much more beautiful and interesting place than Zurich. And there's lots of things to do up one of the mountains, including kid things.

Noting that every time you change locations (especially herding a group that large) you use up 1/2 to a whole day just on the logistics. I'd pick Switzerland or Austria, but both in two weeks is more than I'd want to do with a large group.

All the places you list in Austria, are also reachable by train, so the 2-3 large rental cars you'll need might be a hindrance. You have to find places to park and may not get as close to sights as you would want. Plus returning the cars eats up more time and may be extra cost due to one way rental. A convoy of multiple cars is not fun to manage, and the roads are not all scenic and empty of traffic.