Switzerland Mid January

Check out Murren or Wengen for the small village feel. Both are above Lauterbrunnen. Just know it will take quite a journey (11 hours with 10 transfers) to get there via the Bernina Express. Express definitely doesn’t mean fast in this case. With such a short trip, I would decide whether you want to spend more time on the train, or more time in the village.

The airport rail station is only 15 minutes away from the main rail station (Hauptbahnhof) in Zurich. So staying out there isn't a big advantage.

With your criteria, I'd stay in Pontresina on the Bernina route.

Note January is winter sport season, so getting short hotel stays might be a problem. Jump on that.

It looks likes there is a more direct rail line to murren up through bring and spiez. Is that scenic route? I think 6 hours on a train is our max with kids.

Thank you I will look into all those villages!

That route via Brig uses two long deep tunnels if you go the fastest way. The first one, the Simplon tunnel between Domodossola and Brig, is unavoidable. Between Brig and Spiez, you can avoid the long deep Lôtschberg Basistunnel by taking a slower regional train that goes via Kandersteg. There is still a tunnel, but it is shorter.

Here is a rail map of Switzerland, with the named scenic routes highlighted:

https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/tickets/day-passes/saver-day-pass.html

It also shows tunnels as dashed lines. You can see the Brig route tunnels, one between Domodossola and Brig, the other between Visp and Fruitigen. You can also see the shorter tunnel on the kandersteg regional train route, in lighter dashed line to the right of the deep tunnel.

You can also see why the Bernina Express route takes so much longer—-it is far to the east.

According to my search, the balloon festival at Chateau d’Oex starts January 25—is there a different one you saw?

https://www.festivaldeballons.ch/en

Oops I put the wrong dates. Yes on the 25th! We will be in Switzerland 24-27 January

OK. Chateaux d’Oex is on the Golden Pass train line, so you can reach it from either Spiez or Montreux. Check around for hotel prices; you might do better on Friday than on Saturday night, and you could still visit the festival on Saturday before moving to a different hotel for that night. Maybe head to Luzern (Ovid the MOB Golden Pass and spend the next 2 nights there. You can reach the Zurich airport in just over an hour from Luzern so it works for all but the early morning flights out of Zurich.

We spent time in nearby Gstaad for an event some years ago (the Swiss Open tennis tournament) and I found a reasonably-priced family room in Gstaad at Posthotel Rössli:

https://www.posthotelroessli.ch/en

A nice big room and welcoming hosts. Dinner in their garden restaurant was excellent—-but in winter the seating will be indoors. Before I knew your dates, I checked and for Monday the 27th the Family Room that sleeps 4 is around 540 CHF, so you can use that for comparing other options. Gstaad has a reputation as a glitzy ski resort, but the town center, where this hotel is located, is actually pretty traditional. Or try Schönried.

If that proves to be too complicated and/or expensive, go back to considering Lauterbrunnen, or even Kandersteg, which is a nice village with a “community” feel to it. The higher villages above Lauterbrunnen (Wengen and Mürren) are both ski resorts, so lodging will be limited on that weekend, and expensive.

If tobogganing is a major goal, there are runs on Rigi, the mountain near Luzern. Note that they call it “sledging” and you sit on a sled, not a toboggan as we think of them.

https://www.rigi.ch/en/experience/activities/sledding

There are hotels on Rigi, including in the little village of Rigi Kaltbad, but the ones I looked at wanted to put your family in 2 rooms. You might look in the villages at the base of the mountain, right on the lake—-Weggis and Vitznau——both offer transport by cablecar or cogwheel train up to Rigi Kaltbad.

I would suggest that if you want to take the Bernina Express, go to Pontresina and stay there 2 nights, then to Zurich via Chur. Its the KISS principle.

I’ve attended the Hot Air Balloon Festival several times, and it’s always been a wonderful experience. While it draws a large crowd, it never feels overcrowded. There’s plenty of space to walk around and enjoy the atmosphere.

You can watch the balloons take off from the field or head up the hill near the church for a different vantage point. Both locations provide great photo opportunities, with (hopefully) snow-capped mountains providing a dramatic backdrop to the colourful balloons - some of which have very fun/humorous shapes.

For kids, there are tethered balloon rides and various other activities.

It sounds like you’re planning to go on the weekend, which is a great choice. Weekdays tend to have a lot less going on.

One important thing to keep in mind: balloon flights are weather-dependent. Updates are usually posted the night before or early in the morning. There have been some years where several days were cancelled.

With just a few days, you will likely focus on one area of Switzerland, so this might not end up being on your list, but if it is I think you would enjoy it. I certainly hope to go again this year!

Every single time I go there I fall in love with this beautiful country