Switzerland planning help, please!

Could you clarify the itinerary, listed by day? I’m totally confused.
I do carryon when I can, but when I need to do otherwise, I just don’t worry about it.
Lausanne and Montreux are close enough that you can stay in either. The half fare pass will cover you all over. BO pass covers only BO.
Definitely try to minimize moving.

I believe the paragliding companies are based in Interlaken but the actual flight is from Mürren.

Hi. Thanks for your response. I’ve seen your posts in this forum.
I posted here to fine tune my itinerary.
I guess I was trying to figure out whether moving every day from Zermatt to Lausanne to Bern to Zurich is doable or not.
1 night in either Lausanne or Montreaux, Vs stay 2 nights? I know. I guess I already know the answer to that.

q1 - so when you take the morning train from Zermatt - either congratulating yourself on seeing it peek out from the clouds or kicking yourself for having missed it - you'll already have your 60th birthday, go to lunch at one of the top 5 restaurants in the world (your words) duds on and just have to park the luggage and high tail to the appointed location (if near, how will you get there?) ?

q1b - which is more valuable to you - a glimpse of a mountain with a crooked hat (reminds me of the Sorting Hat) or a special birthday lunch at one of the top 5 restaurants in the world (your words)? Which would you miss more?

q2 - impacts vary. didn't know you have sciatica. Don't know if it will trigger another episode (you'll be happier if it doesn't)

q4 - don't know you. your choice. whichever you want. If the lunch is a large meal which will you prefer?

q5a - yes and no. Half fare yes, BO Pass no.

q6b - yes and no. Half fare yes, BO Pass no.

q6c - you'll have to do the arithmetic

Happy (soon to be) 60th!!

I guess I was trying to figure out whether moving every day from
Zermatt to Lausanne to Bern to Zurich is doable or not.

And would you still start with Lucerne? I can’t say that four one-night stays with three people is something I’d think would work out very well, but we all have different preferences. More reason to pack light! Do you have to cut time from BO to do this?

@Nigel, thank you for your response, and your questions to help me decide. Yup. I will have to make those calls.
I was assuming I could get an uber ride from Lausanne station to the restaurant because I read somewhere it’s about 10 minutes car ride away. Am I being naive?

@valadelphia, that’s a good question. Should I skip Lucerne and just go straight to BO after we land?
I saw quite a lot of posts about skipping Zurich, but seems like Lucerne is a crowd favorite.
I was thinking of possibly staying there just for a night and skip Mt. Pilatus which I was originally gonna go.
Will there be similar cogwheel trains up to the mountain with lake view in BO area?

@Lola, thanks for your response.
I read that it’s 2 separate areas with different views when paragliding.
I guess this also comes down to deciding what do I want to see. 😊

There is a cogwheel in Montreux.
So much depends on what time you arrive, how far could you get that day? But I’d try to not do so many one-night stays. The hard thing about Switzerland is the sheer number of high quality places to choose from, but I say do a couple places fairly well versus trying to do several for less than a day. Maybe you are all energetic and move fairly efficiently, but still, it eats time to move. Especially if you want your full days to be long day trips or hikes/adventures, you gotta have time for that.
It’s going to be amazing, just don’t want “amazing race.”
If departure is early, last night needs to be Zurich. I’d make no more than three stops with the eight remaining nights, maybe a one night on arrival to break up travel, then two chunks.

I’m tired just reading your post. Sounds like you will spend more time checking in and out of hotels and riding trains than seeing Switzerland. I am no Switzerland expert, but have been there 3 times and traveled around a bit. We are going back in July and just spending a week in Wengen and the BO. I would try to choose 2 spots and base from them. For your first trip, I think you can skip Zurich. Also, are you finishing your trip in Montreaux but departing from Zurich? Am I reading that right? Might make more sense to save Luzern for the end of the trip then go right from Luzern to ZRH airport.

@mjknyc
Yeah, I know. I was getting tired writing all these questions myself too. Haha.
Feels like a race like @valdelphia said.
Saving Lucerne for the night before leaving is an idea too. That way I can spend more time in BO.

I will probably be in the minority, but after 6 trips to Switzerland I would suggest the following:

Arrive Zurich and immediately train to Wengen (love Wengen) stay for 4 nights
Paragliding is done mainly from Murren, but I have seen it done from above Wengen. It is very weather dependent. I made reservations to do it once, but it was cancelled due to fog. That was in early September.

Zermatt - 2 nights

I have stayed in Zermatt 5 times and I have seen the Matterhorn each time I have visited. The clouds can move in and out quickly. Usually stay in the Hotel Daniela with a Matterhorn view balcony room. However, this past December I stayed at the Hotel Julen (both hotels owned by the same Julen family). The view of the Matterhorn from the Julen is so fantastic that we drank wine on our balcony in 40F degree weather. We also sat and watched the cable cars go from Trockener Steg to Klein Matterhorn!

Montreux - 2 nights
I love Montreux. A hotel with a lake view is so pretty with the French Alps rising beyond Lake Leman. There are the vineyards of the Lavaux area that you can walk through or stop at a winery to taste the wine. You can take a lake boat to Chateu de Chillon for shore views from the lake. If you are into the rock band Queen, the old studio is open at the casino for the "Queen Experience" (free).

Lucerne - 1 night
Lucerne is small enough to walk around in one day. Two nights would be better, but with your restrictions, one night would give you a taste of the town. You can take the train directly from the Lucerne train station to the Zurich airport (I have done it several times.)

I travel all over the world and Switzerland is the most beautiful place I have ever visited. You will have a wonderful 60th birthday!

I read that it’s 2 separate areas with different views when paragliding.
I guess this also comes down to deciding what do I want to see. 😊

Yes, this is true. In Interlaken they take up up to Beatenberg for your departure point. Views of the mountains (of course) as well as the lakes... if it was me I would choose this over Mürren; and I would choose either of those two locations over paragliding in Lausanne (if that is what you mean for Q#2).

As you say, it does come down to what you want to see. Checking for YouTube videos, etc. can possibly help with that.

The landings look to be very gentle - you can watch people land at the Höhematte in Interlaken to see what it is like.

@Barbara, thank you so much for your thoughtful response and suggestion of itinerary. Truly appreciate it! I might as well follow this.
And thank you! I know I will have a great birthday and trip no matter what!
@myswisslife, thank you. I watched videos of both sites like you said, and I’m leaning more to doing it in Interlaken. Besides, my son was rolling his eyes when I said I want to do paragliding, and researched the statistics of accidents/deaths from hitting the rocky cliffs of Lauterbrunnen valley, lol.
Also I have to say, I’ve read your other posts/comments, and wow! I envy and admire how you decisively moved there!