Travel from Paris to Murren/Wengen in March

If you take the train It looks best to buy asap to save money the Paris to Interlaken Ost part (one requiring just one connection and those are selling out) separate from Interlaken Ost to Murren or Wegen which you can buy from a machine easily when you get there.

I would use this site for Paris to Interlaken OST
https://www.trainline.eu/train-times/paris-to-interlaken-ost

or this one
https://en.oui.sncf/en/

From Paris into Switzerland is an international journey and you can get “special offer” (Sparangebot) fares by buying in advance on SBB.ch (or maybe trainline.com as well). Looking at March 27 I put in Paris to Interlaken OST and found a low fare of 108 CHF on SBB. The regular full fare is 233 CHF. From Interlaken on to Mürren you can just buy the tickets at the Interlaken station.

You 14-year-old can ride trains and lifts for free but you need to buy a Junior Card. Last time I checked it was 30 CHF. You can buy that in Switzerland.

You 14-year-old can ride trains and lifts for free but you need to buy a Junior Card. Last time I checked it was 30 CHF.

what a joke. It is not really free then...

Thanks so much! I will look into the Paris to Interlaken tickets now and just wait on tickets within Switzerland.

It looks like the drive would be 6 ½ hours. If I'm looking at the train schedules correctly I don't think the train will save us much time

According to https://www.viamichelin.com/ it is 07h46 629 km. That does not allow for any stops or delays. I would add 25% plus stops. Plus time to pick up the car in Paris. The train is a high speed train that runs at up to 300 Km/hr. For example (times from https://www.sbb.ch/en ):

Paris-Gare de Lyon dep 10:15, 6 h 4 min, Wengen arr 16:19
Paris-Gare de Lyon dep 11:45, 6 h 34 min, Wengen arr 18:19

I think I read somewhere that for point to point tickets it may be best to just purchase at the station. Is that true? Or would the train from Paris be an exception and need to be booked in advance?

That is true for Switzerland, but not for French High Speed trains, where you MUST have a ticket that is specific to the train, and it is a lot cheaper to buy in advance.

Two more problems with driving:
1) Where are you ending this trip? One-way hire between countries (picking up in France and returning in Switzerland) is likely to incur a large surcharge,
2) You cannot drive to Mürren or Wengen. Both have no road access. You have to leave your car in Lauterbrunnen at the bottom of the valley (paid parking), and take a train up to Mürren or Wengen.

If the four older travelers buy either a Swiss Travel Pass (such as 4 consecutive days) or a one-month Swiss Half-Fare Card for tourists, then the Swiss Family Card to cover the 14-year-old is free. Whether you get this free version or pay 30 CHF for the Junior Card, it fully covers all transport when the child is with parents who have a pass or ticket. The Half-Fare Card at $125 per person is normally a good deal for a plan like this and would kick in from Basel, which is both a border crossing and connection point when you come from Paris. Paris-Basel is the only part that needs booking now. See https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/switzerland-rail-passes.

"what a joke. It is not really free then..."

You can either get the "free" version which is called the Swiss Family Card or you can buy one called the Junior Card. It's not a joke at all. Even at 30chf it's a huge huge bargain considering all kids <16 travel absolutely free all over Switzerland even to the super expensive Jungfraujoch.

The joke would be to travel in Switzerland with a kid WITHOUT one of the 2 options!

Thank you everyone for the advice. This is very helpful. The train seems the way to go so I will get those tickets booked. Thanks again!

Could I please ask for one more piece of advice. When traveling from Paris to Interlaken we are somewhat flexible on the time of day we will travel so I 'd like to find the lowest fare. When booking the train tickets (SBB) I'm wondering if there is an easy way to see price comparisons for the different times of day. I've been checking each one individually which works but thinking there is probably an easier way.
Thanks again!

Open two windows in the browser split the screen with the two sites or say what day you are looking at and someone here can help search

I found that trainline displayed all prices and highlighted the cheapest option. I booked and am excited to go! Thanks again!