Travel pass calculations for Murren for four days

How old are the kids? Are you staying 3 nights in Muerren?

Four nights...which I guess means five days. Didn't think straight about that last travel day counting...changes the math for sure.
Basically arrive late on day 1 and leave early on day 5...so three "operating" days in Murren.
Kids are 8, 11 and 14.

First off, be calm. My group does this every year and so can you. Most common Swiss Pass is the Half Fare Card. 50% discount on all your "SWISS" travels. Coming from Milano - after you hit the Swiss Border the HFC takes effect. Your kids will travel free in Switzerland with you. To buy a Half Fare Card and request a Free Swiss Family Card (makes your kids free) go here:

http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/transport-travel/transport-travel-passes/swiss-half-fare-card.html

When you purchase your tix Milano -> Murren BLM on the www.sbb.com choose your train, add your passengers (and ages) and there it will ask you for Reductions. Choose Half-Fare Travelcard if you have a HFC, or choose GA 2.cl, 1 year /GA subscripton if you have a Swiss Pass. The reductions will be automatically calculated for you. Choose buy and print at home. You're all set.

Traveling to Murren sounds complicated because after you arrive in Interlaken Ost you change to several little trains and a gondola at TEENY TINY train stations. Don't panic; it's like being in Mayberry with Andy Griffith and Aunt Bea. Ask the train attendants questions if you're unsure; they're always extremely helpful and speak multiple languages.

You'll be fine. The Swiss Train system is so vastly different from any other European train system I've ever used. Swiss is clean, punctual, calm. You'll see.

I concur with the Half Fare card. Domodossolo to Muerren is 74 chf and Muerren to Basel is 80 chf. A single round trip on the Schilthornbahn to Piz Gloria is 80 chf. That gets you close to the 240 chf break point. Add in the benefits of the Family Card (kids ride free), and its a deal.
Traveling on to Beaune, look at buying separate tickets from France rail site. That would be a TGV to Dijon with a local train to Beaune. It looks like the best prices are in the afternoon with an additional train change in Mulhouse of around 100 euro for the whole group.

"Little trips around Muerren" can be quite expensive if they include the gondola to Schilthorn or trains on other side of the valley to Kleine Scheidegg or Jungfraujoch. So a one-month Half-Fare Card or other Swiss Travel System product is almost always a reasonable choice for visitors, and all offer the free Swiss Family Card for your own kids under age 16. If your time did fit into 4 consecutive days, then that Swiss Travel Pass would be a good option, but since it doesn't work this time, the other pass options are not so obvious.

Depending on where you plan to travel exactly, you might want to consider the four day Swiss Pass. We also travel with three children and there's a lot to be said for not having to buy a ticket every time you plan to hop on a train. There are a few cable cars that aren't fully covered. Jungfraujoch for example is only covered 25% with the Swiss Pass. But if you plan to visit museums as well, the swiss pass will allow free entry for many of them. Run the numbers to see if the four day swiss pass card makes sense for you. Even if its slightly more expensive than the half fare card, the convenience may make it worth it for you.

Oh, I also meant to say, I'm not sure what 'fare maps' you're referring to but price out your trips on the Swiss rail website. Www.sbb.ch/en It defaults to the half fare rate at first but do a dummy purchase and choose 'no reduction' to get the full fare rate. Half fare card would be, obviously, half the full rate. Swiss pass would be free for most areas except some mountain excursions. You can find the coverage here http://www.swisstravelsystem.com/en/support/Frequently-Asked-Questions.html

Wow. Thanks everyone.

Let me clarify something. Sounds like I can buy the tickets on SBB even though they originate in Italy...and I can buy tickets from Milano all the way to Murren as a single ticket purchase? If that is the case, that makes things MUCH simpler. Does buying them online vs in train stations make a price difference? (though for that inbound trip sounds like I need to do that anyway).

I was thinking I would be buying tickets a journey at a time and also needed to be in country...thought it sounds like in the case of France that saves me a bit of money.

Thanks again. This is invaluable.

Yes, you can buy tickets on SBB for travel that originates in Italy.