Village to Village hiking in Switzerland with 12 yr olds

Here are some suggestions from My Switzerland.com

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/hiking.html?nodeid=29503

Each one should suggest an organizer who can arrange for luggage transport. The same website will offer two-day treks with one overnight; you could cobble together several of those.

There are numerous hiking tour companies that will book a "self-guided" hike for you and arrange lodging and luggage transport. Thisnisnone a friend used for the Tour du Mont Blanc; they did a good job.

https://www.distantjourneys.com/destinations/switzerland/hikes-in-switzerland-self-guided/

I set it for "Switzerland hikes" so you can choose the activity level, from Moderate to Very Strenuous.

I will try to find some more names and re-post, as I have looked at many.

Looking over the itinerary for the Hiking in Switzerland, I see that it is village-based in 3 villages, not Inn-to-Inn. Coincidentally, we are doing almost that exact trip ( independent, self-planned) this August, although we will stay in Mürren instead of Wengen, and Bettmeralp instead of Zermatt. In Kandersteg we will stay in a mountain inn at Oeschinensee. We will have two ( also twin) six-year-olds with us.

For inn-to-inn, the Tour du Mont Blanc would work, but it is (in part) rated "strenuous" so you would need to asssess the girls' stamina carefully. We will be doing that hike ourselves (guided), after the time in Switzerland with our grandchildren and their parents.

Village to Village is possible in most of Switzerland, with return at the end of the day by train or bus. I don't know of a bag transporting service.
Two areas jump out, Jungfrau Area (part of the Berner Oberland, and the Engadin valley in south-west Switzerland.

The Jungfrau Area is popular with foreigners, and has a dense network of trains and cable cars which can get you up out of the valley so you can do hikes horizontal or downhill.
The local website has a page listing the major hikes: https://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/summer-sport/hiking/
Another website: https://www.bergfex.com/sommer/jungfrau-region/touren/wandern/
A "map" of the area showing rail lines (red) and cable cars (black): http://www.regionalpass-berneroberland.ch/assets/karte-und-partner/Regionalpass-Panoramakarte-2017.pdf
Official tourist website, with hotels and "eye candy" photos: https://jungfrauregion.swiss/en/summer/
Page from above website with zoomable map of paths: https://jungfrauregion.swiss/en/summer/planning-and-events/interactive-map/hiking/

I found a brochure with walks listed and a map: https://www.jungfrau.ch/fileadmin/Prospekte_und_Broschueren/Wanderkarte_Jungfrau_Region.pdf

This may be too much for your 12-year-olds, but you can get a guided 2-day hike across a glacier. They quote a price for "under 16's": https://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/jungfraujoch-top-of-europe/aletsch-glacier-hike/

That two-day Glacier trek from Jungfraujoch to the base of the Eggishorn is something I have longed to do, but could never make time. You overnight at the Konkordiahütte.

http://www.konkordiahuette.ch

Here is a description of the acrtual hike:

https://www.cicerone.co.uk/walking-the-aletsch-glacier

Note the photo of the metal stairway up to the hut, with 468 steps.

And here a link to the actual tour provider, with prices and details.

https://www.grindelwaldsports.ch/en/aletsch-glacier-hike-2229.html

Edelweiss Tours has a hut-to-hut tour. Starts in Interlaken (after train together from Zurich). The hike ends after a night in Murren, officially ending in Stelchelberg - on the valley floor. Includes a day-trip visit to Luzern. Accommodations during the actual hike are in the hiking huts throughout the area. First and last nights in a Zurich hotel. You take the Schnyige Platte narrow gauge cogwheel train to your first trail. See lakes, glaciers, Jungfrau, Monch, and Eiger, Kleine Scheidegg, Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen valleys, etc.

http://www.edelweisstour.com/swiss-hut-to-hut-tour.html

I'm not sure if it's available, but ask them about baggage transport service.

Thank you so much to everyone who gave me such great ideas about hiking in Switzerland. Luckily, I have a few months to plan for our August, 2020 trip. Jan

Hiking village to village sounds rather romantic, but I think there are some potential downsides. There are logistical problems with luggage and if a kid get weary or turns an ankle, you may be far away from a stopping point. Also, hut to hut is typically fairly strenuous and maybe more than they want.

Instead, allow me to suggest what I did with each of my 3 kids when they turned 13. We stayed in Lauterbrunnen (tho Murren would be good too) and took a different hike each day of the week. Not only does this avoid the problems listed above, but we could pet cows and goats along the way, explore different towns, take a boat ride on a cloudy day, etc. Also, should you want to hike to a hut, there's Lobhornhutte above Isenfluh. I'll send you a list of our dozen favorite hikes in the Jungfrau area. Just click on your name in the upper right of this page to read your forum mail.

My concern with any prepaid hiking plans would be weather. Things may be somewhat better now due to climate change (I have no idea), but I made several trips during the 1970s and early 1980s that included Switzerland. I had a lot of tentative plans for day-hikes that got wiped out because I wasn't remotely interested in hiking in the rain at 50-55F. It was quite common for bad weather to move into an area and park there for 4 days or so. I realize that serious hikers travel with appropriate gear and would not be put off by such minor weather concerns, but I am not and was not a serious hiker.

I ultimately managed a day of walking in the area around one of the western lakes (don't remember which) and another day of walking downhill in the Loetschental. For the latter I just rode the postbus up. Those were very nice days.

RE: ...concern with any prepaid hiking plans would be weather.... hiking in the rain at 50-55F.

Some of my most memorable touring days are trekking or skiing in inclement weather. Be it a hot bowl of Cullen Skink soup while taking refuge from the deluge in a pub during a Scottish trek or skiing into a Norwegian mountain hytte in the moonlight because because of slow skiing through morning snow blizzard like conditions.

That said, pay attention to weather and be prepared. On some hut to hut or inn to inn walking or skiing routes, there are fall back options. In particular, village to village trekking or ski touring often have local bus service or taxi service possibilites. This would be especially true for routes that include baggage transfer service.