From Murren to Venice by train. Two night mid-point??

The route from Murren to Venice takes you first to Milan, where you catch a fast train to Venice. There are 3 good routes to Milan from Murren and each one offers overnight possibilities.
1. The main route is via Spiez and Brig. A nice stop just a few minutes off this route is Bettmeralp or Riederalp, car free villages you reach by cable car from the train line just east of Brig. 2. Another way is to head back to Lucerne and pick up the train to Milan at Arth-Goldau. Someone wrote about reaching Art-Goldau by taking a boat and cable cars and train over Rigi and maybe you could do that. Mark Twain wrote about staying in the hotel on top if Rigi to see the sunrise over the lake and mountains. 3. Third option is the Bernina Express, starting at Chur and ending at Tirano. You could spend one night in Switzerland in a mountain village on the way, like Samedan, and one night at Varenna onnLake Como. Varenna is a bit past Tirano and only an hour from Milan which makes youngest travel day really easy.

Good suggestions above. Another possibility along the Brig route (#1 on Sasha's list) would be Kandersteg. We love the mountain hotel up at the lake, reached by cablecar: www.oeschinensee.ch But unless you are hikers, two nights there migh tbe too long. You could spend the second night in Stresa, on Lago Maggiore; this is also right on the way to Milan. On the other hand, if you are hikers, then 2 nights at Bettmeralp would offer a change for a spectacular hike along th ealetschgletscher: www.bettmeralp.ch Or, if you haven't included Luzern in your Swiss visit, Route 2 makes a good option. You could spend one night there, then take a boat to Weggis and cablecar up to Rigi Kaltbad for your second night. Here is a partial list of hotels up on Rigi: http://www.rigi.ch/en/list.cfm?listall=yes&category=GastroRIGI&subcat=GastroRigiWVR The next day you would ride the cogwheel train up and over the top and down to Arth-Goldau to catch the train to Milan (about 2 .5 hours). Check the view from Hotel Alpina at Rigi Kaltbad: http://www.alpina-rigi.ch/html/hotel.html The Bernina Express route is one I have longed to do, and if you haven't otherwise included a stay in Varenna for your trip that would be my personal choice (one night Pontresina or Alp Grum, one night in Varenna). But they are all good options, with a nice mix of lakes and mountains.