Lucerne- Murren - Gruyeres

You can check, schedules at the excellent Swiss Rail site: http://rail.ch It's doable if you get a very early start. From Murren to Gruyeres it's about a 3.5 hour journey via the scenic Golden Pass train. From Gruyere to the Chocolate Factory, it's nearby, simply take the train from the bottom of Gruyere to the nearby city of Broc, from the Broc train station take the special shuttle trains to the factory. From Broc station it's 2.5 hour journey to Zurich.
One problem is going to be your luggage. I don't believe any of the stations on the rail line that serves Gruyere and Broc have lockers or a hold counter. So you have a couple of options: For a fee Swiss Rail will deliver you bags to another station. For same day service you must drop off your bags at Murren station before 9am for delivery to Zurich by 6pm. Another option is to take a slightly longer route to Gruyere via Bern, and drop off your bags at the station there....on the way back to Zurich you would have to pass through Bern anyways: http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/reisemarkt/services/schalter/reisegepaeck.htm

Thank you for the fast luggage idea - how reliable are they? With leaving the next day I won't have much room for lost luggage. Also I hear that that part of the Golden Pass is very pretty.

Swiss Rail is very reliable, but considering you have a flight the next day, I wouldn't risk it. If I were doing it I would head to Gruyere via Bern and store your bag in Bern....even though it's less scenic.

According to that chart, Bern to Zurich is also categorized as "possible" (no number next to the icon). Are you seriously suggesting that Swiss Rail also can't guarantee same-day delivery of a suit case between those two cities in one day:)

When the Swiss Rail site says "possible", they mean if you drop the luggage off before 9am. There is an "express" service that one pays extra for to guarantee same day service, as opposed to the standard service which delivers it the next day. There a 45 stations where express services is available, both Murren and Zurich are included on that list.

My point is that you are misinterpreting the word "possible". I think you are saying that the term "possible" on the spreadsheet means "maybe" they can delivery the suitcase the same day between city A and city B. I'm interpreting "possible" like this: If you were to go to a shop in Switzerland and ask the clerk if it's possible to break a 100CHF note, and the clerk replies "Yes, it's possible" The clerk is not saying "maybe I can, maybe I can't", he's saying yes I positively can. That's my interpretation of the term. We may have to get a ruling from a linguist...Is there a linguist on the house:)

Thank you both for the time and thoughts you are sending. I looked and with the cost per bag being 20CHF (X4)and the car rental for the day is $123US. Might make more sense all the way around to do the rental for the $40 + gas difference. Not sure if there would have been bus/train fees. We are doing the Swiss Pass, overall we will be doing the Bernina Express, the William Tell ( to get from Lugano to Lucerne) and the Golden Pass to get from Lucerne to Murren (via Interlaken), and I think it might have the best deal. DO you agree with that being the best option. We will arrive at Chur and drop off rental car we had for Germany.
Again thank you for your guidance : )

You're welcome. The Swiss Pass will cover the entire journey to/from Gruyere, and will also cover entry to the small castle, the HR Gigier museum, and the cheese factory. The sending lof uggage ahead is indeed pricey. Storing your bags at Bern will be much cheaper.

Sounds like renting a car for the day would be much simpler for you in the long run. Much less hassle with your luggage. The roads in Switzerland are a wonderful as everything else. Easy parking at both Callier chocolate factory and Gruyere. You could even make a stop in Gastaadt. Would it make more sense to start first in Murren, loop over to Gruyere then to Luzern -- then to Zurich at the last possible moment?

: ) Prolly would be easier barring the fact that we fly into Zurich and head off to Meersburg 1 N, Rothenburg ob der Tauber 2 N, Munich 3N , and then to Chur 1 N, where we hop on the Bernina Express, overnight in Lugano, head off to Lucerne for 3 N then to Murren for 3 nights, end up in Zurich for 1 N before we sadly fly home : ) I do think we will pick up a car - it is easier and I will look into Gstaad. I am looking currently into Munich a fun day hike while the rest of the group is off at BMW and Dachau. Thank you for your thoughts!