You can take Swiss Rail to get to Interlaken. Check out their website for timetables, rates, etc. Swiss trains are wonderful: VERY prompt, very clean and orderly. Making connections, especially if you have luggage, can be quite a sport. You may only have a few minutes to get from one platform to another, but so are a lot of other travelers, so it's a bit of orderly chaos.

Once there, a high, high priority would be to take the train up to the Jungfraujoch, the highest train station in Europe at over 11,000 feet. You actually ride the train inside the face of the Eiger mountain. The views from the visitors center up there are breathtaking, can see several countries. If you do more than just look at the view, e.g. visit ice sculptures, eat a meal, shop, etc. you can make an entire day of it. You can also stop midway up or down and do some hiking.

Other activities that might be of interest to you would be boat cruises on either Lake Thun (Thuner See) or Lake Brienz (Brienzer See) as Interlaken is literally the city between those two lakes. The view from the Lake Thun cruise of the Bernesse Alps is fabulous. There is parasailing in Interlaken. There is the open air museum near Brienz. All of these places can easily be reached via public transportation, mostly train but also bus, funicular, aerial gondolas, etc. One of the best parts of the Swiss experience is taking all the various things that move people from point a to point b.

Based upon your name, are you possibly from India or have family from there? If yes, I presume you are familiar with Interlaken as the center of many Bollywood productions? I am told, though I did not personally have time to explore this, that Interlaken has restaurants and other shops catering to visitors from India.

Hope some of these suggestions help.

Thanks so much-time2TVL...your suggestions are really helpful! We will now take a train down from Zurich instead of driving down like v had planned.. We planned to stay in interlaken -is that nice or do u recommend some other small village...v are a family of 4 our two girls are teens..appreciate your advice..

If your destination is Interlaken, then it makes sense to stay in Interlaken. But if your destinations are in the mountains, you might want to stay up higher such as Lauterbrunnen. Look at the map http://mylauterbrunnen.com/en/Holidays/SUMMER/Information, you see that Interlaken is at the lake lavel. Trains connect Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen every 30minutes. The trip is 20min. So if you do this for three days, it takes away some time away each day.

Also your time is short. One way to add more time in the Berner Oberland area is to eat lunch on the train instead of at Zurich upon arrival. Of course, you have to pickup sandwich or something at the Zurich airport snack shops, which there are many just before you reach the train ticket counter. The trip from Zurich airport to Lauterbrunnen, for example, is 2hr 42min. While trains have restaurant cars, I don't use them. There is usually a long queue and the prices are higher (if Switzerland prices are not already high) on the train. If your arrival in Zurich is early, you might even reach Lauterbrunnen/Interlaken at lunch time.

The Swiss trains and buses (and boats, gondolas, funiculars, etc.) cover the country densely with frequent departures and very good connections. Whereas cars are not allowed into some of the prettiest small villages. When you ride, you can all enjoy the scenery instead of the driver having to keep his eyes trained on the twisty road. I never recommend driving in Switzerland.

Interlaken is a biggish, long, very touristy town. It is also a transportation node for trips in all directions. You may prefer a smaller place, a village like Murren or Wengen. I'm not a big fan of Lauterbrunnen. It's down in a valley at the base of a big cliff.

Don't cough up the big bucks to go up to Jungfraujoch without checking the weather on that day. There are TVs showing the current view at the top. Skip it if there's only fog and clouds.

Lucerne is a pretty small city convenient to the Zurich airport and with excursions on the lake and into the mountains. It makes a good Switzerland-in-a-nutshell base.