Well for lots of great info on Swiss trains I always spotlight these fantastic sites for planning that part - www.swisstravelsystem.com; http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id3.html and www.ricksteves.com. take a good look at the Swiss Pass which covers all your trains except Grindelwald to Jungfraujoch (25% off though on that pricey train) and the pass also covers lake boats - a great thing to do IME on either of the two lakes bookending Interlaken and postal buses and gives 50% off aerial cable ways but does cover in full the tremendous IMO Lauterbrunnen-Grutschalp-Murren-Gimmelwald-Lauterbrunnen loop, which to me is the finest overall excursion in the region - from Murren the pass would cover 50% off the long aerial cable way to Schilthorn.

Watch Out! You do not want to stay at Olle & Maria's B & B. On June 16/12 I booked a room for Sept. 24, 25 & 26/12. I provided a deposit of half of the total cost of this expensive B & B. On July 17/12 we had to cancel our trip. I immediately gave Olle OVER TWO MONTH's NOTICE. He would not refund my deposit.

We had also booked accommodation in 9 other hotels/B & Bs through-out Switzerland. ALL establishments were gracious & refunded 100% of our deposits.

It is clear that it is not common practice in Switzerland to keep a deposit when a booking is cancelled, especially with OVER TWO MONTH's NOTICE of the cancellation.

This was not only poor customer service, but I feel that we were taken advantage of by an unscrupulous innkeeper!

Pamelaaddinall: Again welcome to Fodors. Just posting the same complaint on multiple threads?

"It is clear that it is not common practice in Switzerland to keep a deposit when a booking is cancelled, especially with OVER TWO MONTH's NOTICE of the cancellation."

Deposit policies are upto the individual establishment - not 'common practice'.

This is what Travel insurance is for . . .

Back to the OP - yes plan is well thought out to me. But do not plan on doing Jungfraujoch on any set day if you are there some days because it can be cloudy or rainy - so the very first clear day hop on it and if cloudy wait until the next clear day or all that money could be a washout.

Pamelaaddinall - you are simply being foolish if you think on any given thread someone with any knowledge of where this god-forsaken b&b even is - well these threads sink quick into Fodor's blackhole - I suggest you make a separate thread, if you have not, with the title of the B&b in the title and then simply keep topping it if you really want anyone to notice it.

That said i would wager all the cheese in Switzerland that it clearly stated the refund policies when you booked the place - if it did not then you may have a legitimate complaint.

Blame yourself for entering into a contract with such a drastic cancellation policy - which I do admit is disgusting but that is what you signed onto.

I actually checked this B+B and there is no cancellation policy on the website so I contacted them. He said the deposit is forfeited if they can't rerent the time you booked. Refunding the deposit is neither common practice nor is the owner unscrupulous. Next time check and be sure you get things in writing and then pay with a cc so you have a case for a refund. Sorry but this is your fault.

Ah yeh Caveat Emptor!

Also, any ideas on how to fill the blanks?>

so many great possibilities in the Jungfrau/Interlaken region - boat trips on either lake lovingly bookending Interlaken or the tremendous excursion IMO from Lauterbrunnen straight up the cliff a few thousand feet to Grutschalp aerial cableway) then train over to Murren - longest cable way in the Alps they said them to Schilthorn/Piz Gloria of james Bond fame - On Her Majesty's Service in part filmed here in the famous revolving restaurant while that restaurant was being built) - then cable down to Gimmelwald - unique one-of-a-kind Gimmelwald 9No Rick Steves did not put it on the map! - a lost-in-time bucolic farming hamlet surrounded on all sides by terric Alpine vistas and then aerial cable way that plunges like a rock it seems back down to the valley floor for a postal bus to Lauterbrunnen 20 mins or so by train from Interlaken) - if you have a Swiss Pass they are completel valid both on the lake boats and on all of the Lauterbrunnen-Murren-Gimmelwald-Lauterbrunnen excursion with 50% off Murren to Piz Gloria

And the famous Ballenberg Open-Air museum overlooking Lake Brienz Swiss pass covers $20 or so entry fee) or in poor weather day trip to nearby Bern, whose arcaded streets will keep you dry.

Lots of things to do in the Interlaken area.