3. Which pass should i be buying?- HFC OR Swiss saver pass?>

With as much travel as you are doing the Swiss Pass I think will be your best bet - it covers train/gondola travel in full to Murren and Wengen and the Golden Pass and every other conveyance you will take except the Jungfraujoch train (25% off however which is no chump change.

HFC costs a lot to start and then you must wait in line to buy tickets and always thing 'is this worth it' - with a pass I always find I travel more than I had thought - after all if you can just hop on a lake boat on Lake Geneva or the lakes bookending Interlaken then you may do it on a whim if it's free, etc.

But you are taking enough train trips that the HFC will cost more all told than a Swiss Pass, which also covers lake boats, postal buses, city trams and buses and gives free entry to 400+ Swiss museums - it also gives 50% off most gondolas to mountain tops - you may consider an 8-consecutive-day Saverpass you best best - covering everything from get there to get go - per day cheaper than flexipasses for unlimited travel days.

HFCs are great for folks going to one base and staying put - you are traveling all around Switzerland so the pass will no doubt be better - compare regular fares at www.sbb.ch - Swiss Federal Railways site with pass prices and note that though you can buy a Swiss Pass in Switzerland I have tracked prices for the exact same passes here - sold in U S and they are often significantly cheaper for some reason but check each- prices in Switzerland (adding in any foreign transaction fee your c card may impose) with prices in dollars. If about the same just wait until Switzerland.

Anyway for loads of great info on Swiss trains and passes, etc I always spotlight these IMO fantastic sites - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www. ricksteves.com.

I'd add that the Swiss pass will get you 50% off the high mountains rides, such as Murren-Schilthorn or Wengen-Jungfraujoch.

The Jungfraujoch is amazing but very time-consuming to get to. Although I am glad I did it, on a brilliantly sunny Alpine day I think I would have preferred a good hike. A trip to the Schitlhorn, while not as amazing, takes about half as long. Regardless, have other activities in your back pocket because trips to the Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn are only worth it on clear days. Mornings are best because it tends to cloud up in the afternoon.

Luzern train station to the Zurich airport is only a 30-minute trip and has frequent departures which start very early. Depending on how early your flight from Zuirch is, you can sleep in Luzern and take the train directly to the airport. I've had no trouble getting to the airport from Luzern for a 10:30 am flight. Check the Swiss rail site for exact train departure times, durations, and frequencies.

Have you done hiking with the baby before? The BO is stunning, but just consider carefully if you will easily be able to hike with a two year old. Also, you will be doing quite a lot of train travel. If your child is not accustomed to this, it could prove taxing.

You have very busy days planned... If the baby needs to nap, or has a specific eating schedule, you likely will not be able to accomplish many of the things you plan. So I would suggest slowing down the pace and eliminating at least one location from your Itinerary. But if you keep it as it is, just go with an attitude that you may not get to everything you've planned.

Also, in your current plan you have 2 day trips to Lucerne. Why not just overnight there?

I would also suggest eliminating your stop in Geneva. You won't be there long enough to see anything. Would be much easier to overnight in Montreaux and then depart for the BO from there.

Day 4 <Take the Golden Pass train route to Montreux, see the Castle and proceed to Geneva. strol around the lake.> doesn't really work.

First getting out of Paris, Then I think its' about 5 hours train ride to Lausanne, then onto next stop Montreux. The castle is a bit of a distance from the train station in Montreux outside town, and takes a couple hours to tour. Then getting back to the Montreux train station,a nd 1+ hr train ride into Geneva to "stroll the lake". That's one heck of a day!!

I agree with the better idea above of skipping Geneva entirely (while i love vevey & montreux found geneva booring).

I'm a science geek so I'd make a special trip to Geneva just to tour CERN. If the OP is also a geek, then she may have similar priorities.

In general, your itin seems a bit packed with a 2 year old but maybe you are one of those lucky people who has a child that can nap anywhere...

We've taken our young children both to Paris and Switzerland on various different trips. In August 2011 we took our children (2 yr and 3.5 yr old)to BO with base in Interlaken. Lots of opinions on staying in Interlaken vs up in the mountains but for us, Interlaken was best because our kids loved being on the lakes and riding combination of trains and ferries. We stayed on the quieter side of Interlaken (Unterseen) and it was lovely.
We day tripped to places like Wengen, Lauterbrunnen, and Murren as well as places on the lake (Thun, Brienz, etc). We are going back again this summer and have considered staying in the mountains and if we did, we would choose Wengen over Lauterbrunnen. With the kids, we found Lauterbrunnen a bit challenging due to the busy road going through and narrow (or no) sidewalks. Also, because it is tucked in the valley, it felt a bit closed in to me (just my opinion). Wengen on the other hand, was perched up on the mountain and felt more toddler friendly. It had a nice little playground right in the center and some kid friendly restaurants. Of course it poured rain the day we were there but we had our full rain gear and the kids kept on happily playing in the rain! We didn't make it to Jungfrau due to the rain that day.

Murren vs Schilthorn - If your toddler has a vote - they would vote for Murren and specifically taking the funicular up to Allmendhubel. There is a gorgeous view of the 3 peaks, a restaurant, and a playground with a really good slide built into the hill! We have one of our favorite photos ever with our kids standing on top of the slide with huge grins and nothing but Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau framed behind them. It almost looks fake it is so beautiful!

Based on input by PalenQ, we ended up doing a little spreadsheet to compare our options on HFC vs Swiss Pass and HFC saved us money but that is because we stayed in one base (train from Zurich to Interlaken)and mapped out what trains we expected to take.

In Paris, Luxembourg gardens with boat pond and playground is really good for kids plus the Tuileries, boat rides, and even the sculpture garden in Rodin museum.