How does this itinerary sound?
 

I wanted some advice on our proposed itineray.

Fly to Zurich
Spend 4 nights in Bernese Oberland- town to be determined
Travel by overnight train to Paris
Spend 4 nights in Paris
Stop in Bruges en route to Amsterdam
Spend 4 nights in Amsterdam
Fly back to US

I would like to spend the night in Bruges. Would it be good to take off one night in Adam and spend it in Bruges. Any advice would be great! Thanks.

Sounds ok to me. I think 4 nights in Paris will push it a little. After 12 nights spread over 3 visits, I still have not crossed all the entries on my dance card. Of course we did make trips to Fontainebleau, Vaux le Vicomte, Giverney and Versailles.

The Louvre is the big obstacle. It is possible to get swallowed by the place!
Or you can go in with a firm plan, see mainly look only at those art objects, and then leave!

Now where in the Berner Oberland?
A lot of ink has been spilled here on four villages in the Berner Oberland: Wengen, Mürren, Lauterbrunnen, and Grindelwald. If you do a search, you will find many postings on all of them.
Each place has advantages and disadvantages. You will need to weigh them and decide.

Thanks for the advice. Regarding Bernese Oberland- my friend is really interested in Grindewald. Switzerland is kind of her "baby" of the trip. I think we will look at all the villages that you mentioned and take them into consideration. I have heard good things about Wengen and Murren.

The Louvre? Pshaw. It's easy. Go for the big 3: no head, no arms, no legs.

For those less savvy that would be: "Winged Victory," "Venus de Milo" and "Mona Lisa."

:-D

I think your itinerary sounds good. You arn't rushing anything too much...of course any amount of time could be spent in Paris and it wouldn't be enough, so 4 nights is a good starting place :)

I would look into flying from Zurich or Geneva to Paris instead of the overnight train. It may be less expensive and time consumming. For example, on easyjet, it would be $32/person and that includes taxes.

Have a blast!

I will look into it. Would the train from Switzerland to Paris be scenic? I know that part of the time would be nighttime, but I understand that Europe gets dark at 9 or 10 pm.

Actually, to tell you the truth, I'm not sure if there is an overnight train to Paris. Have you checked? The most scenic part will be through Switzerland which you would be doing anyway to get to Geneva. The train ride from Geneva to Paris is only 3.5 hours, so it may not be worth it to fly.