Where should I fit in seeing Lauterbrunnen in my itinerary?
 

Lauterbrunnen sounds lovely but unfortunately, none of my hikes goes through there. Where in my itinerary do you suggest I fit it in? I'm staying in Murren.

Should I fit it in on Day 2 on my way from Murren to Männlichen? How long do you suggest I spend there?

-Day 0: Arrive
-Day 1: Lookout + Hike (1hr): Schilthorn observation deck + Murren to Gimmelwald
-Day 2: Hike (2hr): Männlichen – Kleine Scheidegg Panorama Trail
-Day 3: Hike (2.5hr): North Face Trail
-Day 4: Hike (6hr): First to Schynige Platte trail
-Day 5: Depart

IMO, Lauterbruunen isn’t a place to visit – its one of the options for lodging in the Bernese Oberland.

But you will be there – to get to Mürren, you get off a train in Lauterbrunnen and switch to a cable car there.

Oh that's quite interesting. It looks so beautiful and you often see photos of it online, so I figured it was a popular place to visit.

Is it just not a place to visit because it's in a valley rather than in the mountains?

You will pass through Lauterbrunnen on your arrival and departure day, also on days 2 and 4 - more than enough! Once you are there you will know what we mean - the views from the gondola up to Grütschalp and from the cog-railway up to Wengen are superior to the views from the valley floor in Lauterbrunnen. One thing to visit are the Trummelbach waterfalls, keep this in the back of your mind for a possible rainy day.

As noted, you will come in and go out of the Lauterbrunnen rail station, which is also where you pick up the cog railway to Wengen. There are two ways to get to and from Murren (you should plan on doing both). There is the cableway in the village of Lauterbrunnen itself. And there is a cableway from Stechelberg, further into the valley. There is no village per se in Stechelberg, but there is another cableway there. You can walk the very flat valley path between Lauterbrunnen and Stechelberg, if you have the time; it will take between 90 minutes and 2 hours. The only thing really worth seeing there are the Trummelbach Falls, maybe 30-40 minutes from Lauterbrunnen. To preserve time for mountain hiking, I would take the bus between the two cableways; it also stops at the Falls.

Well I guess I'm the odd man out because I like Lauterbrunnen. It's a beautiful area with sheer cliffs and waterfalls and an abundance of walking paths. It gives one an entirely different perspective of the BO than from above in Wengen and Murren. It's all good.

Although you'll see the very edge of Lauterbrunnen when you change from train to cable car, and you'll see it from above as you work your way to Murren via Grütschalp here's an option to see even more of the area on Day 1 (you don't mention time of year, which could factor into this suggestion).

Once in Gimmelwald, continue walking to Stechelberg (or take the cable car - it's a steep descent on foot) - once at the bottom, make the detour to Trummelbach - visit the falls, then continue walking the flat path back to Lauterbrunnen (or take the bus). Then spend an hour or so walking through the village of Lauterbrunnen. This route will give you the whole picture and you'll see pretty much everything there is to see - waterfalls, countryside, steep cliffs, the village.

Schilthorn Taverne in Murren and Hotel Oberland in Lauterbrunnen make good stops for lunch, drinks or ice cream.

One year we walked from Grutschalp-Murren-Gimmelwald-Stechelberg-Lauterbrunnen, making a big loop - it was over ten miles and took 5.5 hours, but we enjoyed it.

On the edge of Lauterbrunnen is Trummelbach Falls - famous water cascade inside a mountain - makes worth going to Lauterbrunnen.

Melnq8 has given you a great option. :)
And actually, I agree that Lauterbrunnen is very pretty.

LOL - let me know if you find a way to get to Murren without going through Lauterbrunnen! I usually stay in Gimmelwald, but the AirTime cafe in Lauterbrunnen is a regular stop for me each morning - excellent breakfast and coffee.