Best/scenic train route from Zermatt to Paris?

My family will be in Zermatt in December and wish to travel to London by rail after our time in Switzerland.

It appears we can select various train routes to Paris from Zermatt and are looking for advice on which would be the most scenic or pleasurable. We could route the journey so we end up on TGV from any of the following to Paris: Geneva, Bern, Basel or Lausanne.

Does anyone have any specific recommendations on which routing would be the most scenic for this family that has not scene europe by rail before?

Thank you all for any advice!

-josh

Welcome to MySwissAlps josh!

The most direct and obvious routes would be Zermatt-Geneva-Paris or Zermatt-Bern-Basel-Paris. But since you're specifically looking for scenic routes, I'll mention some more options. Most require long detours, so you should plan an extra overnight stay in one of the towns along the route.

The Glacier Express from Zermatt to Chur or St. Moritz would be a very scenic route, and it's considered to be a true highlight. You'd spend the night in Chur or St. Moritz, then continue to Zurich/Basel and move on to Paris.

Alternatively, you can travel to Montreux from Zermatt and catch the Golden Pass train towards Zweisimmen, Interlaken, Brienz and Lucerne. Afterwards you'd travel to Basel and get on the train to Paris. An overnight stay in Interlaken or Lucerne would be great in this scenario.

Yet another route would be to travel from Zermatt to Spiez/Interlaken using the scenic Lötschberg RegioExpress, via Goppenstein. Then get to Basel and move on to Paris.

The timetable provides details on all connections. For a more elaborate search, click 'Advanced search' and enter via-stations. The links I provided give more information on the scenic train routes and the cities you may encounter, including hotel tips.

I hope this helps you decide!

Thank you SO very much Annika... this is just the type of advice I was hoping to receive. We'll read up now on your recommendations... and I hadn't thought of adding in a hotel night along the way so we can see more of Switzerland by rail, but that may now be the route we go... sounds fantastic.

Thank you again for all your tips and advice.... I am so impressed with the time you and your fellow moderators and users spend answering individual questions from people like me.

I hope to file a full trip report after our journey!

--josh

Glad we could help josh! We would definitely appreciate a trip report once you're back. Enjoy your further preparations!

Hi Josh,

How was your trip? How did you like the scenic trains?

Kind regards,

Annika