Munich to Zurich or Salzburg to Zurich via Innsbruck

I'll bite. The first option is likely to be cheaper, but goes through the foot hills of the Alps. You can do Munich-Salzburg in a day with a Bayern ticket, and you can get a Savings Fare of 29 euro for Munich-Zurich. The second option will be more money, but it does pass through the high Alps. Having said that, most of the route is in the Inn valley, where it is hard to see the surrounding mountains. It cuts under the mountains at the Arlberg Tunnel, but the descent on the far side to Feldkirch is pretty (if the weather cooperates). The views of the lower Alps from Feldkirch to the Zuerichersee are also quite nice.

There are several routes directly (ie not through Salzburg) to Zürich. The one through Lindau could be considered scenic, although I doubt that they are as much so as the route from Innsbruck through the Vorarlberg. That's also the fastest rail route and served by a direct EC.

Other routes between Munich go to Mannheim and up the Rhein to Basel. I've been on about all parts of that route at one time or another (although not the complete trip). I don't think it's particularly scenic.

Another route goes through the Schwäbisch Jura from Ulm to Schaffhausen. That's pretty, but not spectacular.

Lastly, there is one route that goes to Friedrichshafen and crosses Bodensee by ferry.

And, there is an IC Bus from the Bahn. It's the fastest connection, but they don't give route details.

I believe my choice would be the 5.5 hour, direct RailJet departures from Salzburg to Zurich, without necessarily stopping in Innsbruck. I remember really enjoying my drive along that Tirolian Alpine route. Many people do Salzburg as a daytrip, but I've always stayed over a night, to get a full day there. Does a Salzburg stay leave you "enough" nights in Munich? As you may already know, Salzburg was featured in Rick's Christmas program.

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses.

I have found many direct route from Salzburg to Zurich. But wife and I both don't feel like spending 5.5hrs on the train without stopping somewhere. We picked Innsbruck as a stop over to have lunch and perhaps just walk around the old town... we gave ourselves roughly 3 hours to do that.

We do have 4 nights in Munich before Salzburg. Our original plan was to stay the night at Salzburg due to the below informations found on line:

1. We will arrive in Salzburg during Xmas eve, there seem to be more to do in Salzburg than Munich during that day/night.
2. We don't mind spending 5.5hrs on the train plus a 3 hour stop over somewhere during Xmas day. Since most places will be closed anyways.
3. People seem to like the view on the train from Salzburg > Zurich more than Munich > Zurich.

We ran into a choice when our hotel in Munich offered us a free 5th night... It literally would save us both close to $280 usd but... we won't get the Salzburg night nor the "supposedly" scenic train ride + a lunch city (Innsbruck.)

We are also thinking bout a similar journey, and wanted to know a small detail. if you stop in Innsbruck, where are you storing your luggage?

I would stay overnight in Salzburg vs return to Munich. Why backtrack? I seldom think it is worthwhile to visit a whole city as a day trip.