Train to Zurich

Not sure what you are asking. Book it on trenitalia.com. Take a train that makes your schedule. We make that run a number of years, mid-day. It was very relaxing and scenic.

You will indeed travel through mountains between Milan and Zurich if you take the standard route. With the new Gotthard Base Tunnel, I mean you go 30 miles straight through. Scenery leaves something to be desired, though.

For a nice ride, take the train from Milan to Tirano and change to the Bernina Express to Chur, then change to a train to Zurich. The train to Tirano goes along along the east shore of Lake Como. The Bernina Express goes up over the mountain, then through a series of 360 degree turns on the way down to Chur. It is definitely not a short cut and should take the better part of a day to get to Zurich. But the journey is the destination.

I should add that the actual Bernina Express train is the only one that takes reservations, and they charge for those. It has panorama viewing windows and an attendant who will make sure you don't die of thirst at a nominal price per bottle. It goes one to three times daily depending on the season. Otherwise there are regular Swiss trains running once an hour on the route.

Or there are slower trains now running up into the mountains instead of under them. You need to change trains though, a couple of times.

What is most important to you - speed, scenery or overall time? Is cost important?

BTW - why Zurich? Or is that just the jumping off place for elsewhere in Switzerland. You can save time and stop before you get to Zurich at Luzern (Lucerne in French) which is beautiful and in a very beautiful setting with an incredible lake.

Yes, at www.sbb.ch/en, enter "via" Goeschenen, and it will show the route going the old way with many switchbacks and loops and using the old Gotthard Tunnel. If you do use one of the EC trains, you do have to get reservations, included when you buy a ticket, at least for the portions in Italy.

Option 1: Fast train via the new "Gotthard base tunnel". You see mountains each side of the tunnel, with the long tunnel in between. the SBB website will choose this route by default as it is the fastest.

Option 2: "old route", via original shorter old Gotthard tunnel, with slow climb up and down to get there. You need to select "via Göschenen" on the SBB site. Note spelling, the second letter is an 'ö', NOT an 'o'. If you haven't got an ö on your keyboard you may need to copy-paste the name.

Option 3: Bernina route. Long and slow detour via Tirano and Chur, but spectacular as you go over the top of the Alps.

I also ask the question: "why Zürich?". It is not a normal destination for tourists visiting Switzerland.

SBB, like DB and OEBB (obvious, that one), accepts the convention of tagging an "e" after the umlauted vowel, so "Goeschenen" works for those of us who can't remember the secret code to type an umlaut with an English language keyboard.

Sam, the reason I corrected you was because also missed out the 'c' I am not sure "Goeshenen" would work (though I see you have now corrected it).

And the ÖBB website works with both http://www.oebb.at and http://www.öbb.at

Boy, aren't you observant!
PS. And SBB does suggest Goeschenen (with the umlaut) when you forget the "c".