Best order for 5-6 nights in Switzerland 13 day London>Switzerland>Paris>London

Not sure what question you are asking. But as a piece of unsolicited information:
1) All rail routes and stations in Switzerland have at least one train an hour. No need to panic about if there will be a train, there will be a train.
2) For planning, see the Swiss railways map here: https://www.swisspasses.com/railpass/overviewmap_en.pdf
This shows where you pas is valid, and where it gets you a discount.
3) You can look up times on the Swiss Federal railways website: http://www.sbb.ch/en
This will always give you the quickest route. As a tourist you may prefer a slower more scenic route. In which case, add one or more locations in the "via" box.

Oh, gosh. First trip to Europe and you're doing twelve nights in three countries and returning to the first? You could spend 12 days in any one of the countries you've mentioned and not even scratch the surface. I don't mean to discourage you, and you will hear this again from others here, but you're doing waaaay too much. Please take our caution in the positive spirit in which it is intended. Many posters on this forum have spent a tremendous amount of time traveling in Europe and only want you to have a good experience. At most, in the amount of time you'll have, I'd do London and Paris and maybe a day trip from each to something a reasonable train ride away from the city. For example, from Paris, many choose to go to Versailles or Chartres or Giverny. Not all, just one. If you have not read Europe through the Back Door by Rick Steves, get it from your local library or bookstore and read it before you plan further. Then ask here to further refine your itinerary.

Thank you for the rail info Chris. The map is very helpful.

Hi Celeste,
Yes. Thank you for reminding me not to try to spread ourselves out too far! I just found out about a couple of weeks ago that I would be going to Europe (out of the blue!) so I secured a somewhat last-minute round-trip ticket that fit our small window of opportunity - at a great price. I did look for tickets that allowed us to fly in one city and out of another, but to no avail with short notice. The last day in London is actually day 13, so I don't include it. I totally agree that one night is not enough in each city!! I will have my teenage son with me, so that takes quite a bit of museum time out of our itinerary in the big cities. (I will make sure we will see at least the Lourve, but I do not want to ruin my son's love of traveling so I can see every piece of art I learned in Art History class). I purchased RS "Through the Back Door" and have completed about 80% (saving the sleeping and a few other sections for after I nail down . He does say that in 10 days it is possible to do the highlights of London, Rhineland, Swiss Alps, Venice and Paris.

With that being said, I was thinking of an even slower pace-- highlights of London (2-3 days), then (5-6 days) exploring in Switzerland (with either the Bernina Express or Glacier Express Top on our list since my son is interested in building/engineering/bridges) and then Paris (2 days).

Any suggestions for the best way to fit a scenic rail trip into our stay in Switzerland would be most appreciated!
Thanks again!
Michelle

Well if he's interested in engineering and bridges see which -WOW- bridge interests him the most.

Once you know that, you'll know which scenic train to take.

Some of the choices -

A open spiral at the southern end of the Bernina Express line.

The Landwasser Viaduct which goes out on a high curved viaduct and then bores straight into the mountain near Filisur (my favourite)

The dogbones and spiral tunnels (hidden in the mountains) of the Gotthard Line, where you see the small white church at Andermatt three times as you go in one direction.

A train bored straight through the Eiger mountain as you approach the summit of the Jungfraujoch.

The rack railways - many - throughout Switzerland, with the Harder Kulm which is not only rack but also steam.

And many more. The Swiss Tourist offices have a booklet with photos of all the scenic railways and maps, and you can get information on line at Wikipedia and the official SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) website.

If we can push the right buttons of the lad the rest should fall into place.

Oh, and the Swiss Transportation Museum at Luzern, where he can touch and get up close.

London (3 nights)
Fly to Zurich. Train to Luzern (2 nights)
Train to Interlaken/Lauterbrunnen (2 nights)
Train to Bern (1 night)
Train to Lausanne (1 night)
TGV to Paris (3 nights)
Eurostar to London (1 night)

The Albula line between Chur and St Moritz contains many of the features Nigel mentioned including the famous Landwasser Viaduct that seems to be on every Swiss travel poster. Further up the line are a series of spiral tunnels and crossing viaducts as the train has to gain elevation over a short distance. You come out of a tunnel and look down to see the tracks entering the tunnel a couple of hundred feet below you where you were just a few minutes before. Both the Glacier Express and Bernina Express use this line. I've done both of these and it is fun excursion. Problem is it is in far southeastern Switzerland and away from the Berner Oberland.

So you decide. If you do do the Glacier Express, pick it up in Brig and go all the way to St Moritz and spend a night. Then head back covering the Albula line to Chur in the other direction, then on to Zurich and your train to Paris. If you like riding trains in amazing scenery with fabulous engineering, this is the place. Hope you get nice weather.

Thank you Nigel for the inspiration David for the location and Sam for the final piece of the "train puzzle"!! I think now I can finally nail down which days we will be in each location!!

Time for me to get busy- we leave in 10 days!! :-0

Thanks to all for the input - invaluable!

Michelle