Swiss scenic trains

That's a pretty broad question, Suzanne. Each one is different. Probably which most enjoyable would depend on what things you would most prefer to see. Do you want: castles valleys mountains tunnels waterfalls glaciers spiral tunnels spirals built outside vistas lake views cows with cowbells small towns
... the list goes on ... each of the so called scenic trains has some or most of those things, in various proportions. None are particularly fast. Much of what you might selekt might depend on where you are entering Switzerland and where you are leaving, and what you are seeing while there. Do you want to speak with the locals? In French, Italian, Romansch or German? Have a look at the various videos available on youtube, type in the name of the train you are interested in and see which appeal. Or look on the www.rail.ch website and browse around there. Many trains not in the marketed list are nevertheless very scenic, for example between Luzern and Lugano. My personal favourites are the trains out of Chur towards Italy, the Brunig Pass trains between Luzern and Interlaken, the run from Interlaken down to Montreux, the run between Brig and Chur along the tops of the mountains. Its really up to you to decide.

How much time do you have for this? The scenic train that makes the most sense, innthat it involves the least amount of detour from your France to Germany path, is the Golden Pass from Montreux to Luzern. This is one of the favorites mentioned by Nigel. It is easy to get to Montreux from Paris, less so from Nice. Hopefully you have time to spend the night there and can visit the Chateau de Chillon. Also, hopefullynyou can break up the Golden Pass at Interlaken and take the short detour to Lauterbrunnen or one of the mountain villages to spend the night. Then continue on to Luzern the next day. Luzern is only an hour from Zurich, and you can get direct trains to several cities in Germany, including Munich and Stuttgart, from there. Some say the Golden Pass is best done in the other direction, heading west,mso you have Lac Leman in front of you as you descend from the pass above the lake. The time we did it, it was too hazy to enjoy that view. But if you wish to do the westward journey, that still fits into your plan, it would just take a bit longer.

Guess I should have mentioned I'm going from Nice to Munich. I want to see it all of course, but really only have a couple of days. Beautiful views with a stopover will have to do this trip. What is the most I can fit in?

I think the Golden Pass is still your best option. From Nice it willmtake you longer to get to the start at Montreux, maybe 8 hours. You would go from Nice to Geneva and connect there for Montreux. You could also checkmate travel time from Nice to Brig, going via Milan. You could pick up the Glacier Express there and ride as far as Disentis, then head to Zurich to catch the train to Munich. I didn't checkmthe schedules but this might take less time. No lakes on this trip like there are on the Golden Pass, but more glacier scenery.

Two years ago we took the Wiliam Tell train and the Bernina Express. We totally enjoyed both of them. One part of the Wiliam Tell was a riverboat cruise. Part of the Bernina Express was a bus tour around Lake Maggiorre. The train rides through the Alps were just gorgeous.