Scenic day train from Venice to Paris

There are some scenic trains that have bigger windows (part of the roof is window), but these trains won't.

You can probably get some discounted tickets booking in advance on Trenitalia for the Venice/Milan (Mini fares) and Milan/Zurich (Smart fares).

Here's a list of the Swiss panoramic trains. You might find you want to take one of those if you can work it into your route.
http://www.swisstravelsystem.ch/en/content/experiences/scenic-routes/

Venice-Milan www.trenitalia.com,

Milan-Zurich also www.trenitalia.com (tip: Look for 'smart price' from 19 euros in the drop down 'more fares' box.

Zurich-Paris www.sbb.ch from 25 euros.

I'd allow at least 45 minutes, preferably an hour, at each interchange in case of delay.

1st class passes the same scenery as 2nd class (you're all on the same rails!) just more legroom, passengers with fewer kids and more laptops.

the route via Zurich will be longer than the direct route by a lot but yes the Gotthard mainline to Zurich is IMO amongst the most gorgeous mainline rail journeys in Europe - especially after the Italian border. (Well the most scenic by far is the sideline route via Tirano and St Moritz, over the famous Bernina Pass rail line - to me the most awesomely scenic in all of Europe but it would require an overnight in say St Moritz - but if you have an extra day and would like to take the only rail line to cross the Alps south to north without long tunnels than that could be great.

first class may offer better views because more of its seats are window seats - you may well be stuck in an aisle seat in 2nd class and not really be able to see out the window. There are significant differences otherwise between classes as Man in Seat 61 points out (on an earlier thread he said that he 'was an afficiando himself of first class!) - anyway Zurich is significantly longer than the Milan-Turin-Paris route but yes IMO much more scenic. For lots of great info on European trains I always suggest perusing www.seat61.cdom (Man in Seat 61 who posted above his commercial site); www.ricxksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

Thank you for your responses. Booking through Zurich. Will have 45 minute connection in Milan and 36 minutes in Zurich. Will hope every train is on time. Arrive in Paris only 25 minutes later than if took the direct train from Milan instead of going through Zurich.

Is there any way of finding out ahead of time which track each train arrives and departs from at Milan and Zurich stations to minimize transit times between trains?

Even if someone tells you ahead what track the trains will depart from I would still check the departure board. I'm not sure how knowing the track in advance helps you. I've changed trains in Milan with a 10 minute transit time and I'm not the fastest person on earth.

I think you're worrying about nothing.

You can always ask the conductor on the arriving train to confirm which track your connecting train will depart from and also build a reasonable change time in at places like Milan Centrale - a huge huge station with zillions of platforms and also trains of course can be late. Built some time and if train is on time just go to a station caffe and sip some cappuccino, etc.

Departure tracks can and do change as needed so they are not set in stone. If your trains aren't late, you have plenty of time.