Our first visit to Switzerland. We will have 4 full days with our starting point in Zurich.

Which route by rail is recommended? There are several to pick from, and I can't tell which is my best option. They all look lovely, and too bad, we have only 4 days.

We were thinking:
Day 1: Zurich
Day 2: Zurich > Lucern > Interlaken (overnight)
Day 3: Interlaken > Zermatt > Gornergrat
Day 4: Gornergrat > Zurich

Is this plan too ambitious?
Any tip/advice is appreciated. Thanks

Not knowing anything about your sightseeing priorities, when you are going, or your preference for physical activity, I will simply tell you what I would do if I had 4 days starting in Zurich.

I would get on the train and head to Interlaken, then take a connecting train to one of the towns just to the south high in the mountains. Wengen, Murren, Gimmelwald, or Lauterbrunnen would do just fine for me. I'd spend all 4 nights there.

Four days in four different places is madness in my opinion. You don't get a chance to really know any part of the country or meet anyone. All the packing and unpacking, checking in and checking out sounds more like a miserable business trip than fun. Just my 2 cents.

Can I make some suggestions and ask some questions:

1. When is this trip? I see from some other posts, that you are going to Austria and the Czech Republic in November, is this trip to Switzerland part of that? November is not a great month for scenic train rides, as you may have more rain/snow and most especially fog than you bargain for which will obscure mountain views. Also, some of my reccos below would need to be revised as hotels in some of the mountain towns are closed.

2. These are some longish train rides for 4 days, esp Interlaken to Zermatt and Zermatt back to Zurich. (Also, going to Interlaken via Lucerne adds another 30 minutes to that trip versus going directly from Zurich, and there is only 1 train an hour from Lucerne that does not require at least 2 changes to get to Interlaken, whereas most trains from Zurich to Interlaken reqire 0 to 1 change only.) To really do justice to some of these places, I think you have to either drop the day in Zurich or drop the few hours in Lucerne or drop Zermatt; otherwise I think you will feel that you spent more time in trains than you did in the actual places you went to see. Assuming you have an early am flight out of Zurich, what you could do instead of spending the first day in Zurich, is go on the day you arrive right to the Wengen/Interlaken area, and then time your return from Zermatt the day before your flight to be in Zurich around 2 pm or so, that would give you time to see a bit of the city and have dinner. If your trip is anytime between late April and September, it will be light quite late so you could even time your arrival for later in the day and have more time in Zermatt yet still see quite a bit of Zurich and have a late dinner outdoors. Go to sunrisesunset.com for daylight hours during the year.

3. Frankly, a good bit of the Zurich to Interlaken and the Zermatt to Zurich route is not that scenic. It is green, but not especially noteworthy in terms of views. The train trips IN Interlakenand in Zermatt are extremely scenic but, surprisingly, IMO the trips getting to these are not quite as scenic, still pretty but not breathtaking (and there are some breathtaking train trips in Switzerland). If your trip is not in November and you really want scenic, consider the Bernina Express or the Golden Pass trains.

4. As noted above, I would not overnight in Interlaken, a charmless town that looks AT the mountains, but is not IN the mountains, and even its mountain views can't really compare to those of the mountain towns (or some of the other lake towns like Thun or Oberried). Instead, as mentioned above, consider going for another 30 minutes into the mountains themselves. You can do this by transferring at Interlaken Ost for the little train to Lauterbrunnen. From Lauterbunnen you can make the choice to either stay overnight there in the valley, or go by rail or cable car another 20 minutes or so to Murren or Wengen which sit on shelves further up the sides of the valley. My favourite is Wengen. Do some reading on these places. You could also go to Grindelwald or Gimmelwald, two other towns in this valley, run a search here or do some reading. From Wengen if you want you can also take the famous train up to the top of the Jungfrau (you can do this from Grindelwald as well, but staying in Wengen will save you about 30 minutes on the train trip). I can recco hotels in most of these towns.

5. In Zermatt, the Gornegrat train is only one of the many options you have for going up the various mountains in the Matterhorn valley. There is also a cable car you can take to get Matterhorn views, the underground train to Sunegga, and you also get views from the town itself. The Gornegrat bahn is very good because you do get very good sweeping views of the Matterhorn views from it, and there are good walks on the Gornegrat mountain itself and several good restaurants near the stops, which you can also walk up or down to from the higher or lower stops. However, the Gornegrat train is used by skiers and hikers to access ski trails and hiking trails on the mountain, it is not used to get into Zermatt, as it is above the town. The station for the train is in town, across the street from main train station. Unless you are staying in a hotel on the Gornegrat (and there are only 3), you would not take the Gornegrat train when you are into Zermatt, you would first go to your hotel. Depending on what time you arrive, you may then want to go up on the Gornegrat train, however, as you want to have time to get out at the top station or various intermediate stations, take a walk etc, you might want to wait until the next day to do this. It is great to go up in the morning to the top station or the Riffleberg station and walk down to the Rifflealp station and have lunch at their great outdoor restaurant. Take a look at zermatt.ch/riffelalp.

what helpful detailed info. thank you.

Thank you for all the information.

Yes, the trip to Switzerland is in November. It is obvious I'll have to reconsider our plans and options. I am so greedy, always trying to fit in so much in so very little time

Thanks again for all that detailed information. Much appreciateed!

Since you have 9 days for Prague, Vienna and Salzburg (or that was your original plan) I would concentrate on those cities which are so great and there is so much to see and do in each of them, and save Switzerland for a better time of year when it can really be appreciated. In the Czech Republic if you have extra time you can get out to Cesky Krumlov castle which is worth a day in itself. In Salzburg if you have a day and you get good weather, head up into the countryside there which is also beautiful. Really there is so much in these 3 places that to rush to and through Switzerland and possibly have fog and rain would be such a waste, IMO.

And if you want to see mountains, there are Alps in Austria closer to Salzburg.