Bernina Express
 

Dear all
I am planning for a swiss tour early March. Can anyone suggest me until which part of the route of Bernina Express is the most scenic from Chur? i am planning to start from Zurich - chur and do the Bernina express upto Tirano and then get back to St. Moritz on the same day again by the Bernina Express.


Is it better to go only to half the route and then come back to St. Moritz by regular trains. I am worried that the full journey round the same way might become boring.

Pls help

ttt

???

There's a nice map supplied by the SBB that shows various routes on can take. I think it's a great idea to deviate your route back. You can go one way through Thusis and on the way back through Klosters.

Here's where you can find the map:
http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/infra-diens...cht-karten.htm

Click on "Area of validity of Swiss Travel System tickets"

We took the Bernina Express on Christmas Eve. We were staying in Chur, and went as far as Poschiavo, then returned to Chur with a change of train (and a wait) in St Moritz. There was a lot of low cloud, and deep snow on the Bernina Pass itself, so it was a bit of a white-out. The ride was dramatic and interesting, but scenic views were not to be had.

Not going all the way to Tirano meant that we had time for lunch in Poschiavo. We had this in a cafe next to the station, and very little goes on at lunchtime in Poschiavo on Christmas Eve. It may be different in March.

From St Moritz, our journey back to Chur was in darkness. Zurich to Chur takes about 90 minutes, and Chur to Poschiavo takes 3.5 hours, so you would have long day. But it is a fascinating journey.

After having taken the Bernina Express (and regular trains as well over the same route) to me the train ride St Moritz to the Bernina summit around Bernina Ospiz is to me the most dramatically scenic train ride in not only Switzerland but Europe to boot!

And you need not go down to Tirano, Italy but get off at Bernina Ospiz - walk around the glacier lake to the glacier and return to St Moritz - about an hour each way.

And the part from Chur to St Moritz is also really scenic, though not in the truly dramatic sense the St Moritz to Bernina Ospiz section is.

Anyway scour these fine sites for more info - www.swisstravelsystem.com should have a link to the official Bernina Express of the Rhaetian Railways; www.budgeteuropetravel.com has a good rundown of the route and places to get off; www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com.

Swiss passes are valid 100% on the regular trains putzing over the same route and exactly same scenery but the official Bernina Express tourist-oriented train will cost about 10-12 Swiss francs supplement with the pass. Some folks enjoy the official Express train that has hostesses and commentary en route and others, like moi, prefer the local trains that unlike the official ones are not always chock full and one can hop from side to side as scenery dictates.

A popular thing to do on the Bernina Pass rail line - either via the official Bernina Express or the regular local trains that ply the exact same route is to get off at say the Ospizo Bernina station and walk the 3 miles back to the Alp Grum station (or vice versa) on flat well maintained footpaths - you can also walk around the alpine lake to do this in a longer fashion.

Though the scenery beyond the summit is neat the rest of the train ride to Tirano, Italy is not nearly as spectacular as the part between St Moritz and either of these two summit area stations so IMO better spend your time at the summit then going down to Tirano and back - unless of course you want a brief taste of Italy.

Bernina Express, Rhätische Bahn, RhBThe Flash map of the Rhaetian Railway gives you a detailed overview of each route. The Bernina Express runs between Chur, the oldest town in Switzerland, ...
www.rhb.ch/index.php?id=33?&L=4

home site of the Rhaetische Bahn, the railway company that runs the Bernina Express as well as local trains over the same route.

Reservations on the official few-time daily Bernina Express trains can be hard to get as this train is perpetually popular with tour groups so book in advance for that

but again the regular local trains that go thru the exact same scintillating scenery you can always just hop on - and hop off anywhere en route as your fancy dictates all on one ticket. so though the official Bernina Express trains do have special things for tourists all is not lost if you can't book a seat on one.

And for the Chur to St Moritz section of the Rhaetian Railways line, especially the so-called Albula section, has even garnered the vaunted UNESCO World Heritage Status because of its tremendous, for the turn of the 20th century, railway engineering feat. So the portion to St Moritz from Chur is also quite an experience - again the Albula portion features lots of spiral loops inside and out of the mountain.

UNESCO World Heritage, Rhätische Bahn, RhBUNESCO World Heritage - A masterpiece of railway engineering. The line across Albula and Bernina, now more than a century old, is regarded as a truly unique ...
www.rhb.ch/UNESCO-World-Heritage.257.0.html?&L=4

http://www.rhb.ch/UNESCO-World-Herit....html?&L=4This link is safe.UNESCO World Heritage - Home, Rhätische Bahn, RhBThe Albula and Bernina railway lines constitute the central element of the ...
http://www.rhb.ch/UNESCO-World-Herit...70.0.html?&L=4