tagging

For perth2europe,

I'm not sure I'm understanding your request -- do you intend to go Venice-Tirano-Chur-Luzern in one day? That's madness. Have you checked the train schedule at www.rail.ch (Swiss rail website)? The trip runs from 13h21 with seven changes, or 12h21 with six changes, or 14h04 with three changes. You would be starting from Venice at 06.00 and arriving in Luzern at 19.25 or leaving at 08.03 and arriving at 22.38. That's without stopping for photos.

I suggest you build in a stop, maybe in Poschiavo or Pontresina.

But let's see, to actually answer your question -- I don't think there is a *stop* where you can see the bridges; the stops are in towns. I did stop with a friend at Alp Gruem and enjoyed staring at the glacier. You can get off anywhere and hike, either toward Poschiavo or toward Pontresina.

Good luck!

s

Sorry, meant to say "overnight stop," not just a stop, in Poschiavo or Pontresina.

s

Unfortunately I have to agree with the previous posters. No chance to get off the train somewhere and take some quick snapshots of high bridges. The most famous bridge is probably the Landwasser viaduct - but you have to hike there from Filisur (30 min. at least).

Yes, break up your ride and stay overnight in either Poschiavo or Pontresina (or Samedan).

I.

Thanks for the replies!

Here’s the explanation to my madness. Of course this is coming from a totally inexperienced traveller so I’m really open to more feedback. If I’m being unrealistic, it’s better to be told now so I can readjust, rather than have the plan flop.

Okay here goes:

The day before the Bernina ride, we have our only full day in Venice which is why I’d like to stay overnight there. The other option is to leave Venice on overnight train to Tirano via Lugano. The day after the ride, we have our only full day in Lucerne which is why I’d like to arrive there at night so that we don’t waste the next morning travelling to it.

And the reason for this whole rush is because I reeeaally want to squeeze the Bernina ride in, otherwise I know I’ll forever regret not doing it.

I’ll go with the recommended stopover at Poschiavo (but only for a couple hours unfortunately). Swandav2000, I like the idea of stopping somewhere and hiking there. We’re very active people, but we’ll have backpacks.

Should we get down at the 2 to 3 stops before or after Poschiavo? Downhill is of course the preferred direction

6:01 Venice – Tirano arrive 12:42
12:49 Tirano – ?? short hike to Poschiavo
15:15 Poschiavo – Chur arrive 19:03
19:16 Chur – Luzern arrive 21:25 zzzz...

If we miss the first Tirano train then we’ll take the next 14:50 one with no break at Poschiavo. I’m guess being on the train will be worthwhile enough, even if we don’t get to stop along the way?

I think this is a really crazy idea for several reasons:

You are spending only one day in Venice, which IMO is a complete waste of time, money and effort. You will be totally rushed and can't begin to see or appreciate anything of the city. If you are arriving or departing on overnight trains you will be exhausted.

Your trip on the Bernina and through the gorgeous Engadine is in early May a VERY IFFY time weather-wise in the mountains. You are very likely to have rain and fog on your one day.

You are rushing to spend one day in Lucerne, the most overrated place in Switzerland and are rushing through the Engadine, the most underrate, untouristed (by Americans) and one of the most beautiful in Switzerland (May notwithstanding). For gorgeous photos, the painted houses of the little village of Guarda are hard to beat, and this area is excellent walking (but again May is very iffy for this).

Yes the Bernina is a great train ride, but IMO not worth skipping Venice to do it and really kind of chancy in May and if you can't be flexible with your dates, i.e. you only have one day. I really urge you to rethink this. Either give up Switzerland, which I would do and leave it for a better time of year, or give up Venice.

If you want to take picutres of trains, you are of course going to MISS THE ACTUAL BERNINA EXPRESS TRAIN, as that train only runs once a day. You will then be on a regular Rathische Bahn train, which is fine, only it will be a local, making more stops, you may have to change, and there won't be any panorama cars. So the whole reason you wanted to go will kind of be gone, and it may take even more time to get to Lucerene from Venice.

IF you still want to do this, here are some options:

1. From Tirano, consider taking the Post Bus, rather than the train, and get off at points where you can see trains passing over bridges or coming out of tunnels which interest you. The road from Tirano goes up and over the pass, it follows the same route as the train for much of it, and veers off in others, in either case giving vantage points of the tracks. I believe this is much better than trying to do it by train, as you are not allowed to walk on the tracks and it is dangerous to do so in any event. Even better, you can send your luggage on to other Post Bus stations further down the line to wait for you (i.e. you could send it to Poshavio or Pontresina, collect it and get on a train from there.) I don't believe there is a website for Post Bus schedules, they do show up on the rail.ch schedule as "BUS", but there does not seem to be a website for bus schedules alone. You can get printed ones at train stations and Post Bus stations in Switzerland, perhaps someone living in Switzerland currently could look up schedules for Tirano and post them.

2. Do a Google search for something like "vantage points for viewing Bernina Pass trains" or similar; there are a lot of train enthusiasts out there and I would not be at all surprised if there were websites on the best places to go along the road over the pass to see the trains.

3. Take a look at the website for the Rhatische Bahn, the company which runs the Bernina, you might be able to e-mail hem and ask where the best vantage points are. Go to rhb.ch

4. I agree that the Landwasser viaduct would be good pictures and that valley in particular is spectacular. (This is the valley between St Mortiz to the southeast and Chur northwest.) I think you could get decent pictures without a very strenuous or long walk by getting off a train at Wiesen, it is quite close to the viaduct and there is a very good walking trail here that as I recall, has views of the viaduct. I would Google the Landwasser Viaduct and see if pictures come up so you can get an idea. Note that you CANNOT take the Bernina Express trains to get off in Wiesen, this is a local station, you have to take the regular Rhatische Bahn/Swiss Rail trains, which are the same charming little red trains, just no panorama cars.

I hate to disagree, but I must make some corrections to Cicerone's post.

1. There are no Postal buses running over the Bernina Pass. Buses run at several parts of the route (e.g. Brusio - Poschiavo) but not frequently and they have to run on the road, which leaves out the most spectacular part of the Bernina TRAIN pass route - between Poschiavo and Ospizio Bernina.

4. Wiesen is not a stop on the Bernina route. It is located north of that Landwasser viaduct toward Davos - a completely different thing. Wiesen has its own impressive viaduct, which is probably what Cicerone referred to. No chance for you to see it. For a spectacular mountain/glacier view get off at Alp Grüm like swandav mentioned. What would you do with your luggage on a hike? Dragging with you? Yikes! Poschiavo is a small, beautiful town where you could leave your luggage at the train station and walk around.

In general I must say, stopping somewhere on such a long day of train travelling is a crazy idea IMO. I would enjoy the scenery passing by, taking photos and look forward to my room and bed in Luzern.

Ingo

Thanks Ingo and Cicerone! I think I'll stick with the 12.42 train and just stop at Poschiavo to wander around and pick up lunch. Hopefully I'll have some good pics to post when I get back. Even without the trains, I should be able to get some good shots along the way