My wife and I are headed to Europe for almost 4 weeks in July. The majority of our time will be split between Ireland and the Amalfi Coast. For our trip between the two, we figured rather than fly over the alps it would be more fun to take a train through them.

We're looking to fly into Munich and then take a train to Chur or Davos and hop on the Bernina Express route to Tirano from there. We'd like to spend a night or two in one of the mountain towns along the way.

Some questions I'm struggling with...

1) I understand that the Bernina Express and the standard trains use the same route. It looks like the Bernina Express only runs once per day in July, leaving Chur at 8:32am. If you take the Bernina Express can you spend a night (or two) at one of the towns along the way and use the same ticket to re-board it the next day, or do you have to buy another ticket (and can you even get back on from there)?

2) Am I correct that the BE out of Chur makes the following stops along the way: Thusis, Filisur, St Moritz, Pontresina, Poschiavo, Tirano

3) An open air ride sounds awesome. Is this available on the BE, the regular trains that run the Bernina route, or both? Is there a way to book/reserve the open air cars ahead of time? If not, is there usually a rush to get a spot on them and do they usually fill up? Are 1st class/2nd class tickets required for the open air cars?

4) Any suggestions on places to spend a night or two? We could either spend some time in Chur beforehand, spend some time in Davos beforehand (would we miss any great scenery by leaving from here instead of Chur?), or spend some time at one of the stops along the way?

5) Is rhb.ch the right website for booking? The tickets are startinglingly cheap there. The equivalent of $12 usd per passenger for first class whereas other sites are showing closer to $100.

I think that there are additional Bernina Express trains that only go between St Moritz and Tirano in summer - maybe only one that comes from Chur - going via the dramatic Abula Pass where the train spirals into and out of a mountain as it climbs - this section of railway, built circa 1900, has garnered UNESCO's World Heritage statue as a prodigious feat of railway engineering, especially for its day.

If you are on the official Bernina Express I do not think you can hop on and off at a whim - simply because many Bernina Express trains are chock full with tour groups so you'd have to make separate required reservations and probably two split tickets add up to the same full fare.

I have ridden in the open-air cars which I think are only on some of the regular trains and not on the official Bernina Express. Open-air cars are I believe 2nd class only - they are just a wooden plank in an open-air car - at least when I took them - no real seats.

Yes the BE out of Chur/Davos makes those stops and many more.

<We could either spend some time in Chur beforehand, spend some time in Davos beforehand (would we miss any great scenery by leaving from here instead of Chur?)>

Chur is an ordinary (nice) Swiss town - Davos is exceptional - in an Alpine setting - and you would see more scenic rails if leaving from Davos than Chur IMO.

5- $12 is simply a seat reservation fee - you also pay the train fare which in first-class Chur to Tirano may well be $100 - most folks find 2nd class just dandy.

www.rhb.ch is the official site so book on it - no reservations possible for local trains which ply the same route about hourly - and are significantly cheaper than the posh BE.

For info on the Bernina Express check out www.ricksteves; www.seat61.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - any questions I suggest calling Byron at the latter - I have bought passes from him for years and IME even though you are not buying anything he will expertly answer questions like you pose above.

Hi Vcize,

Where did you get the information that the Bernina Express runs only once a day? It actually runs a few times in the morning -- if you catch it at St. Moritz. You can just take a regular train down to St. Moritz and catch it there.

A train ticket is good for one day only, so if you stay overnight somewhere along the route, you'll need a new ticket for the travel on the next day.

For an overnight, I would suggest St. Moritz (or a nearby small town) or Pontresina.

Have fun as you plan!

s

Thanks to both of you.

Swandav, it looks like you're correct, there are multiple departure times when leaving from St Moritz. I was originally looking at Chur and Davos which each only have 1 departure time. I didn't realize St Moritz was an option.

So it looks like you can't get off the BE, only the regular trains. So I guess my options are...

2 nights in Davos, BE from Davos->Tirano
or
2 nights in Chur, BE from Chur->Tirano
or
Regular train from Chur->St Moritz. 2 nights in St Moritz. BE from St Moritz->Tirano
or
Regular train from Chur->Pontresina. 2 nights in Pontresina. Regular train from Pontresina->Tirano

I suppose I could also go BE Chur->St Moritz, stay a few nights, and then go BE from St Moritz->Tirano, I'd just have to pay the BE fare twice.

Are we sure the open air carriages are only on the regular trains? I see quite a few reviews for the Bernina Express that mention them, though it's certainly possible that they're leaving a review for the Bernina pass route mistakenly in the Bernina Express section of Fodors/TA.

Open-air platform cars are attached to the end of trains sometimes and they could well be attached to the official BE OI guess so I am not sure - email the Rhaetische Bahn to find out - schedules on that site indicate exactly what trains have them - someone posted that once here and I think schedules would indicate if that specific train has them.

If not, is there usually a rush to get a spot on them and do they usually fill up?>

It may depend on the weather - I was about the only person in my open-air carriage but it was a tad chilly - bundle up as the summit can always be cool. But on other trains I saw the open-air cars were sparsely filled as well.

These open-air cars are not attached to Express trains, only to regional trains, and only between St. Moritz and Poschiavo. I enjoyed that experience from St. Moritz to Alp Grüm very much, but then the noise became too much (brakes!) during the descent into Poschiavo valley, and I had a seat inside.

Like Pal said, it's just a wooden seat, not overly comfortable for a long time, but not unpleasant, either. No reservations needed/possible, they are 2nd class and attached to most of the regional trains, but not every one. Ask the RhB directly.

If you use regional trains then you don't need to book ahead. Tickets don't sell out, no additional charges. Just buy the day you travel from the machine or the ticket desk at the station.

- the open air cars run on certain dates, and not in any case on the BE itself, which has panorama cars. I'd not worry too much about the open air thing.

- the 'cheap' fare you found for the BE at rhb.ch is the seat reservation/supplement for the BE itself. If you continue with the process, it will then offer to sell a ticket to go with that reservation, rather more expensive!

- You can use the BE for any part of the trip, as long as you have made that specific date/journey/time reservation. Other trains operate on a hop on and find any empty seat basis, without reservations.

the open air cars run on certain dates, and not in any case on the BE itself, which has panorama cars. I'd not worry too much about the open air thing.>

Perhaps Man in Seat 61 has never ridden in the open-air cars? I have ridden in many panorama cars but the panorama from open-air cars is much more exceptional - just sitting on a bench - no windows to look out - like floating thru the Alps.

Open air cars (only in July and August and only if the weather is fine):
St. Moritz dp 10.45 - Poschiavo ar 12.27, dp 14.24 - St. Moritz ar 16.09
Tirano dp 9.40 - St. Moritz ar 12.09, dp 16.45 - Tirano ar 19.12
Tirano dp 11.27 - St. Moritz ar 14.09, dp 14.45 - Tirano ar 17.12

Most scenic itinerary from Munich to Engadin Valley:
Munich dp by train 8.33 via Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Ehrwald ar 10.28, dp by bus 10.40 to Nassereith - Imst - Landeck - Nauders - Scuol ar 14.28, dp by train 14.34 - Pontresina ar 15.56, dp 16.09 - Tirano ar 18.21, dp 19.10 - Varenna ar 20.37 - Milan ar 21.40.
resp Scuol dp 15.34 to Susch - Fluela Pass - Davos - Filisur - Albula railway - Pontresina ar 18.56
Many stopovers highly recommended!

The most scenic route Munich gto St Moritz would be any one that involved the Albula railway - as seen in these photos:

https://www.google.com/search?q=albu...=1600&bih=1075

Actually, I do not find the Albula route *that* much scenic. And the OP can always travel back the Albula route, no need to do it twice. The route via Garmisch and Fernpass is indeed very scenic, have done it several times.

The Albula part is more famous for its technical wonders, not so much for the scenery. Of course, which train route in Switzerland is *not* scenic?

Well yes I guess being a rail buff leads me to think of the Albula Pass route being the best is probably because of yes the prodigious railway engineering involved - I'll have to check out that other route - I should not have commented it was less scenic because I have not taken it but thought no route could be as scenic as Albula - well maybe interesting would be a better word.

I have taken both the official BE and the regional or local trains that go over the exact same rails and thru the exact same awesome scenery and I strongly prefer the locals over the official BE - the official BE trains IME of taking them twice and observing them several times is that they are usually chock ful with tour groups - it is hard to move from one side to another as the scenery may dictate - on locals usually lots of empty seats so you can hop around - I feel stiffled on the official BE train.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-lkYa5UAlA

Here's a YouTube video on riding the Bernina Pass Railway!

I prefer the standard Bernina trains too.
As to the itinerary via Garmisch (Zugspitze) - Ehrwald - Fernpass - Landeck - Oberinntal - Scuol, I showed above how one can include the scenic Fuela Pass bus ride and the Albula railway:

"Scuol dp 15.34 to Susch - Fluela Pass - Davos - Filisur - Albula railway - Pontresina ar 18.56"

But such itineraries shouldn't be done without intermediate stops, may be 1 day at Garmisch or Ehrwald, 1 day at Scuol/Swiss National Park and a third day at Pontresina.
http://www.rhb.ch/Video-Glacier-eng.784.0.html?&L=4
http://www.rhb.ch/Video-Bernina-eng.782.0.html?&L=4
http://www.rhb.ch/UNESCO-Clip-eng.1061.0.html?&L=4