Zurich to St.Moritz to Milan and Venice
Aug 13th, 2004 | 09:18 AM
#1
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Zurich to St.Moritz to Milan and Venice
Trying to put together a trip for skiing in St.Moritz for three days and sightseeing in Italy for 8 days. What is the traveling time from Zurich to St.Moritz and from St.Moritz to Milan or Venice? What mode of transportation would be best (car,bus or railway)? We will be going in March.
Aug 13th, 2004 | 09:37 AM
#2
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www.sbb.ch
Use the trains.
Use the trains.
Aug 13th, 2004 | 10:15 AM
#3
Joined: May 2003
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Check the website above. The DeutcheBahn website is good too.
If I recall, it's an hour and a half for Zurich > Sargens (change trains), twenty minutes for Sargens > Chur, and two hours or so for Chur > St. Moritz.
The Chur > St. Moritz and St. Moritz > Italy (Bernina Pass, Tirano) is one of the finest train routes anywhere.
You can take the Swiss Palm Express bus (with your train ticket) from Tirano to Lugano (three hours), and then on to Milan (one hour), or you can take the train from Tirano down through Lecco and on to Venice.
If I recall, it's an hour and a half for Zurich > Sargens (change trains), twenty minutes for Sargens > Chur, and two hours or so for Chur > St. Moritz.
The Chur > St. Moritz and St. Moritz > Italy (Bernina Pass, Tirano) is one of the finest train routes anywhere.
You can take the Swiss Palm Express bus (with your train ticket) from Tirano to Lugano (three hours), and then on to Milan (one hour), or you can take the train from Tirano down through Lecco and on to Venice.
Aug 13th, 2004 | 10:22 AM
#4
Joined: Nov 2003
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You could have a wonderfully scenic rail trip: Zurich-St. Moritz via
Chur, where you hook up with the Glacier Express route to St. Moritz, involving several corkscrew turns as you climb to St. Moritz. Then the most spectacular mountain scenery accessible in Europe by a mainline rail line (one that actually offers utilitarian transportation), the Bernina Pass route from St. Moritz-Tirano, Italy, where you connect with Italian trains to Venice via Milan. The Bernina Pass route is the only north-south rail line to go up and over the Alps, not tunneling under them like the Gotthard and Simplon Suisse-Italy routes. The Bernina Pass area the train crawls through offers glaciers near the tracks and high mountains encircling an alpine lake. Truly stupendous. Get off at Bernina Ospiz to walk around the lake. The train then descends through a lovely lush valley to Tirano Italy (about 2.5 hours from St. Moritz), where you walk from the Suisse station a few yards to the Italian station, with Milan about 3 hours. The Italian train skirts idyllic Lake Como, you can get off at a lakeside station and boat to Bellagio or Como. There are special trains called the Bernina Express that go a few times daily over the Bernina Pass route - the scnery is obviously the same but these trains in first class have glass-dome cars and commentary in English - they also cost about $10 for the mandatory reservation. Possible itinerary: Zurich, St. Moritz, Lake Como, Verona (on Milano-Venice line), Venice. Point-point tickets probably best unless you'll be traveling a bit more, then investigate Eurail Select Pass. A Bernina Pass road parallels the rail line so if you drive you see the same scenery, though the driver on these sinuous roads must keep eyes peeled on the roadway. In summer some Bernina Pass trains have open-air cars, making the ride more enthralling.
Chur, where you hook up with the Glacier Express route to St. Moritz, involving several corkscrew turns as you climb to St. Moritz. Then the most spectacular mountain scenery accessible in Europe by a mainline rail line (one that actually offers utilitarian transportation), the Bernina Pass route from St. Moritz-Tirano, Italy, where you connect with Italian trains to Venice via Milan. The Bernina Pass route is the only north-south rail line to go up and over the Alps, not tunneling under them like the Gotthard and Simplon Suisse-Italy routes. The Bernina Pass area the train crawls through offers glaciers near the tracks and high mountains encircling an alpine lake. Truly stupendous. Get off at Bernina Ospiz to walk around the lake. The train then descends through a lovely lush valley to Tirano Italy (about 2.5 hours from St. Moritz), where you walk from the Suisse station a few yards to the Italian station, with Milan about 3 hours. The Italian train skirts idyllic Lake Como, you can get off at a lakeside station and boat to Bellagio or Como. There are special trains called the Bernina Express that go a few times daily over the Bernina Pass route - the scnery is obviously the same but these trains in first class have glass-dome cars and commentary in English - they also cost about $10 for the mandatory reservation. Possible itinerary: Zurich, St. Moritz, Lake Como, Verona (on Milano-Venice line), Venice. Point-point tickets probably best unless you'll be traveling a bit more, then investigate Eurail Select Pass. A Bernina Pass road parallels the rail line so if you drive you see the same scenery, though the driver on these sinuous roads must keep eyes peeled on the roadway. In summer some Bernina Pass trains have open-air cars, making the ride more enthralling.
