Bernina Express from Zurich and back – overnight in Tirano?

Hi Addy, and welcome to MySwissAlps!

You don’t mention your exact travel date, or what time you can leave Zürich, so it’s a bit hard to give detailed advice, but this is how I would do it:

Thursday evening

Take the fastest route to St Moritz (3 hrs 9 mins) via Landquart, the Prättigau and the Inn Valley.

This is a very pretty route after about Küblis. The train travels high on the side of the valley, and you have scenic views of mountains, meadows, forests, rivers, traditional villages, interesting station buildings and an impressive modern bridge (the Sunniberg bridge). Sit on the right for the best views, but move to the left after the Sunniberg bridge if you can.

After Klosters Platz, you go into the Vereina Tunnel. Once you come out, the best views, as you travel down the picturesque Inn Valley, are on the left.

Stay overnight at St Moritz.

Friday

It is unlikely you will get reservations on the Bernina Express (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/bernina-express/) at this stage, so I would recommend you take an early morning regional train along exactly the same route to Tirano. You can take advantage of not needing a reservation by stopping off along the way at Diavolezza (to view the beautiful glacier) and Poschiavo (for a stroll around the village) on the way.

I wouldn’t bother spending any time in Tirano (it’s not that interesting compared with other options), but rather try for the Bernina Express train that leaves Tirano at 16:06 and arrives back at St Moritz at 18:25. This late afternoon Bernina Express service from Tirano is often the last to get booked out, so you might have more of a chance of getting a reservation. If you can’t get a reservation, take a regional train back to St Moritz, stopping off at Alp Grüm on the way for the beautiful views.

Stay overnight at St Moritz.

Saturday

Sightseeing around the St Moritz area.

https://www.myswissalps.com/town/st-moritz/

If you stay at least 2 nights, most accommodation providers will give you a guest card that offers free transport on the local trains, buses and mountain railways (although most of the mountain transport will not be operating in early June).

As an alternative to mountain trips, there are some beautiful villages to visit such as Sils Maria, Soglio and Guarda.

Stay overnight at St Moritz.

Sunday

Depending on the date, you might manage to get a reservation for the trip St Moritz-Chur on the Glacier Express (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/glacier-express/), or Pontresina-Chur on the Bernina Express. They essentially follow the same route from St Moritz to Chur.

If you can’t get a reservation on either, return to Zürich on a regional train along the Glacier Express/Bernina Express route so you can travel over the wonderful Landwasser Viadukt.

You could swap Friday and Saturday around depending on the availability of reservations.

By the way, although the regional trains don’t have the panoramic windows, they do have large windows, and you won’t miss seeing anything at all. You might actually see more, as you can move from side to side to catch the best views. If the only choice available on the Bernina Express was an aisle seat, I would prefer a regional train any time!

Hope this gives you some food for thought!

Alpenrose

Hi Addy,

>>> Is there usually enough seating in the regional trains to be able to enjoy the ride since it’s a long-ish one?

In my experience, yes, plenty of room – in fact usually half empty. I usually travel in that area in September-October though, and last time was pre-COVID, so the trains might be a bit busier these days. However, they are frequent and have plenty of capacity, so I don’t think you’d have too much to worry about.

>>> Any tips on which regional trains exactly to look out for on SBB to make sure I take the same route as BE?

Between St Moritz/Pontresina and Tirano, there is only one train route, the Bernina line. If you look at the intermediate stations on the route in the SBB timetable, you will see Bernina Diavolezza as one of them, for example, as well as Alp Grüm, so you know that is the right route.

Between Pontresina/St Moritz and Chur, plan the route using Filisur as a via station to get the Glacier Express/Bernina Express route.

>>> What are your thoughts on staying in Pontresina instead of St Moritz? Is it well connected by trains/ public transport?

Yes, Pontresina would be a good choice. It is a station on the Bernina line. Most of the hotels in Pontresina are not near the station, but there are buses to the station if it’s a bit far or not convenient to walk. In your case, I think it would work best if you could stay near the station though, for example at the Hotel Station if it suits your budget and they have a room available:

https://booking.engadin.ch/en/hotels/hotel-station

I haven’t stayed there, only eaten there, but it gets good reviews.

Otherwise, there’s a list here (filtered for those that offer the guest card for free transport and mountain railways)

https://booking.engadin.ch/en/accommodations/hotels?accommodation_type=hotels&later=on&places%5B0%5D=10&facility%5B%5D=railways-included&facility%5B%5D=transport-summer

>>> Can I base myself there for 3 nights & then head back directly into Zurich Airport for my flight or would you suggest stopping over at Chur/ some place else on way back?

Pontresina to Zürich Airport takes 3 hours 52 min, with 3 transfers. Personally I would prefer to stay within an hour of the airport – but I always have a long-haul flight ahead of me, which I couldn’t afford to miss.

In my opinion, Chur has little to offer. It has a lovely old town, which you can see in about 1-2 hours, but that’s about it. I would prefer Zürich, both for proximity to the airport and more variety for sightseeing.

>>> Is there a loop I could do to avoid riding the same way back or I shouldn’t bother with even if I am repeating routes?

If you take my suggestion of going to St Moritz/Pontresina via the Prättigau and Inn Valley on the way there (the aqua-coloured line on the map below), and going back via the Glacier Express/Bernina Express route to Chur (the orange line on the map below), those are two different routes. You can see a map of the Rhätische Bahn network here:

https://www.rhb.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/redaktion/Home_Marketing/Service___Souvenirs/Streckennetz/231109_rhb_linienplan_2023-24_quer_A4.pdf

>>> Just to get an idea, what would your order of preference be between BE/STMortiz, Sils Maria, Soglio and Guarda ?

Soglio and Guarda are the most spectacular for scenery and traditional buildings, as they are both on the side of a mountain, but Sils Maria is also very pretty.

If you had a full day, I would go to Soglio and Sils Maria. Sils Maria is on the way to Soglio, so I would go to Soglio first, and get off at Sils Maria on the way back. I wrote a trip report about Soglio some years ago, which might interest you:

https://www.myswissalps.com/community/thread/trip-report-bregaglia-valley-soglio/

Guarda is in the other direction. I have written a trip report about Guarda as well, which you can see here if interested:

https://www.myswissalps.com/community/thread/trip-report-lower-engadine-guarda-october-2016/

Hope this answers your questions!

Alpenrose

Hi Addy,

June is the start of the summer season in most of Switzerland but it may still be early spring in St Moritz. You’ll definitely get to see some greenery in the valleys and lowlands, in the mountains there may still be a bit of snow. There is not need to bring puffy winter jackets though. A light wind proof and rain proof jacket would do and wear layers to keep warm, if need be.

For reliable weather forecast,, please use Swiss Meteo, For information about the best time to visit:  https://www.myswissalps.com/planning/practical/best-time-to-visit/

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Anna