Switzerland Plan B - if going to Lake Como not feasible

I don't know if it holds any interest for you but I enjoyed Bellinzona very much. It has a nice core and is designated a World Heritage Site for its three castles. There is a market day on Saturdays. Locarno and Lugano are both about thirty minutes away. Check out the routes and travel times, to see if it fits in for you.

https://www.bellinzona.ch/

Gunderson, thx so much, I'll look into those.
Safe travels!

If you still have that problem 2 months from now - I live here and don't have a clue - you should know that the last 3.5 km of the Bernina line is in Italy, and Tirano is completely in Italy. The border is defined by the mountains, and to get over to Bellinzona, Locarno, and Lugano you have to go right back north to Pontresina and Sankt Moritz, and then the roads west are by no means major roads.

I'm not Rick, and I don't know what he's written about Chur recently, but I found it nice enough. It may not apply to you, but a few years ago Chur had the longest (and very fast) sommerrodelbahn, sometimes called an Alpine Coaster. The train, which starts in Chur running in the street, to Arosa is very scenic too.

Nigel, you have always been a great help on this Forum. You are much appreciated.

Looks like there are three VERY small town stops before the Bernina Express leaves Switzerland . Two of those towns have hourly return trains, I think. Hopefully one town has a place where we could just get lunch before the return trip. Are you familiar with this area?

Maybe we just sit on the same side of the train for each trip, and appreciate the different views, and just return to our starting point, possibly Pontresima .

Any other delightful insights?

What about those odd bits and bobs of Switzerland that poke into Lake Como and seem Italian? Those have always intrigued me.

Been to Lugano & Bellinzona. I'm now looking at small towns along the Bernina Express route. Appreciate any input. Thx so much!

Towns that I have visited are all up around Chur. Everywhere else we have been in the Engadin has been for on-train scenery, including around the Davos and Klosters loop. We actively avoided the towns so we had time to walk (sometimes fruitlessly trying to reach the tongue of a glacier which seemed to retreat before us) so I'm afraid that I'm not much use for that question...

The village of Poschiavo is really pretty and has several restaurants. However, it is before the Brusio spiral viaduct if that's important to you.
Or you could get off in Brusio, walk to the viaduct (1/2 mile), and there seem to be a handful of restaurants in that village too (never been).
I don't see the need to go all the way to the last stop before the border.