Bernina Express from Italy lake town in September?

Ahh...I just posted a question about the Bernina Express.

The trip to Saint Moritz, Switzerland looks beautiful. I'm considering stopping at Diavolezza to the cable car trip to the peak for lunch, then on to SM for the evening....then back to Milan the next afternoon.

Here's a good article about travel to there:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187849-c181034/Milan:Italy:The.Bernina.Railway.Route.html

Kevin

Doris,

If you're staying on Lago Maggiore (I'd recommend Stresa), one very easy trip you could take is a day trip to Locarno (Switzerland), via the scenic Cento Valli Railway. Here are a few notes on that trip.....

• Travel via "regular" train from Stresa to Domodossola.
• Transfer to the Cento Valli train (the station is underground so don't look for it on the normal platforms).
• The trip to Locarno is about two hours as I recall and very scenic (although I don't recall seeing any "alps" along the way, but there are mountains visible).
• Locarno is at the other end of the lake from Stresa, and the city is surrounded by mountains (which may be part of the Lepontine Alps).
• While in Locarno you can tour the city, visit the beautiful Madonna del Sasso Franciscan Monastery, take the Cable Car up to Cardada for incredible views of the lake and the city. There's a restaurant / hotel right beside the Cable Car station at the top with a patio where you can enjoy the view along with a "cool one", perhaps while watching Paragliders sail by.
• In the late afternoon, return to Stresa by boat.

The Bernina Express is not a daytrip from Lago Maggiore. You would have to get to Milan, then it is 2.5 hours to Tirano where the Bernina Express train ride starts. Then, even if you take a regional train on the same tracks instead of the true Bernina Express train, you may have a wait of 1-2 hours for the Swiss train. The ride as far as Pontresina would be 2 hours each way. So as a daytrip, 5+ 4 + wait time at Tirano + time from your base on Maggiore to Milano and back. Not doable.

If you want to see the Alps on a daytrip,
one possibility that comes to mind, depending on where you are staying on Maggiore, would be to head north to Brig, change there for the short ride to Betten (15 minutes from Brig) and catch a cablecar there up,to the village of Bettmeralp. Walk through the village and catch a gondolaupmthe Bettmerhorn for amazing views of the Alwtschgletscher and surrounding peaks. Or stay on the train to Fiesch, ride a cablecar up to Fiescheralp, and then a cablecar up,the Eggishorn, from here, on a clear day, you can see north all the way to the Jungfrau.

Thanks for the helpful replies. Your responses really open up (and close) some options. Kevin, sounds like a great itinerary and a very informative article if we decide to add a day to our trip and spend a night closer to Milan/Tirano.

And Ken - yes, we had looked at that day trip from Stresa (which sadly reminded us we were missing out on the alps this trip). Sounds like a perfect day. And would probably give us greater flexibility in choosing a clear day.

Lola - appreciate your concise outline of the problems considering the Bernina Express as a day trip - perhaps we'll add a day. It does sound like heading to Brig would be an option. I will look for information regarding that area. Thanks so much.

Hope others will chime in as well - it's such a great forum.

We actually have 4 nights after leaving Siena. If we planned to stay in Stresa and enjoy one of the above-mentioned train rides, could we leave the car in Siena and use only public transportation while there? Enough to see on foot and via train/boat? As I mentioned we have an afternoon flight so we would have sufficient time to take the train to Malpensa on day of departure.