Como, Italy to Bernina Express

twg,

The Bernina Express departs from Tirano which is accessed via the rail line that runs along the east shore of Lago di Como. While it may be feasible to do that as a day trip, it's not practical as the travel time from Como to Tirano is about 3.5 hours each way (and that doesn't include the travel time on the Bernina Express).

If you were planning to take the panoramic Bernina Express cars, note that they only have a few departures of those every day. There are other departures using regular trains. Another point to consider is how far you want to travel on that route. If you want to travel right to Chur, there's only one departure per day of the panoramic cars at 14:26, arriving 18:20. There's an earlier departure of the Panoramic cars that goes as far as St. Moritz, but it departs Tirano at 10:03.

It would be more feasible to take a day trip on the Bernina Express at least as far as St. Moritz, if you were staying in Varenna rather than Como.

The way the lake is laid, you would probably have to take a ferry to a place on the east shore - Varenna, Bellano or Colico look the most likely places - to board the train to Tirano there. Timetables should be carefully studied in order not to get stranded on a very long day trip, but as you observe, summer timetables are still not available.

Thank you for your help. Would it be better for us to save this for last and ride the Bernina express one way and then fly home to the US from Zurich?

I am having trouble fitting this into our itinerary but it's a top priority of things we want to see and do.

Free hotel rooms are great, but Como town is not centrally located for exploring the lake. I wonder what you'd do there for 5 nights. Boat rides are longer and it's not on the train line that runs along the lake to toward Tirano. It is on the train line to Lugano and you could consider the [Palm Express Bus] from Lugano to St. Moritz as another scenic way to reach the same part of Switzerland, if that's your goal, moving one of your Como nights to allow an overnight stay there. Then train 4 more hours to Zurich to fly home. It's pretty hard to go wrong with scenery in the southern, alpine half of Switzerland.

twg,

Your plans should be possible with a slight change in your Itinerary, but it would require changing your stay in Como to four nights. Would something like this work for you....

• Depart Como S. Giovanni station at 08:22, arrive Tirano at 12:05 (time 3H:43M, 1 change in Monza). There are other departure times, but the key point is that you MUST arrive in Tirano in time to connect with the Bernina Express.
• Depart Tirano on Bernina Express at 14:26, arrive Chur at 18:20 - spend the night in Chur - I'd highly recommend Hotel Freieck as it's very comfortable). Note that the B.E. has compulsory reservations, which you can do online on the Rhaetian Bahn website.
• The following morning, travel by train to Zürich or to Zürich airport (usually one change at Zürich Hbf for the trip to the airport), depending on the time of your flight. The travel time is only about 1.5 hours so it's a very easy and quick trip). When travelling by train in Switzerland, the timing is usually precise so I wouldn't expect any "unexpected events" to occur that would delay your arrival at the airport.

Happy travels!

Hi-
I wouldn't do a round trip, especially from Como, it is just too long.
This is what I did in September-
I stayed in town of Bellagio on lake Como, took a ferry to Varenna ( 15 minutes) and from Varenna train station took a train to Tirano (1.5 hours). Bernina Express trains originate from Tirano. I took a local train which didn't need any seat reservation and had regular, not panoramic windows. Advantage of a regular train is that they are frequent, tickets can be bought at the station without advance reservations, windows can be opened for much better pictures, and you can move around, choosing your seat or carriage, even get off the train and hop on the next one if you like.
I stopped in St. Moritz ( in about 2 hours) for 2 nights to break the trip and then took the rest of the train trip to Chur later. ( another 2 hours).
If you want to do round trip, however, I would suggest to stay in Varenna to save time, start early and go as far as St. Moritz. This route has the most spectacular scenery. On the way back to Italy consider using local postal buses to see different small villages. I didn't go back to Italy and have no experience of it but have heard that this is a different scenic route as well.

Also, do your trip on a sunny clear day. Another reason not to book the train in advance.

We didn't find that the panoramic Bernina Express adds much over a regular train following the same route. If you like to photograph, its worse because you can't open the windows to shoot without glass. The point being that there's no reason to stick to the Bernina Express itself. The trip itself is a fantastic ride on any train.

Thanks everyone for your input! However, this is really confusing as I have read that you must book the panoramic Bernina Express coaches to get the really scenic train and that the tickets have to be booked as soon as the schedule is out.

Thanks everyone for your input! However, this is really confusing as I have read that you must book the panoramic Bernina Express coaches to get the really scenic train and that the tickets have to be booked as soon as the schedule is out.
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Other local trains run the same route as the panoramic express. The difference is the Bernina panoramic cars which have glass over much of the ceiling. But other local trains run the same scenic route. For more comparison see here: http://www.seat61.com/BerninaExpress.htm#.VoNBwvmPc8Q

I took the Bernina Express last June from Tirano to Potresina...(right outside of St. Moritz).

I bought a 1st class ticket ahead of time. Larger seat, etc., but nothing special. In the carriage, there were only 4 other people (family).

I agree....the un-openable windows do hurt the possible photography. The scenery is absolutely beautiful. While there in June, it snowed! Beautiful lakes, glaciers, etc.

The train did stop a little at the Alp Grüm stop. People got off for about 5 minutes and took photos of the glacier.

With the Bernina train...you can't hop on/hop off. But with the regional trains, I think you can do that.

It depends on how long you want to spend. There are a ton of trails. I would love to go back and do some hiking and biking.

I went to Pontresina and spent one night (got an AirBNB room). In June...it was super quiet and I didn't get a chance to really do a lot. The town is very small. St. Moritz would be a good choice to see and take some of the lifts up to the peaks. Also, Diavolezza lift looked like a good thing to do!

Day trip...from Como, would be super long. The others are correct. I rode trains from Milan to Tirano and it was a long day of travel.

Overall, it was a nice experience, relaxing, especially after 12 days in Italy doing city tours.

I also bought a $25 USD hamburger, fries, and coke in Pontresina. Oh my....Switzerland, you're expensive!

We are going to be there in early June 2016 (will be staying in Varenna), and I've also been puzzling the details of either a day trip or overnight trip into Switzerland on the Bernina Line.

For a while I thought it might make sense to stay two nights in either St. Moritz or Pontresina and take advantage of the summer mountain pass some hotels give out for a two nights stay. I'm very glad I thought to see what is open while we will be there. The only cable car open before June 11 is the Diavolezza cable car. So, an extra night stay just to get a pass for one cable car obviously does not make sense.

Now I'm back to thinking about a long day trip from Varenna, taking the Bernina Express and getting off in Pontresina, and then taking regional trains back. That way we can stop at Diavolezza and wherever else we want.

I'm not sure if spending the night would really gain us anything. My teenage daughters just want to see/be in the Swiss Alps.

I have stayed in Como for days at a time, daytrippers to other towns on the lake, and even to other cities. Good train/bus connections, and I used the ferry almost every day. Enjoy your free hotel!

Since your Como hotel is free, you might consider an overnight for the Bernina Express segment. Just take a change of clothes and no worries about return train schedules.