Please sign in to post.
Holiday Sale! Save 20% Storewide!

Lake Como & Bernina Express - BEST HOME BASE?

Posted by (San Diego) on

Planning to spend 2-3 days in Lake Como and then do a trip to ride the Bernina Express. Would you make this a day trip or find another hotel to stay at in Switzerland?

We eventually need to be in London but trying to figure out what makes the most sense logistically. We have younger kids and I don't want to do the Polar Express or spend an entire day on the train, we would prefer to do 7-8 hours max on the train per day and explore.

We plan to fly into Milan, I am wondering if we should plan to fly out of Milan or make our way up towards Zurich. We are flexible because we have an additional 4-5 days before we will need to be in London so if you have any suggestions on an itinerary for 7-8 days that would be great. Switzerland, Lake Como are what we wanted to visit. Open to suggestions.

Where are most people sleeping / staying when they do the Bernina Express?

Posted by
7312 posts

Well, if you have 4-5 days, then after Lake Como, you could do as follows:
- travel to Pontresina with the Bernina Railway
- Explore the Engadin region around Pontresina for 1-2 days (2 nights)
- Travel to Luzern via the Albula Railway to Chur (4.5 hour total travel time)
- Spend 2-3 nights in Luzern and explore the area
- take the train to Zurich airport for a flight to London

Posted by
11608 posts

Another vote for charming Pontresina! We loved staying there.

Posted by
14 posts

Thank you Balso. This seems like a great plan. Spent a little time researching and reading this afternoon and I think we will be doing something very similar to this.

Thank you!

Posted by
5649 posts

From charming Pontressina I'd go to the Berner Oberland and actually be in the Alps, staying in Murren, Wengen, or Lauterbrunen.
Then onto Lucerne.
From Lake Como, Varenna station, you can catch the regional train to Tirano, Italy. In Tirano, it's a very short walk to the Swiss train station where you catch the Bernina Express to Pontressina. We took the regional train, not the panoramic train, which runs on the exact same tracks as the Bernina Express panoramic trains. The regional trains have more schedule options, are less crowded, require no seat reservations, and the windows open. I think the regional trains would be more fun for your children, as they should be able to move around and change seats, as the cars are less crowded and seats not reserved.
I love the beauty of Lake Como, enjoy, and Switzerland is incredible. I hope you can make it to the Alps!
Safe travels!

This topic has been automatically closed due to a period of inactivity.