We are planing to take Bernina express from Tirano.
The plan is to leave car in Tirano overnight, take Bernina express , sleepover in Switzerland and return the next day.
Would you go just up to St. Moritz or Pontressina or Samedan or go all the way to the end?
What place would you pick to stay the night considering we will have half a day or so there.?
Can we get off the express and then hop back and continue the road?
Would round trip ticket be valid on two consecutive days?
Any advice on overnight parking in Tirano would be greatly appreciated .
Thanks in advance!
Posted by
Wengen
1684 posts
The end of the Bernina Express is st. Moritz (the train to Chur is just an extention). So you can go there, and stay overnight. Pontresina is a good place too. You can also do a roundtrip in a day.
Or you can return via Chiavenna, but that is probably more practical if you do not have a car to return to in Tirano.
(Combining car and train is combining the worst of both worlds in my opinion...)
A round trip ticket is just two singles bought together. So you can indeed just buy eg. a Tirano - st. Moritz for day one, and a st. Mortiz - Tirano for day two.
Posted by
Washington DC
27137 posts
I haven't been to St. Moritz or Pontresina yet, but essentially every source I've consulted says Pontresina is a considerably more attractive place than St. Moritz.
The official Bernina Express departures (with panoramic rail cars, etc.) require seat reservations, so you cannot just hop off and catch a later train. The non-tourist trains running on the same tracks do not require seat reservations, so those allow you hop-on/hop-off flexibility.
Posted by
OP
54 posts
Thank you so much!
My plan is “still work in progress”. So as I understand I can take Bernina express up to St Moritz/ Pontresina , spend some time there and then continue on a “regular train” all the way up , stay the night there and come back next day. ? In your opinion is it worth a “sleepover” or I might as well just go up let’s say to St Moritz or Samedan and return to Tirano same day?. I understand I can drive there probably even faster but the idea is to see the scenery that can’t be seen from the car.
Does it make more sense?
Posted by
Green Bay
20126 posts
You can be more flexible by taking the regular trains. You could take a train as far as Pontresina, spend a few hours there, then return to Tirano. The route on to Chur has a different character, mainly the curlicue rail line that descends the valley with the famous Landwasser Viaduct you see on all the travel posters.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipNYp6mekjSBYnFDGN6Y6iTK1lmjCp1RMzyyasDu=s680-w680-h510