Will we be missing out if we don't do part of the Bernina Express rail trip ? We don't want to do the whole bus trip to Tirano, Italy - too many hours for the whole thing and we are ending our trip at Lake Como anyway. If everyone thinks the train ride is really that good, we could fly to Zurich and then take a train to Chur and spend a night. Then we would ride just the Chur-Pontresina portion, spend a night and then go back the same way we came and head on to Lucerne and BO where we will be staying for 7 nights total.
The other choice is that we can fly to Geneva and stay in Lausanne/Montreaux area and get over some jet lag before we go to Lucerne and the BO. We will take the Golden Pass scenic train over to Lucerne, so we would have some train time, but from what I have read, not as interesting as the Bernina Express route from Chur. Thanks for your opinions.
Posted by
Paris
7300 posts
Hello,
I am a little bit confused about your route: you say you end your trip at lake Como anyway, but will you be in Switzerland just before lake Como? If so, it makes sense to use the Bernina Express as the way to reach lake Como from Switzerland.
More details about your overall plan would be helpful!
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17418 posts
Ditto what Balso said. The Bernina Express route is an excellent way to reach the towns of Varenna and Bellagio on Lake Como. The Swiss train over the Bernina Pass ends at Tirano on the Italy border. There, instead of taking the bus portion of the Bernina Express route from Tirano to Lugano, you board an Italian train that goes straight down to Varenna.
Since you are going to Lake Como after the Berner Oberland, this would be my preferred route, since other routes to Lake Como from there involve a train to Milan (or nearby) through deep tunnels under the Alps. (Unless you make a deliberate effort to take one of the few trains that goes over the Gotthard Pass instead of using the faster tunnel).
Posted by
San Diego, California
5604 posts
The Bernina Express is a fantastic experience, and worth it. You have been given good advice- and no bus involved using the above route.
Have a great trip !
Posted by
OP
84 posts
I really like the idea of using the train to get to Varenna, but how does one get to Chur to start the Swiss portion of the trip from Interlaken train station (we will be staying in Lauterbrunnen). It looks like it would take a whole lot of time and a lot of changes of trains - we will have luggage to haul on and off. We leave the BO in the morning and our rental in Varenna starts that night. We were just going to rent a car for the day and drive to Lugano to get to Lake Como. The train would make sense - I just don't know if we can navigate all of the train changes. Thanks for your help and would appreciate any input on how one would get to Chur from Lauterbrunnen/Interlaken.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17418 posts
You are right; it is a long journey with a lot of changes, and if you need to be in Varenna that same night it won’t work.
I do not understand about renting a car to drive to Lugano. How would you get to Varenna? Lugano is not on Lake Como; you would still need to take a train/ferry or several trains to reach Varenna.
Maybe this map of the Swiss rail system will help:
The simplest and fastest journey by train from Lauterbrunnen to Varenna takes 6.5 hours and has a total of 3 easy changes. You would depart Lauterbrunnen at 11:02 and arrive at Interlaken Ost in plenty of time to catch the 11:30 westbound train to Spiez. You have 14 minutes there to wait to board the 12:05 EC 53 train that goes straight to Milano Centrale with no further changes. You arrive in Milan at 14:40 and the next train to Varenna departs at 16:20, so you have quite a long wait, but that journey is only an hour. You can get a bite to eat or do some shopping in the Milan train station.
There are other ways to travel between Lauterbrunnen, including a route via Luzern, Lugano, and Monza that avoids the long wait at Milano Centrale, but these other routes all take longer and have 4 or more changes on the way.
Posted by
OP
84 posts
Lola, thanks for the point by point train route. I don't know how you do it - I find all of the train schedules very overwhelming. We don't use trains much here in FL. As for the car, we were going to drive to Lugano and then there is a bus that takes you to Menaggio with a quick boat across the lake to Varenna. It was just the fastest way to get to Como.
Posted by
Green Bay
21142 posts
Well, you have to get a train into Interlaken, then find the rental car pick up, load up the car, drop it in Lugano, then make your way to the bus station, take the bus to Menaggio, then make your way to the ferry dock, load your stuff on the ferry, take it off in Varenna, then make your way to your lodging there. Might be 3 or 4 taxi rides involved in this. Have you priced the one way rental? Is the bus stop in Menaggio close to the ferry dock? This plan is not without its logistical challenges.
What are your dates? There is a schedule change after June 10 and all the trains might not be showing up just yet in Italy before that date, The route outlined by Lola is not showing up after that date, but it might show up later. The only difficult change is in Interlaken Ost, where you have go up and down ramps or stairs to switch platforms. So you might want to take an earlier train from Lauterbrunnen. They go every half hour. At Spiez, it is a simple cross-platform change, and Milano Centrale is a terminal station with everything on one level. If you have rolling luggage, it will not be difficult.
Posted by
Los Angeles
4853 posts
Youtube is full of train vlogs of people taking the BE if you want to see what you would see. They go in all seasons in both directions. I think the bit at the end when they're rolling down the streets in Italy are pretty cool.
I took the Golden pass from Interlaken to Montreux and it was AMAZING. I haven't had much luck finding video of the bit to Lucerne.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32350 posts
dwarren,
Your trip is very straightforward and easy, and you shouldn't have any problems getting from Interlaken Ost to Chur, prior to your trip on the Bernina Express. This is the route I'd take in the same situaiton.....
From Interlaken Ost, there's a train departure to Chur departing at 11:00, arriving Chur at 14:43 (time 3H43M, one change in Zürich). You might consider spending two nights in Chur to have a look around, but one night is OK too. The following morning, board the Bernina Express for the trip to Tirano (IT). Whether you use the scenic train on that route or a regular train is your choice. I believe the scenic train only has one departure per day in each direction, so you'll have to adjust your departure time accordingly if you choose that. One point to note is that with the scenic train, getting photos is not always ideal because of the reflections from the windows.
When you arrive in Tirano, transfer to the Regionale for the trip to Varenna-Esino. If you're buying tickets locally at the station, be sure to validate prior to boarding the train or you'll risk hefty fines! The trip is 1H26M direct (no changes). Be sure you know how to release the door and be ready to disembark promptly as the train doesn't stop for long at the small station. If you'll be staying somewhere else in the mid-lake area, you'll have to walk down the hill to the ferry dock (about 10 minutes or so, it's not difficut). There may be a taxi at the rail station but that's probaly not necessary. If you're going to be using Varenna as a base to explore the area, it's easy to walk to hotels in the main part of town.