I know that if you are taking the Bernina Express from Tirano to Chur, you have the option to take the one departure each day that is the "official" Bernina Express, with the panoramic cars, or you can be on the same train tracks and experience the same scenery by just taking one of the many local trains that do that route each day. I've been exploring the pros and cons of the choices. The local trains don't require a seat reservation. They have more stops and you can get off, stay awhile, and then re-join the journey. They have windows that can be opened, so that you can take photos without glare from the glass. But the panoramic cars give you that wonderful view of the scenery without having to crane your neck.
The Man in Seat 61 page about the Bernina Express shows the timetable of the panoramic cars, each direction (Chur to Tirano and Tirano to Chur.) Starting in Tirano, the departure is at 14:24. Arrival in Chur is at 18:19. The timetable on his site shows that there are four stops along the way: Poschiavo (15:09), Alp Grum (15:44), Pontresina (16:21) and Tiefencastel (17:31).
However, my Rick Steves Switzerland guidebook, after explaining that the regional trains stop at all stations along the line, cautions, "The regular Bernina Express only stops at three important stations--Poschiavo, Alp Grum, and Ospizio Bernina."
We want to take the panoramic train, get off in Pontresina when it gets there in the late afternoon, and stay overnight, then finish the BE the next day, on a regional train rather than waiting for the panoramic train to come through again. Can anyone please confirm that the panoramic cars DO stop in Pontresina?
My hope was to get a reservation at the Romantik Hotel Muottas Muragl, but they are already booked for our night even though my trip is not until Sept. of 2022. (We have mapped out our itinerary for this trip and because we have some VRBO stays, already booked, there is not flexibility in the date on which we will do the BE).
Does this sound like a feasible plan: panoramic train Tirano to Pontresina, check into our hotel there (I'm looking at the Hotel Bernina, Hotel Garni Chesa Mulin, and Hotel Steinbock but would be happy to consider any others if there are recommendations), then use the local bus and Muottas Muragl funicular to go up to the Romantik Hotel Muottas Muragl hotel to have dinner and watch the sun set, return to the hotel via funicular and bus for our overnight stay, depart early the next morning on one of the local regional trains to complete the BE journey to Chur. In Chur, we will change trains to go to Lucerne. We want to arrive there by mid-afternoon if possible.