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Bernina & Glacier Express Rail Trips

We will be staying in Vareena Italy and headed from there to Wengen, Lauterbrunnen. I had intended for us to take
the Bernina Express from Vareena & then hop on the Glacier Express & somehow end up in Wengen that same night.
Is this even possible in one day?? Please advise as to best way to get to Wengen from Vareena in a day... we would
like to do at least one of these trains and enjoy the beauty!! We had even thought of skipping the Zermatt portion & heading
to Wengen from Visp.???

Posted by
21145 posts

The problem is that it is not possible to get from Varenna to St Moritz in time to get the last Glacier Express train of the day at 10:20 am. The first train of the day from Varenna in that direction is at 7:24 and will not get you to St Moritz until after 11 am.

Posted by
907 posts

Sounds like you need to get on the sbb.ch/en Swiss rail website to see where and when these trains go. Depending of course when you are going. Each of the three main panorama train routes (Bernina Express, Gotthard Express and Glacier Express) is really designed to be a full day experience. Going from Vareena to Tirano where the Bernina Express begins is do-able the day before as noted by Sam - but the the Tirano to St Moritz segment will take most of a day and then on to Lauterbrunnen. St Moritz to Lauterbrunnen is a 5-6 hour trip.

You could consider the Gotthard Panorama Express from Lugano to Lucerne. Lugano is just into Switzerland from Como, and Lucerne is just two hours or so from Lauterbrunnen. That would be your only real "one day" opportunity - but a long day.

Posted by
2829 posts

Honestly that is way too much train for a single day. Plan yourself to enjoy the Bernina Express all the way to Chur or Lanquart, then use the fast trains to get to Interlaken and from there to Wengen.