Chur or St. Moritz

Are you taking the Bernina Express and the Glacier Express? On successive days?

You might want to look at the travel time for each train and try to balance the time on either side of the overnight stop. Also look at hotels and prices both places. St. Moritz is a pricy ski resort and I have read it is lacking in charm.

I would pick Chur to shorten day 2, and Chur old town is nice anyway.
But that is a lot of train time over two days. I would consider a shorter but still scenic route: Lugano-Göschenen-Andermatt-Brig-Zermatt. Takes you over the old Gotthard railway and the western half of the Glacier Express route.
Or another one: Lugano-Locarno-Domodossola-Brig-Zermatt, including the Centovalli railway from Locarno to Domodossola.

I went in the opposite direction and transferred from the Glacier Express to the Bernina Express in Chur. I spent the night between the two in Chur.

I did it because the transfer was easier at the time.

Balso
Thanks you for replying.
I am so confused with the planning of my trip.
With your plan does that include overnighting in one of the stops or were you suggesting going straight from Lugano to zermat ?
I would love to cut down on the long train ride. 8 hrs on the train is a lot.

Sasha.
Thanks you.
I would love to cut down on the amount of hours on the train but we do want to take advantage of a scenic train ride.
I find the whole planning of this trip very complicated.
We also would like to keep it to 10 mights.
We are going to Wengen from zermatt also. Then from wengen to lucerne.
Flying home from Zurich.
But flying into Milan at the beginning of the trip.

Frank.
Thanks.
If I stop in chur the ride to zermatt is 8 hrs. I really don’t look forward to that. It’s a bit long.

Take a look at the rail map with the scenic routes in highlights. Bernina Express is in red; Glacier Express is in blue.

https://www.sbb.ch/content/dam/internet/sbb/en/freizeit-ferien/inspiration/internationale-gaeste/Geltungsbereich-Swiss-Travel-Pass.pdf.sbbdownload.pdf

Note that the Glacier Express goes from St. Moritz to Chur BEFORE it turns west to head to Zermatt. So the ride from St. M is longer. According to the Glacier Express schedule, the GE takes 8 hours to reach Zermatt from st. Moritz, but only 6 hours from Chur.

Where did you see 8 hours from St. Moritz?

I think you need to take a good look at the map, and the timetables.

https://tickets.rhb.ch/en/pages/bernina-express

Starting in Lugano, you will board the dedicated Bernina bus to Tirano, a 3- hour journey. You have an hour there before boarding the Bernina Express train, a 4-hour ride to Chur. That is an 8-hour journey that day.
And to the schedule online, the northbound BE does not stop in St. Moritz; it stops in Pontresina and then heads to Chur via Samedan.

So you are much better off continuing to Chur, to have a 6-hour journey the following day on the Glacier Express.

But if you don’t want to spend two successive days on long train rides (which I definitely would not), consider Balso’s suggestion to take a regular train from Lugano to Andermatt and picking up the Glacier Express there. You will have a minimum of 2 train changes on the way, usually at Bellinzona and Göschenen. That is a 2-hour journey, and if you meet the GE there it is another 3h 16 minutes to Zermatt. If you take a regular regional train, you will have a change at Visp, and it will make another 30 minutes or so.

That way you can do the journey from Lugano to Zermatt in one day if you want.

Lola perfectly described the first alternative option I had in mind.
For the second one, Lugano-Locarno-Domodossola-Brig-Zermatt, I am just listing the stations where you transfer. Travel time is 4h46, it is actually the fastest route that SBB gives you when you do a route search from Lugano to Zermatt. It is scenic between Locarno and Domodossola.

Balso.
So no overnight anywhere.

Just go direct ?

“Direct” in train language usually refers to a train that goes “directly” from Point A to Point B without any transfers. The two train routes between Lugano and Zermatt that Balso is suggesting do not go “direct”; there are 3 or 4 train changes along either one. You get off one train and board another. But they will get you to Zermatt in 5 hours or so, without an overnight stop along the way.

Lola.
Thank you so much.
Maybe we will do that instead of stopping.
I wanted to stop to see another place in Switzerland like chur or st moritz but it’s kind of wasting time because basically one night would really end up to be just a 1/2 day.

Lola.

But is this way a scenic route ? That’s one of the things we wanted to accomplish was one of the scenic trains rides.

There are two alternate routes suggested—-the one I outlined (Lugano—-Andermatt—Zermatt) and the one Balso described—-Lugano—-Locarno—-Domodossola—-Brig—-Zermatt.

Both are “scenic” but they are not the named Scenic Routes like Bernina Express or Glacier Express. They do not use the Bernina Express at all, because as you have seen that is a long journey, way off to the east, when you are trying to go west.

However, the Lugano—-Bellinzona—Göschenen—-Andermatt——Zermatt route I outlined uses the named Glacier Express, or regular trains on the exact same tracks, from Andermatt to Zermatt. This route also uses the scenic Treno Gottardo route from Bellinzona to Göschenen, where you transfer to Andermatt.

And the Lugano—-Locarno—-Domodossola route outlined by Balso uses the scenic Centovalli Railway from Locarno to Domodossola, then uses the Glacier Express tracks from Brig to Zermatt.

The Centovalli Railway is all about valleys, rivers, canyons and waterfalls, not alpine peaks.

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/experiences/vigezzina-centovalli-railway/

I am afraid you are going to have to compromise somewhere. You started with the idea of connecting the Bernina Express and the Glacier Express to go from Lugano to Zermatt, to get 2 scenic train rides. It appears that when you learned how long that journey would be, you developed doubts. But if your heart is set on the 2 scenic trains, it is best to overnight in Chur. Then you will have a ride of 8 hours the first day and 6 the second. That first day is long because you have to get from Lugano to Tirano to start the Bernina Express.

If that is too many hours on the bus and trains, then you will have to choose one of the other two routes. They will not be the entire famous named routes, but you will still get some portion. And there are still possibilities of an overnight someplace nice, like Andermatt, if you like.

But you also have to be comfortable with jumping off and on trains, as there are quite a few transfers en route. Sometimes it is nice to just sit back and enjoy the ride, without having to worry about the transfers.

Lola
Thank you so much. You seem very well versed. You must travel there a lot.
My plan was to go to Lugano , zermatt, wengen , and Lucern.
I know there are plenty of other places too but we only have 10 nights. Possibly 11 if we have too.
We wanted a scenic train ride and a possible stop over one night in another location like we discussed. It just got so complicated and very long days on a train.
So now I am in a big dilemma.
I appreciate all of your help.

Yes, you have to make some difficult choices for travel in Switzerland, as there are so many wonderful places to see. But it is all good, so try to focus on the ones you really want, not what other people tell you to see.

We took 4 trips to Switzerland, 2 weeks each, before we ever made it to Zermatt. And it wasn’t until our 6th trip that we rode the Bernina Express—-we were on our way to Italy so it fit in well with our trip to head to Varenna on Lake Como.

As for the Glacier Express, while we have ridden many sections of the route on regional trains as we traveled around Switzerland, we have never taken the actual Glacier Express train. There is lovely scenery; everywhere in the Swiss Alps, and I would rather experience it with my feet on the ground than by a long expensive train ride. (I must admit that some of our choices about travel in Switzerland have been driven by budget concerns).

Lola

So you must really love Switzerland to go 4 times for two weeks each time. You must have covered it all by now.
Was Zermatt worth the wait?
My husband is now saying maybe we should skip it. We are not guaranteed the weather for it. I was planning on spending one night if we go but since we will get there late I decided to spend two nights so at least it one full day and part of the first day. I thought it might be a nice town anyway even if we don't get a good view of the Matterhorn.
As far as the budget. I am also trying to keep the cost not too crazy as well.
So in the end, did you love Zermatt and did you love the Bernina Express?
Thanks again, as always for your input.

It would help if you gave us your current plan for the 10-11 days that you have.
Personally, I like Zermatt, so I would keep it. It is an expensive place to stay, but that is unfortunately not unusual in Switzerland. 2 nights would be perfect there.
The Bernina railway is beautiful, but then, Switzerland is full of scenic railways so... Any route will have you take a few of those.

I am sorry, but I cannot answer “is it worth it” questions. What is “worth it” to me may not apply to you.

We waited to visit Zermatt because we had plenty of hiking to do elsewhere, and we do like to return to some of our favorite places multiple times. Plus it is fairly expensive. So it wasn’t until a family trip for my 60th B-day that we included Zermatt, and we went in very early July before the high season prices started. And we found a very nice 2-bdr. apartment that was less expensive than hotels for our family of 6. We stayed 3 nights.

It was cool and rainy the day we arrived, and of course we did not see the Matterhorn, although we knew there was supposed to be a nice view right from our balcony when it is clear. (that turned out to be true, eventually).

The next day (Day 1 after arrival) it was still cloudy and rainy; the rain turned to snow as we hiked up toward Riffelberg, but we were dressed for that so we kept going to our planned turn-around point, and took the train back down to our apartment.

Day 2, , still cloudy, we rode the Gornergrat train to the end, with a plan to hike partway down. The clouds started to lift as we hiked, and we started to get peek-a-boo views of parts of the Matterhorn. For the rest of the day it was in and out, now you see it, now you don’t. But we did get some nice views right from our balcony.

Day 3 dawned bright and clear, and we had a whole day of hiking with a clear view of the Matterhorn against a blue sky. It truly is a beautiful mountain (and we have seen a number of beautiful mountains, such as Mt. Rainier from our own neighborhood, and Denali in Alaska).

Day 4 was our day to leave, and also the day of the Zermatt Marathon. It was clear and sunny again, so those runners had some beautiful views to distract them from their fatigue and pain. And enough heat to cause some consternation.

We have not been back to Zermatt, because we feel we saw and did all we wanted to on that trip. Also, my husband says it will never be that nice again, so we shouldn’t try. He says that about our rain-free week in Scotland too.

We enjoyed our one night stop in Chur more than we thought we would. Lovely old town village and scenic vineyard walks. Also loved Zermatt a lot! Did not stop or stay in St. Moritz. This was in Sept. 8 yrs ago.

All2

Thank you so much. Good to know.

Lola
You were in Zermatt long enough so you were fortunate to finally get a nice day. It sounds like even if it was cloudy it could still be a nice time in town.
Based on All2 who enjoyed Chur for one night still makes me think what to do. Decisions, decisions.....