Hello!
My husband would like to take the Bernina Express from Chur to Lugano (so part bus as well as train), but I have major problems with heights. Would this be a bad idea for me?
Thanks for any input you can give!
Teresa
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
For most of the trip you are looking across valleys at mountains, not a sheer drop at the side of the train. Example (photo): https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/RhB_ABe_4-4_III_mit_Bernina-Express_am_Lago_Bianco.jpg
But there are some sections where the drop on one side is steep- The most spectacular is the famous Landwasser viaduct (photo): https://www.amazingplacesonearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Landwasserviadukt-Graub%C3%BCnden-Switzerland.jpg
Can you handle that?
BTW the Bernina Line runs from Chur to Tirano. From Tirano there is a daily connecting bus to Lugano, or regular Italian trains to Lake Como and Milan.
Posted by
Florida
1450 posts
Double up on your meds and you'll be fine.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you for your reply -- that is very helpful. Much appreciated!!
Posted by
Medford, OR, USA
5837 posts
Pick an aisle seat and look outward and upward rather than downward.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10621 posts
As a fellow acrophobic, I feel your pain, but I decided years ago that I'd miss out on too much in this world if I gave into it. So just go for it. Look out not down as others said. Force yourself to think happy thoughts and put fearful ones out of your mind the moment they enter and before you know it, you'll be better in some situations. Hopefully for trains, mountain lifts, tops of canyons, you can reduce the fear little by little as you do it.
Posted by
Missouri, USA and Essex, UK.
1043 posts
I second Bets comment. My fears have improved with age and more exposure. I have actually overcome a lot of my fear of heights in recent years. Switzerland does not really make me fear so much anymore. I know their engineering is well maintained and there is something about the beauty of Switzerlands that keeps me at ease. I even did the Skyline walk at Birg (Schilthorn). My biggest fear of heights are in tall buildings - Like the Eiffel Tower or the Rockefeller top of the Rock in NYC. - I just wont go to the top and look across the skyline. I wont even go up the St. Louis Arch in my neighborhood. But you just cant miss the Bernina Express. Its just feels different to me and it was not fearful at all.
margaret
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Margaret and Bets, thanks also for your kind reply! I love your attitude, and I agree I don't want this fear to stop me from enjoying the many things life has to offer...so I'm going for it! Again, thank you for your support!
Teresa