I am trying to decide if the Bernina Express is a must do. I am going to be spending time in Mürren and Berne, are my views there similar and just as spectacular? Is an 8 hour train journey from Milan to Berne via the Express really worth it? it seems like a long day if I will be getting more of the same views in Mürren. However, if it is totally different I’m all in. Anyone with experience care to chime in?
Posted by
Green Bay
20094 posts
Yes, it a bit out of the way from the Berner Oberland. It is not so much the views, it is how the train travels up over the mountains instead of under them, at least between Tirano and St Moritz. There is a tunnel between St Moritz and Chur, but then a series of loops and spiral tunnels and stone viaducts, the most famous is the Landwasser Viaduct that is on all the Swiss travel posters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landwasser_Viaduct#/media/File:RhB_Ge_4-4_III_UNESCO_Weltkulturerbe_auf_Landwasserviadukt.jpg
If you want to take a scenic train from Milan to Muerren, you can take the "Loetschberger" between Brig and Spiez that uses a more scenic old route that goes partially over the mountains and the old Loetschberg Tunnel. The standard way uses a new "Base" Tunnel that bores completely under the mountains. To travel this, use the trip planner at www.sbb.ch/en and put in start point of Milano Centrale, end point of Muerren, date, time of departure, and via "Kandersteg". Takes a little longer the the standard route, but more scenery
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32212 posts
Kathi,
The Bernina Express has a lot of beautiful scenery and is a UNESCO World Heritage site, so I think it's worth a trip. You can travel that route by regular trains as well as the panoramic BE cars. The panoramic cars only go once a day in each direction AFAIK and as I recall that leaves Tirano at about 13:00, arriving in Chur about supper time. The easiest solution I've found is to spend the night in Chur and then continue on to the Berner Oberland the next day, as it's only about a 2H:20M trip from Chur.
Posted by
Missouri, USA and Essex, UK.
991 posts
Kathi
I have been to Switzerland several times over the years but this summer was my first trip on the Bernina Express (after we had visited Murren and Lake Como). We had a Swiss Travel pass and boarded the train at Tirano. We opted to take the regular train - you can can pull down the windows for some great photos rather than have a glare from the panorama carriages. The journey is just breathtakingly beautiful. Next time I go to Switzerland this will be on my itinerary. I want to stop in the area and ride the train all over again. Yes its worth it. You still have snow capped mountains and many lakes but its different. The architecture is certainly different (see Engadine villages). Its worth spending a couple of days along the route to stop and take it all in.
Margaret