My husband and are travelling to London from Milan and have the time to take the Bernina Express through Switzerland to Zurich with one or possibly two stopovers along the way.
Can anyone recommend some pretty Swiss towns to stopover at along the way, to break up the 10 hour journey? We would prefer not to stray too far off the Bernina Route by boarding other trains, if possible but if there is a really great "must do" alternative we are open to it!
Thanking you in advance.
Lots of good places fit those criteria. I'll speak only Switzerland (italy has some incredibly cool places too). A few that come to mind: Poschiavo and Zouz. The former is right on the language barrier between Italian Graubunden and Romansch/German speaking Graubunden. It definitely has an italian flair and is a nice town in its own right. One suggestion: ride the train (a portion of the Bernina Express) up to Alp Grum and have dinner in the restaurant. Its accessible only via train or hiking and has a spectacular view of a glacier on one side and Poschiavo/Italy on the other (the food is pretty darn good too!) You could also theoretically spend the night (they rent rooms upstairs as I recall) and go onwards the following morning. Another option is Zuoz (you'll have to change at either Pontresina or Samedan to get to it). Its a cute little, semi untouristy town a few stops down the Inn valley. The houses are very characteristic of the region and you'll see them hardly anywhere else outside of that region.
Another tip: don't take the actual Bernina or Glacier express - take a local train. For the why, look at some of my previous posts (https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/to-the-west/glacier-express-zermatt-to-pontresina-in-1-day). I used to live down the valley from Zouz and I've taken many trains in that area. Trust me!
