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Riding the Bernina Express in stages?

I am trying to determine if you can travel on the Bernina Express in stages. We plan to go from Chur to St. Moritz, the first day; then continue on to Lugano two days later. Is it possible to reserve seats on the BEX for separate days? In addition, does anyone know how often the BEX runs each day?

Thanks

Posted by
19644 posts

Yes, all you have to do is pay for the reservation and buy the ticket each day. Summer, I believe there are 3 a day, but only 1 that begins in Chur, and only 1 that connects to the bus from Tirano to Lugano.

Posted by
16028 posts

You can book the segments separately on the RHB website, choosing the start and end points.

https://www.rhb.ch/en/panoramic-trains/bernina-express

However, I could not get it to show Chur to St. Moritz. It did offer St. Moritz to Lugano. If you find the same thing, just take a regular regional train from Chur to St. Moritz. No reservations necessary. You will still pass over the famed Landwasser Viaduct.

Posted by
8889 posts

There is a regular train on this route every hour (there is a regular train on every Swiss rail route every hour!). The named Bernina Express is an extra train and is the only train that needs reservations. You see the same mountains through the windows of all the trains.
So yes, you can go to any station along the route (and any station in Switzerland), and there will be a train in either direction within 60 minutes, no reservations needed.
You can look up train times on the Swiss Railways website: https://www.sbb.ch/en

The Bernina Route runs from Chur - via and lots of other places to Tirano.
The Bernina Express doesn't actually go via St Moritz, it goes via nearby Pontresina, so if you are going to or from St Moritz you will need to get a normal train for at least part of your route.

From Tirano you can get a train to Milan (only once every 2 hours, it is an Italian train so Swiss rules don't apply).
Or you can get a bus to Lugano. this is a bus and only runs once per day:

Tirano, Stazione, depart 14:20
Lugano, Stazione, arrive 17:30