Swiss Glacier Express vs. Bernina Express, then onto Lake Como, Milan, Italy..

If South Bay is San Jose and environs, there are 2 nonstops every day to Zurich (except just 1 on Thursday) from SFO. I'd go with that one. I don't think there are any nonstops to Geneva. You don't have to stay in Zurich at all, but get a train to a jumping off location right after you get off the plane.

That said, you could take a portion of the Glacier Express and the Bernina Express to get to the east shore of Lake Como (like Varenna). I'd suggest Spiez for the first stop to relax and recover from jet lag. Next morning take the train to Brig and get the Glacier Express and take it to St Moritz or Pontresina and spend the night. Next morning, take the Bernina Express to Tirano Italy, then change to a Trenord regional train to Varenna on Lake Como.

My parents did both on a trip in 2014, and preferred the scenery from the Bernina Express.
Fly in to Zurich, then by train to Chur (or St Moritz). The morning departure will enable you to connect in Tirano with a local train to Varenna, or the Bernina Express bus to Lugano. From Lugano its 30mins by local train to Como SG.
If you had time (and money) you could fly in to Geneva, make your way to Zermatt for the Glacier Express to St Moritz, then pick up the Bernina Express there.

Thank Sam, and djp_syd for the recommendations.

I think I have the plan to go now:

1. Will fly into Zurich,
2. Take the train from Zurich Airport to Chur.
3. Take Bernina Express to Tirano.
4. Take local train to Lake Como.

I follow Sam's advice to look at Bernia Express schedule, I only see one train per day, from Chur (9:58 AM), get to Tirano at 13:57 (4 hours 4 min.
http://timetable.sbb.ch/bin/query-p2w.exe/en?S=Chur&Z=Tirano&

Is it correct? Please help.

If it is the only Bernina Express train per day, should I spend a night in Zurich before going to Chur?

In summer months ...
2 daily departures from St Moritz
1 each from Chur and Davos
https://www.rhb.ch/en/panoramic-trains/bernina-express#info

Michael, Glacier Express route is East-West (or vice versa). Bernina Pass route is north-south. If you want to end up in Italy, that is the one to go for (look at a map).
Zürich is the airport which will give you the shortest run to the starting point (Chur), so go for that if you have a choice.
Do not stay overnight in Zürich, go direct from the airport to Chur and overnight there.

It is not true that there are only two trains per day on the Bernina Pass route. All Swiss rail routes run at least one train per hour. The Bernina Express is an extra limited stop tourist train, but you can get any of the hourly trains, you will see the same mountains out of the window. All the trains are listed on the SBB website: http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

From Tirano, you can get a train to Milan. If you want to stop of at Lake Come, you have to decide where on Lake Como. The train from Tirano to Milan runs along the east side of the lake (again, look at a map which shows rail lines). You either pick a location where the train runs, or cross over on a ferry to the west side of the lake, or get a bus down the west side of the lake. You need to decide where.

When I look at the schedule for tomorrow, (8/18) there is one direct train marked BEX (Bernina Express) departing at 8:32 am, arrive Tirano at 12:45 pm taking 4 hours and 13 minutes. As David pointed out, there is also a BEX train leaving from Davos at 9:53 am. To get that one from Chur, you need to take a connecting train that leaves Chur at 8:58 and connects with it at Filisur at 10:16 am. There is also a BEX train leaving St Moritz at 3:12 pm. To get that one, take the connecting train from Chur at 12:58 pm

All the BEX trains have panorama cars, but there are other trains plying these tracks at least once per hour. Some people prefer them as you can open the windows for better photographs. They also don't charge the Bernina Express reservation fee.

Since this is for next summer, remember there will be 2 schedule adjustments between now and then. They usually don't change much, if at all, but something to keep an eye out for.

Edit - and rather than spend your arrival night in Zurich, spend it in Chur. You can easily get trains from Zurich airport to Chur after changing trains at Zurich Hbf.

Hi All,

Thank you very much for your help.

Any suggestion where should we stay overnight for Lake Com, before we leave for Milan, and Cinque Terra?

Thank you.