We will arrive in Tirano on Oct 14 at 9:52am. We really want to be sure the 3 of us can sit together, so whatever advice you can give to get us to that goal would be appreciated.
1) Is it better to try for the 10am regional train, which may be full by the time we walk over, or to wait for the 11am regional train.
2) We were thinking of upgrading to 1st class tickets, but not sure if that is necessary
3) Also - are there panoramic cars on both the 10 and 11am regional trains?
Thank you!
The 10 am itinerary starts with a bus. There is a 10:06 Bernina Express train, and you need to buy seat reservations to sit in the panoramic cars. It it only goes as far as St Moritz where you change to a regional train. The 11 am train is a regional train. There are not panoramic cars on the regional trains, but on both, the leg from St Moritz to Chur have cars with windows that open for photography.
The SBB site shows very light expected loading on these trains. I would expect you would not have any trouble finding seats together. The tourists will all be packed in the panorama cars on the Bernina Express train.
Thank you. I am confused about one thing regarding sbb shosing two 11:00am trains:
1) one route stops at Le Prese, and there is a BUS connection to Samedan.
2) the other train stops at Pontresina & Samedan, but the whole route to Chur isby train.
Since both of the 11am trains showing leaving Tirano from Platform 3, and both say "RE9" and "1644" on the sbb site, I am wondering if these are just one train. And since Pontresina stop comes before Le Prese, perhaps we just get off in Pontresina (in other words, the train doesn't end there)
Is this correct? I just want to be sure I get on the right train!
Thanks again.
Yes, the 11:00 am is the same train. It just shows two alternate routes to get to Chur. The train actually goes to St Moritz.
The itinerary that changes to a bus at La Prese takes a different route to Chur. It uses the long Vereina Tunnel to Landquart, then a short train ride to Chur. You probably do not want to use that route. The second takes a short cut bypassing St Moritz by taking a train from Pontresina to Samedan, then the train to Chur. This is the classic route using the Albula Railway with many loops and short spiral tunnels. It also passes over the famous Landwasser Viaduct you have probably seen on a thousand Swiss travel posters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landwasser_Viaduct#/media/File:RhB_Ge_4-4_III_UNESCO_Weltkulturerbe_auf_Landwasserviadukt.jpg
Thank you so much. All clear now!
