Bernina Express(Bernina Express) – A Train Journey to the Depths of the Alps
Bernina Express, or Bernina Express, with its original name, last November, about 4 months ago, ‘The most beautiful train journeys in the world‘, a photo of a train ride caught our eye! Literally a crimson train on a viaduct, amongst the ‘snowy mountains’! What was this train, and what was the Bernina Train, when we were wondering, it turned out that that train was actually very close to us than we thought! We knew at that moment that we would make that train journey as soon as possible.. ☺
When is the Bernina Express trip, How long is the Bernina Express trip, What is the ideal timing for the Bernina Express While we were looking for answers to our questions, ‘Rhaetian Railway RHB‘ said that she wanted to sponsor this trip, so we booked our tickets for February!
From Switzerland to Italy, through tunnels and viaducts to the slopes of the Alps The Bernina Express train ride, which climbs and sometimes takes you to 2000 meters, we can safely say that it was the most beautiful journey we have ever made.. It must be understood that we wrote this article not even a week after the trip! ☺
When to board the Bernina Express train, how to board, Bernina Express route and Bernina Express cost we will talk about all of them in turn.
Bernina Express Train Route
Even though the name of the train is Bernina Express, we have to say that this train is one of the slowest trains in the world and it only travels at 45km/h.. What makes the Bernina journey so special is the Alpine landscapes between the first stop Chur town in Switzerland and the last stop Tirano town in Italy.. Enjoying the slow train passing through viaducts and tunnels.
The route of the Bernina train we were saying; Bernina has one main route, two seasonal routes, and an additional summer-specific bus route.. Our route, which is open all year, starts from Chur town in Switzerland and ends in Tirano town of Italy and this route takes about 4 hours.
From February 21 to April 21, and between April 21 to October 31, you can continue your journey with the Bernina bus from the train you got off in Tirano.. The Bernina bus goes from Tirano to Lugano and takes about 3 hours.
And between the months of May – October the Bernina Train has to serve Davos and St.. There are versions that take off from Moritz. In other words, it is possible to do the following routes in May – October;
– Davos – Tirano – Davos
– St.. Moritz – Tirano – St.. Moritz
Our Bernina Express train route was Chur – Tirano – Chur and instead of doing one way, we spread the journey over two days and the second day we returned to Chur by train. We were very pleased with our work, we certainly did not get bored of doing the same road again the next day.. The train from Chur to Tirano departs at half past 8 in the morning and arrives in Tirano at 1 in the afternoon.. On the way back, the train departs from Tirano at 1:30 and you arrive in Chur by 6 pm.. If possible, we can confidently recommend that you do your Bernina route this way. If you are going to do one way and it is winter time, we recommend you to take the Chur – Tirano direction.. So you can watch the whole journey in daylight.. We will even propose a better idea now.
Bernina Express Alternative Train Options
Local trains to the same line instead of Bernina Express;
Of course, only on this route There is no Bernina Express, because there are also locals that go to and from the regular local lines. Instead of Bernina Express, they use local trains going to the same line.
These local trains go slowly, just like the Bernina Train, and even they are red on the outside! The only difference from Bernina Express is that instead of Bernina’s non-opening panoramic windows, these local trains have windows of normal width that can be opened.. In other words, the panoramic view from Bernina is gone, replaced by windows that you can hang outside! Of course, while you can book a seat in Bernina, it is not possible to book these local trains.. You sit wherever you find it.
Finally, the Bernina Train goes directly between Chur and Tirano, you can go by local trains in 2 transfers.. First from Chur to Samedan, transfer in Samedan to Pontresina, and from Pontresina to Tirano. Don’t be afraid when you write like this. You get on right where you got off.. You can see all the details at this link.
Bernina Express or Local Trains?
We are undecided if you say whether it is Bernina Express or local trains! The beauty of both is different; While Bernina offers a more atmospheric environment, local trains make you feel like you are on a Sri Lankan train with their windows opened.. We can say that the most ideal aspect is to take Bernina and return with local trains.
Which Side Has the Most Beautiful Views on the Bernina Express?
We almost forgot! The whole view is on the right on the way from Chur to Tirano, and on the left on the way back from Tirano to Chur.
Getting to the Bernina Express
How to Plan the Bernina Express Route?
How to reach the Bernina Express and Bernina How to plan the express route let’s talk a little bit about it. If you are flying from Turkey, you can fly to Zurich and then take the train to Chur.. It takes about 1.5 hours by train from Chur to Zurich and a one-way train ticket costs around 36 Euros.
Bernina train You can come to Chur the night before and stay in Chur the night before, since it leaves Chur at around half past 8 am, we did that. We loved ‘Romantic Hotel Stern‘ where we stayed in Chur!
Accommodation and Places to Visit in Chur
There are not many places to visit in Chur by the way , but if you have time we can suggest you to take a tour of the old city and then take a break at the coffee shop Emma. And Chur is quite expensive, the remedy is shopping at the supermarket before the trip.
Accommodation and Places to Visit in Tirano
When you arrive in Tirano, if you arrive in Tirano the next day, Bernina will again If you are going to return by express, we can recommend the ‘Bernina Express Rooms & Breakfast‘ hotel for accommodation.. For dinner in Tirano, you can try the ‘Restaurant Bistro Merizzi‘ right next to it.. And if you have breakfast at ‘Caffe Novecento‘ in the morning, it is okay, there is nothing else to do in the city anyway! ☺ No, unfortunately it’s not a joke; we who are lovers of Italy, really Tirano is a city built entirely for the commute of the Bernina Express. The biggest plus is that it’s cheap, especially after Chur!
And if you’re going to make a reservation for the trip on Booking.com, you can do it viathis link, You can get 15 Euros back when you stay
We will say that if you are going to take Bernina one way from Chur to Tirano and then you are done with the train, the most logical thing is to take the train from Tirano to Milan.. Tirano – Milan takes about 2.5 hours and a one-way ticket is 12 Euros. If you want to go to another place from Tirano, you can look for public transportation alternatives from Goeuro.
Guided Bernina Express tours
from Milan and arranged to be round-trip There is strong>, but we do not know the details very well, if you are interested, Uncle Google will definitely tell you more.
Bernina Express budget As for the budget part;
Bernina Express Trip Cost – Bernina Express Ticket Prices;
Bernina train one way ticket price 56 Euros. If you want to reserve a certain seat number, you pay an additional 9 Euros.
Here we will talk about a footnote, or rather a ‘bug’ we found by chance.. If you are coming to Chur from any city in Germany. For example, if you are coming from Munich, and you look at the train tickets on www.bahn.de/en, you will see that the Munich – Tirano ticket with a connecting Chur is reduced to 30 Euros.. In this case, you go from Munich to Chur by local train and transfer from Chur to Bernina and the ticket price is halved.. This is true for most cities in Germany.
If you choose local trains instead of Bernina Train, ticket price gets cheaper. You can find tickets to the Chur – Tirano route, which we mentioned above, for 28 Euros one way.. You can check local train tickets on this site.. To summarize, we can say that local trains are half the price of Bernina.
Eating and Drinking on the Bernina Express Train
Finally, let’s talk about eating and drinking. In fact, we have only one comment on this subject; Eating and drinking in Switzerland is very expensive! As a result, the food and beverage options inside the train are also very expensive! So throw a donut, a pastry in your bag and take your water with you.. The price of a bottle of water on the train was 7 Euros.
When is the Bernina Express taken?
We can also ask the question, When is the ideal time for the Bernina Express route? We think the answer to this question depends on tastes.. We went the first week of February and our entire trip was white, but white!
We passed through viaducts and bridges, it was white. Trees, houses were under the snow. When the train stopped at the intermediate stops, everywhere was under snow and we love this view! Seeing snowy landscapes relaxes us and gives us peace.. So we are very happy that we did it in winter time. That’s why for us the best time to use the Bernina Express =winter.
The Risks of Going on the Bernina Express Route in Winter
On the other hand, Bernina Train There are risks in planning your route in winter time, for example, if it snows heavily, the train has to stop halfway through and you either turn back or continue on the road with local trains.. Our Chur to Tirano train had to stop at the Samedan stop, that is, at an altitude of about 1600 meters, because there was a snowstorm a little further, at 2000 meters, and in such cases, trains immediately is canceling. They said go back to Chur or wait a few hours, maybe if the road opens, you can continue with local trains.. Most people went back and forth, and for those people, the trip was frankly a disappointment.. We were the crew that took the risk and waited, and a few hours later, the road cleared announcement came! Thus, we continued the rest of the way with a local train that took us from the stop we were waiting for.
Other beautiful seasons for the Bernina Express are definitely spring months and especially autumn
I can never come to such excitements or I will come with a child / baby. If you say so, we suggest that you come in other seasons.. Especially if you come in the spring, you will experience the four seasons throughout the journey.. As you go higher, the Alps will be covered with snow, but as the train descends towards Tirano, you will see flowers blooming on the slopes of the mountains.. The pleasure of this season’s richness should also be different… ☺
Brief short about Bernina Express;
Beautiful Tips for Taking Pictures in Bernina Express
1- The windows inside the wagon in Bernina Express do not open, but there is a small window that opens in the tiny section between the two wagons. We took all our landscape photos from that window.. Right across the toilets.
2- If you’re going to reserve a seat, the rearmost wagons are the best.
3- As we’ve said before. as; The right side between Chur and Tirano, the left side between Tirano and Chur have a partially better view (of course, all sides are beautiful, but there are slight differences)
We can actually travel a lot by train, thanks to the geography we live in. Bernina Express was by far the best train experience we’ve ever had. Yes, it is a bit expensive for the train journey, Switzerland is a bit expensive, food and beverage is expensive, but believe me, it’s worth it.. The important thing is not the destination, but the journey itself, as if they said the sentence about the Bernina Express journey.. After returning home, you will be looking at other train routes and dreaming like us!
If you go to Milan from Tirano; Milan Travel Guide we leave our article here.
Have a nice trip everyone!
With love.
We are also on Instagram and Youtube we are here and waiting.
https://www.instagram.com/yoldabiblog/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu0dBCi8o1nzfSLheiXSlhQ
