Bernina Express

Thomas, a clerk at the Swiss Travel Office at the main train station told us that the Bernina Express is his absolutely favorite train ride in all of Europe.  With a recommendation like that, we immediately bought tickets.  The Bernina Express is a train connecting Chur in Switzerland to Poschiavo  (Switzerland) and Tirano in Italy by crossing the Swiss Engadin Alps.  This route is so special that part of the railway line is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  It runs along 122 km. of track passing through 55 tunnels and over 196 bridges and viaducts.  The train ends in Tirano and an option (which we did) is to continue with the Bernina Express bus to Lugano. Here's the train and bus route:


We started at the main train station in Zurich at 6:37am and after an hour reached Chur (pronounced Coor) where we boarded the Bernina Express train.  We had assigned 2nd class seats and the train had specially designed windows for viewing the scenery.  The tourist train included occasional recorded explanations in German, French and English of what we were seeing   The track snaked along the valleys and into the Alps.  We passed massive mountains, surging rivers and glaciers.  Every turn was a picture postcard!

 Beautiful valleys and castles...


 Interesting geology

Can you see tram going to the building (not us!)

Clouds and glacier

After about 3 hours we reached the summit of Ospizio Bernina at 2,253 meters and then started our  descent.  We had our first break at Alp Grum (2091 meters) and got off the train for a quick 15 minutes to see the view.  Incredible!!!

At Alp Grum

On the descent, the sun came out and we passed awe-inspiring views.

 Beautiful craggy mounts above the tree line



Hills with terraced crops.

We snaked down the hills passing through the picturesque town of Poschiavo in the canton of Graubünden where they speak Romansh.  About 60,000 speak it, one of four official languages in Switzerland.  The other three are German (and Swiss German) 63%, French 23% and Italian (8%).

Poschiavo

Sign in German, Italian and Romansh 

One highlight was going over the famous circular viaduct of Brusio.



We eventually reached Tirano, a small town in Italy next to the Swiss border.  We had an hour and a half break and walked around this charming place.  Coincidentally, Miles' colleague at ETH, Edo Mazza, grew up in Tirano.  (We wanted to go by his house and take a picture, but we didn't have time.)

Bella Italia!

Madonna di Tirano church

We then boarded the Bernina Express Bus which drove us for 2 hours through incredible valleys, along Lake Como in Italy to Lugano in Switzerland (criss-crossing in and out of Switzerland and Italy is a kick!)

 View of Lake Como from the train

At a break on the bus trip, we spotted this beautiful stone house.



We arrived in Lugano at about 5:30pm.  It was a pleasure to be out of the seats on the train and bus, walking around the beautiful lake and having dinner.

View of Lake Lugano from the train station

 Me walking along the pretty street

On a walk at the lake shore after dinner

 Miles adjusting to standing!

 Lake Lugano

We took the fast train (2 hours via the Gotthard Tunnel) back to Zurich and arrived about 10pm--a long but MAGNIFICENT adventure.   Thanks, Thomas!














Comments

  1. LeeAugust 22, 2017 at 11:00 AM


    Holy Wow!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Miri and LarryNovember 9, 2017 at 9:55 PM

    What a full day! We admire your stamina. You certainly covered a lot of spectacular territory.
    Lugano is charming. It looks like you are on the lakeside walk to the tiny village of Gandria.
    Beautiful photos as always.

    ReplyDelete

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