Need help? Email the Man in Seat Sixty-One! What is the Bernina Express? It's perhaps the most scenic Alpine train ride train of all - although the Glacier Express competes for the title - and a personal favourite. You can ride it all year round, a completely different experience through Alpine snows in winter and through sunny green meadows in summer. So you should probably ride it more than once! What's the Bernina Express train like?
What's the Bernina Express journey like? Timetable How much does it cost? How to buy tickets. How to make a reservation. Using a Eurail, Interrail or Swiss Pass. Route map. Watch the video. Train travel in Switzerland - a beginner's guide. Train travel to Switzerland from other European cities. The Glacier Express Switzerland's other great scenic train.
Europe by train general information. The Bernina Express at Tirano. Larger photo. Bernina Express panoramic carriages. Refreshment trolley with cuddly ibex. Baggage area with open window. The Bernina Express is hauled by an Allegra unit with unreserved seats. Allegras also operate the hourly local trains. What's the journey like? A ride on the Bernina Express is a 4-hour, km 90 mile journey between icy Switzerland and sunny Italy, through 55 tunnels and bridges, with Alpine gradients as steep as 1 in 7, on a railway built in and now declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Its highest point is at Ospizio Bernina, a whopping 2, metres 7, feet above sea level. Here I'll describe a northbound journey from Milan Centrale to Zurich, the scenery is of course exactly the same in the other direction. Regional trains run by Trenord link Milan Centrale and Tirano every hour or two, no reservation necessary, just turn up, buy a ticket and hop on. Above right, 2nd class seats. Make sure you have a look around Milan Centrale , an attraction in its own right, can you spot Mussolini?
It's a pretty ride as the train speeds along Lake Como towards the mountains. Soon after leaving Tirano station, the Bernina Express starts running through the streets, pictured above right. Cars are held at traffic lights to let it pass. The train climbs up the valley out of Tirano above left and uses the famous Brusio Spiral to gain height above right. On the Brusio Spiral.
