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A UNESCO Journey Through the Alps

The Bernina Express carries passengers across one of the most dramatic railway lines ever built — a route so remarkable that UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in 2008, jointly with the Albula line. Starting from Chur or St. Moritz in the Swiss Alps and ending in Tirano on the Italian side of the mountains, the train descends more than 2,000 metres in elevation over roughly 145 kilometres, crossing from permanent snow and ice to palm trees and Mediterranean vineyards without a single long tunnel. No other railway journey in the Alps achieves this vertical transition so completely.

The Route: Chur or St. Moritz to Tirano

There are two options for the starting point. Passengers coming from Zurich typically board at Chur, the oldest town in Switzerland, where the Rhaetian Railway connects to the Bernina line via the Albula tunnel and the celebrated Albula valley. Those combining with the Glacier Express start from St. Moritz, where the Bernina Express departs from the same station.

The Bernina Pass summit at 2,253 metres is the highest point on a standard-gauge railway in the Alps, and the train crosses it in the open air — there is no summit tunnel. The crossing takes place near the Ospizio Bernina station, where in winter the landscape is one of complete Arctic whiteness. Ice fields and frozen lakes surround the track, the nearest habitation is kilometres away, and the silence broken only by the train is total. From here the descent to Tirano covers 1,800 metres of altitude in just 60 kilometres — a gradient so dramatic it required extraordinary engineering solutions at every stage of the line's construction between 1906 and 1910.

The Brusio Circular Viaduct

Near Brusio in the Italian-speaking Swiss canton of Graubünden, the train crosses the famous Brusio Circular Viaduct — a 360-degree open loop that allows the railway to descend within a tight radius without requiring a tunnel. Passengers can look out and see their own train completing the circle above or below them. This structure is one of the defining images of the Bernina Express and one of the most unusual railway engineering solutions in the world.

Uniquely for a curve of this tight radius, the loop is entirely in the open air, winding through vineyards and meadows rather than cut through a hillside. The train slows noticeably as it navigates the loop, giving passengers time to understand the geometry and compose photographs from either window. The nine-arch viaduct is freely visible from public footpaths, and some photographers choose to watch trains pass from the hillside above rather than riding through it — though the view from inside the curve is equally compelling.

The Landwasser Viaduct on the Albula Section

For passengers taking the Chur-to-Tirano route via the Albula line, the journey includes a crossing of the Landwasser Viaduct — one of the most photographed railway structures in the world. The curved six-arch limestone viaduct, built in 1902, sweeps around a bend before disappearing directly into a cliff-face tunnel. Its construction without scaffolding using a cantilever method remains an engineering legend: the masons worked from a wooden derrick mounted on the arch itself, moving it forward as each successive arch was completed in just 18 months.

This viaduct is shared with the Glacier Express route, though the two trains travel on different sections of the wider Rhaetian Railway network and taking both is entirely practical over two days with a St. Moritz overnight.

The Connecting Bus to Lugano

The Bernina Express terminates at Tirano in northern Italy, not at Lugano. However, a connecting panoramic bus service links Tirano to Lugano via Lake Como. The journey takes approximately 2.5 to 3 hours and is included in the Bernina Express Bus ticket, offering views of Lake Como, the town of Como itself, and the Lombardy lakeside landscape before arriving in Swiss-Italian Lugano.

From Lugano, Italian Trenitalia trains connect to Milan in under 90 minutes. This combined journey — Zurich to Milan via the Bernina Express and bus — is one of the great alternative Alpine crossings, a scenic rival to the faster but less dramatic direct route through the Gotthard Base Tunnel. Seats on the bus are limited and sell out in July and August, so book the combined package through the Rhaetian Railway website well in advance.

Panoramic Cars: First and Second Class

The Bernina Express operates panoramic cars with large wraparound windows on the Chur/St. Moritz to Tirano section. Both first and second class offer the same panoramic windows — the primary differences are seat width and the inclusion of a complimentary audio commentary in first class during peak season.

Outside of the branded Bernina Express service (which runs twice daily in each direction during summer), ordinary regional trains use the same tracks. These trains do not have panoramic cars but are cheaper, require no reservation, and offer the same views through standard windows. Experienced rail travellers often take the regional train in one direction to save the reservation fee while still experiencing the complete route.

Booking Your Bernina Express Ticket

Reservations are compulsory on the branded Bernina Express service. As of 2026, the reservation fee is CHF 14 per person on top of the base fare. The Swiss Travel Pass and Eurail/Interrail passes cover the fare portion; the reservation fee must always be paid separately.

The Chur-to-Tirano journey takes approximately 4 hours; St. Moritz to Tirano is around 2.5 hours. Book through the SBB website, the SBB app, or directly through the Rhaetian Railway (RhB). Book at least 4 to 6 weeks ahead for summer travel — the branded service sells out significantly faster than the general timetable would suggest.

Best Seats and Photography

The Brusio Circular Viaduct is on the left side of the train travelling southbound toward Tirano. For the Landwasser Viaduct on the Albula section, sit on the left side travelling east from Chur toward St. Moritz, or on the right side when travelling westbound toward Chur.

Windows on the panoramic cars are large but fixed. Photography through glass benefits from positioning the lens close to the glass to reduce reflections. The descent into the Val Poschiavo is spectacular in autumn when vineyards turn gold, and the Bernina Pass summit is most dramatic in early spring when snow still covers the plateau while the lower valleys are already green.

For photographers who want a trackside shot of the Brusio loop, a short walk from Brusio station reaches the hillside above the viaduct. From here you can photograph the entire 360-degree curve with the train visible on multiple levels simultaneously — an image impossible to achieve from inside.

Combining with the Glacier Express

The most popular two-day Swiss rail itinerary pairs the Glacier Express with the Bernina Express. Day one: Zermatt to St. Moritz on the Glacier Express (8 hours). Day two: St. Moritz to Tirano on the Bernina Express (2.5 hours), then bus to Lugano and onward to Italy. The two reservation fees total roughly CHF 47 — a modest addition to one of the world's great paired rail experiences. A Swiss Travel Pass covering both days handles the base fares for the entire Swiss portion.