72625 posts
Hi Swissty and welcome to MySwissAlps!
Take a look at our timetable page and you will be able to enter your routes and dates and find pricing.
You would take the regional train from Basel to Chur and then the Bernina Express on to Tirano. You need to search for each route separately. You want to select the train labelled BEX is ensure you are on the panoramic train. The other trains listed are standard regional train.
We have a page that explains how to choose the best Swiss rail passes that are available and may be worthwhile for you to purchase (such as the Swiss Travel Pass) depending on how much train travel you are doing while in Switzerland.
Chur is not too exciting of a town and I wouldn’t worry about trying to overnight there to see the town.
Let me know if you still have any trouble,
Lucas
72625 posts
Thanks so much Lucas – I’ll have a look at those passes now / I’m only there a week so not sure if I’ll be using the train that often to justify. I wanted to stay somewhere in Switzerland along a route for 2 days and somewhere on lake Italy for 2 days as flying out of Milan- I see outside of the panoramic train there is some other routes I can take to make my way down- is it worth getting the panoramic if it’s more reasonable to take regional trains ? For example if I was to go through the artGoldau? Do you have any villages in the mountains you could recommend along the way to stay ? Something scenic and old fashioned ? Thanks
15484 posts
Hi Swissty,
Lucerne is a really nice town on a lake with endless options for days trips. St. Moritz is also en route and amidst wonderful mountains and also on a (small) lake.
Scenic trains all cover routes that can also be done using regional trains. It’s up to you what suits your plans best, and whether you mind changing trains a few more times, which is often required when taking the regional trains (not a big deal though). Our scenic train pages explain all about it.
If you’re in Switzerland for multiple days it’s unlikely you would not save money with a rail pass. Rail passes are actually public transport passes, so boat trips and cableway trips will be discounted or free as well. The Swiss Travel Pass mentioned by Lucas even includes museums. Once you have an itinerary you can have a look at the options, include the “how to choose” page Lucas linked to.