Travel Switzerland to Italy via Bernina Express

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    17 February 2017 at 2:21:57 #810831

    My husband and I love independent travel & have travelled extensively. Our plan is to travel in September & begin in Austria, then take a train from Salzburg to Murren to stay 3 nights. I was there in the late 1980’s & loved this area. My husband very much wants to see the Matterhorn, so I planned to take the train from Murren to Zermatt and stay 1-2 nights. The next leg of our journey is perplexing & I need help! My hope is to take the Glacier Express from Zermatt to Chur, then hop on the Bernina Express into Tirano. My understanding is the Glacier Express is a 7-8 hour trip from Zermatt to Chur & the Bernina Express is a 4-5 hour trip to Tirano. I realize this is all day on a train, but this doesn’t bother us…the scenery will be worth it, I’m sure! If we do this, I believe we’ll arrive too late to Tirano to catch a train that evening for a 5 hr trip to Venice (our next destination). I wondered if the only way to make this work would be to overnight somewhere in-between. If this was necessary, I’d prefer to stay somewhere near Pontresnia or St. Moritz for one night before heading to Tirano, then Venice. But, if someone has a better plan, I’d love to know about it! Should we skip the Glacier Express & find a fast train from Zermatt to Chur, then do the Bernina? If this is even possible, could we still catch the last train out of Tirano to Venice (I think it leaves at 1700). My other question is, if we split the Bernina Express & spend one night along the way, can our ticket be used to continue the trip the following day? Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated.

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    17 February 2017 at 15:18:23 #859068

    HI Travelbarbi,

    I don’t believe it is possible to do both the Glacier Express and Bernina Express trains on the same day – it would require an overnight in Chur as they both leave in the morning typically. Both are about 5 to 5,5 hours in length.

    Take a look at the Swiss railway timetable here to type in your travel dates and destinations to see the schedule. When looking at the schedule, the train you want to travel on is either labelled GEX or BEX.

    If you overnight in Chur that alleviates your issue of connecting on to Venice as well.

    Read through our pages on the express trains as well to find more details on these trips – I linked them above.

    Regards,
    Lucas

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    18 February 2017 at 0:39:45 #859069

    Thank you for your response. I’ve been looking at the train schedules & that was what I figured. I hoped someone on this site knew of a better way to do this that I wasn’t seeing! I appreciate your help.

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