Activities & stops along Bernina Express route?
A traveler named Arpihn8 is planning a 5-day trip for a group of 7 women on the Bernina Express from Chur to Tirano, focusing on exploring villages and hiking. They seek recommendations for overnight stays and walking opportunities during their trip in the first week of May.
- Consider staying in Pontresina for various activities and accommodation options along the Bernina line.
- You don't need to book regional trains in advance; they run regularly and you can check schedules online.
- Diavolezza is typically open year-round for cable car rides, but check local updates closer to your visit.
- Exploring from a fixed base like Pontresina can simplify your travels instead of moving every night.
- Look for affordable accommodation options in Tirano, as prices are cheaper there compared to Switzerland.
AI-generated summary-
Hi we are a group of 7 women wanting to do the Bernina express from chur to tirano. We want to explore the little villages on the Bernina line. We have 5 days. Which villages do you recommend for overnight stays? Also we want to do a bit of walking and hiking. Would be grateful for any suggestions as all the info that we have managed to get so far is only on tourist Bernina express. We are travelling in fist week of may 2019
Day1Uk to Zurich Zurich to chur
Day 2 – chur to pontresina (over night)
Day 3explore st moritz
Evening to alp grum (overnight)
Day4hike the poschiavo valley
Overnight in alp grum
Day5- to tirano (afternoon onwards)overnight
Day 6-vineyards? We need to explore more
Day 7- Bernina express back to chur
Chur to Zurich (overnight)
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Hi Arpihn8 and welcome to MySwissAlps!
I think your rough itinerary looks pretty good as far as overnight stays go on the Bernina Express line.
You can find some ideas on what to do in the Graübunden region and the towns and sub regions of that area here: http://www.myswissalps.com/gr aubunden.
I don’t have any details on Tirano (in Italy) but a popular route is to take the Bernina Express bus on to Lugano and make a round – trip of it. From Lugano there are express trains (or you can take the Gotthard Express to Lucerne and then) back to Zurich.
Thanks Lucas
we plan to take the Swiss rail pass. How frequent are the trains between stops on Bernina line. Do we have to book in advance for local trains?!
No booking for the regional trains are needed (nor possible usually too).
You can use the timetable to find the train schedules between any of the towns you decide on. frequency depends on the final destination but it is quite regular in general. http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable
hi lucas,
i notice that many mountain top hotels are closed for the period we are there? do you know of any that will be open in pontresina area? also we want to do the diavolezza cable car and possibly lunch there- but not sure if its open in first week of may. please advice
thanks
Some hotels but not all will be closed in May as it is low season in the mountains.
You can check hotels for St. Moritz on our suggested list here: http://www.myswissalps.com/st moritz/hotels
But I don’t have recommendations for Pontresina hotels yet.
Diavolezza is normally open year round: http://www.diavolezza.ch/en/c urrent-news/ (it seems they closed for one day between Winter and Summer last year but I’m betting it was a typo on their dates).
You can also use the SBB timetables to search for connections to mountains as well as towns. If the cable car to the mountain isn’t operating it won’t show you any connections. http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable
If you need help with finding hotels for your travels dates in a particular town, let us know and we can look as well (travel dates, # of people, budget, etc).
Having so many separate overnights along the Bernina line is unusual. You can visit all the places on the route on day trips, from a fixed base (Pontresina has plenty of accomodation). Remember Switzerland is not a big country.
Tirano has good cheap accomodation (Italian prices not Swiss)
My wife and I have walked parallel to almost all the RhB railway network, by going to one station, getting off and walking, and getting back on at the next station, or the one after, or the one after that!
This technique works well on the Bernina. I have done Brusio – Campocologno in the past, picnicking at the open spiral viaduct on the way. I have also walked Diavolezza – Bernina Suot
Forget about reservations. Reservations are not necessary on the normal day to day Swiss train services
Bernina railway timetable PDF here:
http://www.fahrplanfelder.ch/ fileadmin/fap_pdf_fiel ds/2018/950.pdf
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