[Anonymous]

5 March 2019 at 15:23:59 #820238

I want to do the Bernina express from Zurich on June 8th returning to Zurich the same day.. Which itinerary would be the best in terms of scenic views and timing?

My first option and prefer option is to leave Zurich at 6:37 am and take the BE from Landquart at 8:37. Get off in Poschiavo to have lunch and walk around and take the BE back from Poschiavo to Chur at 15:09 and then to Zurich, arriving at Zurich at 8:23pm.

The main question for the above itinerary is how much I miss not doing the BE all the way to Tirano in terms of scenic views? And should I take the BE from Chur instead of Landquart?

The other option would be either to do Zurich to Chur and take BE in Chur to Tirano and back the same itinerary or to do the BE from chur combine with the bus ride to Lugano and then train Lugano to Zurich. I am not fun of a 3 hour bus ride.

Thank you

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[User]

Reply 1 of 11 • 5 March 2019 at 16:59:40 #905677

Hi Pablo123 and welcome to MySwissAlps!

I’d say you aren’t missing too much with those two towns instead of the usual Chur and Tirano – but I’d be tempted to go to all the way to Tirano myself. Personal call if something in Poschiavo appeals to you. Same regarding the bus to Lugano – personal call but makes for an extremely long day from Zurich…

• http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable
• http://www.myswissalps.com/be rninaexpress/packages

[User]

Reply 2 of 11 • 5 March 2019 at 18:05:35 #905678

If you think the BE would be too long for one day, would you suggest another itinerary as scenic as the BE to do for a day from Zurich? We are arriving to Zurich June 6th in the morning and planning to go to Luzern June 7th and maybe Bern or a small town (like stein and Rhein or other) on June 9th. I see that the Intertaken area is beautiful too but maybe too far from Zurich .

[User]

Reply 3 of 11 • 6 March 2019 at 1:35:40 #905679

There was a very similar query the other day.

Stopping at Poschiavo you miss three of the best bits of the Bernina line:

1. the famous (and unique) open spiral at Brusio which is the icon of the Bernina railway
2. the Lake Poschiavo
3. Le Prese where the railway runs down the middle of the main road though the main street of the town

[User]

Reply 4 of 11 • 6 March 2019 at 13:31:48 #905680

Hi Pablo,

Some good replies already from Luke and 1960man already on the Bernina Express.

For timings and what works best, you can enter all destinations on your itinerary here and figure out what is best for you: http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

Some links to the places you are considering:

• http://www.myswissalps.com/zu rich
• http://www.myswissalps.com/lu cerne
• http://www.myswissalps.com/in terlaken

Hope this helps and all the best in planning your trip

Maria.

[User]

Reply 5 of 11 • 6 March 2019 at 17:05:57 #905681

You’ll need to use the timetable from Maria and then decide if the day is too long for you. For some people it is and for others it isn’t.

The full trip is 4 hours each-way. Plus time between Zurich and Chur…so it is a long day but if you are prepared for it it can work out just fine!

Interlaken is about 2 hours from Zurich so not hard to do as a day trip plus time to wherever in the area you want to visit – not too bad either. But as you can see Zurich is not a good base town for exploring the best mountains and scenery of Switzerland – I never recommend it for that.

[User]

Reply 6 of 11 • 6 March 2019 at 19:02:49 #905682

We are arriving in Zurich at 8:55 on june 6th so I might stay the first 3 nights ( or maybe all 4) in Lucerne . We are leaving from Zurich at 10:05 on June 10th.

I most probably will not do the BE if we stay in Lucerne. I am thinking on doing one day part of the Glaciar Express (Chur to Andermatt). I can visit Chur and Andermatt and the train from Andermatt to Lucerne I read is very scenic. Another day take the train to interlaken and from there go to wengen and Lauterbrunnen or any of the other small towns near by. Any suggestions?

And for the last day either go back to Zurich or go to Bern for the day. I like to see mainly the old town part of the city so which one would you recommend Bern or Zurich? Or just stay in Lucerne?

The last question is about the train ride to the airport either from Lucerne or Bern on Monday morning if we decide to stay in either of those cities. Can we take a direct train like at 5:30 to get to Zurich airport to take the flight at 10:05 that morning?

Thank you so much

[User]

Reply 7 of 11 • 7 March 2019 at 2:30:44 #905683

It is not worth spending extra money on the Glacier express just to do Chur – Andermatt.

Using normal trains, Chur – Andermatt only requires one change at Disentis/Mustér. So you can choose any of the hourly trains throughout the day, PDF here:

http://www.fahrplanfelder.ch/ fileadmin/fap_pdf_fiel ds/2019/920.pdf

Also, by using normal trains you can stop for an hour at OberalpPass which is very scenic (nice café too) and get the the next train forward

Yes, it is perfectly possible to start very early from many places and get to Zurich for a morning flight, eg the first train from Bern to Zürich is at 04.07…

[rockoyster]

Reply 8 of 11 • 7 March 2019 at 5:35:53 #905684

Hi Pablo,

Is this of any interest to you? http://www.rhb.ch/en/tickets-travelcards/promotions /gotthard-bernina-rundreise

[User]

Reply 9 of 11 • 8 March 2019 at 18:32:23 #905685

Yes it will work for us. But you have only a few minutes between the arrival of the trainfrom Zurich and the bus from Lugano to tirano. Will that work?

Thanks

[User]

Reply 10 of 11 • 8 March 2019 at 18:46:13 #905686

I want to do the part of the GE between Chur and Andermatt because I do not have much time to be changing trains so I would not mind paying a little extra.

I am looking for ways to get an scenic train other than the BE that I might not be able to do because of timing issues. I read that the GE between Chur and Andermatt is the best part of the GE. Is that true?

Or should I do the Gottharnd Bernini Circular tour on my last day from Zurich? Is it the BE the most espectacular ride of all the scenic trains?

thanks

[rockoyster]

Reply 11 of 11 • 8 March 2019 at 19:57:54 #905687

“But you have only a few minutes between the arrival of the trainfrom Zurich and the bus from Lugano to tirano. Will that work?”

Yes. They wouldn’t be offering the package if the connections would not work. It’s a long day though.

In my opinion the Bernina Express route bears the Glacier Express. How about this route on regular trains so you can set your own timing?