Glacier Express on Albula route or Oberalppass
A traveler is planning a family trip next month through the Swiss Alps, starting from Milan and taking the Bernina Express. They want advice on the best scenic route via the Glacier Express while considering breaks in the Engadin or Chur regions due to traveling with an infant and a toddler.
- Purchase a Swiss Travel Pass for flexible travel on regional trains without the hassle of reservations.
- For shorter train rides suitable for young children, consider traveling from Tirano to Pontresina on the Bernina Express, then take the Glacier Express to Chur the next day.
- Decide between the Albula Pass and Oberalp Pass based on conditions and your kids' comfort level on the day of travel.
AI-generated summary-
Hi Everyone
Next month we are planning a trip through Siss Alps starting from Milan via Tirano.This is a family vacation with an infant child and a toddler. We are planning to take a the Bernina express and take a break in Engadin region or Chur. We are planning to purchase a Swiss travel pass.
We also would like to take Glacier express for some part as we belive continuous 8 hour ride would be asking too much for our kids. As a result we need to break our journey in either of above regions and take Glacier express for our next leg of travel which would be eventually ending in Lucerne by other connections that day.
What will be a more scenic route option by Glacier express of the two in early April?
1) Albula pass
2) Oberalppass
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In your circumstances, and the fact you will be purchasing a ‘ride at will’ Swiss travel Pass, I recommend you forget about the two ‘Express’ brands and concentrate on the ordinary trains that run on all the railways you will be using on the itinerary you have described. The south western corner of Switzerland (Canton Graubunden) has its own ‘national railway’ in the form of the Rhaetische Bahn (RhB) which has a core network and branches and includes the Bernina Railway (Tirano – St Moritz) and Albula railway (St Moritz – Chur) . Wst from Chur, the RhB runs to Disentis Msuter where it connects end-on with the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB) railway Disentis – Andermatt – Brig – Zermatt. All these railways have efficient regional trains that you can hop on and off at will without the hassle of seat reservations etc. I think the ‘ride at will’ ordinary trains will suit you family circumstances allowing flexibility that is not possible if you have booked a specific ‘Express’ journey.
It is not quite clear what you are planning to do, but as I understand it your proposed route is Milano – Tirano – Chur – Luzern.
If that is correct I propose the following:
Milano – Tirano (Trenord Italian local train)
Tirano – Pontresina / St Moritz (any train on the Bernina Railway)
Overnight stay Pontresina or St Moritz
St Moritz – Albula Railway – Chur (RhB Inter Regio train every 1 hour)
Chur – Disentis Muster (RhB regional train every 1 hour)
Disentis Muster – Oberalp Pass – Andermatt (MGB regional train every 1 hour)
Andermatt – Goeschenen (MGB regioanl train down the famous Schoellenen Gorge railway)
Goeschenen – Luzern (main line regional train)
Hi Ranjeet004,
With a child and toddler, you might want to keep your train journey short and simple.
From Tirano, you can take the Bernina Express to Pontresina/St Moritz (about 2 hours). Then take the Glacier Express the next day to Chur (this will traverse along the Albula Pass). The journey also takes about 2 hours. Optionally, you can continue on the Glacier Express train to Andermatt via the Oberalp Pass (this adds additional 2 hr 45 mins to the journey). From Andermatt, you can take a regular train to Lucerne via Goeschenen.
Would this work for you and your family?
regards,
Anna
Thankyou for the detailed reply.
We would be trying to take a mix of Normal and Panoramic trains as we don’t want be remember this once in a life vacation where “We were there” but didn’t ride the that “Express train” when we could have!
We are flexible with our timings but try to stick to a scheduled plan by having atleast one train visit out of many to be followed on that particular day where our panoramic trains bookings can be accommodated.
Also while booking Glacier express I was shown to book seats from Carriages 22-26. I wonder if the actual train is that long or nomenclature of the Carriages is such.(Image attached)
Regards
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Thanks for the excellant reply and suggestions.
The plan is set in motion and booked the trains with seat reservations as per your advise. We would be staying in Pontresina for one night and continuing to Lucerne next day.
Depending on children’s tolerance and our patience we would decide on the same day if to take Oberalp pass or other faster options. We would also consider hotel check in times and prevalent snow or weather conditions of the day as we would love spending watching beautiful Swiss Alps rather than a hotel lobby!
Along with that days planned trip, the Swiss travel passes too are updated on our SBB app.(image attached)
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I kind of take your point about the ‘expresses’, but in my honest opinion the Swiss panoramic trains have become overhyped. The memories you will go home with will be the views of the mountains and scenery, not the fact that you saw views from ‘seat 31 , carriage 5 of the famous express everybody else has been on’ !
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