Bernina Express from Pontresina or St. Moritz?
Grillz is planning a trip and has a couple of questions about taking the Bernina Express from Pontresina. They're considering boarding in St. Moritz for better scenery and are curious about the likelihood of finding seats on regional trains from Chur to Pontresina since they have a short connection time in October.
- Start your Bernina Express journey from St. Moritz for a more pleasant boarding experience and better luggage storage options.
- In October, regional trains are usually less crowded due to the low tourist season, so finding a seat should be easier.
- If you're concerned about not getting a seat in the panoramic car, consider making a reservation to ensure comfort during your journey.
AI-generated summary-
Hello,
I have a couple more questions to finalize our plans.
- We are staying overnight in Pontresina and I thought that we would take the train to St. Moritz the next morning to start our Bernina Express Southbound journey from there at 9:17 a.m. instead of boarding the same train in Pontresina at 9:28 a.m. The reason to do this is so that we’re not missing any of the stops along the route and as per Kamil it’s quite pretty leaving St. Moritz. Even though it’s just a 9 minute train to St. Moritz ride we would be doing this at what I would assume would be a busy time of day with our luggage so I’m wondering if it’s worth the extra effort to leave from St. Moritz when we could more easily just board in Pontresina.
2. We will have a 6 minute connection time frame to catch the regional train from Chur to Pontresina (around 1 p.m.) so I’m wondering if it is unlikely at that point that we would be able to get a seat in the Panoramic car (I forget what it’s called) or even to find a seat on the right hand side of the train? We are travelling the first week of October and I’m just wondering how crowded the regional trains are.
Thanks in advance.
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Hi Grillz,
If it were me, I would go to St Moritz and get on the Bernina Express (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/bernina-express/ ) there.
I would not be too worried about missing the little stretch between St Moritz and Pontresina. Although nice scenery, that bit is not one of the many highlights of the line, so that’s not the reason I would start from St Moritz.
For me, it would be more about convenience. If you board in Pontresina, everyone who boarded in St Moritz will have already stored their luggage, so you might have less choice about where to put yours. I think the boarding process is also more pleasant if you can board when the train is waiting in the station at the start of the trip rather than when you have a 3-minute window at Pontresina to find your carriage, store your luggage and find your seat.
Re the sector Chur to Pontresina, do you mean you arrive in Chur on one train and have 6 minutes to transfer to the train for your onward journey to Pontresina? It’s hard to say how crowded the train is likely to be.
I assume your train from Chur will be a train to St Moritz, and that you will transfer at Samedan to another train for the last stretch to Pontresina. My guess would be that the train won’t be too crowded. Firstly, by October tourist activity has usually quietened down considerably. Secondly, I don’t think I have ever seen a regional train on that line that was crowded.
But things are a bit different now it seems, with a lot of pent-up demand post COVID resulting in higher numbers of tourists in the shoulder and off-seasons than was formerly the case, and there will be people who missed out on reservations on the Bernina Express who will take the regional trains instead.
In terms of the photographers’ carriage with openable windows, I have not travellled on it myself. There is a picture of it here:
https://www.ots.at/a/OBS_20170209_OBS0015
It doesn’t look comfortable enough for people to settle into for several hours – and I expect it has been designed that way to encourage people to come and go rather than sit there for the whole trip. In October it will probably be rather chilly when people open the windows to take photos too. Unless you specifically want to take photos without a window in the way, you might find you are much more comfortable staying in your seat for most of the trip.
Hope this clarifies a few things!
Alpenrose
Grillz,
Thank you for the good question. I have a question about Alpenrose’s response. I have already booked a reservation on the Bernina Express for July 30th getting on in Pontresina (as that is where we are spending the night), but after reading the response I think I would rather get on in St. Mortiz. I know I can’t change my reservation, but can I get on in St. Mortiz instead?
Hi Bless I 0s,
We answered your question in the attached post here:
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Hi Grillz,
Some good advice from Alpenrose.
Yes, October is considered low season (https://www.myswissalps.com/planning/practical/best-time-to-visit/).
I don’t think you will have a problem trying to find a seat in the regular trains either. Of course, if you wanted to make a seat reservation you can do so. All details here: https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/seat-reservation/
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Thank you Alpenrose for the fantastic response. Your point about leaving from St. Moritz makes a lot of sense so we will stay with our plan and make that our starting point.
To answer your question, Yes, we are coming from Paris and will have connections in Zurich and Chur enroute to Pontresina via Thusis and Bergun and will switch trains in Samedan but not going through St. Moritz as far as I can tell. Also thank you for the clarification on the Photographers carriage in that it’s just somewhere to go get some pictures and move back to your seats, that is good to know.
Thank you Yolanda for the information on possibly booking a seat although it is comforting to know that it should be easy enough to find a seat in October.
Bless1os, I hope you are able to make your departure from St. Moritz happen as well.
I think I have all the information I need so I thank you all for your input, much appreciated !
Hi Grillz,
You might be interested to see the aerial shot of the Glacier Express and Bernina Express train lines around St Moritz, where you can see where they overlap and how they diverge.
https://www.myswissalps.com/community/thread/train-routes-3/#post-1220435
Alpenrose
Hi Alpenrose,
That was interesting to see and it’s nice to see the visual of the route 🙂 Thanks for letting me know about it.
Cheers,
Grillz
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