Zurich – Bernina Express – St Moritz – Zurich
A traveler is planning a one-day trip from Zurich to St Moritz in early August, hoping to travel on the Bernina Express to enjoy scenic views. They want to know if the day trip is feasible, details on train transfers, and whether St Moritz is worth visiting before returning to catch a Nightjet train that night.
- Take regular trains from Zurich to Chur and then to St Moritz instead of the Bernina Express for a faster trip.
- Use the SBB website for train schedules and connections to plan your journey efficiently.
- Consider visiting Filisur for the Landwasser viaduct if time is tight instead of going all the way to St Moritz.
- A Saver Day Pass can provide good value for unlimited travel across Switzerland if you decide to change your plans.
AI-generated summary-
Hello, we are travelling to Zurich early August. We arrive at night and wish to go on a daytrip the next day. We would like to travel to St Moritz and return to Zurich the same day, as we are using the Nightjet train that night. We wish to travel on the Bernina Express for part of this trip to see the Landwasser viaduct and the beautiful scenery. We understand we would have to catch a train from Zurich quite early, about 6.30am to get to Chur to meet the Bernina Express.
My Qs are:
– is this a possible day trip?
– how long would it take to get from Chur to St Moritz return ?
– what train transfers, if any, do we have to make?
– how long would we get to stay in St Moritz, is it worth it?
– what time schedule for the Bernin Express to make it back to Zurich in prep for the NightJet train?
Thanks for your help in advance
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Hello 4Jays and Welcome to MySwissAlps,
You can do a day trip from Zurich to St Moritz, yes.
Forget the Bernina Express (BEX). There are regular trains which cover the route. The scenery is the same. In fact the BEX does not actually go to St Moritz from Chur. The closest station is Pontresina. See timetable at http://www.rhb.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/redaktion/Home_Marketing/Panoramazuege/Bernina_Express/Fahrplaene/BEX_Fahrplan_de_en_it_fr_WEB.pdf.
You can use the timetable on the SBB website (bit.ly/2HH1U7B) to figure out timings and connections. If you are not familiar with using the SBB timetable it is worth first reading the instructions at http://www.myswissalps.com/timetable.
Go Zurich to St Moritz via Chur. Return St Moritz to Zurich via Zernez, Klosters Platz and Landquart for a bit of variety.
If you find that trip too long then get the train to Filisur. Take a 20 minute walk from the station to the Landwasser Lookout and get some real views (not the very brief view you get from the train) then continue from Filisur via Klosters back to Zurich.
A Saver Day Pass would provide good value if bought in advance and would allow your to go pretty much anywhere else in Switzerland if you changed your mind about St Moritz.
Is St Moritz worth it? Can’t say – never been there because I travelled on the BEX from Chur to Tirano and bypassed it.
If you decide you just have to take the Bernina Express then you need seat reservations.
If it was me and I was about to catch a NightJet later in the day I don’t think I would take a long train ride. Think about a day trip to Luzern and a visit to Pilatus or Rigi or Titlis.
I’m afraid you have fallen into the ‘hyper marketing’ trap regarding the Bernina Express.
If you are travelling just as far as St Moritz, you take any of the hourly IR expresses from Chur, on the Unesco World Heritage Albula Railway, which is the star in its own right. As such you can leave Zurich any time you want. The Chur – St Moritz IR depart Chur at xx.58 past each hour and take 2 hours . Filisur (for Landwasser viaduct) is almost exactly half way in journey time. The official fast connection from Zurich is the xx.37 past each hour (route IC3 train) , for example Zurich 07.37 Chur 08.52 / 08.58 St Moritz 11.00
The Bernina Railway itself does not connect to Chur. It is important to understand the difference between the ‘Bernina Express’ and the ‘Bernina Railway’. The Bernina Railway is the (originally independent) railway line St Moritz – Tirano.
As I’ve said more than a few times on this site, the marketing of the Swiss ‘scenic/panoramic’ expresses is now so overpowering that it can confuse the proportion of visitors who would be happy to know that you can ride the same railways on any ordinary train (with just the same views and a more genuine local experience). The irony being that in most cases the Glacier Express and Bernina Express services are no faster than a local train because of the single track infrastructure.
The Bernina Express title designates one or two trains a day operated by special coaches (with supplement payable) which include a journey on the Bernina Railway
Thankyou both for your suggestions. You are correct in that it can be confusing. Kind regards
Hi 4Jays,
a day trip is doable by Bernina Express from Zurich and takes about 13.5 hours, see http://www.myswissalps.com/berninaexpress for more details. But is you have very limited time, local trains are maybe a better option for you. You can see the differences between local trains and the Bernina Express on the same page under “Regular trains versus Bernina Express”.
In the timetable (http://www.myswissalps.com/timetable) trains Chur to Tirano labeled PE (Panorama Express) are the Bernina Express, see http://www.myswissalps.com/berninaexpress/gettingthere.
Ildiko
13.5 hours? They don’t want to go all the way to Tirano! Just to St Moritz.
Right, the whole route takes for 13,5 hours. Thanks Rockoyster!
3.5 – as I advised
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