Bernina Express: Lucerne-Chur-Tirano roundtrip

Hello! Your site and forums/answers have been very helpful!

I am staying in Lucerne for the last leg of my Swiss trip July 9th evening-July 11th afternoon. I reserved the day of Sunday, 10th to do the Bernina Express. My thought was go from Lucerne to Chur using my Swiss Travel Pass, then book Chur-Tirano roundtrip on Bernina Express.

When I looked up Lucerne-Tirano on SBB, the route is via Lugano. Is that a better route? Also when I was booking Chur-Tirano, going was $58 for two people while coming back was $194. I'm just a little confused about pricing and what route I should take.

Thanks for your help!

Nisha

Hi Nisha,

Thanks for joining MySwissAlps. Glad to hear we're helpful for your preparations!

It takes about 14 hours of traveling to do the Bernina Express as a day trip from Lucerne. But if you're comfortable with that, you could do it like this:

1. 6:10 AM: By train to Chur.
2. 8:32 AM: Bernina Express train to Tirano.
3. 2:20 PM: Bernina Express bus to Lugano.
4. 5:34/6:06 PM: By train back to Lucerne.

Be sure to check the timetable for your date.

I'm not sure where you found those ticket prices. They don't seem accurate. In any case, you do not need tickets because you have a Swiss Travel Pass. All you need is seat reservations for the Bernina Express train and bus: myswissalps.com/ berninaexpress/ tickets.

Thanks for laying out the route and times Arno. I found a different option....Do you think doing the Tirano-St Moritz-Lucerne route will be better in terms of scenery than doing Tirano-Lugano-Lucerne on the way back? Or will it be the same as my trip going.

Is it completely free? When I was booking Chur-Tirano and specified I have Travel Pass it said $28/person. Is this an extra handling fee? I was incorrect earlier about seeing $194; I had made a mistake.

thank you!

Hi Nisha,

Apart from 10 km around St. Moritz, that route is exactly the same as the outward journey in the morning (assuming it is all by train). You can check the map here and here. If you want more variety, the route I suggested earlier is better. Another option is to return via Sagliains - Landquart. Still part of it is duplicate.

Yes, it's free, see the map: myswissalps.com/ swisstravelpass/ validity. I can't really comment on the prices you wrote about until you let me know which website you were using. But it's not important as you do not need tickets anyway. Note that a quoted price might be related to seat reservations, which is a separate amount if you choose a train that requires you to book seats. If so, $28 could be about right. Most trains do not require seat reservations, but the "official" Bernina Express does.