Booking the bus from Tirano to Lugano

  • PnBA
    Participant
    51 posts
    7 May 2019 at 1:11:46 #821498

    I can hear you all thinking: “Ohhh, not another post on this topic! Why doesn’t PnBA just read previous posts and responses, or go and explore the websites, or do a search on MySwissAlps.com ???”

    Well, I’ll tell you why: I did all that – the relevant websites are full of dead or circular links, and a search on MySwissAlps.com yields old posts with more dead or dead-end links. For example, Rocko posted an answer to the same questions on Aug 13, 2018 – 5:35 AM in reply to YANGBINGREN, but the links to Happyrails doesn’t let me start the trip in St. Moritz, while the links to RailEurope don’t give me the option to book the bus after Tirano. The Eurailpass links only give me trains from Tirano – Lugano (not bus), and route me through Monza Italy.

    What I [think I] have learned is that there is only one bus run per day, there are no good alternative ways to make this trip along Lake Como, I need a reservation for the bus, the bus has only 2nd class seating, and I can only get a reservation on the bus if I have a reservation on the terminal portion of the southbound BEX.

    Nonetheless, key questions remain

    1. How do I actually register/book/purchase reservations on the Rhaetian Railway website? The links to register or create a new account are pretty much dead or circular (http://www.rhb.ch/en/panorami c-trains/bernina-express). I can get to a site that takes all my personal information, but then to register they need to send an email code that’s only good for 60 min (tried that twice, never came, and yes I looked in my spam and junk folders). Then tried a direct purchase of print-your-own ticket, and clicking “NEXT” just takes me to another site that wants all the same information again. This was followed by an email that DID arrive saying my “profil wurde geloscht” which, if I recall my German correctly, and add a couple of umlauts, roughly translates to “you’re screwed”.
    2. How do I actually make a reservation for the bus? The search function on the Rhaetian Railway website will find available seats, but only for the train portion e.g. St. Moritz to Tirano. If I search for St. Moritz to Lugano, the search returns “Service not available” (yes, I tried both 1st and 2nd class).
    3. I have a Eurail Global Pass and I understand that the train fare is covered, and I need to pay for reservations, but is the bus fare covered by the pass? If not, what is the bus fare?

    I work with computers all day every day, and I have 5 different ones in my office at the moment, so I am not computer-illiterate, but that grieves me all the more when I have to deal with such dysfunctional websites.

  • Effortlessly learn from the questions and answers in the forum. Receive a daily e-mail with new discussions.

    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    7 May 2019 at 4:21:50 #911786

    I can only get a reservation on the bus if I have a reservation on the terminal portion of the southbound BEX.

    That is just wrong. Not sure where you got that from. You can arrive at Tirano on any old train and still catch the bus.

    there are no good alternative ways to make this trip along Lake Como

    Oh, I don’t know. You could take a train from Tirano to Varenna then hop a ferry to Menaggio and a local C12 Italain bus to Lugano. Or you can train to Monza and up to Lugano.

    Have you been to shop.rhb.ch/en/catalog /product/view/id/18? Just enter Tirano to Lugano for the bus. 😎

    RHB still don’t seem to have fixed the problem I reported in 2017 that I couldn’t make a single reservation to travel 1st Class on the train and then connect to the bus.

    Just make two reservations. One for the train leg and one for the bus.

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    7 May 2019 at 8:58:44 #911787

    Hello PnBA,

    What a pitty to hear you’re encountering such issues in booking your reservation.

    Do let us know should the problem continue and Rockoysters link not help either.

    To check the validity of your Eurail Global Pass use the following link and the included map to see that the bus is also covered by your pass.
    http://www.myswissalps.com/eu railglobalpass/validit y

    Best and keep us posted.
    Steph

    PnBA
    Participant
    51 posts
    7 May 2019 at 16:17:34 #911788

    OK – some progress …

    Rockoyster has proven to be correct on all counts … and an old post about not being able to book the bus apart from the train “is just wrong”. What remains correct – as affirmed by R – is that you can’t make a single reservation to travel 1st on the train and then connect to the bus. Has to be 2 reservations and 2 fees – not impossible, but not obvious.

    Yes – Steph – that map does indicate that a Eurail pass is valid for the bus. However, look at the page that link lands you on first, and the long list of things entitled “Top attractions covered by the Eurail Global Pass”. Many buses are mentioned, but not the bus from Tirano to Lugano, not even on the Bernina Express page. I don’t want to land in Italy arguing with a train conductor about a yellow line on a map. That page on MySwissAlps.com needs a bit of editing (and it should provide explicit guidance to get around the frustrating problem that Rockoyster mentioned).

    Also, MySwissAlps.com really sent me down a long dark rabbit hole. The “Bernina Express” has a “tickets” tab and link, but that doesn’t lead to tickets, it leads to the “Packages” tab, and I didn’t want a package. The various “Details and Prices” links were very limited in the kinds of begin/end options, some were trying to charge me even though [I suspected but wasn’t sure that] my rail pass should cover the fare, and some didn’t even have the express bus as an option (I assume you don’t want me to name company names). The only way I have found to get to a place where I can make the bus reservation is small inconspicuous link at the bottom of the previous page:

    Speaking of the rhb.ch website, that’s not the best example of Swiss efficiency. As I mentioned above, I tried to register on the website to make purchases, got to a page stating that it would email me a 5-digit code which had to be input within 60 min or my information would be lost. Sure enough, 60 min later, I receive an email stating that my information was lost (in Deutsch, of course). Surprise, surprise … this morning I received no less than SIX!!! emails containing 5-digit codes, more than 5 hours after my 60 min had expired.

    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    7 May 2019 at 21:00:12 #911789

    Hello PnBA,

    I’m glad you have your reservations. The 3 links you provided for the RHB website all point to the same page which I am guessing was not your intent.

    For anyone following along at home here are the direct links:

    Speaking of RHB, I trust you have relayed your critique of their IT capabilities direct to them.

    I never had occasion to sign up for an RHB account so remain intrigued to learn if all the 5-digit codes you received were the same. 🤓

    PnBA
    Participant
    51 posts
    7 May 2019 at 21:11:57 #911790

    Nope – 6 different 5-digit codes.

    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    7 May 2019 at 22:42:01 #911791

    In partial defence of MSA …

    The Tickets tab says ”You can buy a point to point ticket for the Bernina Express, travel for free or discounted with a rail pass, or book a tour.

    Note that you need to book your seats in advance. The reservation includes a supplement for the extra services of the Bernina Express.

    You’re not required to travel the full stretch from Chur to Tirano. The reservation fee is fixed though, and needs to be paid for each trip and traveler. Separate reservations apply to the train and bus.

    If you follow the link to the admittedly ambiguously-named Packages tab the first link offers reservations on the bus if you select Tirano as your start point. See attached. That “partner” is a bit limited in the start-end point options they offer.

    That’s not to say your criticisms are not valid. The reason I always recommend the direct link to RHB is that I too was originally baffled by all the different “partner” options that MSA have on offer AND the RHB site is the ONLY place you can actually select seats.

    PnBA
    Participant
    51 posts
    7 May 2019 at 23:05:21 #911792

    > You’re not required to travel the full stretch from Chur to Tirano.

    That could easily be interpreted to imply that traveling at least a portion of the way to Tirano is required.

    > Separate reservations apply to the train and bus.

    That sentence structure is ambiguous to a native English (and some German & French) speaker. It implies that something to do with a reservation applies to both the “train and bus”. What should be written is more like: “The train and bus require separate reservations” .

    > If you follow the link to the admittedly ambiguously-named Packages tab the first link offers reservations on the bus if you select Tirano as your start point. See attached. That “partner” is a bit limited in the start-end point options they offer.

    That is true, but note that the prices for a reservation from this “partner” are 30% higher than going through rhb.ch. Also, it’s misleading for them to offer both 1st and 2nd class reservations when there is only single class seating.

    Oh well – thanks for posting consistently reliable information in this forum!

    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    8 May 2019 at 4:17:06 #911793

    Hi PnBA,

    Thank you for your feedback. Of course you’re right that things can be improved. We’re not native English speakers and we’re not not a travel agency (http://www.myswissalps.com/ab outus), so we can only try to explain about what others offer, and link to those websites. I will change the text about the separate reservations as you suggested. The Packages tab shows tickets first, then packages, and we’ve already planned to move the tickets to the Tickets tab. That should be done in the foreseeable future.

    Enjoy your trip!

  • The thread ‘Booking the bus from Tirano to Lugano’ is closed to new replies.

About MySwissAlps

We’re passionate tourists and locals. We share tips about how to plan a trip to Switzerland. MySwissAlps was founded in 2002.

Get a free account for a worry-free trip

  • Join our 10730 members and ask us questions in the forum
  • Access to member-only promotions
  • Detailed maps and weather forecasts

Planning your first Switzerland adventure?

Get a jump-start with Annika’s 20-minute e-mail course, “Switzerland for beginners”. Subscribe to our newsletter to unlock the course.