Bernina Red Train

The Bernina Express is the panoramic train with a compulsory seat reservation; the red train most people ride is the regional service on the same track, with ordinary carriages and windows that open. Both are run by the Rhaetian Railway and both are painted red, which is where the confusion starts. The Bernina Express has large windows running up to the roof edge in both classes, stops only at selected stations and needs a reservation supplement on top of the fare. The regional trains stop everywhere, so you can get off at Alp Grüm or Ospizio Bernina and take the next one, and a seat reservation is optional at CHF 5 per person between St. Moritz and Tirano (rhb.ch, checked October 2026). Most day trips from Milan use the regional train in second class. The side-by-side guide covers which suits whom.

On a day trip from Milan the train comes bundled: tours start around $100 and most sit between $110 and $195 per person (GetYourGuide, checked October 2026). Bought on its own, a return ticket on the red train between Tirano and St. Moritz starts around $123 through this site, and a ticket from Tirano, one-way or return, from around $75. The Rhaetian Railway sells its own tickets on rhb.ch; for the panoramic Bernina Express it adds a seat-reservation supplement to the fare, and it offers a last-minute online fare from CHF 87 on selected second-class trains, bookable from six days before departure. This winter it also sells a return trip for two from Chur with lunch for CHF 249, bookable from 1 November 2026 to 31 January 2027 (rhb.ch, checked October 2026). The tickets and prices guide has the full ladder.

About four hours from Chur to Tirano, and about two hours fifteen minutes from St. Moritz to Tirano (rhb.ch). Most day trips ride only the St. Moritz to Tirano stretch, which is the part over the Bernina Pass, and they allow around two hours for it on a regional train. The day around it is long: tours from Milan run 11 to 13 hours, most of it by coach. If you are starting in Chur, the full Bernina Express adds the Albula line and the Landwasser Viaduct before St. Moritz.

It runs between Chur (or St. Moritz) in Switzerland and Tirano in Italy. Chur is the full route, over both the Albula and Bernina lines; St. Moritz is where most travellers join, at the top of the Bernina line. Tirano is the Italian end, a small town in Valtellina whose Rhaetian Railway station sits next to the Italian station, with Trenord regional trains to Lake Como and Milan. A Bernina Express bus continues from Tirano to Lugano for those heading on to Ticino; it runs daily from 26 March to 25 October, Thursday to Sunday from 29 October to 22 November, and not at all from late November to February (rhb.ch, checked October 2026). If you are coming from Italy, Tirano is where to take it.

Yes, and it is the most common way to ride it: a coach takes you north, you ride the train over the pass, and the coach brings you back the same evening. Expect 11 to 13 hours. The coach usually drops you in St. Moritz for free time, you take the train down to Tirano, and the coach is waiting there, though operators reverse the order on some days and a few run the train leg on the Albula line to Thusis instead. You can also do it yourself by Trenord train from Milano Centrale to Tirano, roughly two and a half hours each way, and buy the red train ticket from Tirano. The Bernina Express from Milan page compares the day trips.

Yes if you like mountain scenery and a train ride is the point of your day; less so if you only have one day in Milan and hate long coach journeys. The ride itself is about two hours of glaciers, Lago Bianco, the drop to Alp Grüm and the circular viaduct at Brusio, on a line UNESCO listed in 2008. The cost is the day around it: most of the 11 to 13 hours from Milan is on a coach. Reviewers on the top day trips are overwhelmingly positive about the train and the views; the recurring complaints are cramped coach seats and wanting more time in St. Moritz. Weather matters more than anything else, since cloud at the pass hides most of what you came for.

Not on the Bernina Express itself, which runs as a reserved through train; on the regional trains, yes. A regional ticket between Tirano and St. Moritz lets you leave the train at any station and take a later one, which is how people fit in a walk at Alp Grüm or Ospizio Bernina. The return day ticket from Tirano on this site works that way, with the timetable included. On an organised day trip you stay with the group's train.

June to September for long days and open passes, early October for autumn colour, and January to March for snow at the pass. The line runs all year. In summer the light lasts into the evening and the Poschiavo valley is green; in autumn the larches turn gold around Pontresina and the crowds thin; in winter Lago Bianco is frozen and the pass is deep in snow. From late October to late February the sun sets early, so afternoon views can fade on tours that ride the train last. The best time to go guide goes month by month.

Yes on any trip that crosses from Italy into Switzerland: bring a passport, or a national ID card if you are an EU or Schengen citizen. Tirano is in Italy and St. Moritz is in Switzerland, and every day trip from Milan crosses the border. The tour listings require the document on the day of travel. Switzerland is in the Schengen area, so a Schengen visa normally covers it, but check your own nationality's rules before you travel.

For the panoramic Bernina Express in summer, as early as you can; for a day trip from Milan, a few days to a couple of weeks ahead is usually enough outside July and August. The Rhaetian Railway releases Bernina Express dates in blocks through the season, so far-off dates may not be bookable yet. Panoramic seats are limited and the reservation is compulsory, so summer dates go first. Regional trains need no reservation at all. The day trips here offer free cancellation up to 24 hours before, so booking early costs nothing if plans change.

Heading north from Tirano, most travellers recommend the left; heading south from St. Moritz, the right. That puts the long views over Lago Bianco and the Poschiavo valley on your side. The Rhaetian Railway does not guarantee which way a carriage faces, and the scenery switches sides often, so the simplest answer is the one a reviewer gives: take one side going up and the other coming back. On the regional train you can also stand at an open window. The route guide lists the highlights in order.

Yes: the regional red trains have windows that open, and most day trips from Milan use them on purpose. The panoramic Bernina Express has fixed windows, so photos from it are taken through glass. Several tour listings advertise second-class regional seats for exactly this reason, and reviewers regularly mention leaning out for photos. If you want both the big panoramic view and a window that opens, ride the Bernina Express one way and a regional train the other.

The Rhaetian Railway (RhB) sells Bernina Express tickets and seat reservations on rhb.ch. This site is an independent guide and is not connected to RhB. Buy direct if you want a specific panoramic seat on a specific train, a Swiss Travel Pass reservation, or RhB's own offers such as the last-minute fare. The tours on this page are sold by GetYourGuide and Viator and bundle the train with transport from Milan or Lake Como, a guide and free time in St. Moritz.