Bernina Express from Milan

Tirano, in Lombardy's Valtellina, is the Italian end of the line. The Rhaetian Railway's station is next to Tirano's Italian railway station, so you can arrive on a Trenord regional train from Milano Centrale or Lake Como and walk across. Day trips from Milan either start the train in Tirano and finish in St. Moritz, or the other way round, with the coach waiting at the far end. The Bernina Express itself runs from Tirano to St. Moritz and on to Chur.

By coach on an organised day trip, or by Trenord regional train from Milano Centrale to Tirano. The train runs along the east shore of Lake Como through Lecco, Varenna and Sondrio, roughly two and a half hours in total (Trenord publishes about 64 minutes for Milan to Varenna). The tours here use a coach and pick you up in central Milan, at Milano Centrale, Piazza della Repubblica or Porta Garibaldi depending on the operator. A return ticket for the red train from Tirano is on the Tirano to St. Moritz page.

From St. Moritz, about four and a half to five hours by train: two hours and a quarter on the Bernina line to Tirano, then about two and a half hours on Trenord to Milan. Faster routes to Milan from elsewhere in Switzerland run through the Gotthard or Simplon tunnels rather than the Bernina line. On a day trip the coach brings you back from Tirano or St. Moritz in about two and a half to three hours, depending on traffic.

Yes if the train ride is what you want from the day; think twice if you dislike long coach journeys. The tours run 11 to 13 hours, of which about two hours are on the train and up to two and a half in St. Moritz; the rest is the coach. Reviewers on the best-rated tours are overwhelmingly positive about the scenery and the guides. The repeated complaints are cramped coach seats, too little time in St. Moritz and the length of the day. Clear weather at the pass makes or breaks it.

Most do not: they use the regional red train in second class, on the same line, because the windows open. Frigerio Viaggi's St. Moritz and Bernina Express day is the exception here, with a guaranteed panoramic-car seat when you choose that option. Most of the others put you in second class on the regional train rather than the panoramic carriage, and the Milano Art Discovery day includes a Bernina train ticket without naming the class. If you want the glass roof, check the option before you pay.

A passport or EU ID card, a warm layer and rain gear, and money for lunch. The coach crosses into Switzerland, so the document is required. The line tops out at Ospizio Bernina, 2,253 metres up, where it is far colder than Milan in any season. None of the day trips include meals; there is time to eat in St. Moritz or Tirano, and St. Moritz prices are Swiss. Swiss francs are useful, though cards are widely accepted.

On paper, Frigerio's panoramic Bernina Express day: its inclusions list about two and a half hours in St. Moritz, though its itinerary shows an hour and a half, and one reviewer of the same operator's Como day got about an hour and a quarter. The Autostradale days list about an hour and a half with a walking tour, TAOTRAVEL's day about 100 minutes, and City Wonders' about an hour. Reviewers on several tours wish they had longer, so if St. Moritz matters to you, check the itinerary of the option you book. Choosing the Diavolezza lunch option on Frigerio's day replaces the St. Moritz free time.