Bernina Express or Glacier Express?
Four hours over the Bernina Pass into Italy, or about eight from St. Moritz to Zermatt. Route, scenery, time and how each fits a trip, compared.
For most visitors the Bernina Express is the better choice: it is shorter, crosses higher, ends in Italy and fits into a single day from Milan or Lake Como. The Glacier Express is the longer journey, a full day across the middle of Switzerland between St. Moritz and Zermatt, and it suits a trip that is already moving through the Swiss Alps.
Side by side
| Bernina Express | Glacier Express | |
|---|---|---|
| Route | Chur or St. Moritz to Tirano, Italy | St. Moritz to Zermatt |
| Time | About 4 hours from Chur, 2¼ from St. Moritz | About 8 hours |
| Highest point | Ospizio Bernina, 2,253 m | Oberalp Pass, a little over 2,000 m |
| Character | Glaciers, a high pass, then a long drop to vineyards and palms | Gorges, the Rhine valley, high passes and the Matterhorn at the end |
| Cheaper alternative | Regional trains on the same line, with windows that open | Regional trains on most sections |
| From Milan | A day trip | Not as a day trip |
Bernina Express figures from rhb.ch. Glacier Express figures are approximate: the journey is widely given as about eight hours over 291 bridges and 91 tunnels.
Choose the Bernina Express if
- You are based in Milan or on Lake Como. Tirano is reachable in a morning, and every day trip here is built around it.
- You want the most dramatic stretch for the time spent. Two hours over the pass, glaciers close to the track and a descent of more than 1,800 metres.
- You want to finish in Italy. The Bernina Express bus continues from Tirano to Lugano (daily from 26 March to 25 October, Thursday to Sunday from 29 October to 22 November, none from late November to February; rhb.ch, checked October 2026), and Trenord trains run back down to Lake Como and Milan.
- You want an open window. The regional trains on the Bernina line make that possible, and most day trips use them.
Choose the Glacier Express if
- You are travelling between Zermatt and the Engadin anyway. It is a transport link as well as a sightseeing train, and a whole day of it replaces several changes.
- You want the Matterhorn at the end. Zermatt is the reason many people take it.
- You like long train days. Eight hours in a panoramic car, with a meal served at your seat, is the point for some and too much for others.
Doing both
The two trains meet in St. Moritz and share the Albula line between Chur and St. Moritz, so they combine well on a Swiss rail trip: the Glacier Express from Zermatt to St. Moritz one day, the Bernina line down to Tirano the next. If you are planning that kind of trip, swisstraintravel.com covers the panoramic trains and the passes that go with them.
For a single day from Milan there is no contest: only the Bernina Express fits. The Bernina Express from Milan page compares the day trips, and Bernina Express or the red train helps you choose which of the two trains on the line to ride.
The Bernina Express in a Day from Milan
A coach day from Milan to St. Moritz with the Bernina Express to Tirano, and a guaranteed panoramic-car seat if you choose that option. Check the date you want before you book.
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