From Milan to the Swiss Alps: Bernina Red Train & St. Moritz

About This Experience

You leave from Milano Centrale by coach and ride about an hour and a half north to Colico, at the top of Lake Como, for a 15-minute break. Another hour and a half up the Valtellina brings you to Tirano, where you get about 45 minutes to walk around the border town before the train.

From Tirano you board the Bernina red train, the ordinary regional train on the St. Moritz line, with standard coaches and windows you can open. The listing allows about two and a half hours for the climb past Poschiavo and Alp Grüm, where the Palü glacier comes into view, up to St. Moritz. This is not the panoramic Bernina Express, and the ticket does not include a seat in one of its glass-roofed coaches.

In St. Moritz your guide leads a short walk, then you have free time: about an hour and a half in total for the lake, the shops or a coffee. The coach then drives you back over the Maloja Pass, roughly three hours to Milano Centrale.

The operator can run the day in reverse, starting in St. Moritz and taking the train down to Tirano, or change the plan for weather, traffic or railway operations. A live guide speaks English all day, with an English audio guide alongside.

Highlights

• Regional red train from Tirano to St. Moritz, about 2.5 hours on board
• Alp Grüm and the view across to the Palü glacier from the train
• Free time in Tirano before boarding, about 45 minutes
• Guided walk and free time in St. Moritz, about 1.5 hours
• Coffee stop at Colico at the north end of Lake Como
• Return drive over the Maloja Pass

What's Included

• ✓ Round-trip coach from Milano Centrale
• ✓ Bernina red train ticket from Tirano to St. Moritz (regional train)
• ✓ Live guide in English
• ✓ English audio guide
• ✓ Guided walk in St. Moritz
• ✓ 15-minute break in Colico

Not Included

• Meals and drinks
• A seat on the panoramic Bernina Express
• Hotel pickup and drop-off
• Tips

What to Bring

• Passport or national ID card (the day crosses the Italian–Swiss border twice)
• Comfortable walking shoes
• A warm layer for St. Moritz
• Camera

Good to Know & Caveats

• The operator requires a passport or national ID card on the day.
• You ride the regional Bernina red train with opening windows, not the panoramic Bernina Express.
• The day can run in reverse, St. Moritz first, or change for weather, traffic or railway operations.
• You cannot pick a seat side on the train. Travelers often suggest the right-hand side heading south (St. Moritz to Tirano) and the left heading north, but you sit where there is space.
• Expect a moderate amount of walking in Tirano and St. Moritz.
• Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.

Meeting Point

Milano Centrale railway station on Piazza Duca d'Aosta, and the coach brings you back to the same square in the evening.