Can you do a day excursion to St Moritz / Tirano on the Bernina Express from Lake Como?
Planning a trip in August 2016. Staying in Lake Como and want to do a day trip to Tirano to St Moritz on the Bernina Express. Since we have no car we need transfers or train or coach transfers from Lake como return in the one day.
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Hi Darryn.
From the town of Como, you could take a short train up to Lugano, where the full Bernina Express route actually begins. Lugano is where you would board the Bernina Express bus that would take you to Tirano. In Tirano, you would switch to a Bernina Express train to St Moritz.
You would purchase tickets by clicking on 'Find Fares & Schedules' on our homepage (www.raileurope.com) and entering the route. To do so, you would do a separate search for each segment of the connection. Therefore, you would do one search to access trains from Como to Lugano, another search to access the bus from Lugano to Tirano, and another search for connecting trains from Tirano to St Moritz.
Generally, the trains from Como to Lugano and both Bernina Express segments can only be booked once within 90 days of an intended date of departure. With that said, the Bernina Express stops running in late October each year. This time around, the bus segment of the Bernina Express (Lugano to Tirano) doesn't operate from October 26th to March 27th, and the train segment of the Bernina Express (Tirano to St Moritz) doesn't operate from October 26th to May 8th. Therefore, if you'd like to get an idea of the ticket costs and schedules now, you would just have to use a date prior to October 26th when you do these searches. -
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Darryn,
Just to follow up, the trip I described above is actually not able to be completed as a 'day-trip' (if you do, in fact, wish to return to Como the same day).
If you'd like to return to Como the same day, you could make a rail connection right over to Tirano, where you would board the Bernina Express train that would take you up to St Moritz. This just would not involve taking the bus segment of the Bernina Express, and you would still not end up having that much time in St Moritz. Also, you would likely have to depart early out of Como.
A rail connection from Como to Tirano would take about 3.5 hours in duration and involves changing trains once in Monza en route.
Once again, you would purchase tickets by clicking on 'Find Fares & Schedules' on our homepage (www.raileurope.com) and entering a route. For this option, you would do one search for the segment from Como to Tirano and another search for connecting trains from Tirano to St Moritz. You would then do the same in the reverse for a return from St Moritz back to Como.
Trains comprising of a connection between Como and Tirano (via Monza) can only be booked within 60 days of an intended date of departure. -
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The above responses presuppose that you'll be departing from the actual town of Como, which is on the southwest corner of the lake. If it happens that you'll be staying in Varenna (on the east coast of the Lake), a day-trip to St Moritz would be made significantly easier, as there are direct trains from Varenna to Tirano ('TreNord' trains) operating regularly throughout the day, and the ride only takes about 1.5 hour.
To purchase tickets for this option, you would do one search for trains from Varenna to Tirano and another search for connecting trains on the Bernina route from Tirano to St Moritz. You would then do the same in the reverse for your return.
Trains between Varenna and Tirano can only be booked once within 60 days of an intended date of departure. -
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I am thinking of the same trip as we are staying in Bellagio. So, getting to St. Moritz sounds great taking the train to Tirano, but rather than return to Tirano, is it possible to get to Lugano instead somehow. I heard there was a bus service. I want to get down to Turin after this trip and i think the train is the best way to go.
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Hi Pat,
An excursion from Bellagio to Lugano would involve a ferry on Lake Como from Bellagio to Menaggio and then a bus from Menaggio to Lugano. Tickets for the bus and ferry are only able to be purchased locally when you're there.
A rail connection from Lugano to Turin takes at least about 2.5 hours in duration and involves changing trains once in Milan along the way. You would purchase tickets by searching the route under 'Find Train Tickets' on our homepage, www.raileurope.com. For a trip from Lugano to Turin, you would just piece together the connection by doing a separate search for each segment. Therefore, you would do one search for trains from Lugano to Milan and then another search for connecting trains from Milan to Turin.
Trains from Lugano to Milan are EC (EuroCity) trains. From Milan to Turin, there are Frecciarossa trains and Italo trains.
When you choose your trains, be sure to account for the stations of arrival and departure in Milan. Trains from Lugano to Milan only arrive into Milan's Centrale station, so you would just want to be sure to choose a train from Milan to Turin that departs from the Centrale station.
Generally, these trains can be booked within 120 days of an intended departure date. -
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Thank you for replying so quickly. Thanks for your help. I am thinking we had better nix the area of Lugano and instead maybe the best idea since we are going to Turin would be to take the ferry from Belagio to Varenna to take the train to Tirano. Then is it possible to do a round trip for the same day from Tirano to St. Moritz (bernina express) and St. Moritz and return to Tirano and then maybe stay overnight in Tirano and take a train from Tirano to Turin, the next day. Is something like that doable? I have heard such wonderful things about BE and really would like to do it. (some people also say, just take the regular train to St. Moritz too as the views are the same, what is your opinion on that?) . The other option, i guess, is to go back to Milan on Oct 20 (forgot to give you dates) and book one of those 14 hour tours i have heard about to go to St. Moritz and return to Milan (a long day involving a lot of bus time too) and then go to Turin the next day via train. Which is the best option do you think? Thank you so much helping me plan this!
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Hi,i tried to purchase Bernina train ticket from Tirano yo St.Moritz and it is not possible via yoyr links.Where shall i purchase the tickets?Many Thanks
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Hi Sanja,
You would purchase a ticket from Tirano to St Moritz just by searching the route under 'BOOK TRAIN TICKETS' on the homepage of our website, www.raileurope.com. Generally, these trains can only be booked once within 90 days of an intended departure date. -
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