Milan to Zurich by Train: Across the Alps on the Bernina Railway
There is a fast way to travel from Milan to Zurich.
And then there is the way you will remember.
Direct international trains can whisk you between the two cities in a little over three hours, disappearing beneath much of the Alps through the extraordinary Gotthard Base Tunnel.
Efficient? Absolutely.
But if you have five days rather than five hours, there is another route entirely.
Leave Milan on a regional train and travel north beside Lake Como. Spend your first night in Varenna, where pastel-coloured houses tumble towards the water and ferries criss-cross the lake beneath the mountains.
The following morning, continue through the Valtellina valley to Tirano and board one of Europe's most extraordinary railways.
From here, the Bernina line climbs from Italian-speaking valleys towards glaciers and the high Alps, spiralling around viaducts, passing turquoise mountain lakes and eventually crossing the Bernina Pass at more than 2,200 metres before descending towards St Moritz.
And the journey isn't finished.
After a day in the Engadin, another spectacular railway carries you over the UNESCO-listed Albula line towards Chur, Switzerland's oldest city, before an easy final train delivers you into Zurich.
Italy to Switzerland.
Lakes to glaciers.
Italian piazzas to Engadin villages.
Two UNESCO railway lines and some of the most dramatic scenery in Europe.
All without a car, a flight or an organised tour.
For the third journey in our European Rail Journeys series, we're deliberately taking the long way around.
And that's precisely the point.
Why September and October Are Perfect for This Journey
If there is one journey in this series that deserves to be planned around the season, it is this one.
September is particularly appealing.
The intensity of the Italian summer begins to fade around Lake Como, while days in the Engadin can still be wonderfully clear and bright. Hiking trails remain accessible, the busiest holiday period has passed and sitting beside the lake in Varenna becomes considerably more pleasurable than during the heat and crowds of July and August.
Then comes autumn.
By October, the Engadin begins its transformation into one of Switzerland's most beautiful autumn landscapes. Larches turn shades of gold and copper against snow-dusted peaks, producing scenery that seems designed for a railway window.
But mountain travel always requires some flexibility.
Weather can change quickly at altitude, and as October progresses some cable cars, mountain restaurants and seasonal attractions begin reducing their schedules.
If hiking is important, September or early October would be our choice.
If golden autumn scenery is the priority, later October can be magnificent — but check local conditions and opening dates before travelling.
How Long Do You Need?
You could complete the entire Milan–Tirano–Bernina–St Moritz–Zurich journey considerably faster.
Don't.
This is one of those occasions when slowing the itinerary down transforms the experience.
Our ideal version takes five days and four nights:
Day One: Milan → Varenna — overnight Lake Como
Day Two: Varenna → Tirano → Bernina Railway → St Moritz
Day Three: St Moritz and the Engadin — second night St Moritz
Day Four: St Moritz → Albula Railway → Chur
Day Five: Chur → Zurich
It gives you two of Europe's great railway journeys without reducing Lake Como, St Moritz and Chur to station platforms glimpsed through a window.
And there is another advantage.
You never need a car.
Day One: Leave Milan for Lake Como
There is something wonderfully satisfying about beginning an Alpine adventure beneath the enormous vaulted roof of Milano Centrale.
Milan feels emphatically urban.
Trams rattle through the streets, commuters hurry towards offices and the city's cafés are already busy long before most visitors have finished breakfast.
Yet within a couple of hours, you can be sitting beside Lake Como.
Trenord's RE8 route from Milano Centrale towards Tirano runs north through Monza and Lecco before following the eastern side of Lake Como, including services stopping at Varenna-Esino. The same railway continues all the way to Tirano, making this first part of the journey particularly simple.
As you travel north from Milan, the transformation is rapid.
Urban Lombardy gives way to mountains.
Then Lake Como appears.
Get off at Varenna-Esino.
Do not continue to Tirano yet.
Lake Como deserves the night.
Why Varenna?
Lake Como offers no shortage of famous places, but Varenna is particularly well suited to travellers arriving by rail.
The station sits above the village and everything you need is within walking distance.
Follow the lanes downhill and the lake begins appearing between stone buildings. Eventually you reach the waterfront, where cafés and restaurants face across the water towards Bellagio and the mountains beyond.
Varenna has been a fishing village for centuries, and although tourism has inevitably changed it, the old centre retains an intimacy that some of Lake Como's larger resorts have lost.
Walk the Passeggiata degli Innamorati, the short lakeside walkway connecting the ferry area with the historic centre.
Explore the gardens of Villa Monastero, stretching along the lake beneath cypress trees and exotic plants.
If you have the energy, climb towards Castello di Vezio, the ruined medieval fortress high above the village.
The reward is one of the finest views over the central lake.
Then come back down for aperitivo.
This is Italy, after all.
Take the Ferry to Bellagio
If you arrive early enough, there is an easy addition to the day.
Passenger ferries cross the lake from Varenna to Bellagio, allowing you to experience one of Como's most famous villages without needing a car or bus.
Spend a couple of hours exploring the steep lanes and waterfront, then take the ferry back to Varenna for the evening.
It is worth returning before sunset.
As the day visitors begin to leave, Varenna becomes quieter and the mountains across the lake begin changing colour.
Tomorrow you'll be travelling towards them.
Where to Stay in Varenna
For a special first night, Hotel Villa Cipressi (@hotelvillacipressi) is one of Varenna's most atmospheric addresses, occupying historic buildings surrounded by beautiful botanical gardens descending towards the lake.
Casa du Lac (@casadulac_lakecomo) is another excellent option, particularly if sitting on a terrace directly above Lake Como sounds like your idea of a perfect evening.
If budget allows, choose a room with a lake view.
This is not the night to look at a car park.
Where to Eat in Varenna
Lake Como's cuisine reflects both the mountains and the water.
Look beyond generic tourist menus for dishes featuring lake fish, risotto, polenta and cheeses from the surrounding valleys.
Al Prato (@alprato) is a lovely choice in the historic centre, with tables spilling into a small piazza and a menu rooted in northern Italian cooking.
Or simply find somewhere beside the water, order a glass of local wine and let the location do most of the work.
You have four days of extraordinary railway travel ahead.
There is no need to rush the first evening.
Day Two: Varenna to Tirano
This morning is when the journey changes character completely.
Return to Varenna-Esino station and continue north on the same railway towards Tirano.
The train follows the eastern shore of Lake Como before turning into the broad Valtellina valley, surrounded increasingly by mountains.
This is wine country.
Terraced vineyards cling improbably to steep slopes above the railway, producing wines from Nebbiolo grapes known locally as Chiavennasca.
Small towns replace the grand villas of Como.
The valley narrows.
And eventually the train arrives at Tirano, just a few kilometres from the Swiss border.
But Tirano isn't merely somewhere to change trains.
It marks the gateway to an entirely different railway world.
Tirano: Where Italy Meets the Bernina Railway
Walk from the Italian railway station to the neighbouring Rhaetian Railway station and suddenly the trains look very different.
Here begins the Bernina line.
The railway forms part of the Rhaetian Railway's UNESCO World Heritage route, one of the greatest feats of railway engineering in the Alps.
And what happens next seems almost improbable.
There is no conventional mountain railway rack-and-pinion system pulling the train upwards.
Instead, the railway gains altitude through an extraordinary sequence of gradients, curves, tunnels and viaducts.
You are about to climb from Tirano, at around 430 metres above sea level, to more than 2,250 metres at the Bernina Pass.
All by ordinary adhesion railway.
Bernina Express or Regional Train?
This is one of the most useful things to understand before planning the trip.
You do not have to take the branded Bernina Express to experience the Bernina railway.
Regular Rhaetian Railway regional trains travel along the same spectacular route.
The Bernina Express has panoramic coaches and is marketed specifically as a scenic experience, but a compulsory reservation supplement applies.
Regional trains provide a different experience.
You can travel the same railway with greater flexibility, and seat reservations are generally optional.
For independent travellers, we often prefer the regional option.
You can break the journey.
You can travel more spontaneously.
And on conventional carriages where windows can be opened, photography can be considerably easier than shooting through the sealed panoramic glass of a tourist train.
The Bernina Express is wonderful.
But it isn't the only way to experience the Bernina line.
The Brusio Spiral Viaduct
You don't have to wait long for the railway to show off.
Shortly after leaving Tirano and crossing into Switzerland, the train reaches one of the route's most recognisable engineering landmarks.
The Brusio Circular Viaduct loops almost completely around itself.
The reason isn't decorative.
The railway needs to gain height rapidly without using excessively steep gradients, so engineers effectively tied the track into a stone loop.
From the carriage, you can sometimes see the front of your own train curving around the viaduct ahead.
It is ingenious.
And this is only the beginning.
Poschiavo and the Italian-Speaking Side of Switzerland
The railway continues into Val Poschiavo, where the language remains Italian despite the fact you've crossed into Switzerland.
This is one of the details that makes the journey particularly fascinating.
National borders don't immediately erase culture.
The villages still feel Italian.
Menus are written in Italian.
Church towers rise above stone roofs.
Palm trees can even survive in parts of the lower valley.
Then the railway begins climbing again.
The Mediterranean influence slowly disappears.
Forests thicken.
Mountains close in.
And the high Alps take over.
Lago Bianco and the Bernina Pass
Eventually the train reaches the landscape that makes the Bernina route unforgettable.
Near Ospizio Bernina, the railway reaches around 2,253 metres above sea level — the highest point on the line.
Beside it lies Lago Bianco, whose pale glacial waters contrast dramatically with the darker Lej Nair nearby.
Even in summer, snow can linger on surrounding peaks.
By autumn, the landscape can feel almost Arctic.
It is difficult to reconcile this scenery with the fact that only a few hours earlier you were sitting beside Lake Como.
That's exactly why this journey is so extraordinary.
Glaciers from the Train
Beyond the pass, the railway begins descending towards the Engadin.
Look out for views towards the Morteratsch Glacier, one of the largest glaciers in the Eastern Alps.
The scale of the mountains becomes clearer here.
You are no longer looking up at the Alps from an Italian lake.
You are travelling through them.
Then forests return, villages appear and eventually the train reaches Pontresina before continuing towards St Moritz.
By the time you step onto the platform, you will have experienced one of Europe's great railway journeys.
Don't immediately plan another one.
Stay.
Day Three: St Moritz and the Engadin
St Moritz has a reputation.
Grand hotels.
Designer boutiques.
Champagne.
Winter polo played on a frozen lake.
And yes, all of that exists.
But the wider Engadin valley is far more interesting than the glamorous image suggests.
This is a landscape of extraordinarily clear light, high-altitude lakes, larch forests and traditional villages decorated with distinctive sgraffito façades.
Spend the morning walking around Lake St Moritz, particularly beautiful when the mountains are reflected in still water.
Then use the local railway to explore.
Pontresina is an easy excursion and one of our favourite bases for hiking in the region.
Or travel to one of the traditional Engadin villages such as Samedan, Bever or Zuoz, where centuries-old houses line quiet streets far removed from St Moritz's luxury boutiques.
A Walk Worth Doing
If the weather is good, spend part of the day outside.
The Engadin is criss-crossed by hiking routes, ranging from easy lakeside paths to serious mountain trails.
For something relatively gentle, walking around the lakes near St Moritz provides spectacular scenery without requiring a major expedition.
More ambitious walkers can head towards Pontresina and the Morteratsch valley.
In September, conditions can be superb.
By October, always check weather and trail conditions before setting out.
The mountains decide the itinerary here.
Not you.
What to Eat in the Engadin
Graubünden has one of Switzerland's most distinctive regional cuisines.
Look out for capuns, parcels of spätzle-style dough wrapped in Swiss chard and usually served in a creamy sauce.
Try Bündnerfleisch, air-dried beef sliced wafer-thin.
And under no circumstances leave without trying Engadiner Nusstorte.
This dense caramelised walnut tart originated in the region and is exactly the sort of food that suddenly makes sense after a day walking in cold mountain air.
Where to Stay in St Moritz
You don't need to stay in one of St Moritz's legendary palace hotels to enjoy the town.
Hauser Hotel St. Moritz (@hauserstmoritz) offers a more approachable central base and is particularly well known for its bakery and Engadine nut cake.
For something more indulgent, Hotel Waldhaus am See (@hotel_waldhaus_am_see) occupies an enviable position beside the lake and is within easy reach of the railway station.
Alternatively, consider staying in Pontresina rather than St Moritz itself.
It can feel quieter, more traditionally Alpine and puts you even closer to some of the area's best walking.
Where to Eat in St Moritz
For traditional Engadin cooking, seek out somewhere serving regional dishes rather than assuming St Moritz is all international fine dining.
Hauser Restaurant (@hauserstmoritz) is particularly convenient if you're staying centrally and provides an easy introduction to local specialities.
For something more atmospheric, look for one of the traditional restaurants in the surrounding Engadin villages, where wood-panelled dining rooms and hearty mountain dishes feel a world away from St Moritz's glamorous reputation.
And buy a slice — or an entire tart — of Engadiner Nusstorte for tomorrow's train.
Trust us.
Day Four: St Moritz to Chur — The Second Great Railway
Most journeys would struggle to follow the Bernina line.
Fortunately, this one doesn't have to.
The railway from St Moritz towards Chur takes you onto another section of the Rhaetian Railway UNESCO World Heritage route: the Albula line.
Once again, railway engineers faced the problem of moving trains through terrain that appears almost completely unsuitable for a railway.
Their solution involved tunnels, sweeping curves, viaducts and remarkable helical sections that allow trains to gain and lose altitude gradually.
Find a window seat.
You have another extraordinary journey ahead.
The Landwasser Viaduct
If there is one image associated with the Rhaetian Railway almost as strongly as the Brusio spiral, it is the Landwasser Viaduct.
The curved limestone structure carries the railway high above the valley before the track disappears directly into a tunnel cut into the cliff.
From the train, the moment happens quickly.
Be ready.
This is one of those occasions when putting the camera down afterwards and simply watching the landscape may be the better decision.
Arriving in Chur
After the scale of the Alps, Chur feels intimate.
It is Switzerland's oldest city, with a history stretching back thousands of years, yet many travellers do little more than change trains here.
That is a mistake.
The old town is compact, pedestrianised and wonderfully easy to explore.
Wander through narrow streets towards the cathedral, look for painted façades and small squares, then stop somewhere for a glass of wine.
Yes, wine.
The slopes around Chur and the nearby Bündner Herrschaft produce some of Switzerland's most interesting wines, particularly Pinot Noir.
After days of lakes, glaciers and viaducts, an evening wandering through Chur provides a welcome change of pace.
Where to Stay and Eat in Chur
Stay in or close to the old town so you can explore entirely on foot.
Hotel Stern Chur (@hotel_stern_chur) is a particularly appropriate choice for this journey, combining a central location with a strong connection to Graubünden's regional cuisine.
Dinner here can become part of the experience rather than simply somewhere to eat before bed.
Look for capuns, local game when in season, Bündnerfleisch and regional wines.
Tomorrow's journey is much simpler.
And after the Bernina and Albula railways, that's probably a good thing.
Day Five: Chur to Zurich
The final railway journey feels almost effortless.
Direct Swiss trains connect Chur with Zürich HB in roughly 75–90 minutes, depending on the service.
Sit back and watch the mountains gradually retreat.
The landscape opens.
Lake Zurich approaches.
And suddenly you're back in one of Europe's most connected cities.
Five days earlier, you were in Milan.
Since then you've stayed beside Lake Como, travelled through the vineyards of Valtellina, crossed into Switzerland, climbed over the Bernina Pass, seen glaciers from a train window, slept in the Engadin, travelled another UNESCO railway and explored Switzerland's oldest city.
That is quite a lot of Europe for one suitcase.
Spend the Afternoon in Zurich
If you're not immediately continuing elsewhere, give Zurich at least an afternoon.
Walk from the Hauptbahnhof into the Altstadt, follow the River Limmat towards the lake and climb to Lindenhof for views across the old city.
If the weather is good, take a short lake cruise.
If autumn rain has arrived, head instead for the Kunsthaus or settle into a café in Niederdorf.
There is no need to end the journey with another frantic sightseeing programme.
Zurich works best when you let it breathe.
The Real Travel Guides Booking Strategy
This journey looks complicated on a map.
In reality, it is remarkably straightforward.
Think of it as separate sections:
Milan → Varenna → Tirano: Trenord
Tirano → St Moritz: Rhaetian Railway, either Bernina Express or regional trains
St Moritz → Chur: Rhaetian Railway via the Albula route
Chur → Zurich: Swiss mainline railway
On the Italian section, regional tickets are relatively inexpensive compared with long-distance high-speed travel.
For the Bernina section, decide first whether you want the panoramic Bernina Express experience or the flexibility of regional trains.
If choosing the Bernina Express, reserve well ahead.
If choosing regional trains, consider an optional seat reservation during busy periods.
And always check the timetable shortly before travel.
Mountain railways and engineering works can occasionally alter services.
Should You Buy a Swiss Travel Pass?
Possibly.
Unlike a simple city-to-city journey, this itinerary includes several Swiss rail trips and potentially local excursions around the Engadin.
That makes a pass worth pricing.
The Swiss Travel Pass can be used on the Bernina route, although the mandatory reservation supplement still needs to be paid if you choose the panoramic Bernina Express.
If you're using regional trains instead, compare the cost of a pass with individual tickets and any Saver Day Passes available for your dates.
There isn't one answer that works for everybody.
Calculate before buying.
Which Side of the Train Should You Sit On?
This is perhaps the question people ask most often about scenic railways.
And on the Bernina route, our answer is:
Don't obsess over it.
The railway twists and turns so frequently that views move from one side to the other throughout the journey.
If you're travelling on regional trains, the ability to move around more freely can be another advantage.
The more important rule is simpler.
Look out of the window.
Not at your phone.
Pack for Four Seasons
Milan may still feel like summer.
Lake Como may be warm enough for lunch outside.
The Bernina Pass may feel like winter.
All on the same journey.
Layers are essential.
Bring a lightweight waterproof jacket, comfortable walking shoes and something warm enough for the high mountains even if Italy's weather forecast looks glorious.
By October, gloves and a hat aren't excessive.
This is one of the few European trips where your suitcase needs to understand geography almost as well as you do.
Why Take the Slow Route?
There is a revealing comparison at the heart of this journey.
You can travel directly from Milan to Zurich in a few hours.
Or you can spend five days doing it this way.
On paper, the direct train wins easily.
But travel isn't always about winning the race.
The longer route allows you to understand what actually lies between the two cities.
Lake Como.
Valtellina.
Italian-speaking Switzerland.
The Bernina Pass.
The Engadin.
The Albula mountains.
Graubünden.
Chur.
These aren't inconveniences delaying your arrival in Zurich.
They are the journey.
And that is the philosophy behind this entire European Rail Journeys series.
Sometimes the most memorable way between two places isn't the fastest one.
It is the route that gives you a reason to look out of the window.
Exploring Europe with Real Travel Guides
This journey brings together two countries that are particularly rewarding to explore independently by rail.
Touring Italy by Train helps you travel beyond Milan into Italy's cities, lakes and regions using practical rail hubs, flexible itineraries, day trips and local insights designed for travellers who don't want to hire a car or join an organised tour.
Cross the border and Touring Switzerland by Train takes over, helping you make sense of Switzerland's extraordinary railway network while discovering panoramic routes, Alpine villages, lakes and journeys such as the Bernina and Albula lines.
And the wider Real Travel Guides Touring by Train collection now covers Italy, Switzerland, France and Spain, making it increasingly easy to connect individual holidays into longer adventures across Europe.
Inspired to keep going? Our best-selling Touring by Train guides make it easy to explore France, Switzerland, Italy and Spain independently by rail.
Because Europe doesn't have to be explored one country at a time.
@real_travel_guides
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