Bernina Express 🇨🇭
My peaceful Alpine train ride from a small Italian town up to 2,000 meters above the sea mountain pass.
Bernina Express is one of the two Swiss lines that form the UNESCO World Heritage Rhaetian Railway. Back at the beginning of the 20th century, it served the isolated mountain regions while demonstrating incredible engineering achievements that amaze passengers a century later.
My journey started in Tirano, a small town on the northern border of Italy. Due to the winter schedule, the only available train was leaving at midday so I had a morning to spare.
It was freezing outside. I wandered through the paved narrow streets of Tirano that smelled of wooden stoves. It wasn’t an Italian town I pictured in my head, with beautiful women smoking cigarettes and loud men throwing around pizzas. On the contrary, the streets were empty. The only people I met were going to church. It felt like I traveled back in time.
I then took a 20-minute walk to the Santuario della Madonna di Tirano. It’s located on a square which I crossed once again several hours later when leaving the city by the Bernina Express like it’s a tram.
This part of town felt a lot livelier. First, I met two elderly men talking and smiling at each other. They looked like they were having a good time. Then I noticed another company of elderly men having a drink outside even though it was like 2℃.
I couldn’t resist and ordered myself a drink as well. I think it was a Campari mixed with white wine. Not sure if I tried it before, but that’s what the elderly men were drinking. It felt so good that I spent the next hour reading, writing down notes and just enjoying the simple, almost unrealistic moment I happened to emerge in. The place is called Smart Cafè.
Before the train, I went to grab a pizza at Leti. It’s right by the station, it looked contemporary and I noticed a wood-fired oven inside. Usually, I prefer old-fashioned, lost-in-time places, but Leti hit all the right notes. I mean, just look at the pizza. I like to go for Margherita in new places. It’s so simple, that the quality ingredients speak for themselves. And Leti fully delivered.
I finally hopped on the train at around 3pm. It’s pretty late for winter but I still had a couple hours of daylight to enjoy the scenery outside. Unlike other trains on the same route, the Bernina Express has huge panoramic windows curving on the roof so you can avail yourself of unobstructed views of the snow-capped peaks around.
The train departs from Tirano crossing the town’s streets like it’s a tram and quickly reaches the first attraction which is Brusio Spiral Viaduct. It’s literally a full spiral viaduct built so that trains can climb up without exceeding the specified 7% gradient.
The elevation that the Bernina Express takes from 441 meters above the sea level in Tirano up to 2,253 meters is one of the most impressive things about the ride. Imagine, you pass the crystal-clear lake and then, 30 minutes later you are seeing the very same lake far below. Or better yet, leaving the town with almost no snow and wading through a snowstorm with no visibility two hours later.
Unfortunately, it became dark outside in the middle of the journey, so I wasn’t able to see all the natural beauty around. I even missed the famous Pont du viaduct de Landwasser which is a 65 meters tall stone bridge running to the hole in the mountain. But riding the train through the dark somewhere in the mountains still felt charmingly peaceful.
Honestly, I want to repeat the journey even more now that I’ve already done it. Preferably in the summer so it’s daylight outside the whole way. I picture the next time I go in the opposite direction and arrive in Tirano. It’s not exactly the place you would go for itself. But I still remember the smell of the wood-fired oven at Leti and I just wish I could have one more drink outside Smart Cafè while listening to its elderly regulars speaking Italian nonchalantly.
Address book
Leti, a wood-fired oven pizza restaurant.
Smart Cafè, a cafe bar that serves an Italian plate as well.
Antica Residenza Centro Storico, decent option to stay the night before you take the Bernina Express.