{"id":935,"date":"2026-06-07T17:29:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T15:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/item\/bernina-express\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T11:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T09:04:10","slug":"bernina-express","status":"publish","type":"citadela-item","link":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/item\/bernina-express\/","title":{"rendered":"Bernina Express"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-size:1.15em;line-height:1.6;color:#3a352f;\">The Bernina Express links Swiss Graub\u00fcnden with Italian Tirano over the most spectacular stretch of the Rhaetian Railway. The Albula and Bernina lines have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008. Without a rack, the narrow-gauge railway climbs on the tightest curves to over 2,250 m at the Bernina Pass and passes the famous Landwasser Viaduct and the circular viaduct of Brusio.<\/p>\n<h2>Highlights<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>UNESCO World Heritage Albula and Bernina lines (since 2008)<\/li>\n<li>Landwasser Viaduct, built into the rock face<\/li>\n<li>Circular viaduct of Brusio, a spiral open-air loop<\/li>\n<li>A journey from glaciers to palm trees in Tirano<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Good to know<\/h2>\n<table class=\"at-vergleich\" style=\"width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:14px;\">\n<tr style=\"background:#ffffff;\">\n<td style=\"padding:8px;border:1px solid #e3e0d8;width:34%;font-weight:600;\">Route<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding:8px;border:1px solid #e3e0d8;\">Chur\/St. Moritz \u2013 Tirano (Italy)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background:#fafaf8;\">\n<td style=\"padding:8px;border:1px solid #e3e0d8;width:34%;font-weight:600;\">World Heritage<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding:8px;border:1px solid #e3e0d8;\">UNESCO since 2008<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background:#ffffff;\">\n<td style=\"padding:8px;border:1px solid #e3e0d8;width:34%;font-weight:600;\">Summit point<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding:8px;border:1px solid #e3e0d8;\">Ospizio Bernina, over 2,250 m<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background:#fafaf8;\">\n<td style=\"padding:8px;border:1px solid #e3e0d8;width:34%;font-weight:600;\">Special feature<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding:8px;border:1px solid #e3e0d8;\">steepest adhesion railway without a rack<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<h2>Practical info<\/h2>\n<div style=\"background:#f3f1ec;border:1px solid #e3e0d8;border-radius:10px;padding:18px 20px;\">\n<p style=\"margin:6px 0;line-height:1.55;\"><strong style=\"color:#f25353;\">Getting there:<\/strong> Boarding in Chur, St. Moritz or Pontresina; panorama carriages require reservation.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:6px 0;line-height:1.55;\"><strong style=\"color:#f25353;\">Best time:<\/strong> Year-round; in winter a snow-covered plateau, in summer clear views.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:6px 0;line-height:1.55;\"><strong style=\"color:#f25353;\">Cost:<\/strong> Reservation for panorama carriages payable in addition to the ticket (please verify).<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:6px 0;line-height:1.55;\"><strong style=\"color:#f25353;\">Safety:<\/strong> A comfortable, safe train journey; for the return, plan cross-border connections.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:12px 0 4px;\"><strong style=\"color:#f25353;\">Tips:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin-top:0;\">\n<li>Ask in advance for a seat on the right side, the highlights switch sides<\/li>\n<li>Combined ticket with the postbus from Tirano to Lugano possible<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Background &amp; History<\/h2>\n<p>The Bernina Express connects the Swiss canton of Graub\u00fcnden with the Italian town of Tirano, crossing the high Bernina Pass without a rack rail, an engineering feat of the first rank. The line belongs to the Rhaetian Railway, whose routes in the Albula and Bernina region have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008, recognised as an outstanding example of how a railway can open up an extreme high-mountain region while being harmoniously integrated into the landscape. The Bernina Railway was opened at the beginning of the 20th century and electrically operated from the very start, which was remarkable for its time.<\/p>\n<p>In just a few hours' journey the train crosses almost all the climatic zones of the Alps, from the glaciers of the Bernina massif to the palms and vineyards of the southern valleys. Spectacular is the Brusio circular viaduct, an open spiral arch with which the railway loses height in the closest space without forcing too steep a gradient. Past the deep-blue Lago Bianco at the top of the pass and the ice world of the Morteratsch Glacier, the route leads down into the warmer valleys of the Valtellina. This bold routing, which once linked remote mountain regions with one another, makes the journey to this day an experience of the history of both technology and landscape.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background:#221c1a;color:#fff;border-radius:10px;padding:18px 22px;margin-top:28px;\"><strong style=\"font-size:1.08em;\">Related<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:6px 0 12px;color:#d8d2cc;font-size:14px;\">To make your trip run smoothly , our guides and gear tips for this destination:<\/p>\n<div style=\"display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:10px;\"><a href=\"\/en\/wanderschuhe\/\" style=\"display:inline-block;background:#f25353;color:#fff;padding:9px 16px;border-radius:6px;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;font-size:14px;\">Hiking boots \u2192<\/a><a href=\"\/en\/ausruestung\/\" style=\"display:inline-block;background:#f25353;color:#fff;padding:9px 16px;border-radius:6px;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;font-size:14px;\">Gear &amp; reviews \u2192<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Der Bernina Express verbindet das schweizerische Graub\u00fcnden mit dem italienischen Tirano \u00fcber die spektakul\u00e4rste Strecke der Rh\u00e4tischen Bahn. Die Albula- und Berninalinie geh\u00f6ren seit 2008 zum UNESCO-Welterbe. Ohne Zahnrad \u00fcberwindet die Schmalspurbahn auf engsten Kurven \u00fcber 2.250 m am Berninapass und passiert das ber\u00fchmte Landwasserviadukt und den Kreisviadukt von Brusio. Highlights UNESCO-Welterbe Albula- und Berninalinie [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":963,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","citadela-item-category":[39],"citadela-item-location":[66],"class_list":["post-935","citadela-item","type-citadela-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","citadela-item-category-ausflugsziele-sehenswuerdigkeiten","citadela-item-location-graubuenden-engadin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/citadela-item\/935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/citadela-item"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/citadela-item"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=935"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/citadela-item\/935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1463,"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/citadela-item\/935\/revisions\/1463"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"citadela-item-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/citadela-item-category?post=935"},{"taxonomy":"citadela-item-location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/citadela-item-location?post=935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}