Switzerland · Window guide
Which side of the Bernina Express should you sit on?
A window guide to the Bernina Express (144 km, 31 narrated stories), built from the same route data the Rail Journeys app uses to trigger its narration.
Operated by Rhaetian Railway. Rail Journeys of a Lifetime is an independent audio guide and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any railway operator.
The short answer
- Toward Tirano: the narrated sights are split between the two sides of the train — sit where you like and let the narration tell you which way to look for each one.
- Toward Chur: the narrated sights are split between the two sides of the train — sit where you like and let the narration tell you which way to look for each one.
The app narrates each sight automatically as you reach it and says which side to look — this page is the same route, in order, for planning. "Left" and "right" are relative to the direction of travel.
Distances in the tables are measured along the route geometry from Chur and are approximate; the headline distance is the operator's published figure.
Before you board
- Bernina Express trains call at different intermediate stations; check the Rhaetian Railway timetable for your departure. The stations below are the line's principal stops.
Toward Tirano
| Distance from start | Sight | Look | What you'll hear about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 km (0 mi) | 🚉 Chur | — | Station stop |
| 2 km (1 mi) | Chur: Where the Journey Begins | Either side | We're setting out from Chur — and you couldn't begin in a more fitting place. |
| 10 km (6 mi) | The Rhine at Reichenau | Either side | Watch the river beside us, because something quietly important happens here at Reichenau: two rivers become one. |
| 23 km (14 mi) | The Domleschg: Valley of Castles | Either side | Look up to the hillsides on both sides of this broad valley, the Domleschg, and you'll start to count them: castles, towers, and ruins, perc |
| 27 km (17 mi) | 🚉 Thusis | — | Station stop |
| 27 km (17 mi) | Thusis: Gateway to the Gorges | Either side | The town of Thusis marks a threshold. |
| 30 km (18 mi) | A World Heritage Railway | Either side | You may not realise it yet, but the railway you're riding is a World Heritage Site — listed by UNESCO alongside the pyramids and the Taj Mah |
| 33 km (21 mi) | The Schyn Gorge | Either side | We're threading the Schyn Gorge now — a deep, wild cleft where the Albula river has sawn straight down into the rock, leaving cliffs too she |
| 36 km (22 mi) | Solis Viaduct | Either side | Look down — really down — as the train starts across this next bridge: the river is a long way below your window. |
| 49 km (31 mi) | Landwasser Viaduct | Either side | Feel the train lean into this curve, and look ahead along the line of arches — and watch where they go. |
| 50 km (31 mi) | 🚉 Filisur | — | Station stop |
| 50 km (31 mi) | Filisur: The Junction in the Pines | Either side | The pretty village of Filisur, with its sgraffito-decorated houses, is a railway crossroads tucked in the pines. |
| 59 km (37 mi) | 🚉 Bergün/Bravuogn | — | Station stop |
| 59 km (37 mi) | Bergün & the Railway Trail | Either side | The village below is Bergün — small, stone, easy to miss. |
| 65 km (40 mi) | The Preda Sledding Run | Either side | In winter, this stretch of railway runs an extraordinary sort of ferry — for sledges. |
| 72 km (44 mi) | Bergün → Preda: The Staircase of Spirals | Left side | Remember where that village sits below us, because we're about to climb high above it — and we're going to do it by tying this railway into |
| 72 km (45 mi) | The Albula Tunnel | Left side | We're about to go dark for a while — longer than any tunnel so far. |
| 78 km (49 mi) | The Engadine Opens | Either side | Out of the long Albula tunnel, the world has changed. |
| 84 km (52 mi) | Samedan & the Railway Works | Either side | The town of Samedan sits at the heart of the Upper Engadine — and at the heart of the railway, too. |
| 88 km (55 mi) | Pontresina & the Larches | Either side | The handsome village of Pontresina sits among forests of larch — the curious pine that isn't evergreen, blazing gold every autumn before it |
| 89 km (55 mi) | 🚉 Pontresina | — | Station stop |
| 89 km (55 mi) | The Montebello Curve: The Postcard | Either side | In a moment the train is going to swing hard around an open bend — and the whole mountain range will arrive all at once. |
| 95 km (59 mi) | Morteratsch Glacier & the Decade Posts | Either side | Look up the valley to the wall of ice and rock at its head — that's the Morteratsch glacier. |
| 100 km (62 mi) | The Climb to the Pass | Either side | Feel the train working now — leaning into curve after curve, ducking through tunnel after tunnel, hauling itself patiently up toward the Ber |
| 100 km (62 mi) | 🚉 Bernina Diavolezza | — | Station stop |
| 103 km (64 mi) | Keeping the Pass Open | Either side | Up here near the top of the line, the railway fights a quiet war every winter. |
| 106 km (66 mi) | 🚉 Ospizio Bernina | — | Station stop |
| 106 km (66 mi) | Ospizio Bernina & Lago Bianco: The Roof and the Divide | Either side | Beside us now lies a long, pale, milky lake — and we've reached the very top of the line, about two thousand two hundred and fifty metres up |
| 108 km (67 mi) | The Ibex of the Bernina | Either side | Watch the high rock faces around the pass for one of the Alps' most magnificent animals: the ibex. |
| 110 km (69 mi) | 🚉 Alp Grüm | — | Station stop |
| 110 km (69 mi) | Alp Grüm: One Step South of the Alps | Either side | Suddenly a whole valley falls away beneath us, opening toward the south, with a glacier hanging above it. |
| 116 km (72 mi) | Cavaglia: The Giants' Kettles | Either side | Just below us at Cavaglia, hidden in the rock, are some very strange holes. |
| 121 km (75 mi) | Into the Val Poschiavo | Either side | Notice how everything is softening and warming as we drop down the southern side: the bare rock gives way to green slopes, then to chestnut |
| 127 km (79 mi) | 🚉 Poschiavo | — | Station stop |
| 127 km (79 mi) | Poschiavo & the Spanish Quarter | Either side | On the edge of this Italian-speaking town stands a row of grand, colourful mansions — the Spanish Quarter. |
| 131 km (81 mi) | 🚉 Le Prese | — | Station stop |
| 131 km (81 mi) | Le Prese: The Train in the Street | Either side | Notice how close the houses are getting — we're not on a railway line anymore, we're on the road. |
| 132 km (82 mi) | Lago di Poschiavo | Left side | The water is almost lapping at the rails now. |
| 134 km (83 mi) | Miralago: "Look at the Lake" | Either side | The little stop we're passing has the most honest name on the line. |
| 138 km (86 mi) | Brusio Circular Viaduct | Either side | In a moment the whole world is going to start turning. |
| 144 km (89 mi) | 🚉 Tirano | — | Station stop |
| 144 km (89 mi) | Tirano: When the Train Becomes a Tram | Either side | We're no longer on a railway. |
Toward Chur
| Distance from start | Sight | Look | What you'll hear about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 km (0 mi) | Tirano: When the Train Becomes a Tram | Either side | We're no longer on a railway. |
| 0 km (0 mi) | 🚉 Tirano | — | Station stop |
| 6 km (4 mi) | Brusio Circular Viaduct | Either side | In a moment the whole world is going to start turning. |
| 10 km (6 mi) | Miralago: "Look at the Lake" | Either side | The little stop we're passing has the most honest name on the line. |
| 11 km (7 mi) | Lago di Poschiavo | Right side | The water is almost lapping at the rails now. |
| 13 km (8 mi) | Le Prese: The Train in the Street | Either side | Notice how close the houses are getting — we're not on a railway line anymore, we're on the road. |
| 13 km (8 mi) | 🚉 Le Prese | — | Station stop |
| 17 km (11 mi) | Poschiavo & the Spanish Quarter | Either side | On the edge of this Italian-speaking town stands a row of grand, colourful mansions — the Spanish Quarter. |
| 17 km (11 mi) | 🚉 Poschiavo | — | Station stop |
| 23 km (14 mi) | Into the Val Poschiavo | Either side | Notice how everything is softening and warming as we drop down the southern side: the bare rock gives way to green slopes, then to chestnut |
| 27 km (17 mi) | Cavaglia: The Giants' Kettles | Either side | Just below us at Cavaglia, hidden in the rock, are some very strange holes. |
| 33 km (21 mi) | Alp Grüm: One Step South of the Alps | Either side | Suddenly a whole valley falls away beneath us, opening toward the south, with a glacier hanging above it. |
| 33 km (21 mi) | 🚉 Alp Grüm | — | Station stop |
| 36 km (22 mi) | The Ibex of the Bernina | Either side | Watch the high rock faces around the pass for one of the Alps' most magnificent animals: the ibex. |
| 38 km (24 mi) | Ospizio Bernina & Lago Bianco: The Roof and the Divide | Either side | Beside us now lies a long, pale, milky lake — and we've reached the very top of the line, about two thousand two hundred and fifty metres up |
| 38 km (24 mi) | 🚉 Ospizio Bernina | — | Station stop |
| 41 km (25 mi) | Keeping the Pass Open | Either side | Up here near the top of the line, the railway fights a quiet war every winter. |
| 44 km (27 mi) | 🚉 Bernina Diavolezza | — | Station stop |
| 44 km (27 mi) | The Climb to the Pass | Either side | Feel the train working now — leaning into curve after curve, ducking through tunnel after tunnel, hauling itself patiently up toward the Ber |
| 48 km (30 mi) | Morteratsch Glacier & the Decade Posts | Either side | Look up the valley to the wall of ice and rock at its head — that's the Morteratsch glacier. |
| 55 km (34 mi) | The Montebello Curve: The Postcard | Either side | In a moment the train is going to swing hard around an open bend — and the whole mountain range will arrive all at once. |
| 55 km (34 mi) | 🚉 Pontresina | — | Station stop |
| 55 km (34 mi) | Pontresina & the Larches | Either side | The handsome village of Pontresina sits among forests of larch — the curious pine that isn't evergreen, blazing gold every autumn before it |
| 60 km (37 mi) | Samedan & the Railway Works | Either side | The town of Samedan sits at the heart of the Upper Engadine — and at the heart of the railway, too. |
| 65 km (41 mi) | The Engadine Opens | Either side | Out of the long Albula tunnel, the world has changed. |
| 72 km (45 mi) | The Albula Tunnel | Right side | We're about to go dark for a while — longer than any tunnel so far. |
| 72 km (45 mi) | Bergün → Preda: The Staircase of Spirals | Right side | Remember where that village sits below us, because we're about to climb high above it — and we're going to do it by tying this railway into |
| 79 km (49 mi) | The Preda Sledding Run | Either side | In winter, this stretch of railway runs an extraordinary sort of ferry — for sledges. |
| 84 km (52 mi) | Bergün & the Railway Trail | Either side | The village below is Bergün — small, stone, easy to miss. |
| 84 km (52 mi) | 🚉 Bergün/Bravuogn | — | Station stop |
| 93 km (58 mi) | Filisur: The Junction in the Pines | Either side | The pretty village of Filisur, with its sgraffito-decorated houses, is a railway crossroads tucked in the pines. |
| 93 km (58 mi) | 🚉 Filisur | — | Station stop |
| 94 km (59 mi) | Landwasser Viaduct | Either side | Feel the train lean into this curve, and look ahead along the line of arches — and watch where they go. |
| 108 km (67 mi) | Solis Viaduct | Either side | Look down — really down — as the train starts across this next bridge: the river is a long way below your window. |
| 111 km (69 mi) | The Schyn Gorge | Either side | We're threading the Schyn Gorge now — a deep, wild cleft where the Albula river has sawn straight down into the rock, leaving cliffs too she |
| 114 km (71 mi) | A World Heritage Railway | Either side | You may not realise it yet, but the railway you're riding is a World Heritage Site — listed by UNESCO alongside the pyramids and the Taj Mah |
| 116 km (72 mi) | Thusis: Gateway to the Gorges | Either side | The town of Thusis marks a threshold. |
| 116 km (72 mi) | 🚉 Thusis | — | Station stop |
| 121 km (75 mi) | The Domleschg: Valley of Castles | Either side | Look up to the hillsides on both sides of this broad valley, the Domleschg, and you'll start to count them: castles, towers, and ruins, perc |
| 134 km (83 mi) | The Rhine at Reichenau | Either side | Watch the river beside us, because something quietly important happens here at Reichenau: two rivers become one. |
| 142 km (88 mi) | Chur: Where the Journey Begins | Either side | We're setting out from Chur — and you couldn't begin in a more fitting place. |
| 144 km (89 mi) | 🚉 Chur | — | Station stop |
Hear it as you pass
Every sight above has a fully narrated, source-checked story in the Rail Journeys app, triggered by GPS at the right moment — and it works with no signal. Get the Bernina Express guide