St Moritz by Train: Routes, Scenic Lines and Tours

How Do You Get to St Moritz by Train?

You change once. Fly into Zurich Airport and you can start right there at the airport, as the InterCity runs through Zurich HB and up the Rhine valley, and you swap onto the Rhaetian Railway (RhB) for the mountain journey. Where you change decides which way the red train takes you.

Change at Chur and the InterRegio follows the Albula Line through Filisur and Bergün, over the Landwasser Viaduct. Change earlier at Landquart and the RegioExpress heads up the Prättigau, through the Vereina Tunnel and up the Lower Engadine. That's the quicker train from Zurich to St Moritz, but it skips the famous engineering. Both run every hour, and the SBB timetable lets you pick "via Chur" when you search.

Coming from Italy, Trenord trains climb from Milano Centrale to Tirano, where the Bernina line starts across the square; our page on the Bernina Express from Milan covers it. From the UK, going all the way by train starts with Eurostar, and our guide to the train to Switzerland from London walks you through that journey.

The Albula Line: The Scenic Way In

This is the stretch people film from the window. After Thusis the train threads a gorge, crosses the Solis Viaduct high above the Albula river and swings out onto the curving stone arches of the Landwasser Viaduct, straight into the cliff face. Sit near the back and you'll watch the locomotive vanish into the rock ahead of you!

Between Bergün and Preda the valley is too steep for an ordinary line. So the railway loops back on itself through spiral tunnels, gaining height without a cogwheel, and you'll see the same church tower from one level after another. At Preda the Albula Tunnel carries you through to the Engadine, where the valley opens out wide and sunny, and the train journey ends beside the lake.

Heading uphill, most regulars sit on the right for the best of the bridges. These trains don't take seat reservations, so be on the platform early for a window.

Arriving in St Moritz

The station sits on the lakeshore, below the resort rather than in it. St Moritz Dorf, with its hotels and the shops of Via Serlas, is up the hill, and escalators and a lift by the Serletta car park take you up without dragging cases up the slope.

Travel light if you can, because the Swiss luggage service will send your suitcase ahead for you.

Bernina Express and Glacier Express From St Moritz

The resort is the junction for two of the great rail journeys of the Alps, and both need a paid seat reservation on top of your ticket or rail pass.

The Bernina Express crosses the Alps to Tirano in Italy in panoramic carriages, with windows curving up into the roof. It climbs past the Morteratsch Glacier to Ospizio Bernina and Lago Bianco, then drops past Alp Grüm, through Val Poschiavo and round the Brusio spiral to the palm trees of Tirano. Most people sit on the right heading south. Our Bernina route guide goes stop by stop. Ordinary regional trains run the same line every hour, the easy way to cross the pass by train with no reservation needed.

The Glacier Express links St Moritz with Zermatt in a day, through the Rhine Gorge and over the Oberalp Pass, with food cooked on board and served at your seat. It takes an autumn break, so check the season on the Glacier Express website, and our page on Zermatt by train covers the far end.

How the Escorted Tours Handle St Moritz

Newmarket's Lake Como, St Moritz and the Bernina Express is the one that stops in town. You stay all week on Lake Como, and on the Bernina day a coach takes you up to Tirano, you ride the panoramic train over the pass, and you get free time in town before the coach heads back. You can check the dates on Newmarket's website.

Travelsphere's Best of Switzerland is the bigger rail week. From Davos you join the Bernina Express at Filisur, ride the Albula Line into the valley a few minutes from town, cross the pass to Tirano and come back the same way. Next day it's the Glacier Express to Brig, with lunch at your seat. The tour cards above show the current from price, and you can see the tour on Travelsphere's website.

Either way, the tour takes these off your hands:

• Seat reservations on the scenic trains
• Suitcases, which stay at the hotel or go with the porters
• The Tirano connection, the border and the timings

Want a gentle lakes week? Pick Newmarket. Want the Albula, Bernina and Glacier Express in one week? Travelsphere. Our Bernina Express holidays page compares every tour on the line.

Travelling Independently? Book These First

The Bernina and Albula lines run all year, and a snowy crossing is a different journey from the summer one; our guide to scenic trains in winter explains what changes. For every Swiss rail holiday we compare, start with Swiss rail holidays.

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