Chur Saturday Bernina Express

This was bit of an early one as we had to leave the hotel at 0745hr to walk down to the station where we would catch the Bernina Express to Tirano in Italy. The train starts its journey at St Moritz, not only did we have our First Class Swiss Rail pass we also had reserved seats so there was no worry about where we would sit. On the way we passed the Albula Railway Museum. They have an electric loco in the shed outside, affectionately known as “The Crocodile” due to its shape with a long snout in front of the main cab.

We stopped to wait for a train coming in the opposite direction at Alp Grüm. As we were here for about ten minutes we were able to get off and take photos. When its time to leave they ring a large bell on the platform. The train coming the other way doesn’t stop. This is the summit and its all down hill to Italy with the track curving off sharply to the right as soon as you leave the station.

Once the other train had passed we continued on to Tirano arriving at the terminal station. We had about an hour and a half before our return journey so we walked into town to visit The Church of San Martino returning via the river.

Back by the station we had time for both a beer and an ice cream before boarding our train for the return journey. Not far out of Tirano we crossed the Swiss/Italian border, still visible down on the road.

One of the things this line is famous for is the way it ducks under itself as it loses height in a tight space , all these photos were taken from the train as it made its way down and under the viaduct.

Everyone who travels first class is presented with a small metal train carriage containing chocolates and a carton of herbal tea. We declined the tea on the return journey after tasting it on the way out but now have 4 tins of chocolates.

The line runs along the side of Lago di Poschiavo  which like most lakes in Switzerland has its own ferry.

Of course the views were just as spectacular on the 4 hour+ journey back to Chur.

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Chur Friday a day of leisure, Brambrüesch & Rhine Gorge

After a leisurely breakfast we joined Geoff to visit Brambrüesch 1595 Mt up behind the town. A steady walk uphill through the town crossing the river to the Cable Car station. Using our Swiss Passes we got a 50% reduction on the cable car fare.
The first part of the journey was in a large cable car that could carry both people and bikes, I am not sure how many you could get in at a time but they claim 600 people an hour.

This car took us 1090 Mt up the mountain where we transferred to small gondolas where they hang the bikes on the outside where in the winter they would normally carry the skis.

         At the top we found a welcoming café where we stopped for coffee and the  essential wee, We all then went our separate ways exploring the area. From here the tow lines took the skiers higher up the slopes with an interesting 4 wheel drive cart.  

There was a bit of cloud but not enough to spoil the views as we wandered around in the sunshine. There were still lots of cows with their bells at the top, but they were in small paddocks with electric fences, not roaming free on the mountain side

Eventually we made our way back to the gondola and then down to the large cable car. The views from the large cable car station were great, we tried photographing from the car but the glass is tinted blue. Looking straight down we could see some of the cycle paths running down the side of the mountain .

Back down in town we grabbed a roll for lunch from the supermarket and ate it in the sunshine before we made our way to the station to meet up with Geoff again. This time we were off to Rhine Gorge, At the moment the river level through there is very low, I can only imagine what its like in spring time with the snow melt. It was only a half hour train ride and of course covered in our Swiss Pass.

Like Sweden, Switzerland uses Composting toilets out in wild areas for visitors to use, no mains electricity and no running water required, just a small scoop of sawdust after each use. Note the funnel on the extreme left for men to use.

That evening we ate in the old town, somewhere we spotted during the day as we walked by, The Venison Stew was a bit salty but very nice.

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Thursday Chur Switzerland

Today we would be heading to Chur, Switzerland on the 10 o’clock train so plenty of time for a good breakfast as lunch would be taken on the run. For some reason DB decided to change all our seat reservations last night, so Geoff had to ensure we all knew our new ones. On the train we all found our seats and the rest of the carriage soon filled up with well behaved young people.
We had to change trains at Basel for the second part of our journey, we were now traveling with Swiss Rail and could use our Swiss rail pass, this would give us unlimited travel on trains, buses and ferries as well as some cable cars and funicular railways while in Switzerland, what’s more it was all First class.It even gave free access to museums etc. We had to share the upper floor of a first class coach with another group part of the way. At Chur there was a van waiting to take our bags up to the hotel while we had a short walk into the old town to the Hotel Freieck, a very comfortable 3 star hotel where we would be staying for the next four nights. I was most impressed with our shower with a pebble base.

 

Geoff our tour leader guided us up from the station to the old town and saw us all safely booked into our rooms.

Once settled in we went for a quick look round and decided that we would eat in one of the more modern restaurants that we had passed as we walked up from the station, this was our first experience of Swiss food and drink prices. Most nights a meal for two with two small glasses of wine would come out at over 100 Swiss Francs. A standard glass of wine, which is only 80% the size of a UK small glass was 8 to 10 francs.

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Switzerland 2026 Leaving home and traveling to Frankfurt

This is a blog of our holiday to Switzerland for two weeks with Ffestiniog Travel. The blog contains several hundred photographs so be warned.

Our travel this time was slightly different, insomuch as we had a taxi to take us to Norwich As we had to catch the coach at 10:00 and the car was in the garage for an MOT and service.

We arrived at the bus station in good time and the coach made very good time into London arriving early. The underground was quite quiet and we were soon ready to book into the Kings Cross Premier Inn. That evening we met my granddaughter and her partner for a meal at Altonapoli  Italian Restaurant, before turning in for the night. This was probably the noisiest Premier Inn that we have ever stayed at, so not the best night's sleep. This was the view from our window, refrigeration units and rubbish bins for the kitchen.

 

 

Wednesday morning we met Geoff, our tour leader at St Pancras Station, And it wasn't long before we were boarding our train to brussels. Unfortunately our train was running late and we were very worried about making our connection at Brussels. But Geoff had a word with the train hostess who contacted Brussels and arranged for our train to come in on a different platform and our outgoing train to Frankfurt to be on the adjoining line, so we just had to cross the platform from one to the other.

 

 

At Frankfurt our hotel was very close to the station, so only a very short walk which was good. They had their own Chinese restaurant where we all ate that night with a limited, help your self buffet.

 

 

 

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