Four hours against eight, for roughly the same money
These two trains get lumped together because they're both red and both Swiss. They're not remotely the same day out. The Bernina Express is 122km in about four and a half hours, climbing to 2,253m at Ospizio Bernina and dropping into Italy at Tirano, past 196 bridges and through 55 tunnels, on a line UNESCO has listed since 2008. The Glacier Express is 8h 23mins, 291 bridges, 91 tunnels, the Oberalp Pass at 2,033m, the Rhine Gorge and the Landwasser Viaduct, and roughly 20 stops with no change of train.
Eight hours in a panoramic carriage is a long time. Lovely, but long. Four is a day out; eight is a commitment with lunch service.
Route, duration, price and reservation, side by side
| Glacier Express | Bernina Express | |
|---|---|---|
| Route | Zermatt to St Moritz | Chur to Tirano (Italy), optional bus on to Lugano |
| Duration | 8h 23mins | About 4h 30mins |
| Full fare | CHF 159 | CHF 125 second class, CHF 218 first, Chur to Tirano. CHF 66 second class St Moritz to Tirano |
| With a pass | CHF 0 fare, CHF 54 reservation | CHF 0 fare, CHF 32 to CHF 44 reservation |
| Reservation | Compulsory for everyone, pass holders included | Compulsory on the panoramic cars only |
| Frequency | Three morning departures in summer, one in winter | Two to three a day in summer, one each way in winter |
| Closed | Maintenance break 11 October to 4 December 2026 | Runs year round |
| Highest point | Oberalp Pass, 2,033m | Ospizio Bernina, 2,253m |
| Cheap twin | Regional trains, CHF 0, four changes | The Red Train, hourly, seat about CHF 5 |
What a pass holder actually pays
If you're holding a Swiss Travel Pass, both fares are CHF 0 and the only money that leaves your account is the seat. That changes the maths completely.
- Glacier Express: CHF 54, either class, any distance, all year. There's no cheap short hop. Zermatt to Brig costs the same as the full run. Excellence Class is CHF 540 and needs a first class pass.
- Bernina Express Chur to Tirano: CHF 44 in high season (2 May to 25 October 2026), CHF 40 the rest of the year.
- Bernina Express St Moritz to Tirano: CHF 32, all year. This is the good half of the line anyway.
- The Tirano to Lugano bus: CHF 16 high season, CHF 14 low. Both legs together in high season is CHF 60.
So the pass holder's cheapest way onto the Bernina line, on the panoramic train, is CHF 32. The cheapest way onto the Glacier Express is CHF 54, and you can't negotiate it down. More on how these work in seat reservations.
The regional trains ride the same rails for nothing
Both trains have a scruffier twin running the identical track.
On the Bernina, it's the Red Train: hourly, seven days a week, all year, 4h 20mins to 4h 40mins against the Bernina Express's four and a half. One change at St Moritz or Pontresina. The seat is optional and costs about CHF 5. Same pass, same viaducts, same 2,253m.
On the Glacier route, regional trains run Zermatt to Chur and then down the Albula line, hourly, about 7h 46mins against 8h 23mins. Four changes instead of none, nothing to reserve, CHF 0. You lose the curved roof and the onboard lunch, and you gain the ability to get off at Andermatt for a coffee.
Start at Chur and the Glacier Express takes six hours, not eight
The Glacier Express runs in both directions and there's no scenic reason to prefer one. There is a timing reason. Going east, Zermatt departs 08:52 and St Moritz arrives 16:37. Going west, St Moritz to Zermatt is the full eight hours because the train first runs St Moritz to Chur and only then turns west. Board at Chur instead and you're in Zermatt in six, having skipped the section the Bernina Express already covers.
Chur is 1h 15mins from Zurich, which makes it the sensible starting point for both trains.
One thing you can't control: the Glacier Express reverses at Chur, and the booking system won't tell you which way your carriage faces. Anyone promising you a "best side" seat is guessing.
On the Bernina, sit left going north and right going south
That one you can plan. Northbound out of Tirano, take the left side. Southbound from Chur or St Moritz, take the right.
Watch the routing at the southern end. Some Tirano services run direct to St Moritz and terminate there. The ones continuing to Chur bypass St Moritz entirely and you change at Pontresina.
Chur departures are 08:17 and 13:34, reaching Tirano at 12:49 and 18:00. The bus on to Lugano runs once a day each way, early May to 31 October, and takes about 3h 10mins.
Both trains share the St Moritz to Chur line
Do both and you'll ride the Albula line and the Landwasser Viaduct twice. It's a great viaduct. It is not twice-in-a-week great.
Two dates worth knowing. The Glacier Express stops entirely from 11 October to 4 December 2026 for maintenance. And from 29 October to 13 November, Bernina Express trains 951 and 952 run via the Vereina tunnel, skipping the Albula line and the Landwasser Viaduct altogether. If that's your window, you're paying panoramic prices for a tunnel.
Doing both in one day means a nine minute change at Chur
It's possible in summer, just:
- Glacier Express PE900 leaves Zermatt at 07:52.
- It reaches Chur at 13:25.
- You have nine minutes.
- Bernina Express PE955 departs Chur at 13:34 and arrives in Tirano at 17:59.
Ten hours of train, two reservations, and a connection with no slack in it. Most people split it over two days with a night in Chur, and they're right to.
Why the Bernina is the better ride and the Glacier Express is the easier booking
If you only do one, do the Bernina. Four hours instead of eight, the Bernina Pass is the stronger scenery of the two, it ends in Italy, and the regional train covers the same line for the price of your pass.
The Glacier Express wins on logistics. Zermatt and St Moritz are places you were probably going anyway, so the train does your transfer for you. Tirano is a hub on the way to somewhere else, and if that's not your direction you'll be doubling back. More routes like these in scenic trains.