The narrow-gauge Bernina Express offers a spectacular means of crossing the Alps. The route runs through the ancient landscape of Switzerland's beautiful Grisons/Graubünden region and provides essential links to the Italian-speaking population in the south of the country. The highest mountain railway in the Alps, the Bernina Express winds its way through the iconic mountain range, climbing high into the mountains to provide some of the most stunning scenery found anywhere in Switzerland.
Beginning in Chur, the oldest town in Switzerland, the route travels south along 76 miles of track, through 55 tunnels and 196 bridges. The railway meanders past glaciers, an alpine garden, and rushing mountain streams, passes through the 5,955 foot long Albula Tunnel and climbs over the mighty Bernina Pass at 6,669 feet before crossing the Italian border to arrive in the Italian village of Tirano. Particular highlights include the 136-metre long Landwasser Viaduct, an impressive six-arched, curved limestone bridge that crosses over a verdant valley, and the magnificent glacier-fed Lake Bianco.
Having first run trains in 1910, it took just four years to build the Bernina Line and even in today's hi-tech age it's regarded as a shining example of the civil engineer's art. Indeed, so phenomenal is this journey that in 2008 the line was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in recognition of the incredible engineering and the stunning beauty it offers.
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