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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