Is the Swiss Alps Train Tour from Milan Worth It?

It is worth it if you have one day in Milan, no car, and want to see the Bernina line without planning the coach, the border and the train yourself. It is a long day for the train time it gives you: on Milano Art Discovery’s tour, about six of the 11 hours are on a coach and two and a half on the train, and the train is the regional red train, not the panoramic Bernina Express. The rest of this page is the detail behind that answer.

Hours on the coach, hours on the train

Tirano, where the train boards, is about 166 km by road from Milan Centrale, and the way back from St. Moritz over the Maloja Pass is about 169 km. On Milano Art Discovery’s day that is an hour and a half to Colico, a 15-minute break, another hour and a half to Tirano, and three hours back. The other Milan days are longer: 12 hours on TAOTRAVEL’s, 12.5 on FRIGERIO VIAGGI’s and Z V SRL’s.

Riders feel it. One reviewer of FRIGERIO VIAGGI’s day from Milan, on 12 October 2026, counted in Portuguese two hours and fifteen minutes on the train against seven hours on the bus. A reviewer of City Wonders Ltd.’s Bernina red train day, on 31 October, wrote of 5 to 6 hours on a coach with no toilet on board. If the train is the point of your day and the coach is a cost, look at the alternatives at the end of this page.

Which train it is

The Bernina line has two trains. The Rhaetian Railway’s Bernina Express has panoramic cars and needs a mandatory seat reservation; its regional trains use regular coaches with windows that open, on a ticket alone (rhb.ch, 13 July 2026).

Milano Art Discovery’s day uses the Bernina regional red train. Its windows open for photos; it has no panoramic glass. At least five of its 350 latest reviewers had expected the panoramic train: “This is not the Bernina Express, this is the Red Train”, one wrote on 14 October 2026, while adding that being able to open the windows was a plus. A reviewer of FRIGERIO VIAGGI’s day wrote the same in Spanish on 14 October: the train was not the Bernina but a regional one. FRIGERIO VIAGGI’s Milan day is the one that sells a panoramic carriage, as a separate option with a guaranteed seat.

Time in St. Moritz

St. Moritz gets an hour and a half on Milano Art Discovery’s day, 100 minutes on TAOTRAVEL’s, and 1 or 2 hours on FRIGERIO VIAGGI’s depending on the option. At least five of Milano Art Discovery’s 350 latest reviews ask for more time there, all of them four- or five-star reviews; one group had 40 minutes after traffic on the way up (24 October 2026). As another put it on 11 October, an hour is short for walking, eating, a coffee and the toilet.

Seats on the train

None of the Milan days promises a seat together on the standard train. On FRIGERIO VIAGGI’s day, seats are not assigned in advance, with a guaranteed seat only in its panoramic carriage option. On City Wonders Ltd.’s day, seats on board cannot be reserved in advance. On the regional trains, the Rhaetian Railway sells optional reservations between St. Moritz and Tirano at CHF 5.00 a person, in limited numbers; when they are sold out you can still travel, though at busy times you may wait longer (rhb.ch, checked November 2026).

When the train did not happen

Between 9 and 11 November 2026, four reviewers of City Wonders Ltd.’s day from Milan with the Bernina red train wrote that their group did not get on the train in St. Moritz: two wrote they were told the train was full, three wrote they bought their own tickets, one of them for 99 Swiss francs, and one wrote that part of the bus did travel by train while the rest did not. Those reviews describe one operator in one week, not the route. Seats on that day cannot be reserved in advance, and its itinerary can run in reverse.

Across the 350 latest reviews of each day, 10 of Milano Art Discovery’s, 9 of TAOTRAVEL’s, 43 of FRIGERIO VIAGGI’s and 38 of City Wonders Ltd.’s gave 3 stars or fewer. The complaints on FRIGERIO VIAGGI’s day are mostly about guides: one who ran ahead and left no time for the toilets (10 November), one who left passengers behind (22 October).

Who should skip it

• You are already in Switzerland or near Tirano. Take the train on your own: the regional red train needs only a ticket, and Visit Valtellina’s return day ticket from Tirano lets you board at a departure of your choice and get off along the way, from US$123 a person (checked November 2026).
• You want the panoramic cars. The day from Milan rides the regional train; book a panoramic carriage option or the Bernina Express itself.
• You get carsick. Six hours of mountain road is a lot; a reviewer of Milano Art Discovery’s day and their mother were both sick on the coach (2 November 2026), and FRIGERIO VIAGGI’s day is not suitable for people with motion sickness.
• You are travelling with a child under 6. Milano Art Discovery’s day is not for children under 6, nor for pregnant women or people with mobility impairments.

For everyone else, the trade is plain: a long day on a coach in exchange for the Bernina line, St. Moritz and no planning. Milano Art Discovery’s day from Milan is rated 4.8 from 5,111 reviews (checked November 2026). The day hour by hour shows each leg, and one day or a week by rail covers the longer journeys.