Dream Train ride on the Bernina Express

The Bernina Express is a breathtaking train ride through the mountain scenery of Switzerland, which everyone should try at least once or more times in their life.

There is a choice of riding the Bernina Panoramic Express train or the local train. Both trains run on the same track and the only difference is the type of trains. For a 360 degrees panoramic view and reserved seatings, the namesake Panoramic train is the one to take. The other train is a normal train with windows that can be opened, perfect for photographers who don't want the reflection from glass windows when taking photos. We chose the Bernina Panoramic Express train with the route that connects Chur in Switzerland to Tirano in Italy by crossing the Swiss Engadin Alps.The four hour journey train ride runs along the World Heritage Site known as the Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina landscapes passing through 55 tunnels and over 196 bridges. Planning for mid October, I carefully timed it to catch the colors of autumn, when the foliage would turned golden and rusty brown. On that dark, chilly October morning, standing on the platform of the Zurich Main Train station at 6.45am to go to Chur, doubts started arising if i had made the correct decision to catch the 7.58am Bernina Express train instead of the 1.30pm. At this time of the year, the sun rises at around 7.37 am and I realised, all too late that i had not factor that in. As if right on cue, the sun rose and the skies opened up as the Bernina Express train started to pull out of Chur. We caught sight of gorgeous valleys, deep gorges, alpine mountains, gushing waterfalls, rolling meadows, set against the autumnal colors. Route maps and headphones were available to listen to the running commentary as we crossed bridges and tunnels. Lots of ooohs.. and waaahs... as passengers took in the sights. We were in the same coach as a group of Filipno tourists, so there were animated chatter and lots of selfies taken.

This is certainly a ride of a lifetime and something that I am beginning to look forward to do more of, following other routes. After about 4 hours, we pulled up in Tirano train station, this is the end point and from here we would transfer to another local train to Milan. Interestingly, there was a railway strike and the rail company had arranged for passengers to be bused to another station to catch another train. Like hurried hens, we were dashing here and there, as information wasn't exactly their forte. Organised? chaos was.. We finally arrived in Milan and checked into our hotel, exhausted but still buzzing from an exciting train ride through the mountains.