Private Bernina Express Tours

A private Bernina Express tour makes the road private, not the train. Your driver, vehicle and sometimes guide are yours alone, but the carriage you ride over the pass is part of RhB’s public service, shared with everyone else on that train. Small-group tours sit in between. The featured day from Milan caps the group at 18 people and is rated 4.9 from 120+ reviews, the highest rating of the tours we break down on this site, though from a modest number of reviews. Fully private listings exist for Lake Como, Milan and Tirano, but they are new or lightly reviewed, so read them closely.

What “private” does and does not buy

RhB says nobody can book a seat side or direction, and that applies to private tours too. The things that improve your seat on the train itself are a reserved carriage, a seat reservation, the panoramic Bernina Express, or 1st class. Each is covered below.

The small-group day from Milan

The small-group Alps day trip with the Bernina train ride (our breakdown) from LUCAfromITALY costs from $195 per person and lasts about 12.5 hours. It runs in English only, with a minivan or small bus in place of a big coach. You meet at Milan Centrale, stop on Lake Como, drive up the Valtellina with a coffee break, and get about an hour in Tirano for lunch. The Bernina train takes about 105 minutes, and you get off at one of the highest points of the route, where the van picks you up for St. Moritz.

The listing says “Bernina Train ticket” and does not promise a panoramic coach. Its guest photos show open windows, the mark of the regional red train, so plan on that unless the operator tells you otherwise. Food and drinks are not included. The tour is not suitable for children under 12, pregnant women, people with heart problems or other pre-existing conditions, or people with a low level of fitness. Every passenger needs a valid passport.

Fully private options

The private Bernina red train tour from Lake Como or Milan from Lake Como Tourism is listed from $860 per person. A driver collects you from your accommodation, drives you to Tirano and meets you in St. Moritz after a one-way ride on the red train in 1st class. You get about 2 hours in St. Moritz, then the drive back over the Maloja Pass, with stops at Lake Silvaplana and the Acquafraggia Falls (the falls are skipped in August and at weekends). There is no guide; the driver gives basic information. It is rated 5.0 from only 5 reviews.

The Bernina train to St. Moritz with a private guide from Tirano from Visit Valtellina is listed from $447. You meet your guide in Tirano and ride the regional train to St. Moritz and back on a round-trip ticket, with lunch in St. Moritz included. The return can be shaped around stops for viewpoints, hikes or wildlife. It takes 2 to 10 people, and the operator says the day runs about 9 to 10 hours. It is new and has no reviews yet.

The private Bernina Express 1st class, St. Moritz and Davos tour from Tours of Switzerland is listed from $1,067. A private guide and chauffeur take you in a Mercedes V-Class (eight seats), with guided time in St. Moritz and Davos. The itinerary shows a pickup in Basel and does not spell out which stretch of track the 1st-class Bernina Express ride covers, so ask before you book. It is new, with no reviews.

Before you book any private listing, ask four things:

• Is the price per person or for the whole group?
• Which train and class are included, and are the seats reserved?
• What happens if the train is full or delayed, and who changes the plan?
• Can the driver bring child seats, and do the stops suit your pace?

Bernina Express 1st class and Pullman Class

If the seat is what you care about, you can book it yourself on rhb.ch. The Bernina Express runs panoramic coaches in both classes. The seat reservation, about CHF 32 for St. Moritz to Tirano and CHF 40 to 44 for Chur to Tirano, is reported to cost the same in 1st and 2nd class. The difference is the ticket: reported 2027 fares for St. Moritz to Tirano are about CHF 60 one-way in 1st against CHF 35 in 2nd.

RhB also runs Pullman Class on selected Bernina Express connections: nostalgic coaches in the style of the 1930s, with room for at most 32 passengers per journey. Ask RhB which departures carry it on your date. Our 1st vs 2nd class guide covers the trade-off.

On the red train, 1st class is cheap to add. The red train ticket from Tirano costs from $127 one-way in 1st, and the return day ticket from Tirano costs from $212 in 1st.

More space without going private

• A reserved carriage: the Vaxvi red train tour (our breakdown) rides in a carriage reserved for its group, with a seat for everyone, from $128.
• A tiny group: the Frigerio Diavolezza glacier lunch from Como is limited to 10 participants, listed from $223.
• A seat reservation: on the red train between St. Moritz and Tirano, an optional seat costs CHF 5 per person. RhB says individual seat reservations cannot be made for April 2027.
• A quieter day: RhB says weekends and public holidays are busiest, and Monday to Thursday is quieter.

Not sure which kind of tour you want? Start with which Bernina train tour is right for you.

For a small group with a guide all day, check availability for the LUCAfromITALY day from Milan.