Bernina Express Tickets

A journey on the Bernina Express needs two things: a normal RhB ticket and a compulsory seat reservation for the panoramic train. You buy both from the Rhaetian Railway at rhb.ch. The Bernina “tickets” on GetYourGuide are a different product. The Tirano: Bernina red train ticket to St. Moritz (our breakdown), from $75 one way in 2nd class, and its two siblings sell seats on the regional red train, not the panoramic coach, with the reseller’s fee built into the price. Both routes are fine. You just need to know which one you are buying.

What each product buys

The reseller tickets say it in their own small print. The Rigamonti listings exclude the “panoramic carriage” and the “Bernina Express with panoramic window”, and state that the travel agency fee and commission are included. If a $75 ticket seems cheap for the Bernina Express, that is because it is not one.

The official way: a ticket, then a reservation

The ticket is your right to travel. RhB sells it up to six months before your date. Children under 6 travel free, and children from 6 until their 16th birthday pay half fare. If plans change, RhB refunds tickets until the day before travel, minus a CHF 10 admin fee.

The reservation is your seat on one specific panoramic train, and on the Bernina Express it is compulsory. RhB does not print the amount on its static pages; you see it in the booking shop. Third-party travel sites agree on about CHF 32 per person per direction for St. Moritz–Tirano, and CHF 40 to 44 for Chur–Tirano depending on season. It costs the same in 1st and 2nd class, and everyone pays it in full, children included. Online reservations cannot be changed or cancelled, so book the reservation once your dates are firm.

Bernina Express reservations open for the whole timetable period, and RhB activates the next period’s trains for online booking in mid to late October. Popular dates fill up quickly, weekends and holidays first. Monday to Thursday is quieter. You cannot choose a side of the train or a direction of travel, and RhB says so plainly. The seat reservation guide covers the finer points.

On the red train, a reservation is optional. RhB sells it for CHF 5 per person and route, between St. Moritz and Tirano only, and you can still board unreserved if reserved seats sell out. Note that RhB says individual seat reservations on these trains cannot be made in April 2027 because of technical changes.

Rail passes: the ticket is covered, the reservation is not

With a Swiss Travel Pass, GA travelcard, Eurail or Interrail pass, your Bernina line ticket is free. A Half Fare Card halves it. None of them covers the Bernina Express reservation, which every pass holder pays in full. So a pass holder riding the panoramic train buys only the reservation, and a pass holder riding the red train buys nothing at all, or the optional CHF 5 seat.

That makes the GetYourGuide tickets a poor fit for pass holders, since you would be paying for a ticket you already hold. The Swiss Travel Pass guide walks through the booking.

GetYourGuide resellers: when they make sense

The reseller tickets add an agency fee and commission to the fare, and they buy the same seat on the same regional train as an RhB ticket. What you pay extra for is convenience: a fixed price in dollars, English-language support around the clock, a PDF timetable, and free cancellation up to 7 days before (5 days for the Visit Valtellina day ticket). The return day ticket (our breakdown) also lets you hop off at stations such as Alp Grüm or Poschiavo and catch a later train.

None of them includes the Trenord train from Milan to Tirano, except the Milan round-trip Bernina red train tickets, listed from $219 with both trains in one booking. For the direction from the Swiss side, the St. Moritz to Tirano ticket (our breakdown) is the mirror image of the featured one.

Which should you buy?

• You want the panoramic train and you travel independently: book the ticket and reservation on rhb.ch, early, as soon as your date is fixed.
• You hold a Swiss Travel Pass or Eurail pass: buy only the Bernina Express reservation from RhB, or ride the red train with no extra ticket.
• You want the red train with a set dollar price and English help: the Tirano ticket or its St. Moritz twin.
• You want to stop along the line: the return day ticket from Tirano.
• You are in Milan and do not want to plan the trains: a full tour does it for you. The Milan day-trip page shows which ones ride which train.
• The Bernina Express is sold out on your date: the red train runs the same line roughly every hour. The red train vs Bernina Express guide explains what you trade.

Before you pay

There are reports of a planned closure between Cavaglia and Tirano from 4 October to late November 2027, with replacement coaches. RhB has not confirmed it on its own pages yet, so check rhb.ch before you book autumn 2027. Every ticket that crosses into Tirano also crosses the Swiss–Italian border, so carry a passport or ID card. This site is an independent guide and not part of RhB.

For a red-train ride from Tirano with the paperwork handled, check availability for the Rigamonti ticket on your date.