The Red Train of Bernina, a magical itinerary through the Alps
Imagine starting from Tirano and arriving at St Moritz, traveling on a red train that allows you to admire an almost magical landscape like that of the Alps. Well, all this is not only possible but is also part UNESCO World Heritage since 2008. This is the Bernina Red Train, also known as Bernina Express, a tourist railway line that runs, in just over four hours, a route of 145 km with a total altitude difference of 1824 meters.
In this article we discover together what are the stages of this train of wonders and what are the characteristics of the beautiful landscape that frames it.
The path of the Bernina Red Train, the first stages
The starting point of the Bernina Red Train is Tirano, a town in the middle of the Valtellina on the border with Switzerland. It is located at an altitude of 492 meters above sea level, is characterized by high and ancient medieval walls and is famous for the Sanctuary of the Madonna di Tirano, which is definitely worth a visit and where is preserved a baroque organ among the most majestic in Europe.
After Tirano you immediately enter Swiss territory with Campascio, at 610 meters above sea level, a small village known for the cultivation of small fruits such as blackberries, Currants and raspberries that, thanks to the rather mild temperatures and altitude develop extremely valuable organoleptic characteristics. Third stage of the route is Brusio, at 780 meters, where the symbol of the Red Train of the Bernina. It is the famous viaduct helical, a stone viaduct that describes a quarter circle with a radius of 70 meters and generates a spiral.
We then continue for Le Prese, area at 965 meters, where there are many farms certified Biosuisse, so that restaurants and shops sell almost only zero km products and made with local raw materials. Going higher, you will then meet Poschiavo, a village of Italian language and culture at 1014 meters, characterized by nineteenth-century buildings and vast expanses of green meadows.
The traps between the glaciers and the legend of Morteratsch
The next stop is a nature park in the locality of Cavaglia, at 1692 meters, also called the Kingdom of the Glaciers. Inside this park you can admire some cylindrical holes of considerable size dug into the rock, also called «marmitte of the giants» and that seem to constitute the largest system of erosive holes of the Alpine arc.
You continue to climb, up to over 2000 meters, up to Alp Grum, where you can admire a reservoir of natural water that characterizes the entire area in which all the hydropower plants are concentrated. The lake that can be admired during the route is the Lake Poschiavo, a natural lake whose level can be raised thanks to a special system of barriers.
At an altitude of 2253 meters, at the next stop, we find the Bernina Pass, a border both natural and cultural, which is a real language barrier. It separates the Poschiavo Valley, of Italian language and culture, from the Engadina, where the Romanciois spoken, an ancient language that since 1938 is the fourth national language in Switzerland, alongside Italian, German and French.
Continuing its journey, the Bernina Red Train then passes through Bernina Diavolezza, at 2082 meters, and Bernina Lagalb, at 2099 meters, descending slightly on arrival at the Morteratsch, the largest glacier in the canton of Grisons. This glacier is linked to a legend that tells the story of Aratsch and Annette, two lovers linked by a very sad fate. Aratsch, a young shepherd, asks for the hand of Annette, the daughter of a rich farmer. Annette’s father mocks the young Aratsch for his humble condition, prompting him to join the army. Back home, now official and having thus acquired the necessary prestige to ask for the hand of Annette, Aratsch discovers in spite of himself that his beloved is dead and, for the pain, takes his own life. Legend has it that the spirit of Annette is still heard shouting the name of the beloved throughout the valley.
The latest stops and St Moritz
The second to last stop of the Red Train of the Bernina is Ponteresina, at 1774 meters. Known as the capital of mountaineering, Ponteresina is a much less fashionable destination than St Moritz but no less beautiful and characteristic. Sunny, sheltered from the wind and surrounded by forests, Ponteresina is a little-known stage that deserves to be visited.
The last leg of the trip, however, ends at St Moritz. Located 1775 metres above sea level, St Moritz is a famous tourist and ski resort in the heart of the Alps, characterized by an unparalleled elegance and a unique liveliness. Its position gives it a lot of brightness, so much so that it is famous for its 322 sunny days a year.
In short, a trip aboard the Red Train of the Bernina is just a magical journey through a picturesque setting that has the ability to live, to those who make it, a true fairy tale.
Cover image: bernina-express