Thread by @fuenareva

Last week I made an unforgettable journey 🚞🏔️

Traveling back from work meetings in Italy 🇮🇹, I decided to go back to Brussels 🇧🇪 the slow way. And that obviously means up the #BerninaBahn

A photo-thread of one of the most beautiful alpine railways, winter wonderland edition ❄️

Trip starts in Tirano 🇮🇹

Early start to catch the first train of the day, the 7:41 R train to St Moritz 🇨🇭

This early departure will allow me to arrive to Brussels 🇧🇪 on the same day.

The sun is just rising and I see no clouds around. It's time for #FensterAuf and 📸

Across the square and up we go!

We start "low" at 429 meters above sea level. In roughly 1½ hours, we will be up at 2253 meters above sea level.

The Bernina is the only alpine railway crossing that literally goes up to the top of the mountain pass, instead of using long tunnels

At Campocologno station we officially enter the quadrilingual country with a name in Latin, and obviously, no free roaming.

Confoederatio Helvetica 🇨🇭

[And actually, I'll get to interact with 3 of the 4 languages of CH on this short journey 🤓]

First main sight of the line is the impressive Brusio spiral viaduct.

A 360 degree loop that enables our little red train to gain (even more) altitude.

🎥 And obviously the video as we go around? up? the viaduct.

Bernina moments. The R train to St Moritz waits at Brusio station, as an early morning mixed (passenger/cargo) train enters the station and clears the line.

#Bernina #RhB @rhaetischebahn

First snow already visible from Miralago.

Il trenino rosso ❤️🚞

One of those "only in Switzerland" moments in Le Prese.

Tram-train, quite literally.

Street running, Swiss style 🇨🇭

Short stop in Poschiavo, but with just enough time to take some pics.

From here, it's really up up the mountains, and it will start to get VERY scenic.

Bernina Pass I

Bernina Pass II

Bernina Pass III

Note that the points are heated to avoid freezing and keep the line operational.

Bernina Pass IV

Another crossing. The line is single track but efficient timetabling and frequent passing bays, allow for high capacity.

Remember, this may be a super scenic railway, but it's not a tourist attraction in itself. It's a normal railway running hourly services.

Bernina Pass V

We only get higher and higher. And the views only get even impressive.

Seeing a glacier from a train window? ✅

(Ok in summer you can see it better 😅)

Bernina Pass VI

Last tight curve as we approach Alp Grüm station. And the glacier in the background. There's just no words to describe the beauty of this place.

Alp Grüm, a station at 2091 meters above sea level that is only accessible by railway. And amazing views over the Palü glacier.

We reached the top! Lago Bianco!

Rather than an hourly regional train, at this moment, at this point the trip feels as if it was a little bit of an adventure. Crossing the Alps at 2253 meters above sea level, and with roughly -15°C outside.

And yet, we're running spot on time.

Lago Bianco.

The train continues its trip, battling against wind, cold and snow.

And the meanwhile the mountains, so peaceful. So remote.

Ospizio Bernina. The highest station in the line, in Graubünden, and one of the highest in Europe!

2256 M.ü.M.

Bernina Pass VII

We approach the actual Pass, which not only is the border between Val Poschiavo & Engadin, and between Italian & German speaking Switzerland.

But also, the watershed border between the Adriatic and the Black Sea (via the Danube). So, willkommen in Mitteleuropa!

Bernina Pass VIII

Once again, another crossing. Another allegra EMU southbound. Fortunately for me, my Regio train is lead by a pair of retro locos pulling some RhB einheitswagen coaches.

Bernina Pass IX

Down we go through the upper Engadin.

Glaciers and waterfalls in the same trip? Why not!

Even if I'm in a #FensterAuf train, @MrTimDunn still gets these better than me 😅

Bernina Pass X

Last minutes on this train. Stereotypically Swiss scenes at Surovas.

And now that it's not so freezing outside, time for a #FensterAuf souvenir selfie 😄

Pontresina station. Changing trains at 1777 meters above sea level.

Even here, Swiss taktfahrplan works perfectly. In less than 10 minutes, my connecting train to Samedan arrives.

Short ride on the "shuttle" to Samedan.

This avoids changing trains at St Moritz, where you'd have to wait for almost 1 hour.

Waiting in Samedan station. Here I'll board the InterRegio to Chur, the canton capital.

And here stars my trip on the Albula Line.

Parallel running as the R & the IR both leave Samedan at the same time on parallel tracks.

But make sure to turn the sound ON 🔊 and hear this announcement… in Romansh! One of the four national languages of Switzerland, but still a very very small one. Nice language policy RhB!

[ Thread continues tomorrow. Buna notg! ]

Allegra! 👋🏼

Time to continue the trip from Tirano 🇮🇹 to Brussels 🇧🇪 via the @rhaetischebahn ❤️🚞

After changing train in Samedan, it was goodbye to the Bernina line and into the Albula line. Both are listed as UNESCO World Heritage. And both are simply stunning.

Unlike in the Bernina, almost all of the trains in the Albula (at least those making the express InterRegio services to Chur) are quite modern

However, @rhaetischebahn knows their business, and they included a panoramic "fotoabteil" with windows that open #FensterAuf. Perfect 📸

Albula Line I

It doesnt get more "winter wonderland" than this. 🌲❄️🌲❄️

The Bernina is all about height and epic views, the Albula is more about the viaducts and valleys. Incredibly charmful. As if we were on a winter-themed model railway.

Albula Line II

The InterRegio to Chur riding down the valley.

Albula Line III

In Bergün/Bravuogn station there's the "@bahnmuseum Albula", a place that I'd love to visit next time I'm on this line.

Albula Line IV

Roads are fully covered with snow on this remote valley of Graubünden.

The Rhätische Bahn, however, is running perfectly on time.

Albula Line V

We approach Filisur. A connecting station with the line to Davos.

And also the prelude to the highlight of this line...

Albula Line VI

⌚ Taktfahrplan once again working perfectly. The three trains meet in Filisur: down the Albula, up the Albula and east to Davos.

Albula Line VII

In Europe there are many railway viaducts… and then there is THE railway viaduct!

Ladies and gentlemen, the Landwasser Viaduct.

A curved viaduct that enters directly into a tunnel, in the middle of the Alps. One of the jewels of Swiss railway engineering.

Albula Line VIII

Some more pictures of the epic #LandwasserViadukt

🚞📸 It's just pure beauty.

Albula Line IX

And after 1½ hours crossing endless viaducts and tunnels, we arrive at Thusis, were our train rides on a flat valley, and the UNESCO World Heritage area ends.

A little note on the train.

As all trains on the @rhaetischebahn, they're narrow gauge, but these IR sets are incredibly comfortable.

1st class & 2nd class with big windows and comfy seats. A foto compartment and ski racks. Theres even a slide for kids. Gotta love Swiss trains!

And that was it! Bernina & Albula

At 7:41 I took the train from Tirano 🇮🇹. After literally climbing 2,000 meters high above the Alps, we arrive to Chur at 12:04. Merci vielmal @rhaetischebahn, it was fantastic!

And now time to speed up, so I can be in Brussels 🇧🇪 in the evening

If you don't like DB ICEs, you can stop reading now, because there's a lot of that coming ahead 😄

First ICE from Chur to Basel SBB. A very modern ICE-4 to be more precise.

There's plenty of snow as we cross Kanton Sankt Gallen...

But snow is gone by the time we arrive to Zürich HB.

Basel SBB station, where 🇨🇭🇩🇪🇫🇷 railways meet.

There's even one sector of the station that is considered part of 🇫🇷, with customs & border checks before boarding (even if rare, since 🇨🇭 is in Schengen). 🇩🇪 got their own station on the other side of the river, Basel Bad Bhf.

It doesn't get more stereotypically SBB-CFF-FFS than this.

The classic 🇨🇭 Re 460 loco, with its iconic #DoubleArrows livery.

It is nicknamed "Lok 2000", as it was part of the "Bahn 2000" project. In the 90s, this was how the future looked like.

Second ICE. From Basel SBB to Köln Hbf.

A four hour ride through the Rhine valley and then up-and-down the Frankfurt-Köln High Speed Line.

And as @DB_Bahn reminds us, these 🚄 trains are "the fastest climate protectors of Germany" 💚

(all ICEs are powered with green energy).

As we cross the 🇨🇭🇩🇪 border (note the +++ on the floor) it's time to say, auf Wiedersehen Schweiz! 👋🏼 À bientôt Suisse! 👋🏼 A presto Svizzera! 👋🏼 A revair Svizra! 👋🏼

Arrived in Köln Hbf… and somehow it feels like Switzerland is chasing me 🧐

I have now 38 minutes to basically walk across the platform, since my next trains departs from there.

And here it is. My last train on this transalpine trip.

ICE 10 Köln Hbf - Brussels South. Just 2 hours and we're there.

And as we cross the border between the bundesrepublik and the plat pays, there's time for a visit to the @_DiningCar.

I guess that "Currywurst mit Pommes frites" is a very appropriate choice for this route 🇩🇪🤝🏼🇧🇪

And that's it!

At 7:41 I boarded the "trenino rosso" on the other side of the Alps

At 21:26 I arrive at Brussel Noord

What a wonderful day on the rails, and what a wonderful way to enjoy the beauty of our continent

We all need a bit of #FlyLess & #SlowTravel from time to time

P.S. Let's talk tickets 🎫

This cross-Europe scenic trip may seem really expensive. It doesn't have to be, if you know which tickets to buy. And it's not really complicated

The key to cheap train tickets that go *through* Germany is the @DB_Bahn website: bahn.de

Even this trip that doesn't start nor end in 🇩🇪 can be bought on DB's website, with DB's cheap international fares.

Super Sparpeis EU fares offer unbeatable fares for cross-europe trips.

Now let's get into detail on how to use DB fares in the Bernina and Albula.

When buying tickets, like in my case from Tirano to Brussels, make sure to click on "further options" and Chur as "intermediate stop". This will ensure that the DB ticketing system routes your trip via the Rhätische Bahn lines.

Voilà: Tirano > Bernina > Brussels from 69,90 €

And this is obviously a perfectly legitimate ticket. Your ticket will state an endless list of "via X, via Y, via Z".

As long as you follow that route, it's a valid ticket 👌🏼

Another advantage of the DB Super Sparpeis EU fare, is how ridiculously cheap are the upgrades to 1st class.

On this hypothetical trip on the 26th of January:

2️⃣nd class 🎫 69,90 €

1️⃣st class 🎫 83,90 €

That's just 14 € for making the whole 13 hours trip in 1st class ‼️

As always thanks @seatsixtyone for discovering these odd ticketing mysteries and explaining them to the general public 🙏🏼

There's just a little "but" if you want to buy the online tickets for this exact route (I'm not sure if the system also has this issue going southbound).

As @eliasvandeun warned me, the DB website will sell you the ticket from Tirano (as shown above). However !! for some random reason, it doesn't give you the e-ticket option. You can buy it, but the 🎫 will be sent by post to you. Like in the old days. But there is a solution 👇🏼

Instead of buying the ticket from Tirano 🇮🇹, enter Poschiavo 🇨🇭 as departure station. This is the first main Swiss station that you'll stop on this route.

And voilà, now it works. You get your print-at-home (can't-get-lost-on-the-mail) e-ticket. And you're good to go.

And for the Tirano to Poschiavo bit? Just buy one standard 🎫 at the ticket office in Tirano station. Around 9-10 €, depending on the EUR / CHF exchange rate. And that's a standard fare, never mind if bought 5 minutes before departure.

So yeah, rail ticketing isn't the easiest thing ever (#EUYearOfRail 🤔)… but there are fantastic deals if you know where to look for them, and where to use them!

And seat61.com is a great place to plan your rail trips across Europe.

See you in the rails! 👋🏼

Ends/