How to take a rail journey Zurich to Milano/Milan

These trains may be faster than ever, but now that they use The Gotthard Base Tunnel and the brand new Ceneri Base Tunnel, this journey is also less scenic than it used to be.

The Gotthard Base Tunnel is now the world's longest railway tunnel, so long that it takes trains more than 15 mins to travel through it.
An announcement is made on the train just before it enters the tunnel.

However, this is still one of Europe's most epic express train journeys and thanks to those tunnels the journey time is now more than an hour faster than it was previously.

From the LEFT of the train (when facing the direction of travel) the first highlight to look out for is the view over Lake Zurich, as the train ascends up from the shore.

Then, if the weather is behaving itself, after departure from Zug station comes what is now the highlight of the journey, the view over the Zuger See.
This lake with its mountain peaks on the far shore can be seen on the right for more than 15 mins between Zug and Arth-Goldau station.

The next beautiful vista to look out for comes after departure from Arth-Goldau station, when on the right, the train will pass by the Lauerzersee.

The train then travels through a dramatic landscape to the north of Schwyz, which used to be a preview of what was to come when the trains still used the older Gotthard route.

Just to the south of here, also look out on the right for glimpses of the Luzernsee.

Now that the trains on this route use the Ceneri Base Tunnel the next scenic highlights on the journey
come shortly after departure from Lugano, where there are views over the lake, initially over on the LEFT.

The final wow moments come after departure from Lugano station, the train will travel along the shore of the Lago di Lugano

and then the train will cross the lake.

After the trains have crossed the lake, the best of the views switch to the right.

The Italian section of the journey south of Chiasso is more mundane, despite the trains passing through Como, its namesake lake can't be seen from these trains.

The train will spend most of the first 10 mins of its journey travelling in a tunnel, but soon after it emerges into the daylight, the train will ascend upwards from the sure of Lake Zurich.
So from the left of the train (when facing the direction of travel) there are sweeping vistas to be enjoyed down over the lake.

Then, if the weather is behaving itself, after departure from Zug station comes the first highlight of the journey, the view over the Zuger See.
This lake with its mountain peaks on the far shore can be seen on the right for more than 15 mins between Zug and Arth-Goldau station.

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The next beautiful vista to look out for comes after departure from Arth-Goldau station, when on the right, the train will pass by the Lauerzersee.

The train then travels through a dramatic landscape to the north of Schwyz.

Just to the south of here, also look out on the right for glimpses of the Luzernsee.

Between Erstfeld and Goschenen the best of the views are on the left; this video was filmed from a train heading north

but it doesn't matter which side of the train you are seated on, in order to enjoy the incredible views over the village of Wassen with its white church on a hilltop.

That's because the railway loops in order to climb the mountain, and as it does so, the village can be seen from both sides of the train.

After departure from Goschenen the train enters the older Gotthard Tunnel, and between that tunnel and Bellinzona there are fabulous views from both sides of the train.

The railway will loop around in order to descend the mountains to the south of Airolo station, but this is a prelude to the final highlight of the trip, which occurs as the train descends the mountain on another set of looping curves between Faido and Biasca.
The views looking down the valley with the railway tracks below are breathtaking!

Though as the video below shows, filmed from a train travelling in the opposite direction, the train travels through a spectacular valley north of Bellinzona.

After departure from Lugano station, the train will travel along the shore of the Lago di Lugano

and then the train will cross the lake.

After the trains have crossed the lake, the best of the views switch to the right.

The Italian section of the journey south of Chiasso is more mundane, despite the trains passing through Como, its namesake lake can't be seen from these trains.

From the left of the train (when facing the direction) of travel, there are fabulous views over Lake Zurich...

and then over the Walensee...

...before the train makes its first station call in Sargans

Then between Sargans and Chur there are very pleasant views of distant mountain ranges from both sides of the train.

Step on board for a journey on the incredible Albula Railway!

Sit on the right (when facing the direction of travel) when joining the train at Chur and face forwards for the best views of the Landwasser Viaduct and tunnel.
The videos were taken from a train travelling in the opposite direction.

Overall the best of the views are from the right of the train when heading south...

..but you'll still experience an incredible journey if your seats are on the left hand side.

This part of the route takes less than 10 minutes.

What makes it special:

This train ride on the Bernina Route of the Rhateian (RhB) Railway is a journey of six distinct phases
1: St Moritz <> Bernina Suot via Pontresina
2: Bernina Suot <> Alp Grum
3: Alp Grum <> Cavaglia
4: Cavaglia <> Poschiavo
5: Poschiavo <> Miralago
6: Miralogo <> Tirano
What makes this train ride so special is that each of those parts of the journey have distinct highlights; note how it's the only route on this list with a 'yes' against all the four criteria!

The videos were captured when travelling in the opposite direction from Tirano to St Moritz.

As you head south from St Moritz and Pontresina, the best of the journey will be ahead of you
The train ride as far as Bernina Suot station is delightful, but it doesn’t have the wow factor of the second phase of this part of the journey between there and on to Alp-Grum station.
Between those two stations the trains travel through the stunning Bernina Pass, which due to its elevation and lack of vegetation, has an other-worldly quality in the height of summer....

.... but a snow covered landscape is pretty-much guaranteed between November and April.

As the train traverses the Bernina Pass, it passes by some small lakes, these can be seen on the right when heading south, so are on the left when travelling north from Tirano; the snowy scenes were captured by SMTJ on the second weekend in May.

The third phase of the journey comes when the train exits the pass just to the north of Alp-Grum station the on-board commentary available on all of the trains which follow this route, will point out the view of the glacier on the other side of Lago Palu.

The fourth phase of a southbound journey commences at Cavaglia station, between there and Poschiavo station the railway loops like a snake on the mountain side; and on this part of the route, at the top of this summit, there are second-to-none views from a train to revel in.

Because the railway loops across the mountain side, so that the trains can descend and ascend between Cavaglia and Poschiavo, there are incredible views back down the valley, from both sides of the train.

The highlight of the fifth phase of the journey between Poschiavo and Miralago station, are the beautiful views of the lake, the Lago di Poschiavo, along with the river to the south Poschiavo station, they are both on the left when heading south towards Tirano; so are on the right when heading north.

Between Miralago and Tirano the railway follows a valley and here the best of the views switch to the right when travelling south.

At the foot of this valley, just to the north of Tirano is the uniquely fabulous Brusio Spiral Viaduct.

Good to know:

This video was taken from a train travelling from Tirano to St Moritz and it showcases the weather extremes, which can be experienced on this trip.

The section of the route through the Bernina Pass had experienced a heavy snow fall on the previous day, but just a five minute train ride away to the south of the pass, there was no snow to be seen at all; so quite the wow moment, but sadly not guaranteed on every journey!

Sit on the right of the train (when facing the direction of travel) for views over Lake Como, all of the images were taken from the right of the train.

Though the journey between Tirano and Lake Como is rather charming.

The railway line travels by the shore of the lake for more than 30 minutes between Colico and Lecco.