MY WIFE AND I ARE PLANNING A CRUISE FROM VENICE IN OCTOBER. FLYING INTO MILAN AND SPENDING A FEW DAYS EXPLORING THE ITALIAN LAKES. WE'RE INTERESTED IN THE COMBINED RAIL/FERRY DAY TOUR ON THE MAGGIORE EXPRESS AS WELL AS THE BERNINA EXPRESS DAY TOUR FROM MILAN TO ST MORITZ VIA LAKE COMO.
OUR MAIN INTERESTS ARE LAKE AND MOUNTAIN SCENERY RATHER THAN WALKING.
WOULD YOU RECOMMEND ONE OVER THE OTHER, PARTICULARLY AS THE BERNINA EXPRESS SEEMS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE EXPENSIVE?
A. DE KLERK, THORNLEIGH
I'd be taking the Lake Maggiore Express, and not just because it's cheaper. First reason, if you want to see the Italian Lakes then the cruise on Lake Maggiore will have your camera trigger finger working overtime. Second, it's a loop trip. If you take the Bernina Express in the direction you propose you would need to get back to Italy from Chur or St Moritz and that means most probably taking the same Bernina Express back the way you came. Reason three, the southern leg of the Bernina Express is a bus trip from Tirano to Lugano. This is a three-hour journey, some of it along the northern shoreline of Lake Como, and it's not possible to get from Lugano to Chur/St Moritz and back in a single day. Getting there from Milan is longer still. Another reason, you can hop off the Lake Maggiore ferry and poke around in the Borromean Islands, and Isola Bella in particular is worth a lingering look.
Rather than the one-day trip on the Lake Maggiore Express I'd be taking the two-day option at just a slightly higher price, with an overnight stop in Locarno or better yet, gorgeous little Ascona, both in Switzerland at the northern end of the lake. Next morning, board the narrow gauge rail at Locarno for the spectacular journey through the mountains to Domodossola.
The Bernina Express is a truly wondrous rail trip, unrivalled in Switzerland with the possible exception of the Glacier Express, but the Lake Maggiore Express is a better fit for your plans.
