Switzerland for a day
Thursday 25th June 2026
A big day out. Starting from the centre of Milano we boarded our coach and travelled for 4 hours to St Moritz in Switzerland. A picturesque drive along the shores of Lake Como, through the mountains (so many tunnels) to the neat, cool (20C) and very expensive St Moritz. Home to the rich and famous (didn’t see any), especially in the ski season.
On the way to St Moritz
Before we crossed the Italian Swiss border the building style changed from what we had seen in the Italian country side. We had become accustomed to two story concrete rendered houses perhaps with an attached old hay loft and ground level animal barn made from ventilated brick for air circulation. All of this capped with terra cotta tiles. Now we saw separate single story bungalow barns of mortared rock, timber log rafters and schist shingle roofing. Houses are 2-3 story stand alone with a render of cream or yellow sometimes with ornate timber surround verandahs on the first floor.
Passing through one of the villages on our way to St Moritz
The road up the mountain
One of the small villages we passed through
We spent 2 hours exploring and lunching in St Moritz. An obvious choice for us was a fondue. We discovered this yummy cheesy dish over 40 years ago and could not pass up the opportunity to enjoy it again today. I recall it stretched our backpacking budget then but I don’t think it could compare to today’s prices. One serving was 40 Swiss Francs ($75 AUD), fortunately the wait staff strongly recommended we only order one as it was a big serving. She was right and it was delicious.
Taking the underpass to ascend to St Moritz town centre
St Moritz
St Moritz clock tower
St Moritz
St Moritz
Cafe Palace
We are definitely in Switzerland – check out the buildings
Swiss style buildings
The Lake at St Moritz
Following lunch we boarded the Little Red Train or the Bernini Express bound for Tirano, Italy. It wound its way up to the highest point of 2252 mts crossing bridges and through tunnels. Passing by glaciers, lakes and waterfalls before getting a birdseye view of some villages below. To reach our final destination in the heart of Tirano the train took us on a winding path through the town to the train station in the centre.
All aboard
One of the many waterfalls
Some of wildflowers
One of the many bridges we crossed in the Little Red Train
…..and the journey continues
One of the tunnels we travelled through
Birdseye view of the Swiss village below
….around another bend in the line
Crossing back over the border into Italy
Travelling along the lake
…and under the bridge we go
Harvesting trellis tomatoes
This luxury hotel built in 1920 closed a couple of years ago.
The Bernina Express winds its way through the streets of Tirano to its final destination
Our coach collected us here for the 3 hours journey back to Milano. Many more tunnels, passing by Lake Como again. That was a 12 hour tour, but worth every moment.
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