Diavolezza Cable Car & Bernina Red Train from Tirano

Tirano, the Italian starting point

Tirano is a lively town at about 429 metres in the Valtellina, the valley of the Adda in northern Italy, and the southern end of the Bernina line. The red Swiss trains leave from their own station beside the Italian railway station, and as they leave town they run right through the main street and square. Nearby stands the large Renaissance basilica of the Madonna di Tirano.

If you are staying in Milan or Lake Como, Tirano is reached by Italian regional trains in about two and a half hours from Milan, which makes this a popular Diavolezza day trip from Italy. Carry your passport or ID card, as the train crosses into Switzerland a few minutes after leaving Tirano. Italian cafés by the station offer coffee, pastries and vegetarian snacks for the journey.

Brusio viaduct, Poschiavo and the climb to Alp Grüm

Soon after the border, the train turns a full circle on the Brusio circular viaduct, a curving stone bridge from 1908 that is the most photographed point of the line. It then follows the shore of Lake Poschiavo and passes Poschiavo, an Italian-speaking Swiss town with an elegant piazza, before climbing steeply through chestnut and larch forests.

Above the trees, the line reaches Alp Grüm, a tiny station on a rocky ledge facing the Palü Glacier, with the whole valley spread out below. The Bernina line climbs here at gradients of up to seven percent without a cogwheel, one of the steepest adhesion railways in the world. The regional trains have windows that open, ideal for photos.

The Bernina Pass and Lago Bianco

The train crosses Ospizio Bernina at 2,253 metres, the highest point of the line, beside Lago Bianco, a milky-green lake coloured by glacier water. Here you are on the watershed between rivers flowing to the Adriatic and to the Black Sea. In winter the line runs between high walls of snow, while summer reveals rocky slopes and alpine flowers.

A few minutes later you reach Bernina Diavolezza, the station at the foot of the cable car. The whole train journey from Tirano takes about two hours. The Bernina line, opened in 1910, is part of the Rhaetian Railway landscape listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. Have your bags ready as the train approaches, because the stop at Diavolezza is short.

The Diavolezza cable car and summit

From the valley station, a large cable car rises in about ten minutes to the Diavolezza summit station at around 2,973 metres. At the top there is a mountain restaurant and a wide sun terrace with one of the most impressive glacier views in the Alps, directly opposite the white wall of Piz Palü with its three pillars and the sharp ridges of Piz Bernina, at 4,049 metres the highest peak of the Eastern Alps.

Below you, the Pers Glacier flows down to join the Morteratsch Glacier, and on clear days the view stretches across the whole Bernina range. Is Diavolezza worth visiting? On a clear day, absolutely: few viewpoints bring you so close to big glaciers so easily. Allow at least an hour at the top to enjoy the panorama.

Best time to visit Diavolezza and practical tips

The best time to visit Diavolezza is a clear morning or midday; summer brings snow-free terraces and long days, while winter turns the area into a ski resort with brilliant white views. The cable car may close for maintenance in late spring and late autumn, so check dates when booking. Views depend on the weather and are never guaranteed.

At nearly 3,000 metres it is cold and windy even in summer: bring a warm jacket, gloves, sunglasses and sun cream, and move slowly if you feel the altitude. Halal food is limited at the top and in the mountain villages, so bring snacks. Guests staying in St. Moritz, about 20 minutes away by train, can also reach Diavolezza directly; ask our team about private transfers.