Six stone arches in the snow, a lit train crossing them at dusk, and then the cliff swallows it whole, warm windows and all.
Our hour there
We rode the evening train home, the last of the light gone blue outside. I had promised you the viaduct would be lit. It wasn't. There was only us, the snow and the windows of our own carriage spilling gold onto the drop below. The wheels changed their note on the arches, a hollow drumming, and you pressed your cold hand against the glass to see down. I still had chocolate in my pocket from lunch. Then the cliff took us, the tunnel went black, and we both laughed at how fast it was over. I wish the journey were longer with you, I said, and meant every minute of it.
You two can see it from the other side too. From the Hennings platform above the tunnel, the trains cross at eye level, and in December and January the best of it comes in the deep blue just after sunset, before the gorge goes fully dark. The snow holds the last light, the peaks go grey then black, and each train slides over the arches as a ribbon of lit windows. There is no lake down there, only Filisur in its gorge and a very quiet valley.
The shuttle that stops at the platform does not run in winter, so you walk, about forty minutes down from Schmitten. Bring headlamps and microspikes, and be there by half past four. Nobody promises the path is cleared after dark.
♡ We rode the same viaduct twice in one day and still argued, nose to the glass, about which of us had spotted the tunnel mouth first.
The frame, in real life
In the reel: A couple sits together in a lit carriage window as their train crosses a snowy stone-arched viaduct toward a cliff tunnel at night, with starry snow-capped Alps and a glowing lakeside village below.
The bridge and the tunnel are real: the Landwasser Viaduct on the Rhaetian Railway's Albula line, 65 m high, six limestone arches from 1902, curving straight into the cliff a kilometre out of Filisur. There is no lake and no lakeside village; Filisur sits in a gorge, the trains are electric, and the only light on the bridge after dark is the train's own windows. Stand on the Hennings platform above the tunnel to watch the hourly IR 38 cross at eye level, and ride it back from St. Moritz after dark for the couple in the window.
When to go
December to February for snow. The plan is pinned to Friday 8 to Sunday 10 January 2027: two days after the new moon for stars, the hotel open again (its site says it closes in November and from 1 to 20 December) and the Glacier Express back in its winter season from 5 December.
The hour: Blue hour, 16:52–17:26 on 9 January 2027 (sunset 16:52, civil dusk ends 17:26; on 21 December 16:35 and 17:11; our own calculation, flat horizon, and the gorge goes dark sooner). Trains cross the viaduct about two minutes before the hour and two minutes after it: 16:57 in from Chur, 17:02 out to Chur, then the Bernina Express at about 17:28 (SBB timetable, read Oct 2026). Stars from 18:04, when nautical dusk ends.
Avoid: November and the first three weeks of December, when the hotel's own site says it is closed. The full moons of 24 December 2026 and 22 January 2027 if you want stars. Counting on the Viaduct Shuttle (14 May to 25 October 2026 only) or on the Glacier Express for the night frame: it crosses in daylight.
What it costs (CHF)
Shoestring: this stay's budget twin with washbasin, CHF 123 a night for two, or the budget double with shower CHF 138 (Graubünden booking shop, read Oct 2026); the platform is free and a St. Moritz–Chur ticket over the viaduct is CHF 46 in 2nd class (glacierexpress.ch, Oct 2026)
Mid: this stay in Filisur, a double with balcony from CHF 145 for single use (Graubünden booking shop, read Oct 2026), from CHF 189 a night on HRS (read Oct 2026)
Splurge: No luxury hotel in Filisur, so spend it on the train: Glacier Express Excellence Class is CHF 590 on top of a 1st-class ticket, CHF 79 St. Moritz–Chur (glacierexpress.ch, read Oct 2026), and the Zermatt-bound train 9022 is the one that stops at Filisur
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