Top 5 Incredible Train Journeys of Europe
One of the highlights of travelling in Europe is the train journey. There are many grand stations with rich history and stunning destinations. You feel a sense of timelessness and feel like you’re in a place you never knew existed. How? It’s the scenery that awakens these feelings within you.
And besides, travelling by train is cheaper and it’s greener too. You leave less of a carbon footprint than you would if travel by plane. Here, in this article, we take a look at the best 5 places to have a train journey in Europe. These picturesque places are definitely worth a visit. Let’s see what they are.
Best Places for Train Journeys in Europe
One of the highlights of traveling in Europe is the train journey. There are many grand stations with rich history and stunning destinations. You feel a sense of timelessness and feel like you’re in a place you never knew existed. How? It’s the scenery that awakens these feelings within you.
And besides, traveling by train is cheaper and it’s greener too. You leave less carbon footprint than you would if traveling by plane. Here, in this article, we look at the best 5 places to have a train journey in Europe. These picturesque places are definitely worth a visit. Let’s see what they are.
The Glacier Express in Switzerland
- Travel Route: Zermatt to St. Moritz
- Total Distance: 290 km
- Time to Travel: Approx. 7.5 hours
Buy Tickets: https://www.glacierexpress.ch/en/
If you’ve ever wanted to enjoy the snowy capped peaks of Switzerland, then you need to take the train from Zermatt to St. Moritz. It’s called the Glacier Express and like the name, all you’ll see surrounding you are endless glaciers. It’s the best kind of train journey to enjoy Switzerland nice and slow.
And although it’s an express train it only averages a speed of 38 km/h. But who’d ever want to go faster when you have the scenery of the mountain peaks and alpine forests? You travel through rugged valleys and tunnels and cross a whopping 291 bridges on your trip!
But one thing is for certain; you’ll be glued to your windows because the scenery is just too much to take your eyes off. Enjoy the chill of the winter breeze as you warm yourself with another glass of delicious wine.
If you want to add more to your trip, we can recommend checking out the summit of Gornegrat in Zermatt. The mountain stands at an impressive height of 3089 meters. The journey to the summit is a bit gruelling like any other. But when you’re enjoying the view of the Matterhorn, that’s when you realize that it was worth going there.
West Highland Line in Scotland
- Travel Route: Glasgow to Mallaig
- Total Distance: 264 km
- Time to Travel: Approx. 5.5 hours
Scotland is already known in the UK for having the most beautiful natural scenery. Surrounded by green hills and mountain ranges on all sides, the train journey on the West Highland Line is something you cannot miss. If you ever find yourself visiting Scotland do take this train line.
But what exactly are you getting for 5 and a half hours of a train journey? As you start from Glasgow, the train line is weaved through the middle of Great Britain’s wild plainlands. You will find yourself across castle ruins from another era with lonely moorlands and lochs surrounded by forests.
Living on these high plains, you will find more red deer than humans. And you’ll find yourself on a bit of a nostalgic trip too. How so? The Glenfinnan Viaduct is most popular for its cameo in the Harry Potter films, and we know those movies are special in everyone’s hearts.
If you’d like more of an upgrade to the journey, there are two other alternative trains that you can take. The tickets are a bit pricey but that’s understandable given the level of luxury that you’ll enjoy.
Odontotos Rack Railway in Greece
- Travel Route: Diakopto to Kalavrita
- Total Distance: 22.5 km
- Time to Travel: 1 hour
Buy Tickets: https://railwaytraveller.com/uncategorised/odontotos-rack-railway-greece
Although the train journey is only 22.5 km and it takes an hour, which is unbearably slow, there’s a reason for it. The journey through the Peloponnese gorge really deserves to be given its time. The scenery along that route is something that’s so beautiful that you’ll find it hard to think that it even exists.
The railway itself was built in 1895 and is one of South Greece’s only surviving narrow gauge lines. The journey will have you start from the seaside town of Diakopto and takes you all the way to the mountain town of Kalavrita.
The train wraps around the mountains as it passes through rocky tunnels. What’s special about these tunnels is that they’re all hand carved. No machinery has been used. It’s truly a marvel when you think about the time and effort it must have taken to create a single tunnel. And on your journey, you’ll pass through many.
Another key attraction of this journey is passing over the Vouraikos river. You travel over the river as you cross a total of 49 bridges. The train might be loud, but if you listen closely, you should hear the river roiling far below.
You should definitely make time to visit ancient Olympia’s temples and stadiums. For that, you need to take a small train from Katakolon. This part of ancient Greek history is something you must see.
Mariazell Railway in Austria
- Travel Route: St Pölten to Mariazell
- Total Distance: 78 km
- Time to Travel: 2.5 hours
Buy Tickets: https://www.mariazellerbahn.at/en
For a journey through the Austrian Alps, there can be no better route than the one with Mariazell Railway. The entire journey is split between Valley and Mountains.
The valley part of the journey will take you from St. Pölten to Frankenfels. It’s a scenery of pretty grazing meadows and gentle pathways. You get to get on and off the train as you please. So, if you want to check out everything at your own pace, this lets you do that.
When going through the mountains, you climb the Erlauf gorge. As the train climbs slowly, you should be able to see the peaks of Ötscher-Tormäuer Naturpark. Our advice is to give the entire trip a day to enjoy everything thoroughly.
To make sure you don’t miss out on any of the sceneries, you want to grab the first-class panorama carriage. It gives a full view of the mountain ranges and you get to take in everything just as it was intended.
Linha do Douro in Portugal
- Travel Route: Porto to Pocinho
- Total Distance: 160 km
- Time to Travel: 3.5 hours
Buy tickets: https://railwaytraveller.com/uncategorised/linha-do-douro-railway-portugal
Instead of jumping on a boat on the way back from Porto, take the Linha do Douro. A boat will take you only as far as Pinhão. But on the Linha do Douro you can go further into the lands, past the great wall of rocks.
And since the track is swapped in between the shores, you don’t need to choose a side to sit on. Both sides will give you a separate and complete experience. And let’s not forget that Pinhão station is up there as one of Europe’s prettiest terminals. It has intricate Azulejo tilework.
There are different restaurants and the food there is great too. If not for the views, you should at least go visit the place for its local food.
Tips for Train Journeys in Europe
The main purpose of your European Train Journey is to enjoy yourself. And it also helps out a lot that you have to pay a fraction of the money for travelling compared to air travel. Here are some tips that can enhance your travel experience even further.
✔ Plan Your Destinations with Your Route
When you’re making the plans for your train journey, make sure you study up if there are any sights to see nearby. How long does it take to travel, how much can it cost, and do you need to have accommodations or not? If you plan ahead, you can kill two birds with one stone.
✔ Travel Light
You don’t want to be worried about lugging huge trunks when you’re busy sightseeing. Having a lot of luggage with you means that you need to carry it around and it gets in the way of your journey.
✔ Carry Some Extra Food
Although most of the journeys in our recommendation are very short, there’s something you need to be aware of when it comes to the longer ones. In your travelling backpack, you want to stock up with some snacks. There’s no telling how long a train journey might take. That’s why travelling with some extra food never hurts.
✔ Plan Your Seating
When you’re researching the route also try to find out which side of the seating is better for the views. And as it’s not possible to freely choose your seat if you’re too late in booking the ticket, we recommend that you set this as your first priority.
Wrapping Up
Because of their economic advantage as well the ability to enjoy sights while on the go, train journeys in Europe have become popular in recent years. In this article, we have shared only 5 of the places that we think deserve to be visited. But considering how diverse Europe is, you should definitely check out other places. Who knows, maybe you’ll like them better?