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22 of the best rail journeys in Europe
European rail journeys embody more than mere romance. The latest independent routes and packaged tours allow travellers to gaze over entire nations, while train windows screen lakes, mountains and countryside in full colour. By avoiding airport hassle, and zipping from city centre to city centre, Europe's trains promise more time 'on holiday' too.
On longer journeys, you'll have the added thrill of falling asleep in your private compartment and waking up at sunrise in a new place. Whether you opt for slow travel across the snow-covered Scandinavian Arctic, being whisked across rural France on the high-speed TGV, or the unfettered luxury of black tie and bellinis on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, there's a train journey for every budget. Here are the most exciting European rail journeys.
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Le Train Rouge (Red Train) clatters along 100-year-old tracks over gravity-defying suspension bridges, through tunnels and across flower-filled French Pyrenean meadows on its 35-mile journey Rivesaltes to the small town of Axat. The ride is one of the day trips on this week-long break to Catalonia, travelling by rail from London and staying in the resort of Roses, on the Costa Brava. Rail fans will also revel in the day on the Nuria Rack Railway, which travels eight miles to the Nuria Valley, where mountain pastures fringe a blue-green lake. Visits to Girona and Figueres, for the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation — provide a culture fix.
You could arrive on the Côte d'Azur frazzled from hours on the autoroute — or you could just relax on the train, racing from London to Nice on the Eurostar and TGV and using the city as a base for forays along the coast by rail: swish Antibes, Cannes and pretty Villefranche-sur-Mer are all easy day trips. In Nice, people-watch on the Promenade des Anglais, admire the Chagalls and Matisses in their respective museums and take a front-row seat for salad niçoise and catch of the day at Le Safari on Cours Saleya, the old-town market.
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Reach the French Alpine resort of Chambery on day one, before gunning through the mountains to charming Turin on day two. Sightseeing options include Turin's old Fiat factory, immortalised in The Italian Job, and which now hosts Europe's largest rooftop garden. A snaking run down the Adriatic deposits travellers in historic Bari: base for the sleeper ferry to Albania, a land of eagles, secret beaches and madcap socialist architecture. The trip finishes in buzzy Tirana for a two-night stay.
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The spiky Dolomites of Italy are criss-crossed by narrow-gauge railways and funiculars, which form the basis of four excursions in this week-long idyll on the banks of Lake Molveno in Trentino. Take a deep breath as the improbably steep Mendola funicular cranks a terrifying 854m (2,801ft) at a 64 per cent gradient, with magnificent panoramas from the top your reward. The Renon railway, too, is 18 minutes of lip-biting drama — the historic carriages haul you up to a high mountain plateau to see 25,000-year-old earth pyramids, bizarre rock spikes left over from the Ice Age.
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The high-speed link from Paris Montparnasse to Toulouse, which zips for four and a half hours through France's agricultural heartland, puts this cool university city within quick-getaway reach of the UK. In La Ville Rose, named for the dusky pink of its terracotta bricks, plunge into the edgy food scene of the Vieux Quartier. Check out the 5 Wine Bar, thrice voted best in the world, with more than 500 wines by the glass. Load up on cheeses and pâtés from the Victor Hugo market before canoeing on the Garonne, or cycling along the Canal du Midi. The three-star Hôtel Albert 1er is a lovely boutique hotel with a fine line in slow-food breakfasts; coffee comes from Maison Roquemaurel, an artisanal city roaster.
Take in the antiquities of Rome, the ravishing Amalfi coast and chic Taormina in one trip, speeding across Italy's rolling hills and lush countryside by train and staying in locally owned four-star hotels. Pack a picnic for the train journey from Naples to Taormina and settle back to marvel at the views, with mountains on one side and flashes of sparkling blue Mediterranean on the other. For the 20-minute crossing of the Strait of Messina from Villa San Giovanni in Calabria to Sicily, the train is actually loaded onto a ferry, passengers enjoying the spectacle from the boat's upper decks. You have optional day trips to Pompeii and Etna — but throw in some fun with the more immersive tours on offer: gelato-tasting in Rome, pizza-making in Sorrento and dinner with a local family in Sicily.
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Napoleon claimed he could smell the maquis, an intoxicating perfume of wild brush and herbs, as he crossed the sea to his beloved Corsica. You'll have plenty of chance to breathe in the mountain air and soak up rugged coastal scenery with an exploration of the island on the quaint trinighellu trains. Highlights include the atmospheric port of Calvi; the old capital, Corte, its extraordinary citadel teetering on a vertiginous rock outcrop; and the captivating train journey from here to Ajaccio, across Gustave Eiffel's Vecchio viaduct and through forests of pine and chestnut.
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Mysterious, mist-shrouded Transylvania lends itself particularly well to old-fashioned train travel. This private adventure on the luxurious Golden Eagle Danube Express starts in Istanbul, crosses Bulgaria and climbs through the wild, forested Carpathian Mountains before speeding across the vast Hungarian steppes into Budapest. Stops include medieval Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria's former capital, where a jumble of stone houses cling to the banks of the Yantra River, as well as the turreted Bran Castle in Romania — said to have inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula. On board, expect lots of polished wood and brass, fine dining and cosy compartments with private bathrooms.
Journey across wintry landscapes on the night train from Stockholm to Kiruna, Sweden's northernmost city, deep inside the Arctic Circle on the banks of frozen Lake Luossajarvi. Activities you might book include trekking through snow-laden forests on snowshoes, dog sledding, ice fishing and spinning across the icy tundra on snowmobiles, keeping an eye on the sky for the rippling green curtains of the aurora borealis. You have three nights for Arctic adventures, following train travel there via Münster and Copenhagen, and two in Stockholm. Summertime adventures on the same tour enjoy the midnight sun.
Vienna's graceful baroque heart is easy to explore on bicycle, foot and tram. This eight-night holiday by rail gives you three nights in the Austrian capital and three in dreamy Salzburg, stopping in Frankfurt on the way out and Zurich on the return. Check out the Hofburg palace and the State Opera, get your art fix at the MuseumsQuartier and gorge on coffee piled with whipped cream in the 19th-century cafés. In Salzburg, just two hours and 20 minutes away on the speedy Railjet service, there's the legacy of Mozart and the von Trapps to explore.
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Spain's grand, belle époque Al-Andalus train takes a seven-night route round the great Moorish cities of Andalusia, from Seville and Cordoba to Granada, sprawled at the foot of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada. You'll taste sherry in Jerez, poke around the ancient port city of Cadiz, tap your feet to flamenco in Seville and explore Granada's exquisite Alhambra palace. While the plush velvet and polished, inlaid wood make the vintage carriages a magnificent base, you won't miss out on Andalusian cooking, as lunches are taken in local restaurants.
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Like the immaculately terraced vineyards, the railway along the Douro Valley snakes round the contours of the hills, making for one of the prettiest train journeys in Europe. On a rail-and-walk week-long break you'll enjoy daily guided group hikes along the river, across hilltops, through wild olive groves and between the sprawling port wine estates, taking the train between overnight stays in a family-run hotel in Regua, which promises a comfortable base after long days on foot.
Getting there is half the fun on this romantic escape: jump on the Eurostar to Paris, then take the TGV to Zurich, where you'll board the night sleeper. Look out for the moon reflecting on the snowy mountaintops as the track snakes along the curves of the Zürichsee and Walensee lakes. You'll wake to a cup of tea and a lush Bohemian forest, arriving in Prague by 11am. You have three days to roam this unforgettably beautiful city, losing yourself in cobbled alleys and squares, admiring the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle, and drinking in the atmospheric beer gardens.
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The GoldenPass Express route in Switzerland winds its way from Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva to the glittering glaciers of Interlaken in three hours and 15 minutes. Seats are spread over three classes: second, first and prestige, the latter with chairs that are warmed at the touch of a button and swivel to take in the 360-degree views from panoramic windows. It's from these windows that the real magic unfolds: alpine valleys studded with bell cows, snow-dusted chalets and mountains reminiscent of those on Toblerone boxes.
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For sheer opulence you can't beat the classic journey on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, whisking you from London to Venice in a blur of black tie, bellinis and belle époque splendour. Doze off to the swaying of the train as it dashes through the night before being woken by your steward for breakfast amid the snowy vistas of the Swiss Alps. After two nights in Venice, the Frecciarossa — Italy's flashy 'red arrow' express — speeds you through the countryside to Florence and Rome for a further two nights in each city.
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A tiny package of glacial lakes, ice-capped mountains, vineyards, meadows and a sliver of Adriatic coast, Slovenia is easy and rewarding to explore by rail. Your journey takes you from Lake Bled through a bucolic landscape of vineyards and cherry orchards to Bohinjska Bistrica, near the Italian border, before heading south to Ljubljana, the leafy capital. After two nights exploring its markets, intriguing streets and riverside cafés, you're off to the improbably picturesque Piran — all Venetian façades, pretty squares and, around the marina, enticing seafood restaurants.
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The dream for fans of steam: three days chugging along 87 miles of narrow-gauge lines on Germany's venerable Harzer Schmalspurbahnen. You'll stay in medieval Wernigerode after a leisurely two-day train journey from London, then a Harz Rover pass gives you time to explore; the steam-hauled journey up the Brocken mountain is a highlight, as much for the Cold War museum at the top as the sweeping views. Half-timbered Quedlinburg can also be reached by steam train. The trip ends in Essen, with a chance to ride the Schwebebahn, a futuristic suspension railway that runs eight miles across the city of Wuppertal.
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This seven-night 'rail cruise' across Spain's northern coast is slow travel at its most indulgent. Aboard the opulent Transcantabrico, polished, inlaid wood features heavily in its four lounge cars — beautifully restored Pullman carriages dating from 1923 — and the suites are pretty sumptuous, too, with private bathrooms and living quarters. You'll sleep well, as the train remains stationary after dark. The route hugs the coast from San Sebastian to Santiago de Compostela through Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia, rattling through lush countryside beneath the spiky Picos de Europa.
Reaching Italy's palm-fringed Lake Maggiore is a breeze on the Eurostar to Paris, followed by TGVs to Zurich and Milan. Your base on the lake is the comfortable Hotel Cannero, alongside the pink and ochre villas on the waterfront of the pretty resort of Cannero Riviera. From here, explore the lake on boat trips to the Palazzo Borromeo and botanical gardens on the Borromean Islands, or spend a day in arty Stresa, from where a cable car whisks you up to Mottarone for sweeping lake and mountain views.
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Visiting Norway the slow way takes 12 days there and back by train, starting from London, but overnights in hip Hamburg and Gothenburg are all part of the adventure. You get two nights in Oslo before speeding past forest and lakes to the fjord-indented west coast. At the Myrdal mountain station, high in the vertiginous Flamsdalen valley, you'll switch trains onto the Flam railway, one of the world's steepest standard-gauge lines, slowly trundling in and out of 20 tunnels on its hair-raising journey down to Flam itself, a sleepy village at the head of Aurlandsfjord. After three days exploring the walking trails around Flam, board the ferry for Bergen, sailing the length of Sognefjord, Norway's longest and deepest fjord.
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The Eurostar and TGV combo from London to Bordeaux is so efficient that you can whizz from work to wine country in just six hours, with a quick change in Paris. Bordeaux sweeps in a graceful half-moon along the banks of the Garonne, the salty scent of the Atlantic on the breeze. There's loads to see in a weekend: the elegant Place de la Bourse with its reflecting water mirror, the futuristic Cité du Vin museum, the grand, 18th-century city centre and riverfront cafés and markets. Stay at the cool, Philippe Starck-designed Mama Shelter boutique hotel in the centre; the rooftop bar buzzes on balmy nights.
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Enjoy a five-day return trip to the Netherlands from London, which includes first-class rail. Spend four nights based in a smart hotel in the university city of Utrecht; explore colourful local canals, the Dutch national railway museum and, during spring, the Keukenhof Gardens where millions of tulips and other seasonal bulbs are on display. The tour also includes a tour on the Medemblik steam train and a day trip by train to Amsterdam.
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Additional reporting by Tristan Rutherford and Lucy Perrin
