There’s a particular quality of light that only exists in the Alps at around 1,800 metres — a flat, cool clarity that makes the snow look almost grey. You notice it first through the window of a moving train, when the valley floor has long disappeared below you and you’re not sure whether to call what you’re passing a meadow or a glacier. That kind of travel doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when someone points you to the right route and tells you to book a seat on the left side.
Europe has a rail network unlike anything else on earth. Covering 33 countries and tens of thousands of kilometres, it’s home to some of the most rewarding journeys in the world — not despite being slow, but because of it. The routes below are the ones worth planning around: chosen not just for spectacle, but for the kind of travel they make possible.
A note on passes: if you’re doing more than two of these routes, it’s worth looking at an Interrail Global Pass (for European residents) or a Eurail Global Pass (for non-Europeans). Both cover the national rail networks on every route listed here, though most of the dedicated scenic trains require a small supplementary seat reservation on top.
Flåm Railway, Norway
| Route | Flåm to Myrdal |
| Distance | 12 miles (20 km) |
| Duration | ~1 hour |
| Book via | norwaysbest.com or vy.no |
| Best season | Runs year-round; late May–September for greenery and long light |
| Passes | Interrail / Eurail: 30% discount on single tickets |
The Flåm Railway covers just 12 miles (20 km) and takes roughly an hour, but it earns its reputation on gradient alone. Starting at sea level in the fjord-side village of Flåm, the train climbs 2,838 feet (865 metres) to Myrdal station in one of the steepest ascents of any standard-gauge railway in the world. Eighty per cent of the route runs at a continuous gradient of 5.5% — a figure that sounds abstract until you’re watching waterfalls appear to run uphill past your window.
Eighteen of the twenty tunnels on this line were excavated by hand between 1923 and 1940. One includes a 180-degree spiral turn carved entirely inside the mountain — you feel it as a long, disorienting curve in the dark before the train emerges on the other side of the rock face. The train slows and stops at Kjosfossen waterfall for a five-minute photo stop: 305 feet (93 metres) of white water hammering into the gorge floor.
Most visitors do this as part of the Norway in a Nutshell itinerary, which combines the Flåm Railway with the Bergen Line and a fjord cruise through the Nærøyfjord UNESCO World Heritage area. It’s a genuinely well-designed day — you can start and end in either Oslo or Bergen. Book individual legs through vy.no to save money compared to packaged versions.
Best seat: Sit on the right side heading up to Myrdal (Flåm → Myrdal) for the most dramatic waterfall views. Book well ahead in summer — July and August trains can sell out days in advance.
Bergen Line (Oslo to Bergen), Norway
| Route | Oslo Central Station to Bergen |
| Distance | 292 miles (471 km) |
| Duration | ~7 hours |
| Book via | vy.no |
| Best season | Year-round; winter crossing of Hardangervidda is spectacular if daylight hours allow — aim for Feb or March |
| Passes | Interrail / Eurail valid; seat reservation ~100 NOK |
The Bergen Line — known in Norwegian as Bergensbanen — is Northern Europe’s highest railway, reaching 4,058 feet (1,237 metres) at its summit on the Hardangervidda plateau. Opened in 1909 after 15 years of construction, it runs 292 miles (471 km) between Oslo and Bergen through 182 tunnels, past fjords, rivers, and one of the most austere high-altitude landscapes in the continent. Lonely Planet has voted it one of the world’s most scenic rail journeys multiple times.
The journey unfolds in three distinct acts. Out of Oslo, the train traces forested river valleys and small farms — pleasant but calm. Then, somewhere around Geilo, the trees stop and the plateau opens. The Hardangervidda in winter is snow from horizon to horizon, the Hardangerjøkulen glacier visible to the south, the silence of it somehow audible through the carriage glass. Finse station, at the plateau’s highest point, has no road access at all. You either arrive by train, or you don’t arrive.
The final section drops into Bergen through narrow Raundalen gorge — vertical cliff walls, thundering waterfalls, and the first glimpse of dark fjord water before the train pulls into one of the most architecturally satisfying station buildings in Norway.
Best seat: Travelling Oslo to Bergen, sit on the left side for the Hardangervidda plateau and Finse glacier. Book on vy.no; seats are assigned at booking and summer morning trains fill weeks in advance. Upgrade to Komfort class for lie-flat seating on night departures.
West Highland Line, Scotland
| Route | Glasgow Queen Street to Mallaig |
| Distance | 164 miles (264 km) |
| Duration | ~5.5 hours |
| Book via | ScotRail (regular service) | West Coast Railways (The Jacobite steam train) |
| Best season | May–October for heather and long daylight; January–February for snow-covered Rannoch Moor |
| Passes | BritRail Pass valid on ScotRail; Jacobite requires separate booking |
Readers of Wanderlust magazine voted the West Highland Line the world’s best rail journey in 2009 — and for a line that runs through one of the most thinly populated landscapes in Britain, the accolade has stuck. Departing Glasgow Queen Street, the train moves north through the outskirts of the city, then quite quickly into the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, where the first serious Highland scenery begins: wide lochs, birch-covered hillsides, and the gradual silence that settles over a carriage when people put their phones down.
The centrepiece of the Fort William to Mallaig section is the Glenfinnan Viaduct — a 21-arch curved concrete bridge completed in 1901 that crosses high above Loch Shiel. It’s the same viaduct the Hogwarts Express crosses in the Harry Potter films, and recognition of it tends to produce an involuntary sound in the carriage. Beyond Glenfinnan, the line passes the white sands of Morar and reaches Mallaig — a working fishing port where you can catch the ferry to the Isle of Skye or sit in a harbour café with a bowl of shellfish and the smell of diesel and salt.
For a step up, the Jacobite steam train runs the Fort William to Mallaig section seasonally (typically May to October). It’s the closest thing to a genuine Hogwarts experience, complete with steam, whistle, and a buffet car. Book through West Coast Railways — it sells out weeks ahead in summer and walk-up tickets are rarely available in peak season.
Best seat: Left side heading north (Glasgow to Mallaig) for the best views of Glenfinnan Viaduct and the sea lochs. The train reverses direction at Fort William — remember to swap sides for the continuation to Mallaig.
Glacier Express, Switzerland
| Route | St Moritz to Zermatt (or reverse) |
| Distance | 181 miles (291 km) |
| Duration | ~8 hours |
| Book via | glacierexpress.ch |
| Seat reservation | Mandatory for all passengers — CHF 54 (2nd & 1st class); opens 93 days ahead |
| Best season | May–October for summer meadows; January–February for deep snow and quieter trains |
| Passes | Swiss Travel Pass covers the fare; Eurail / Interrail cover the fare — seat reservation fee still applies |
The Glacier Express markets itself as the world’s slowest express train, and the description is accurate in the way all good marketing is: it takes eight hours to cover 181 miles (291 km) between two of Switzerland’s best-known mountain resorts. The train moves at an average speed of 24 mph (38 km/h) through the three cantons of Valais, Uri, and Graubünden, crossing 291 bridges and passing through 91 tunnels. The panoramic windows stretch floor-to-ceiling, and on a clear day the light through them turns the carriage a particular gold that you can’t manufacture with a photo filter.
The high point, literally, is the Oberalp Pass at 6,670 feet (2,033 metres) — the watershed between the Rhine and the Rhone. Before that, the train moves through the Rhine Gorge, where the pale limestone canyon walls close in so tightly that the train’s whistle returns as an echo. Lunch is served at your seat, accompanied by Swiss white wine. It is, without question, the best train lunch in Europe.
The route runs from mid-December to mid-October (with a brief break in late autumn). Book your seat reservation at glacierexpress.ch at exactly the 93-day mark — the seats sell out quickly in summer. Note that you need both a valid ticket (or rail pass) and a seat reservation; the two are separate purchases.
Best seat: Seat selection on the Glacier Express is limited — the system doesn’t display carriage orientation. Book a window seat; a couple is best positioned face-to-face across a table for views on both sides simultaneously.
Bernina Express, Switzerland & Italy
| Route | Chur (or St Moritz) to Tirano, Italy |
| Distance | 76 miles (122 km) Chur–Tirano; 39 miles (63 km) St Moritz–Tirano |
| Duration | ~4 hours from Chur; ~2.25 hours from St Moritz |
| Book via | rhb.ch (Rhaetian Railway) |
| Seat reservation | Mandatory — CHF 32–36 depending on season; book on the RhB website for specific seat selection |
| Best season | Late April–June (waterfalls, wildflowers); September–October (golden forests); January–February (snow and glacier ice) |
| Passes | Swiss Travel Pass / Eurail / Interrail cover the fare — seat reservation still required |
If someone forced a ranking, the Bernina Express would top most serious lists of Europe’s greatest train journeys. It crosses the Rhaetian Railway — a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008 — traversing the Bernina Alps between the glaciers of the Swiss Engadin and the palm-lined squares of northern Italy in around four hours. The altitude change is staggering: Ospizio Bernina station sits at 7,392 feet (2,253 metres); Tirano, the Italian terminus, is at 1,411 feet (430 metres). You go from glaciers to olive trees in the same afternoon.
Two structures define the route. The Landwasser Viaduct — a 213-foot (65-metre) curved stone bridge that disappears directly into the face of a cliff — appears about an hour south of Chur. Further along, approaching Tirano, the train navigates the Brusio Circular Viaduct: a complete spiral loop of track, built in 1908 to lose altitude without a switchback, that looks from the outside like an architectural joke that somehow works. Both are visible from the right-hand side travelling south (Chur to Tirano).
Book seat reservations through rhb.ch rather than the SBB website — only RhB allows specific seat selection on the panoramic carriages. Tickets can be booked up to six months in advance. Note that you need a passport: the train crosses the Swiss–Italian border, so travelling without valid ID can cause problems.
Best seat: Right side heading south (Chur or St Moritz to Tirano) for the Landwasser Viaduct and Brusio spiral. Bring layers — the temperature difference between Ospizio Bernina and Tirano can exceed 15°C (27°F) within a single journey.
Stockholm to Narvik, Sweden
| Route | Stockholm to Narvik (via Luleå and Kiruna) |
| Distance | ~621 miles (1,000 km) |
| Duration | ~19 hours (overnight sleeper) |
| Book via | sj.se (Swedish Railways) |
| Best season | June–August for the midnight sun; December–February for Northern Lights and deep Arctic winter |
| Passes | Eurail / Interrail valid; sleeper supplement required |
Most train journeys ask you to stay awake. This one is better experienced in two phases: an evening of watching eastern Sweden’s forests thin and flatten as the light goes strange and golden in the long summer dusk, then an early-morning emergence somewhere above the Arctic Circle into a landscape of frozen lakes and treeless fells. The Norrlandståget sleeper from Stockholm reaches Narvik in about 19 hours, crossing 621 miles (1,000 km) from the Swedish capital through Lapland and into northern Norway.
The train crosses the Arctic Circle near Polcirkeln — there’s a brief announcement when it happens — before tracking the long shore of Lake Torneträsk, one of the largest alpine lakes in Europe. In winter, the lake is frozen solid and the light, when it comes, is brief and horizontal. In summer, the sun doesn’t set at all. Both experiences are worth taking seriously.
The mining town of Kiruna is the last major stop before Narvik — worth knowing because the town has been physically relocated (the iron ore mines were undermining its foundations) and is undergoing one of the more unusual urban projects in European history. You can stop and spend a night before continuing into Norway.
Practical note: Book through sj.se. Sleeper compartments (2-berth or 6-berth) need to be booked separately from the base fare. Book as early as possible — summer departures sell out well in advance, particularly around Midsummer.
Rome to Palermo, Italy
| Route | Roma Termini to Palermo Centrale |
| Distance | ~475 miles (765 km) |
| Duration | ~11 hours (overnight Intercity Notte service) |
| Book via | Trenitalia |
| Best season | Spring (March–May) for wildflowers along the Calabrian coast; avoid peak summer on the daytime service |
| Passes | Eurail / Interrail valid; overnight supplement required |
At some point on the overnight train from Rome to Palermo, the carriages are detached, loaded onto a ferry, and floated across the Strait of Messina to Sicily. If you’re awake for it — and it’s worth setting an alarm — you walk out to the deck and stand in the dark with the lights of Calabria receding and Messina approaching, the salt smell of the Tyrrhenian in the air. It’s the only scheduled train crossing of open sea in Western Europe.
The daytime journey, taken on a different service, offers more in the way of visible landscape: the Campanian coastline south of Naples, with Mount Vesuvius standing behind the city like a parenthesis; the Tyrrhenian coast through Calabria, which is quieter and more rugged than the more famous coasts further north; and then the north coast of Sicily into Palermo, where the mountains come down close to the sea and the light has a Mediterranean flatness that feels different from the Italian mainland.
Book through Trenitalia. For the overnight Intercity Notte service, choose a couchette (4 or 6-berth) or private sleeper compartment — booking these early is essential, particularly in summer when Sicilian tourism peaks.
Best seat: On the daytime coastal service, the right side heading south gives you the Tyrrhenian coast views from Naples through to the Strait of Messina. On the overnight, the window matters less — book a lower bunk in a couchette for the best balance of comfort and the ability to peer out at the ferry crossing.
Mariazellerbahn, Austria
| Route | St Pölten to Mariazell |
| Distance | 49 miles (78 km) |
| Duration | ~2.5 hours |
| Book via | mariazellerbahn.at or ÖBB |
| Best season | December–March for snow; June–September for alpine meadows in full colour |
| Passes | Eurail / Interrail valid |
The Mariazellerbahn is the longest narrow-gauge railway in Austria, running 49 miles (78 km) from St Pölten — about 45 minutes west of Vienna by fast train — into the mountains at Mariazell. It’s been operating since 1907, and unlike most heritage lines it functions as a proper working railway: locals use it, schoolchildren use it, and pilgrims have been using it to reach the Mariazell basilica for over a century.
The route climbs through the Pielach Valley and into the Ötscher-Tormäuer Nature Park — a protected area of gorges, beech forests, and limestone rock formations that sees relatively few international visitors. The train crosses 19 bridges and passes through 21 tunnels, gaining significant altitude in the process. In winter, the upper section is blanketed in snow; in summer, the meadows on the approach to Mariazell have the unhurried quality of somewhere that hasn’t decided whether to be a tourist attraction yet.
It’s a good half-day from Vienna: the fast train from Wien Hauptbahnhof to St Pölten takes 25 minutes, leaving plenty of time for the 2.5-hour rail journey up the mountain, an afternoon in Mariazell, and the return trip before dark. Book through ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways) for the full Vienna–Mariazell combination.
Best seat: No strong side preference — the valley sections offer good views from both sides. Aim for a window seat in the upper section of the train for the elevated views across the Pielach Valley.
Rail passes: what’s worth knowing
If you’re combining two or more routes on this list, a rail pass makes financial sense. The two main options are the Interrail Global Pass (for EU/EEA residents) and the Eurail Global Pass (for everyone else). Both cover national rail in the 33 member countries and give discounts or free travel on most of the routes listed above.
A few routes require a seat reservation on top of the pass — this is most commonly the case with dedicated scenic trains. The fees are modest (typically CHF 32–54 for Swiss trains, ~100 NOK for Norwegian routes), but they require advance booking and some, like the Glacier Express, sell out well ahead of peak season. The reservation and the pass are always separate purchases.
For point-to-point booking without a pass, Rail Europe and Trainline cover most European routes from a single interface. For Swiss trains specifically, SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) has the most comprehensive timetable and Saver Day Pass options.