There is a category of train journey that is not transportation. It is the destination. The vehicle is the point, the slowness is the point, and the landscape passing outside the window at 60 miles an hour — or 15 miles an hour through a mountain pass — is the reason you planned the trip in the first place.
The 15 journeys on this list were chosen for three things: scenery that justifies the time, an experience that cannot be replicated by any other mode of transport, and bookability — you can arrange all of these without a specialized tour operator or obscure insider knowledge. They range from an afternoon in the Swiss Alps to seven days across Russia.
Some are accessible to any budget. Some are expensive. All of them are worth the planning.
TL;DR: The world’s best train journeys range from the 4-hour Bernina Express to the 7-day Trans-Siberian. For pure scenery, Switzerland’s Alpine routes lead; for romance, the Venice Simplon Orient Express; for sheer American landscape, the California Zephyr. All 15 can be booked independently. Book as early as possible — the best cabins and panoramic seats sell out months ahead.
1. Glacier Express — Switzerland
Route: Zermatt to St. Moritz (or reverse) | Duration: ~8 hours | Distance: 291 km
The Glacier Express is not actually the fastest train in the world — the marketing is ironic. It is a slow, panoramic mountain train that takes 8 hours to cross 291 kilometers of the Swiss Alps, crossing 291 bridges and passing through 91 tunnels along the way. The panoramic windows extend to the roofline. The dining car serves a proper three-course lunch with Swiss wines.
The route connects two of Switzerland’s most famous mountain resorts: Zermatt (below the Matterhorn) and St. Moritz (in the Engadin Valley). Between them, the train crosses the Oberalp Pass at 2,033 meters — the highest point on the Swiss narrow-gauge rail network — and passes through landscapes that remain permanently snowcapped.
Booking tip: The panoramic Excellence Class (premium seats at the front of the car, with the best forward views) sells out first. Reserve 2–3 months ahead for summer travel. The journey runs year-round; winter travel through snow-covered Alps is spectacular and less crowded than summer.
See our full guide: Glacier Express: The Complete Guide
2. Bernina Express — Switzerland and Italy
Route: Chur to Tirano (or Lugano) | Duration: ~4 hours (Chur–Tirano) | Distance: 122 km
The Bernina Express is, by most measures, the most dramatic train journey in the Alps. The route crosses the Bernina Pass at 2,253 meters — the highest railway crossing in the Alps — on tracks that are not in a tunnel but entirely in the open air, with glaciers and snowfields visible from the panoramic windows. The Landwasser Viaduct, a curving single-arch stone viaduct that appears in countless railway photographs, is on the standard Glacier Express route but closely associated with the Bernina’s grandeur.
The descent into Italy is as striking as the alpine crossing: the train drops 1,800 meters in 55 kilometers through a series of helical loops and switchbacks, arriving in the sub-tropical lakeside climate of Tirano with palm trees and warm air that feels extraordinary after the glaciers an hour above.
Booking tip: Book the panoramic car (not standard class) for the full experience. The route is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Travel from Tirano, you can continue by Bernina Express bus to Lugano for a full Switzerland-to-Italy Alpine crossing.
See our full guide: Bernina Express: Switzerland’s Most Spectacular Train
3. Bergen Railway — Norway
Route: Oslo to Bergen | Duration: ~7 hours | Distance: 496 km
The Bergen Railway crosses the Hardangervidda plateau at over 1,200 meters elevation — the highest mainline railway in northern Europe — on a route that connects Norway’s two largest cities. The section above the treeline, where the landscape becomes tundra and the snow lingers into June, is unlike anything else in European rail travel.
The railway is open year-round, and winter travel — when the plateau is under deep snow and the light is extraordinary at low angles — produces a dramatic white landscape that many consider the journey’s finest season. The approach into Bergen through the fjord country and forested hills is a fitting finale.
Booking tip: The train runs multiple times daily and requires no premium booking beyond a standard seat reservation. Day or evening travel are both worthwhile; the autumn colors on the plateau (September) are exceptional.
4. Flåm Railway — Norway
Route: Myrdal to Flåm | Duration: 1 hour | Distance: 20 km
The Flåm Railway descends 866 meters in 20 kilometers from the Myrdal junction (on the Bergen Railway) to the fjord village of Flåm — one of the steepest standard-gauge railway lines in the world. The train passes through 20 tunnels, past waterfalls, and alongside the Nærøyfjord (a UNESCO World Heritage fjord). At the Kjosfossen waterfall, the train pauses for photographs.
At one hour each way, the Flåm Railway is the shortest journey on this list. It is most powerful as part of the Bergen–Oslo or Oslo–Bergen journey via a Flåm detour — spending a night in the village and taking the ferry up the Nærøyfjord before returning to Myrdal.
Booking tip: Book in advance in summer — this is one of Norway’s most popular tourist experiences and fills up. The journey is included in many Eurail and Interrail passes with a supplement.
5. Venice Simplon Orient Express — Europe
Route: London (or Paris) to Venice (and beyond) | Duration: ~31 hours London to Venice | Distance: ~1,700 km
The Venice Simplon Orient Express is not a train journey in the conventional sense. It is a moving hotel — a collection of restored 1920s and 1930s Pullman and sleeper carriages, polished to a standard that would satisfy the most exacting Art Deco purist — that takes the form of a train journey from London or Paris to Venice.
The service includes white-linen dinner, a pianist in the bar car, cabin attendants who turn down your bed while you’re at dinner, and landscapes across France, Switzerland, and Italy that accumulate through the windows as you sleep and wake. The route goes through the Simplon Tunnel under the Alps — the longest railway tunnel in the world when it opened in 1906.
This is, by significant margin, the most expensive journey on this list. A single cabin on the Venice Simplon Orient Express costs £2,000–£8,000+ depending on the suite type and route. It is also one of the few train journeys in the world where the train itself is the primary attraction rather than the landscape outside it.
Booking tip: Opens 18 months ahead. January departures are cheapest. The Venice to Paris direction is typically easier to book than Paris to Venice.
6. California Zephyr — USA
Route: Chicago to San Francisco (Emeryville) | Duration: ~51 hours | Distance: 3,924 km (2,438 miles)
The California Zephyr is the argument that America still knows how to move through its own landscape. In 51 hours, the train crosses seven states — the plains of Nebraska, the Colorado Rockies (including 12-mile Glenwood Canyon), the Utah desert, and the Sierra Nevada — before descending into California.
The Rocky Mountain section is the heart of it: the train reaches 9,239 feet through the Moffat Tunnel and follows the Colorado River through successive canyons of escalating drama. No road follows the same route. The Sightseer Lounge — double-deck panoramic car — is where the Zephyr’s reputation was built.
Booking tip: Roomette sleeping cabins include all meals. Book 11 months ahead when Amtrak’s window opens; summer Saver fares sell out quickly. Coach is viable; the roomette is transformative.
See our full guide: California Zephyr: The Complete Guide
7. Empire Builder — USA
Route: Chicago to Seattle (or Portland) | Duration: ~46 hours | Distance: 3,549 km (2,206 miles)
The Empire Builder takes the northern transcontinental route that James J. Hill’s Great Northern Railway built in the 1890s — across the northern plains, through Glacier National Park, over the Continental Divide at Marias Pass, and down through the Cascades to Puget Sound. It is the only Amtrak long-distance train to pass through Glacier country.
The Montana section — four hours through the Rocky Mountain front with the Glacier peaks visible to the north — is the Empire Builder’s equivalent of the Zephyr’s Glenwood Canyon: the moment that makes the entire two-day journey worthwhile.
Booking tip: Whitefish, Montana makes an exceptional mid-route stopover (Amtrak allows stopovers on Flexible fares). Book sleeper accommodation 11 months ahead for July–August departures.
See our full guide: Amtrak Empire Builder: Chicago to Seattle
8. Coast Starlight — USA
Route: Los Angeles to Seattle | Duration: ~35 hours | Distance: 2,235 km (1,389 miles)
The Coast Starlight’s Pacific coast section — between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara — is the most celebrated stretch of any Amtrak route east of the California Zephyr’s Rockies. The tracks hug the clifftops above the Pacific on a shelf of land accessible only by train: no road follows this stretch, no highway overlook provides this view.
The train continues through the Oregon Cascades and the Willamette Valley before arriving in Seattle. The southbound service carries an additional distinction: the Pacific Parlour Car, a restored vintage lounge available only to sleeping car passengers, which serves wine and cheese tastings and functions as one of the finest perks in American rail travel.
Booking tip: The Pacific Parlour Car operates southbound only (Seattle to LA). For the coast scenery, northbound (LA to Seattle) is equally valid. Request seats on the west (ocean) side for the Santa Barbara section.
See our full guide: Amtrak Coast Starlight: The Complete Guide
9. Tokyo to Kyoto Shinkansen — Japan
Route: Tokyo to Kyoto | Duration: ~2 hours 15 minutes | Distance: 476 km
This is the shortest journey on this list in terms of time, and the one that answers a different question: not “what is the most scenic?” but “what is the most technologically astonishing?” The Shinkansen Nozomi covers the distance from Tokyo to Kyoto in 2 hours 15 minutes at speeds up to 285 km/h, while remaining quieter, smoother, and more punctual (average delay: 36 seconds) than almost any transport system in the world.
The view of Mount Fuji from the right-hand side of the train (seats A/B/C, southbound) on a clear day is one of Japan’s iconic images. The experience of sitting in a reserved seat at 285 km/h, watching the landscape blur, and arriving precisely on time is itself a remarkable cultural statement about what a country values.
Booking tip: The Japan Rail Pass covers Hikari and Kodama Shinkansen services but not the fastest Nozomi trains. For the Nozomi (fastest, most frequent, direct Kyoto service), buy tickets separately at the station. Reserved seats on the right-hand side (A/B for a window) are essential for the Fuji view.
See our full guide: Tokyo to Kyoto Shinkansen: Complete Guide
10. Reunification Express — Vietnam
Route: Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) | Duration: 30–36 hours | Distance: 1,726 km
The Reunification Express runs the length of Vietnam on a single-track line built by the French in colonial times, destroyed during the war, and rebuilt after reunification in 1976. The journey from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City takes 30–36 hours depending on the service — long enough to see Vietnam transition from the northern Red River Delta through the central coastal strip to the Mekong south.
The Hai Van Pass section — where the tracks run along a coastal ledge between Da Nang and Hue, with the South China Sea below — is the highlight. This stretch, previously a critical military position, is now simply one of the most beautiful coastal train sections in the world.
Booking tip: Split the journey in Hue and Da Nang — both warrant at least a night. The Da Nang to Hue leg alone (3 hours, over the Hai Van Pass) is one of the great short train journeys in Southeast Asia. Book on the Vietnamese rail website (dsvn.vn) or through Baolau or 12go.asia.
11. Rocky Mountaineer — Canada
Route: Vancouver to Banff/Lake Louise (or Jasper) | Duration: 2 days | Distance: ~900 km
The Rocky Mountaineer is a private luxury train that runs through the Canadian Rockies on a two-day schedule — never traveling at night, so passengers see every mile of mountain scenery from their glass-dome observation seats. The train stops overnight in Kamloops, British Columbia.
The route passes through the Fraser River Canyon, Hell’s Gate gorge, and the mountain passes of the Rockies, arriving at Banff or Jasper in the heart of the Canadian mountain parks. The GoldLeaf service includes a glass-dome upper deck with panoramic views and table service of Canadian-sourced meals.
Booking tip: The Rocky Mountaineer is expensive — GoldLeaf from C$1,500 per person one-way — but there is no comparable route. It runs April through October only. Book 6–12 months ahead for peak summer. Combine with a stay at Banff or Jasper National Park for the full Canadian Rockies experience.
12. Indian Pacific — Australia
Route: Sydney to Perth (or reverse) | Duration: ~4 days | Distance: 4,352 km
The Indian Pacific crosses the full width of Australia, from Sydney Harbour to the Indian Ocean at Fremantle, in four days — one of the longest train journeys possible in a single country. The route crosses the Blue Mountains, the outback, and the Nullarbor Plain: 478 kilometers of the straightest railway line in the world, crossing a treeless limestone plateau at sea level.
The Nullarbor section is not conventionally scenic — it is featureless in the way that only a true desert can be. But it has the hypnotic quality of genuine emptiness: the sense of crossing a place where there is nothing, for a very long time, until suddenly there is something again. The train handles this with Gold service cabins and a well-stocked dining car.
Booking tip: Journey Beyond Rail Expeditions operates the Indian Pacific. The Gold service (private cabin, all meals) is the standard for this length journey. Book 3–6 months ahead. Off-peak shoulder seasons (April–May, September–October) offer better prices.
13. Trans-Siberian Railway — Russia
Route: Moscow to Vladivostok | Duration: ~7 days | Distance: 9,288 km
The Trans-Siberian is the longest railway in the world and, in terms of geographic ambition, one of the great engineering achievements in history. The route crosses eight time zones, passes through the Ural Mountains, runs alongside Lake Baikal (the world’s deepest lake and largest freshwater reserve) for several hundred kilometers, and arrives on the Pacific coast of Russia — a journey that covers more than 9,000 kilometers of mostly wild terrain.
Seven days on a train requires a recalibration of expectations. You sleep, eat in the restaurant car, buy food from platform vendors at stops, read, and watch Siberia pass. The landscape becomes a meditation. Fellow passengers — Russians, backpackers, the occasional serious traveler — are part of the experience.
Booking tip: The Trans-Mongolian variant (Moscow to Beijing via Ulan Bator) or Trans-Manchurian (via Harbin) are popular alternatives. Book through the Russian Railways website (rzd.ru) or via a booking agent. The kupe class (four-berth compartment) is the standard choice; platzkart (open carriage with 54 berths) is the budget immersion option. Current travel conditions to Russia should be checked carefully given the ongoing geopolitical situation.
14. Jacobite Steam Train — Scotland
Route: Fort William to Mallaig | Duration: ~2 hours | Distance: 68 km
The Jacobite is the train that non-Harry Potter fans call the West Highland Line and that everyone else calls the Hogwarts Express — the steam-hauled service that crosses the Glenfinnan Viaduct (the distinctive curved viaduct that appears in the films) through the Scottish Highlands to the fishing village of Mallaig on the west coast.
The route passes through some of the most dramatic landscape in Britain: Loch Eil, the mountains of Knoydart, the Sound of Arisaig. The viaduct itself — 21 arches, 30 meters high, built entirely in unreinforced concrete in 1901 — is genuinely spectacular as the steam train crosses it.
Booking tip: The Jacobite runs twice daily (morning and afternoon) from April to October, operated by West Coast Railways. It is enormously popular — book weeks to months ahead in summer. Fort William is accessible by ScotRail from Glasgow. The return journey (or one-way with the ferry back) allows a full day on the west coast.
15. Douro Valley Railway — Portugal
Route: Porto (Campanhã) to Pocinho | Duration: ~3 hours 30 minutes to Pocinho | Distance: 175 km
The Douro Valley railway follows the Douro River eastward from Porto into the wine country of the Alto Douro — a UNESCO-listed landscape of terraced vineyards on vertiginous hillsides dropping to the river. The tracks run at river level for much of the route, with the vineyard terraces rising hundreds of meters above on both sides.
The section between Régua and Pocinho is the finest stretch: the river narrows, the terracing becomes more extreme, and the landscape looks more like a painting of what a wine valley should look like than an actual place. It is one of the most beautiful river valley journeys in Europe, and almost entirely unknown outside Portugal.
Booking tip: Comboios de Portugal (CP) operates regular regional services. No special booking is needed — buy at the station or via the CP website. For wine country visits, disembark at Régua (the capital of Port wine production) and spend a night before continuing. The journey from Porto to Régua (2 hours) is the most popular segment; the Régua to Pocinho extension adds the finest scenery.
How to Choose
For pure mountain scenery: Glacier Express or Bernina Express (both in a day trip from Zurich or Zurich-based trip).
For romance: Venice Simplon Orient Express, without question.
For American landscape at its most epic: California Zephyr for the Colorado Rockies and Sierra Nevada; Empire Builder for Glacier and the northern plains.
For a journey that changes how you understand a country: Trans-Siberian (Russia/Asia), Reunification Express (Vietnam), or Indian Pacific (Australia).
For accessible wonder in a few hours: Flåm Railway, Jacobite, or Douro Valley — all under half a day and bookable without months of planning.
Related Reading
- Glacier Express: The Complete Guide — everything about Switzerland’s famous slow mountain train
- Bernina Express: Switzerland’s Most Spectacular Route — the highest Alpine crossing in the world
- California Zephyr: Chicago to San Francisco by Train — America’s most scenic train, in full detail
- Venice Simplon Orient Express: Is It Worth the Price? — the full luxury train experience examined
- Tokyo to Kyoto Shinkansen: Complete Guide — Japan’s bullet train, practically and experientially
- Amtrak Coast Starlight: Los Angeles to Seattle — the Pacific coast route in full