Top 10 Scenic Train Journeys in Europe is not a list I approach lightly. I have taken most of these routes more than once, in different seasons, sometimes in first class, sometimes wedged beside hikers with damp boots and a paper map. The romance of rail travel in Europe is real, but it is also practical, political, and geographical. These routes endure because they move through landscapes that resist abstraction. Mountains force engineering decisions. Coastlines dictate curves. Borders tell quiet stories.
The following journeys are not ranked by spectacle alone. They are judged by continuity of scenery, quality of rail infrastructure, historical context, and the integrity of the experience from departure to arrival.
1. Glacier Express – Switzerland
The Glacier Express runs between Zermatt and St. Moritz, crossing 291 bridges and 91 tunnels over roughly eight hours. It is often described as the slowest express train in the world, which is not a marketing quirk but a practical necessity. The gradients are steep. The curves are tight.
The Landwasser Viaduct remains the defining moment. The train exits a tunnel directly onto a limestone bridge suspended above a narrow valley. In winter, the structure seems drawn in pencil against white slopes. In summer, the alpine meadows soften the drama.
This route is a case study in Swiss rail precision. Timetables hold. Windows are designed for viewing rather than merely transport. It is expensive, but it feels engineered rather than staged.
2. Bernina Express – Switzerland to Italy
The Bernina Express connects Chur to Tirano and climbs to 2,253 meters at the Bernina Pass without a cogwheel system. That fact matters. Adhesion rail at that altitude requires careful gradients and looping structures, including the Brusio Spiral Viaduct, where the train curves in a full circle to lose height.
What distinguishes this journey is the shift in culture as much as altitude. German spoken in the north gives way to Italian in the south. Architecture changes. Light changes. The air feels different descending into Lombardy.
Unlike the Glacier Express, this route can be ridden using regular regional trains, which offer opening windows and fewer tourists. The landscape does not depend on glass domes.
3. West Highland Line – Scotland
From Glasgow to Mallaig, the West Highland Line crosses Rannoch Moor, one of the last true wilderness areas in Britain. The terrain is bleak, peat-heavy, and exposed to Atlantic weather. That exposure defines the ride. Skies move quickly. Light breaks in fragments.
The Glenfinnan Viaduct draws attention because of its use in film, but the quieter stretch across Rannoch Moor is more powerful. There are no roads for long sections. The railway feels provisional, as though it was laid down carefully and then left alone.
Infrastructure here is not polished. It is functional. Which is precisely the point.
4. Flamsbana – Norway
The Flamsbana drops from Myrdal to Flam through a 5.5 percent gradient, one of the steepest standard gauge lines in the world. Water defines the route. Waterfalls. Snowmelt streams. The Aurlandsfjord at the base.
The engineering is deliberate. Tunnels spiral inside mountains to reduce incline. The train pauses at Kjosfossen waterfall during peak season, which can feel theatrical, yet the landscape does not need embellishment.
This is a short journey, under an hour, but it compresses Norway’s topography into a single descent.
5. Cinque Terre Line – Italy
Between La Spezia and Levanto, the railway threads through the five villages of Cinque Terre. Most of the route runs through tunnels carved into cliff faces. Then, abruptly, the train emerges into light with the Ligurian Sea stretched beside it.
This is not wilderness scenery. It is human geography. Terraced vineyards. Painted facades. Fishing boats anchored below stone houses.
In peak summer, trains are crowded and punctuality can fray. Yet the line remains one of the most efficient ways to move between villages that were once reachable only by foot or boat.
6. GoldenPass Line – Switzerland
The GoldenPass Line links Montreux on Lake Geneva to Interlaken in the Bernese Oberland. Vineyards give way to alpine lakes and wooden chalets. It feels composed rather than dramatic.
The route demonstrates how Swiss rail integrates tourism and daily life. Commuters share carriages with travelers carrying cameras. The scenery does not pause for photographs. It unfolds steadily, without grand spectacle.
7. The Black Forest Railway – Germany
Running between Offenburg and Singen, the Schwarzwaldbahn was completed in 1873. It remains an engineering achievement of its time, with numerous tunnels and curved viaducts threading through dense forest.
This is not alpine drama. It is wooded continuity. The landscape feels enclosed, intimate. Villages appear briefly and disappear behind fir trees.
Regional trains operate the route, which preserves its everyday character.
8. The Settle to Carlisle Line – England
Built in the 1870s, this line crosses the Yorkshire Dales and North Pennines. The Ribblehead Viaduct stands 32 meters high and remains the visual anchor of the journey.
What distinguishes this route is scale. The hills are broad rather than jagged. Sheep outnumber houses. Weather determines mood.
There was a serious attempt to close the line in the 1980s. Public resistance preserved it. That history lends the journey a quiet resilience.
9. The Rauma Line – Norway
Between Dombas and Andalsnes, the Rauma Line follows the Rauma River through a narrow valley framed by sharp peaks. The Kylling Bridge arcs over the river in a controlled curve that feels deliberate rather than ornamental.
Unlike the more famous Norwegian routes, this line remains relatively quiet. The scenery feels less mediated.
10. Madrid to Oviedo – Spain
The journey from Madrid to Oviedo crosses the Cantabrian Mountains via the Pajares Pass. High speed infrastructure handles part of the route, but the older mountain section reveals Spain’s industrial and rural contrasts.
Castile’s dry plateau shifts into Asturias’ green valleys. The climatic divide is visible from the window. So is the economic one.
This is a route that benefits from context. Northern Spain’s rail development has long balanced modernization with preservation. Riding both segments in one day illustrates that tension clearly.
Why Scenic Rail Still Matters
Air travel compresses distance. Scenic rail restores it. These journeys demand attention to terrain and to time. They reveal how Europe’s railways were shaped by geography, by 19th century ambition, and by contemporary environmental policy.
The defining trait across the Top 10 Scenic Train Journeys in Europe is continuity. Not a single postcard moment, but sustained immersion. A viaduct is impressive. A mountain pass is impressive. What matters more is how long the landscape holds its integrity without interruption from highways, warehouses, or visual clutter.
Scenic rail works best where geography remains dominant. The Alps. The Highlands. The fjords. Even the Italian coast, shaped by centuries of human adaptation, retains a coherence that road infrastructure would fracture.
Europe’s rail network is dense and aging, yet many of its most beautiful segments survive because they are difficult to replicate. Tunnels, stone bridges, narrow corridors carved through rock. They were expensive to build. They would be nearly impossible to justify today.
That fact gives these journeys weight. They are not novelties. They are inherited infrastructure performing exactly as intended.
There are other beautiful routes across the continent. France’s Cevennes line. Austria’s Arlberg. The Douro Valley in Portugal. But the ten above combine scenery, reliability, accessibility, and historical context in a way that rewards repeat travel.
The most revealing way to take them is not in a rush. Sit on the correct side of the carriage when possible. Avoid peak tour hours if you can. Watch how locals use the same trains for ordinary purposes. That contrast between daily life and extraordinary landscape is where Europe’s rail culture still feels authentic.
