Best train journeys in Europe?

Where to start...scenic rides really abound across Europe! A few that come to mind:
- Switzerland: Bernina Express (over a 2200m high Alpine pass), Glacier Express, Gotthard Panorama, Luzern-Interlaken-Montreux, Lausanne-Ve Vey...
- France: "côte Bleue" railway from Marseille to Martigues, St Raphaël to Cannes, Nice to Digne ("Train des Pignes"), Marseille to Grenoble via Veynes (might be suspended soon, or maybe it is already)
- Spain: FEVE narrow gauge railway all along the northern coast west of Bilbao. Extremely slow.
-Germany: either bank of the Rhine between Koblenz and Bingen or Rüdesheim.
- Serbia/Montenegro: Belgrade to Bar

And so on and so forth, the list is not exhaustive. The Man In Seat 61 website is a great resource to help you narrow it down. Specialised in train travel across the world M.

Innsbruck to Verona, crossing the Dolomites via the Brenner Pass.
Villach to Salzburg, passing the Hohe Tauern.

Munich south through Innsbruck across the Brenner Pass and into the South Tirol/Dolomite Mountains past of Italy to Verona. Stay mostly on the right (northern/western side) side.

Edinburgh to Inverness and Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh in the Scottish Highlands. Both sides are good.

The Centovalli Railway hetween Locarno, Switzerland and Domodossala, Italy.

Many rail lines in Switzerland are among the most beautiful in Europe as long as they don't spend too much time running tnrough tunnels.

The West Highland line north of Glasgow. Note that the dramatic scenery dwindles as you travel east from Kyle of Lochalsh toward Inverness.

Hi, Brian. I am a train travel fan myself. In about 10 minutes (or less) I will be tuning into a PBS show on Coastal Railways around the UK with Julie Walters. I am exploring the Adirondack Line in the US for this fall for leaf-peeping. Ha.

Folks who have already answered have pointed out the line via the Brenner Pass which I have also enjoyed. For Europe, I really start with the Man in Seat 61. Hours of fun reading and viewing there. Enjoy.

Debbie! I am loving that series! Julie Walters is so funny!

Pam, I believe tonight was the last of the episodes! Darn. I will watch again if I can and maybe make some notes for future travel.

I’ll have to keep an eye out for the Julie Walters series. I get my PBS programming through their Passport app on my TV (otherwise I don’t have cable) and don’t see it on there yet but occasionally shows pop up shortly after they were broadcast. If all else fails I’ll download it!

There were only 4 of them. The train journeys in Scotland, along the NE Coast of England ending in Berwick-on-Tweed, along the Devon and Cornwall coast and tonight's was in Wales. I suggest you turn on closed captioning, lol. She is easy to understand but some of the people she meets are harder to catch.

BTW, if her name doesn't ring an immediate bell, she played the Weasley Mom in Harry Potter.

Norway: Oslo to Bergen inccluding detour to Flåm (Flåmbana).

Germany: Harz narrow gauge railway

Germany, Berlin: different special events for rides with old steam loks.

Tip: for your questions are a lot of videos available on Youtube.

Scotland: West highland line from Glasgow to Fort William to Mallaig (or vice versa) (taking in Glenfinnan and its magnificent viaduct along the way).

In fact I highly recommend breaking up the trip with with three or four nights at the Glenfinnan House Hotel, and taking advantage of some of the hikes in the area (Glenfinnan above the viaduct, silver sands of Morar) and à not-to-be-missed boat ride down Loch Shiel with Loch Shiel Cruises. Spectacular.

Kim - a trip like that sounds wonderful. Using the train as the basis for a week or two traveling around, spending a few nights here and there. And yes, the Glenfinnan Viaduct is something I certainly need to see and travel across as the shameless Harry Potter fan I am!

Austria: Mariazellerbahn; Semmeringbahn.

Second the recommendation for Salzburg-Villach, which is much underrated.

Hi Brian (I'm Brian too!) The loveliest train trip ever I have taken so far was crossing the Centovalli in southern subtropical Switzerland from Brig/Domodossola (Italy) to Locarno. But it is very important to do it on a fine day! I'm surprised never to have seen it recommended on the Forum.

I've mentioned the Centovalli trip several times (including in this thread), and I'm not the only person who has done so.

BTW, if her name doesn't ring an immediate bell, she played the
Weasley Mom in Harry Potter.

And Rita in "Educating Rita"

Oh yes, I forgot Educating Rita! BTW, the first one is the rail line Kim was referring to across the Viaduct. I looked for a flying Ford Anglia swooping under the viaduct but no joy there!

Oslo-Bergen
Kiruna-Narvik
Borlänge-Mora
Trondheim-Bodø
Kil-Torsby

Besides the Julie Walters series of 4 episodes, another TV host of railway journeys in Europe is Michael Portillo. You can Google his name and all the various railway series he hosts will show up.