Skip to main content

Scenic railroutes you may discover


Ofcourse many now the Glacier and Berninaexpress in Switzerland or the Rhinevalley in Germany as scenic train Routes. In this topic we wanna try to show scenic Routes across Europe you may discover with your Railpass :)

Here first a “short” list :)

dch] Rohrschach - Heiden (beautifull view on Lake Constance)
rCH) Altstätten - Gais (near Lake Constance)
bch] Martigny - Charmonix
>ch] Fluelen - Göschenen - Airolo- Lugano (Gotthardline)
vCH/IT] Locarno - Domodossola
vch] Zermatt - Brig - Andermatt - Disentis -Chur(Glacier Route)
vCH/IT] Chur - Samedan - Pontresina - Tirano(Bernina Route)
vch] Chur - Arosa
vCH/AT] Buchs SG - Innsbruck - Zell am See - Graz (EC163 & EC164 with panoramic car in firstclass)
vat] Salzburg - Villach
vat] Attnang Puchheim - Stainach Irding
vat] Vienna - Graz/Leoben (Semmering line)
vAT/D] Innsbruck - Garmisch Patenkirchen - Munich
hAT/D]Garmisch Patenkirschen - Reutte in Tirol - Kempten
nslo] Jesenice - Nova Gorica (Bohinj Railway)
)SK/HU] Bratislava - Budapest along the Danube (seats on the right sight in direction Budapest)
)sk] Strba - Strebske Pleso - Stay Smokovec - Tatranska Lomnica/ Poprad
dsk] Brezno - Margecany
yd] Dresden - Decin (Berlin - Prague) Elbe valley seats on the leftside in direction Prague-
-d] Mainz - Bingen - Koblenz -Cologne (left Rhinevalley) seats on the right side
ed] Wiesbaden - Rüdesheim - Koblenz  - Königswinter - Köln Messe/Deutz (right Rhinevalley)
ld] Trier - Koblenz (Moselvalley) beast view if you are on the right side in direction Koblenz
bd] Niebüll - Westerland(Sylt)
(D/CZ] Munich - Regensburg - Schwandorf - Furth W.- Pilzen - Prague (direct train every 2hrs)
D/CZ] Munich - Deggendorf - Bayerisch Eisenstein - Plzen - Prague (atleast 2 changes)
ahr] Split - Ogulin - Zagreb (especially shortly after/before Split) 
pHR/SLO] Rijeka - Ljubljana
uit] Syracuse/Palermo - Messina - (Train on ferry) - Naples/Rome/Livorno/Milan
oIT/FR] Livorno - Genoa - Ventimigglia - Monaco - Nice
MNE/SRB] Bar - Podgorica - Belgrade
esrb] Belgrade - Nis - Sofia
-SWE/NOR] Stockholm - Lulea - Kiruna - Abisko - Riksgränsen - Narvik
-swe] Gällivare - Östersund

10 replies

Great list! I saw that you didn’t have any scenic routes for the Netherlands yet, I would suggest:

Almere - Lelystad (through the national park Oostvaardersplassen)

Baarn - Utrecht (along the Utrechtse Heuvelrug)

I will surely have your list in my future Trip.

I already have Stockholm to Narvik and 3-4 scenic trains in Switzerland, but will surely consider Liubliana to Budapest for my Trip and will see the others you listed.

 

regards

Userlevel 5
Badge +1

I think it's a rather complete list, even though such a list would never be complete of course. Some lines that definitely should be included are:

  • [N] Oslo - Bergen (Bergensbanen), with a side trip to Flåm
  • [P] Porto - Pinhão - Pocinho (Douro Valley Line)

Most scenic railway line in France:

  • [F] Clermont-Ferrand - Millau - Béziers (ligne d’Aubrac)
  • [F] Clermont-Ferrand - Brioude - Nîmes (ligne des Cévennes)

And then there's more of course, but you'd end up with an endless list.

Hello!!!

Please, you can add the following spanish (catalan) line in this list:

Lleida - La Pobla de Segur 

 

Thank you. 

Userlevel 5
Badge +4

A couple of British ones:

Exeter to Penzance

Glasgow to Mallaig

The Thameslink routes crossing London north-south are often elevated, and give you great views of Victorian industrial areas and terraced housing as well as the newer financial skyscrapers of the City.

Userlevel 5
Badge +1

The Thameslink routes crossing London north-south are often elevated, and give you great views of Victorian industrial areas and terraced housing as well as the newer financial skyscrapers of the City.

Oh yes, I love those kind of urban railway lines! They give you great views of the city, without actually walking through it. For this reason when I have time when changing trains in Paris, I prefer to take line 6, which gives a great view of the Eiffel Tower as well. Combined with line 2, it provides a roundabout way around the city. 

Badge

I would add the Cambrian Line in Wales. Attractive from Shrewsbury to Machynlleth, then dramatic twisting along the coast, in part squeezed between sea and hills, to Porthmadog and Pwllheli. And the line from Llandudno to Blaenau Ffestiniog. After the wild uplands there is a long tunnel, then the train emerges into huge tips of slate.

Userlevel 7
Badge +10

Worth considering the local service from Malaga to Seville (The Media Distance train  not AVE via Cordoba). 

This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you! :D 

Userlevel 7
Badge +7

In Belgium/Luxemburg I can recommend the lines through the Ardennes-region:

Liège-Welkenraedt,

Liège-Gouvy-(Luxembourg)

Liège-Marloie.

It’s often a good idea to step out of a station and hike to another one :)

Reply