Scenic railroutes you may discover


Userlevel 7
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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 :)

[ch] Rohrschach - Heiden (beautifull view on Lake Constance)
[CH) Altstätten - Gais (near Lake Constance)
[ch] Martigny - Charmonix
[ch] Montreux - Zweisimmen - Spiez - Interlaken - Lucerne
[ch] Spiez - Kandersteg - Brig (Lötschberg Line)
[ch] Fluelen - Göschenen - Airolo- Lugano (Gotthardline)
[CH/IT] Locarno - Domodossola
[ch] Zermatt - Brig - Andermatt - Disentis -Chur(Glacier Route)
[CH/IT] Chur - Samedan - Pontresina - Tirano(Bernina Route)
[ch] Chur - Arosa
[CH/AT] Buchs SG - Innsbruck - Zell am See - Graz (EC163 & EC164 with panoramic car in firstclass)
[at] Salzburg - Villach
[at] Attnang Puchheim - Stainach Irding
[at] Vienna - Graz/Leoben (Semmering line)
[AT/D] Innsbruck - Garmisch Patenkirchen - Munich
[AT/D]Garmisch Patenkirschen - Reutte in Tirol - Kempten
[slo] 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
[sk] Brezno - Margecany
[d] 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
[d] Wiesbaden - Rüdesheim - Koblenz  - Königswinter - Köln Messe/Deutz (right Rhinevalley)
[d] Trier - Koblenz (Moselvalley) beast view if you are on the right side in direction Koblenz
[d] 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)
[hr] Split - Ogulin - Zagreb (especially shortly after/before Split) 
[HR/SLO] Rijeka - Ljubljana
[it] Syracuse/Palermo - Messina - (Train on ferry) - Naples/Rome/Livorno/Milan
[IT/FR] Livorno - Genoa - Ventimigglia - Monaco - Nice
[MNE/SRB] Bar - Podgorica - Belgrade
[srb] Belgrade - Nis - Sofia
[SWE/NOR] Stockholm - Lulea - Kiruna - Abisko - Riksgränsen - Narvik
[swe] Gällivare - Östersund

10 replies

Userlevel 7
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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 :)

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

Userlevel 7
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Worth considering the local service from Malaga to Seville (The Media Distance train  not AVE via Cordoba). 

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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 5
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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. 

Userlevel 5
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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.

Hello!!!

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

Lleida - La Pobla de Segur 

 

Thank you. 

Userlevel 5
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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.

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

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)

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