Eight slow trains that beat any direct flight on the same route.
Some routes are better the slow way. A list of European train journeys worth booking as the destination, not the transfer - lines where the window is the reason you came, and the arrival station is almost an afterthought.
Bernina Express, Tirano to Chur
UNESCO-listed line through the Swiss Alps, with the Brusio circular viaduct and the Landwasser viaduct in a single afternoon. Four hours from Italian palm trees to the Engadin's larch forests; do it in the panoramic carriages but reserve a seat well in advance, because in summer they sell out a fortnight ahead. Continue from Chur to Zermatt the following day on the Glacier Express for a two-line combination.
Flam Railway, Norway
Twenty kilometres of switchbacks from sea level at the Sognefjord up to 866 metres at Myrdal. The train stops at the Kjosfossen waterfall and at a series of bridges built into the rock. Pair it with the Norway in a Nutshell loop - Bergen, Voss, Flåm, Gudvangen - for a full day that genuinely earns the marketing name.
Glacier Express, Switzerland
Slow train across Switzerland from Zermatt to St Moritz - eight hours, 291 bridges and the Oberalp Pass at 2,033 metres. Lunch is served at your seat on white linen. Book second class for the same panoramic windows at half the price; the only thing first buys you is faster wine service.
West Highland Line, Scotland
Glasgow to Mallaig, with the Glenfinnan viaduct that Harry Potter made famous and the empty expanse of Rannoch Moor that the films could never quite capture. The Jacobite steam service runs the Fort William to Mallaig stretch in summer; the regular ScotRail diesel runs the full line year-round and is far easier to book.
Centovalli, Italy to Switzerland
Domodossola to Locarno through the hundred valleys - two hours of chestnut woods, mountain villages and stone-arch bridges crossing the Melezza far below. Combine with the Centovalli Express service that adds Ascona and an evening lake cruise. October is the colour week.
Mariazellerbahn, Austria
Narrow-gauge climb from St Pölten to Mariazell over 84 kilometres, with the Himmelstreppe panoramic trains in the modern fleet. Mariazell is one of Central Europe's oldest pilgrimage sites; arriving by this line rather than by car is the right way to do it.
Eastern and Oriental Express revivals
Slowly restored sleeper lines across central Europe are bringing back overnight options from Brussels and Berlin to Vienna and Warsaw. European Sleeper's Nightjet collaborations now reach Prague, Zagreb and Venice, and the Snälltåget service from Sweden to the Alps runs through the winter. Book a private cabin - the couchette format is fine for short trips, but the proper sleepers are a different category.
Belgrade to Bar, Serbia to Montenegro
Eleven hours, 254 tunnels, 435 bridges, and at one point the highest railway viaduct in Europe at Mala Rijeka. The carriages are old Yugoslav stock; the views over Lake Skadar in the final hour redeem any earlier discomfort. Sit on the right-hand side coming south. A few euros buys a first-class seat that almost guarantees you a compartment to yourself.
