The Best Train Journeys in Europe

European train travel is one of the last great travel experiences that hasn't been ruined by efficiency — a slower, more scenic alternative to budget airlines that lets you watch the landscape change from your window while eating a croissant and drinking wine that isn't served in a plastic cup at 30,000 feet. These routes are worth choosing the train even when the flight is faster.

The Glacier Express in Switzerland (Zermatt to St. Moritz) takes eight hours to cover 180 miles through 91 tunnels, across 291 bridges, and over the Oberalp Pass at 2,033 meters. It calls itself 'the slowest express train in the world' and the scenery — snow-capped peaks, gorges, alpine meadows — justifies every minute. First-class includes lunch served at your seat with actual silverware.

The Bergen Railway in Norway (Oslo to Bergen) is seven hours of fjords, high mountain plateaus, and wooden stave churches that the Lonely Planet has called the world's most beautiful train journey. The Flåm Railway branch line — a 20-kilometer descent through waterfalls and valleys at gradients of up to 5.5% — is the detour that most travelers build the entire trip around. Book at https://www.vy.no/en.

The Caledonian Sleeper from London to the Scottish Highlands runs overnight — you board at Euston, fall asleep somewhere past Watford, and wake up in Fort William with Ben Nevis out the window. Double berths start around £150 and the lounge car serves whisky from Highland distilleries. It's the most romantic way to reach Scotland and infinitely better than a Ryanair 6 AM departure.

Spain's high-speed AVE trains cover Madrid to Barcelona in 2.5 hours and Madrid to Seville in the same, with fares starting around 30 euros if you book early on Renfe's website. The speed rivals flights when you factor in airport time, and the stations drop you in city centers rather than suburban airports an hour from town.

The Bernina Express (Chur to Tirano, Italy) crosses the Swiss-Italian border through the highest railway crossing in the Alps, with spiral tunnels, glaciers, and the turquoise Lago Bianco visible from panoramic windows. The entire line is UNESCO-listed, and the transition from Alpine Switzerland to Mediterranean Italy happens in four hours.

For the ambitious: the Interrail/Eurail Pass still works. A flexible four-day pass costs around 250 euros and covers 33 countries. The trick is using it for expensive long-haul legs (Paris to Barcelona, Munich to Venice) and buying cheap point-to-point tickets for shorter hops. Night trains are making a comeback — ÖBB's Nightjet connects Vienna, Munich, Zurich, Rome, and Brussels, and sleeping on the train saves a hotel night.