The train rounded a bend above the Rhone Glacier, and the entire carriage fell silent. Outside the window, the Bernina Range rose in a wall of snow and granite, so close that it seemed to block out the sky. This was the Bernina Express, crossing the Alps from Chur, Switzerland, to Tirano, Italy, on a route that UNESCO has called one of the most spectacular railway journeys in the world. I had ridden scenic trains before, in Norway and New Zealand, but the Bernina is different. It is not a tourist train with observation cars and commentary. It is a working railway, used by commuters and schoolchildren, that happens to pass through some of the most beautiful landscapes on earth.
The Bernina Express: Switzerland to Italy
The Bernina Express covers 122 kilometers and crosses 196 bridges, including the Landwasser Viaduct, a six-arched stone structure that the train crosses before plunging directly into a tunnel in the cliff face. The highest point is Ospizio Bernina, at 2,253 meters, where the train stops long enough for passengers to step onto the platform and feel the thin air. The journey takes four hours, and a second-class ticket costs sixty-two Swiss francs. I traveled in second class and found the seats comfortable and the windows large enough for photography. The train does not have a dining car, so bring food or buy snacks at the stations.
The Trans-Siberian: Moscow to Vladivostok
The Trans-Siberian Railway is the longest railway in the world, covering 9,289 kilometers and crossing seven time zones. I rode the full route in fourteen days, stopping in Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk, and Ulaanbaatar. The scenery is not continuously spectacular. Much of the route crosses the taiga, an endless forest of birch and pine that becomes hypnotic after a few days. But the experience is not about scenery. It is about the people you meet in the shared compartments, the conversations over instant noodles and vodka, and the gradual realization that you are crossing a continent at sixty kilometers per hour. A second-class ticket in a four-berth compartment costs around six hundred dollars. Bring a book, a deck of cards, and an open mind.
The Rocky Mountaineer: Canada
The Rocky Mountaineer operates several routes through the Canadian Rockies, with glass-domed carriages designed specifically for viewing. I rode the route from Vancouver to Banff over two days, staying overnight in a hotel in Kamloops. The scenery is extraordinary: waterfalls, glaciers, and mountain peaks that rise directly from the forest floor. The service is luxury-level, with multi-course meals, complimentary drinks, and staff who narrate the history and geology of the route. The cost reflects this: a two-day journey starts at two thousand Canadian dollars. For that price, you could fly across Canada ten times. But you would miss the experience of watching a grizzly bear fish in a river while a chef serves you breakfast.
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway: India
For something entirely different, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, known as the Toy Train, climbs from the plains of West Bengal to the hill station of Darjeeling at 2,200 meters. The journey takes eight hours and covers eighty-eight kilometers on a narrow-gauge track so steep that the train moves at walking pace. The engine is a steam locomotive built in the nineteenth century, and the carriages are wooden, with bench seats and open windows. The scenery shifts from tropical jungle to tea plantations to alpine forest. The cost is about ten dollars for the full journey. It is cramped, slow, and uncomfortable. It is also one of the most charming railway experiences in the world.
