In a relaxation showdown amongst trains, planes, and automobiles, trains win as the most laidback style of travel, allowing you to sit back, relax, and enjoy the view. Luckily, some of the world’s most beautiful destinations are also home to the most scenic train rides—journeys ranging from a few hours to more than a week, costing as little as two movie tickets or as much as a luxury cruise, and traversing terrain as dramatic as snow-capped peaks or orange-hued deserts.
1. Glacier Express from Zermatt to St. Moritz, Switzerland
Switzerland may be renowned for the quality and punctuality of its trains, but it's the majestic Alps—craggy and awe-inspiring against the brilliant blue sky—and sweeping chalet-and-cow-dotted green valleys that make the Glacier Express from Zermatt to St. Moritz such a visual feast.
Fun Fact: The train chugs through 91 tunnels and crosses 291 bridges on its seven-hour journey.
2. Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad
You’ll climb 3,000 feet and travel 130 years back in time onboard the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, a circa-1882 coal-fired, steam-operated train (the locomotives date to the 1920s) that chugs its way at 18 miles per hour (fueled by six tons of coal and 10,000 gallons of water) through the steep mountain passes between Durango and Silverton in Southwest Colorado.
Fun Fact: The train is featured in the 1969 movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford.
3. Hiram Bingham Orient-Express from Cusco to Machu Picchu
The full-day round-trip on the luxurious Hiram Bingham links two of the top destinations in Peru—the colonial city of Cusco and the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu—via a winding, scenic journey through the Urubamba River Valley with brunch served on the way there and a four-course dinner on the return.
Fun Fact: The 1920s Pullman-style train, richly upholstered and outfitted with fine tableware, is named after the American explorer who discovered Machu Picchu in 1911.
4. Talyllyn Railway, Wales
If the name, Great Little Trains of Wales, doesn't charm you all on its own, then a 9 mph, 14.5-mile round-trip ride on the adorable narrow gauge, coal-fired Talyllyn Railway certainly will. Staffed by volunteers, the historic train (locomotives and carriages date to 1865) steams its way through the verdant Fathew Valley from Tywyn on a route originally used to carry slate from the area’s many mines.
Fun Fact: It was the Talylyn Railway that inspired the Reverend W.V. Awdry to write the “Thomas the Tank Engine” books.
5. Rocky Mountaineer from Banff to Vancouver, Canada
As you gain altitude onboard the Rocky Mountaineer, a two-day rail journey from the mountain resort town of Banff in Alberta through the majestic Canadian Rockies to the cosmopolitan city of Vancouver, it’s also quite possible you might gain weight. Splurge on GoldLeaf Service and you’ll enjoy plentiful cooked-to-order breakfasts and lunches, served in the dining car, and unlimited cocktails and snacks served by personable hosts on the observation level. The passing scenery is just as irresistible.
Fun Fact: In 2009, The Bachelorette (Jillian’s season) filmed onboard the train.
