The single best international rail experience out there?

[Iskra]

Istanbul to Tehran on the Trans-Asia express. With the ferry over lake Van. Stunning scenery, comfortable rolling stock, good restaurant car, and among the most welcoming people I ever had the chance to meet,

An interesting one, thanks for sharing!

If your schedule can accommodate an extra three days you could break up the journey like I did. If you get off at Grand Junction, Colorado, and spend the night there, the next day around lunchtime you can (or at least could in 2017) get a bus to Durango and spend two nights there with a trip on the Durango and Silverton Railway on the intervening day. I don't know about 'single best...experience', but it's certainly worth doing. The following day's bus gets you back to Grand Junction in time to catch the train west in the afternoon.

That's an excellent point and could be a good idea. That railway looks a great ride and the scenery fantastic; thank you for the recommendation.

Just because it's so easy to do, cheap walk up fares, amazing scenery, interesting locos and rolling stock, I'd say the Duoro valley line from Porto takes some beating. It has plenty to interest both rail fans and general tourists. The rusting mallet narrow gauge locos at several stations add interest!

Yes, that does look a fun one, especially locomotive hauled!

the Cologne to Interlaken Ost (Switzerland) EuroCity trains are amazing too. Good Swiss rolling stock, amazing landscapes along the Rhine and Alps. The dining car is okay but expensive.
The Prague to Dresden EuroCity also passes amazing landscapes along the Elbe and the dining car is excellent. Also both Prague and Dresden are worth a visit.

I can recommend travelling on the Northland line from Trondhiem to Bodu. Diesel haulage through great scenery.

Thank you for the interesting nominations!

Like Lancaster to Penrith, say?
Or (on the same train) winding down the Clyde valley at 125mph.

Yes, absolutely. Shap is utterly breathtaking, without a doubt one of the most beautiful sections of railway in the UK, and effortlessly winding through it at 125 is a wonderful experience. Probably best on a Voyager for the big windows, but still great from a Pendolino. A real unsung hero of the network. Nobody has heard of it, yet in my view it's more impressive than most of the S&C.



The Pendolinos do (only a few of those a day), though I'd recommend an InterRegio to enjoy it through the massive picture windows of the EW IV stock, at least until they're replaced in the near future.

If you do continue towards Milan it doesn't get any less stunning, to be fair.

Agreed that Shap/The Lune Gorge is stunning and massively underated.

The Ghan. Obviously the scenery is pretty limited, but it feels like a real expedition

That certainly sounds like something I'd like to do one day, looks a stunning train!

Such a big question! Happy hour on the Thalys was fun but the refurbishment is getting rid of the bar, central European restaurant cars going pretty much anywhere are nice, Switzerland is full of scenery and engineering, the anticipation of sunset, and bedtime and waking up somewhere completely different on a night train are all good, but my personal favourite is the Centovalli from Domosossola in Italy towards Locarno? Lugano? In Switzerland. Somewhere in the middle lies a hidden combination of Swiss efficiency and cleanliness and Italian passion and joy. Still searching for it. Oh and th trains are called "Fart" which is both big and clever

That does sound an interesting combination of railway cultures!

Two trips stand out for me. I did the Indian Pacific from Perth to Adelaide which took 2-3 days. The nullabor plain is a bit boring - spot the kangaroo was the highlight.
I‘ve also done Cusco to Puno in Peru. I think the max altitude was around 4,800 metres. That coupled with a few too many Pisco sours meant I ended up at Lake Titicaca in somewhat of a trance!

Both sound amazing!

Exactly...

High Speed Rail is great for getting from A to B as quickly as possible, but if you want an interesting journey then a ride over a twisty, steeply graded mountain pass will, for me, beat it hands down for enjoyment.

A journey from Skagway, Alaska (sea level) up to White Pass (873m elv) and beyond anyone? 3 foot gauge, 10+ car trains, hauled by 2 or 3 diesel locos up 4% gradients, with open verandas at the ends of the cars so you can enjoy it 'outdoors' if you want to (or warm yourself around the wood-burning stoves inside if you don't). It's even an 'International' journey since it crosses the border into Canada at the pass. Only problem is getting to Skagway, which is why the vast majority of passengers arrive on cruise ships (as we did).

That's one I've not heard of before, and it does indeed sound good fun!

 

[181]

That's an excellent point and could be a good idea. That railway looks a great ride and the scenery fantastic; thank you for the recommendation.

Durango bus timetable here. (Sadly Colorado's other main NG line, the Cumbres and Toltec, appears to be 30 miles or so from the nearest public transport).

As for the orginal question, I can't really pick out a single best experience, but two good ones that haven't been mentioned yet are:

The Harz narrow gauge system in Germany: over 80 miles of steeply-graded line in picturesque scenery, with many trains steam-hauled and consisting of coaches with open end balconies; although most passengers these days are tourists, tram-trains provide 'real' pubic transport over a short section and I think there may still be a bit of (diesel-hauled) freight.

Winnipeg to Churchill in Canada: about 1000 miles from the city across the prairies and through the subarctic forest and tundra to the shore of Hudson Bay (still frozen well into the spring). When I made the journey many years ago the sleeping and dining cars were very reasonably priced, so you could eat in a civilized manner, or sit up in bed, while watching the wilderness rolling gently by; I don't know what the prices are like now, but sleeping and dining facilities are (subject to Covid restrictions) still available.

 

[43096]

To be fair the RhB is one I haven't done, but I have done the MOB and its Vevey based offspring a few times, and the feel is of a tramway, not a mainline.

So you haven’t been on the RhB, but still tell us it’s not a proper railway.

 

[AlterEgo]

The Indian Pacific. Sydney to Perth across three days and fine dining, excursions, and taking in the whole breadth of the continent.

 

[Bletchleyite]

So you haven’t been on the RhB, but still tell us it’s not a proper railway.

I wasn't specifically talking about the RhB, I was talking about the narrow gauge Swiss lines I have experienced, of which there are a number, but not the RhB itself.

I've done:
- The MOB (Goldenpass) throughout
- Vevey-Blonay (several times) and Les Pleaiades (once)
- MGB from Brig to Zermatt (once)
- The quirky rack railway up from Montreux, forget what that's called - feels like a squashed Pacer
- Aigle-Leysin

I think that's enough to give me a feel for them, and to me they feel like quirky tramways. I vastly prefer "big" railways through scenic places, and while I do plan to do the RhB at some point I don't expect that view to change. There's just something more impressive about big, fast, heavy, electrified railways through challenging terrain.

 

[stuu]

Durango bus timetable here. (Sadly Colorado's other main NG line, the Cumbres and Toltec, appears to be 30 miles or so from the nearest public transport).

As for the orginal question, I can't really pick out a single best experience, but two good ones that haven't been mentioned yet are:

The Harz narrow gauge system in Germany: over 80 miles of steeply-graded line in picturesque scenery, with many trains steam-hauled and consisting of coaches with open end balconies; although most passengers these days are tourists, tram-trains provide 'real' pubic transport over a short section and I think there may still be a bit of (diesel-hauled) freight.

Winnipeg to Churchill in Canada: about 1000 miles from the city across the prairies and through the subarctic forest and tundra to the shore of Hudson Bay (still frozen well into the spring). When I made the journey many years ago the sleeping and dining cars were very reasonably priced, so you could eat in a civilized manner, or sit up in bed, while watching the wilderness rolling gently by; I don't know what the prices are like now, but sleeping and dining facilities are (subject to Covid restrictions) still available.

I agree about the Harz railway, I went on the whole north-south route in the summer of 1995, stood on the rear balcony of the train on a lovely summer day going through the pine forests and the timber framed villages... I'm not sure how you objectively compare that with say a trip on the Shinkansen, which whilst interesting, is mostly dull once in motion

 

[185]

My two cents...

Either 12 hours on
New Zealand's the Northern Explorer... even had an open coach at the rear. Some amazing views enroute.

or 3 days / 2 nights on
Amtrak, the California Zephyr... almost an entire continent in a journey with mountains, valleys, rivers, ski slopes and hot deserts.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I've a cousin in Canada and he persuaded me to join him on a long drive round Lake Huron to sample the acclaimed Agawa Canyon train in peak fall season (operated by Algoma Central).
It runs from Sault St Marie to the Agawa Canyon, some 3 hours north, close to the shores of Lake Superior, to form a day trip. The main clientele are Americans from Michigan.
I think it was just about the most boring rail trip I've ever made, a plod at 40mph through endless pine forest.
Yes the canyon was scenic when we got there, but we picked a day when the mists were down the whole time, and we glimpsed Lake Superior just once, looking grey upon grey.
The season was also late, so the fall colours, in the mist, were nothing spectacular.
But at least the on-board food was good, as was the company.

Best fall trip by far was on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railway (ex-DRGW), with spectacular aspen colours on a cloudless day over Cumbres Pass.
We climbed the pass behind a couple of DRGW steam locos (closely followed by a railway fire truck to make sure we didn't destroy the forest).
On another trip we also did the Durango & Silverton, but picked a freezing day on a route with next to no sunshine in the deep canyon - bitterly cold.
Both tourist lines are in fine country, and use very similar stock, but are rather different in operation.
C&TS runs just two trains a day from the end points in Chama and Antonito, meeting in the middle at Osier for a lunch break.
The D&S, on the other hand, starts up to 3 services uphill from Durango to Silverton in the morning, which then park up in the streets of Silverton for a lunch break before returning to Durango - a great railway sight.
It's just a pity the rest of the DRGW narrow gauge system was abandoned when the main routes were converted to standard gauge.

 

[superalbs]

Experienced similar on the Warsaw - Kiev sleeper some 15 years ago on the Polish / Ukrainian border. We had the end compartment above the bogie so got a close up view of what was involved. Fails the OP’s original question though as circumstances are hardly normal just now.

I believe the Wien-Kyiv is still running.

 

[GM078]

Norway ticked a lot of boxes for me both from an enthusiast and normal point of view. GM locos on the scenic Nordland line is hard to beat... Loved the towns too, if only it was a little cheaper...

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I believe the Wien-Kyiv is still running.

I'm not sure about that.
I suspect it only runs to Zahony on the HU/UA border (it normally runs on to Chop, Lviv and Kyiv).
You can get to Przemysl from Vienna via Bohumin and Krakow, but it's not clear what happens then.
PKP shows a single daily train across the border, 1859 Przemysl to Odesa via Lviv and Ternopil.

 

[superalbs]

I'm not sure about that.
I suspect it only runs to Zahony on the HU/UA border (it normally runs on to Chop, Lviv and Kyiv).
You can get to Przemysl from Vienna via Bohumin and Krakow, but it's not clear what happens then.
PKP shows a single daily train across the border, 1859 Przemysl to Odesa via Lviv and Ternopil.

I doubt they'd use Ukrainian sleeper carriages on Austria to Hungary!

 

[AndrewE]

The Beograd to Bar line is pretty good (or it was 25 years ago!) and I'd also second Koeln to Basel, the old Rhein Express off an overnight ferry to the Hook of Holland.
The Glacier Express was brilliant before the base tunnel was dug and the Bernina line is amazing too. Only place I've seen EMUs coming steeply down a mountain line with tail traffic: several wagons of logs!
I have to say too that Lancaster and Oxenholme to Carlisle and on to Carstairs is my favourite now: we travel that way several times a year and I love the views every time.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I doubt they'd use Ukrainian sleeper carriages on Austria to Hungary!

But they do, or did pre-covid/invasion.
EC140/149 (IC740/749 in UA) run Vienna-Budapest-Zahony-Chop-Lviv-Kyiv.
There are pictures on the seat61 and vagonweb sites.
I don't know if the sleepers were available outside Ukraine.
The route is a lot longer than that via Krakow, and large parts of both ends of the route are run in daylight.

 

[James H]

I'd throw in the FEVE metre-gauge line along the northerrn coast of Spain

 

[Cloud Strife]

But they do, or did pre-covid/invasion.
EC140/149 (IC740/749 in UA) run Vienna-Budapest-Zahony-Chop-Lviv-Kyiv.
There are pictures on the seat61 and vagonweb sites.
I don't know if the sleepers were available outside Ukraine.
The route is a lot longer than that via Krakow, and large parts of both ends of the route are run in daylight.

There was definitely at least one Ukrainian sleeping car transported from Kyiv to Vienna. If memory serves, it operated as part of the Kyiv-Chop service, then a single sleeping car was transported across the border to Zahony as part of the usual Chop-Zahony service, then attached to a Budapest service. It would then be stuck onto the end of a normal Budapest-Vienna service. There are reports that Ukranian Railways would send two carriages through if there was demand for it.

I believe the reason for only a single sleeping car is because most passengers prefer to buy Vienna-Budapest, Budapest-Chop and then Chop-Kyiv tickets separately, as it's much cheaper than the sleeping car ticket for the through carriage.

Having said that, daytime sleeper trains are nothing unusual in Ukraine due to the huge distances.

 

[superalbs]

But they do, or did pre-covid/invasion.
EC140/149 (IC740/749 in UA) run Vienna-Budapest-Zahony-Chop-Lviv-Kyiv.
There are pictures on the seat61 and vagonweb sites.
I don't know if the sleepers were available outside Ukraine.
The route is a lot longer than that via Krakow, and large parts of both ends of the route are run in daylight.

I know, I have been on it.

But I am saying that they won't run those carriages between Austria and Hungary, so we can only assume the full route (or maybe just to Chop/Lviv) is running.

 

[181]

Continuing the tangent before this thread hopefuly returns to happier subjects: the European Rail Timetable e-mail newsletter of 11th March says 'We understand the Wien – Budapest – Lviv – Kyïv overnight sleeper service is still running albeit with delays, so on some days it [this must refer to the westbound service] terminates at Budapest before returning to Kyïv.' And I think I saw something similar elsewhere, only that gave the impression that the delay now happened often rather than just sometimes.

The current ERT suggests that the train it's scheduled to be attached to conveys other through carriages (or maybe it's the whole of the rest of the train) from Zahony to Vienna; when delayed it's presumably attached to a later Budapest train.

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

Spiralling up the Brocken is good, but I fancy a bigger mountain railway: to Lhasa! Anyone here done that?

 

[ashkeba]

The Beograd to Bar line is pretty good (or it was 25 years ago!) and I'd also second Koeln to Basel, the old Rhein Express off an overnight ferry to the Hook of Holland.
The Glacier Express was brilliant before the base tunnel was dug and the Bernina line is amazing too.

Belgrade-Bar is good but I think the Swiss options are more worth the effort needed to reach them and far more consistent. The cities of Belgrade and Bar are fascinating but the (covid-suspended) day train now uses the half-built, soulless and out-of-centre "Belgrade Centar" station, when it doesn't get replaced by a bus before the end, and you will normally miss the best bits except the decent to Bar on the night train. ZS have terrible time keeping too.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Belgrade-Bar is good but I think the Swiss options are more worth the effort needed to reach them and far more consistent. The cities of Belgrade and Bar are fascinating but the (covid-suspended) day train now uses the half-built, soulless and out-of-centre "Belgrade Centar" station, when it doesn't get replaced by a bus before the end, and you will normally miss the best bits except the decent to Bar on the night train. ZS have terrible time keeping too.

Beograd Centar is weird. It's like if Birmingham New St was built at Five Ways and they forgot the shopping centre and instead left just a concrete slab on top.

You could just have imagined that nonsensical "Birmingham Heartlands" proposal (or whatever it was called) ending up like that.

 

[ashkeba]

Beograd Centar is weird. It's like if Birmingham New St was built at Five Ways and they forgot the shopping centre and instead left just a concrete slab on top.

You could just have imagined that nonsensical "Birmingham Heartlands" proposal (or whatever it was called) ending up like that.

And I think they started it more than 50 years ago. Maybe it is one of the best international rail experiences because it puts all other mistakes into context as relatively minor.

 

[duesselmartin]

it took only around 50 years to build