Travel
Bucket List: 10 Magical Winter Train Journeys
Slide Nr 1While winter offers some of the most stunning wonderland views of the year, the season’s chilly conditions often send us running indoors, seeking warmth and comfort even if it means skipping the annual show. Unless you take the train. With frosty mountain ranges, ice-coated rivers and mesmerising starry skies sliding by just outside the window, these train journeys from around the world will take you on an incredible winter adventure, all while you sit back and relax from the comfort of your heated cabin.
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Bucket List: 10 Magical Winter Train Journeys.
Slide Nr 2The Andean Explorer, Peru – The first luxury sleeper train in South America and one of the highest trains in the world, the Andean Explorer’s two-day journey takes you from the ancient Incan capital of Cusco to the city of Arequipa. The 4,000-metre-high tracks guarantee views of snow-capped mountains, Incan ruins and alpaca farms, not to mention some of the clearest night skies for stargazing, all to be enjoyed while indulging in gourmet delights, like a five-star ceviche and a frothy pisco sour. If you start to miss your land legs, the train makes some memorable stops, including a guided excursion to Lake Titicaca, a visit to the floating island of Uros, and a short tour at a pre-Incan village. You’ll see the very best of Peru in one short, luxurious journey.
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Bucket List: 10 Magical Winter Train Journeys.
Slide Nr 3Nordland Railway, Norway – Prefer to travel the Arctic Circle and chase the Northern Lights? Better take this railway route. The Nordland Railway, Norway’s longest continuous train line, takes you on a 10-hour journey between the cities of Trondheim and Bodø, across 293 bridges and through 154 tunnels, taking in mountains, fjords, waterfalls and wild animals – grazing reindeer included. The train makes stops at fishing villages, quaint towns and Norway’s mini metropolis up north, boarding again just in time for the hypnotising aurora borealis bonanza right outside your cabin window. You’ll stay up all night.
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Bucket List: 10 Magical Winter Train Journeys.
Slide Nr 4Tadami Line, Japan – It’s not just the mesmerising views that draw tourists and locals aboard “the most romantic train ride in the world”. What makes the Tadami Line one of Japan’s top routes is the contrast and diversity revealed along the mountainous five-hour trip from the lively samurai city of Aizu-Wakamatsu in Fukushima prefecture to the green valleys of Oku-Aizu in Niigata prefecture. Along the way, you’ll find some undiscovered gems, including the Tsurugajo Castle and the historic Enzoji Temple. But the main attraction is getting off the train at the Roadside Station to watch as it crosses the Tadami Bridge over the Tadami River, a postcard moment you won’t want to miss. [Photo: MaedaAkihiko/Wikimedia Commons]
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Bucket List: 10 Magical Winter Train Journeys.
Slide Nr 5Amtrak California Zephyr, USA – Long-distance travellers will find the two-day journey from Chicago to San Francisco a bucket list must. Roaring over the Sierra Nevada, the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains in the same trip, the route guarantees incredible views of some of the most diverse scenery in the American West and Midwest. Passengers can get off at any of the stops in Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado or Nevada, perhaps to stretch their legs at a world-class ski resort, but it would be a shame to miss the train’s hotel-level service – so you might just want to settle in for the entire ride on what’s possibly the most beautiful train journey in the country.
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Bucket List: 10 Magical Winter Train Journeys.
Slide Nr 6Semmering Railway, Austria – When you board a UNESCO World Heritage site, you know your trip is off to a good start. The Semmering Railway takes you on a short one-hour journey from Vienna to Graz through viaducts, tunnels, arched stone bridges and vertigo-inducing cliff edges for the best front-row views of Austria’s eastern Alps. The cherry on top, however, is that – since it’s the first mountain railway in the world – it doubles as a 19th-century living museum, taking you on a journey through time as it whisks you past marvels both natural and man-made.
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Bucket List: 10 Magical Winter Train Journeys.
Slide Nr 7TranzAlpine, New Zealand – Traversing South Island from coast to coast, the TranzAlpine boasts the magnificent Southern Alps, Canterbury Plains and wild West Coast as its backdrops. The journey offers a closer-to-nature experience with an open-air viewing carriage, and even comes with an audio commentary service in five languages that details the history, myths and interesting facts about the places outside your window. Running from Christchurch to Greymouth, this one of the most scenic rides in the world for a good reason – or several, if you count them. Stop by Arthur’s Pass National Park, spot glaciers at Punakaiki, cross the majestic gorges of the Waimakariri River, and see why this five-hour train ride is a must during the Southern Hemisphere’s winter for Kiwis and tourists alike.
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Bucket List: 10 Magical Winter Train Journeys.
Slide Nr 8Winter in the Rockies, Canada – The Canadian Rockies are no strangers to other-worldly landscapes, but it’s never more ethereal than during wintertime, when the Great White North lives up to its name. The best way to witness it all is by embarking on an eight-day journey aboard the Winter in the Rockies train tour from Vancouver to Alberta. Along the way, take a short break from the rails to visit Jasper National Park or the ice castle at Lake Louise, go ice-skating on Lac Beauvert, or soak in the natural hot springs in Banff. Or, just continue your hypnotising winter landscape viewing from your cosy cabin – that’s the whole point of the trip, anyway.
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Bucket List: 10 Magical Winter Train Journeys.
Slide Nr 9Glacier Express, Switzerland – Arguably, the OG of winter wonderland holiday destinations is Switzerland, a country with a legendary reputation for train trips that are both scenic and efficient. Combine it all, and you’ve got the Glacier Express. While the route serves the purpose of ferrying passengers between the ski havens of St. Moritz and Zermatt on an eight-hour ride, the journey is, one might say, the true destination. As the slowest ‘express’ train in the world, its relaxed pace allows passengers to fully enjoy the views of glacial mountains, snow-speckled villages and the “Grand Canyon of Switzerland”, all while indulging in the top-level comforts and dining options aboard – delicious raclette and wine included.
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Bucket List: 10 Magical Winter Train Journeys.
Slide Nr 10Kalka-Shimla Toy Train, India – Whether you’re seeking a meditative journey or a visual adventure, India’s most scenic train ride – from the spiritual town of Kalka to the colonial-meets-modern city of Shimla – checks all the boxes. Gliding along gripping narrow rails at a slow, meditative pace, this “toy train” ensures that passengers catch the best scenery, which becomes especially captivating at wintertime. And while having the Indian Himalayas as a backdrop helps with the route’s popularity among tourists, it’s the varied mix of waterfalls, pine forests and picturesque valleys along the way that keep passengers transfixed during the five-hour ride. That, and the charming old-world cabin experience the train is also known for. A hearty masala chai awaits.
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Bucket List: 10 Magical Winter Train Journeys.
Slide Nr 11The West Highland Line, Scotland – If boarding the Hogwarts Express is on your bucket list, it could be easier than you think. A school of witchcraft and wizardry isn’t exactly part of the itinerary, of course, but you’ll still witness plenty of magic gazing out the window of the West Highland Line as it criss-crosses this stunning region of Scotland from Glasgow to either Oban or Mallaig. The journey takes three or five hours, depending on your destination, and winds through parts of the Scottish Highlands only traversable by train. You’ll want to keep your eyes wide open, especially during the part of the route crossing the famous Glenfinnan Viaduct, widely known from the Harry Potter films.
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