Checked on 29 Oct 2026
Which of the world's great train rides can you take this season, and how do you get to the start?
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25 journeys on six continents. Tap a line to see it.
Lines join the start, the main stops and the end; they are not the exact track. A yellow dot is a train on its way now, placed by its timetable.
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Which famous journeys are one direct train from your city?
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Our direct trains: across a border in Europe and Asia, and between US states and Canada.
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A few hours of mountains, fjords and viaducts, on a normal ticket.
Switzerland
ZermattSt. Moritz
via Brig, Andermatt, Disentis, Chur
291 bridges, 91 tunnels and the Oberalp Pass at 2,033 m, between Zermatt and St. Moritz.
Switzerland and Italy
ChurTirano
via Filisur, Pontresina, Alp Grüm, Poschiavo
The Albula and Bernina lines, UNESCO World Heritage since 2008: 196 bridges, 55 tunnels, up to 2,253 m.
Switzerland
MontreuxInterlaken
via Château-d'Oex, Gstaad, Zweisimmen, Spiez
Montreux to Interlaken with no change: its bogies switch between metre and standard gauge at Zweisimmen.
Switzerland
MontreuxZweisimmen
via Les Avants, Montbovon, Château-d'Oex, Gstaad
Carriages in the style of the 1931 Golden Mountain Pullman Express that ran on this line.
Norway
OsloBergen
via Geilo, Finse, Myrdal, Voss
Vy calls it Northern Europe's highest railway line: across the Hardangervidda plateau, up to 1,237 m.
Norway
MyrdalFlåm
via Kjosfossen
One of the world's steepest standard gauge railways: from the fjord up to Myrdal at 867 m, through 20 tunnels.
Scotland
GlasgowMallaig
via Crianlarich, Rannoch, Corrour, Glenfinnan
Past remote Corrour and over the Glenfinnan Viaduct, seen in the Harry Potter films.
Scotland
Fort WilliamMallaig
via Glenfinnan
A steam train over the Glenfinnan Viaduct, from Fort William to Mallaig and back.
New Zealand
ChristchurchGreymouth
via Springfield, Arthur's Pass
Across New Zealand's South Island via Arthur's Pass and the 8.6 km Otira Tunnel.
Peru
CuscoMachu Picchu
via Ollantaytambo
Through the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu Pueblo, the town below the Inca citadel.
Mexico
Los MochisCreel
via El Fuerte, Bahuichivo, Divisadero
Into the Sierra Tarahumara, with a stop at Divisadero above the Copper Canyon.
India
New JalpaiguriDarjeeling
via Kurseong, Ghum
UNESCO World Heritage since 1999: 88 km of 2 ft gauge up to Ghum at 2,258 m.
Days and nights on board, from one coast or capital to another.
Canada
TorontoVancouver
via Winnipeg, Edmonton, Jasper, Kamloops North
VIA's 4,406 km sleeper across Canada, through Winnipeg, Edmonton and Jasper, with dome cars.
United States
ChicagoEmeryville
via Denver, Glenwood Springs, Salt Lake City, Reno
Chicago to the San Francisco Bay Area via Denver, Salt Lake City and Reno, every day.
Australia
SydneyPerth
via Broken Hill, Adelaide, Cook, Rawlinna
Coast to coast across Australia, 4,352 km, including a 478 km dead straight run over the Nullarbor.
Australia
AdelaideDarwin
via Marla, Alice Springs, Katherine, Coober Pedy
2,979 km through the Red Centre; the first train left Adelaide in 1929.
Russia
MoscowVladivostok
via Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Khabarovsk
The full Trans-Siberian, about 9,259 km from Moscow to the Pacific; it has run since 1966.
Russia, Mongolia and China
MoscowBeijing
via Ulaanbaatar
The classic link from Moscow to Beijing through Mongolia.
Vietnam
HanoiSaigon
via Hue, Da Nang, Nha Trang
Vietnam's 1,726 km north to south line, via Hue and the Hai Van Pass to Da Nang.
All inclusive journeys, booked like a cruise.
France to Italy
ParisVenice
via Verona Porta Nuova
Belmond's sleeper train of restored 1920s carriages, overnight from Paris to Venice.
Scotland
Edinburghand back
At most 36 guests, on round trips from Edinburgh through the Highlands.
Singapore and Malaysia
Singaporeand back
via Ipoh, Butterworth, Perlis, Merapoh
Belmond's Southeast Asian sleeper, first launched in 1993, on round trips from Singapore into Malaysia.
South Africa
PretoriaCape Town
via Kimberley, Matjiesfontein
Born in 1946 in royal blue: two nights and 1,600 km across South Africa.
South Africa
PretoriaCape Town
A family owned luxury train company, started in 1989.
Canada
VancouverBanff or Jasper
via Kamloops
Daylight only through the Canadian Rockies, with a night in a hotel in Kamloops.
It runs every day except its annual break from mid October to early December. In 2026 the break runs from 11 October to 4 December, and daily trains start again on Saturday 5 December. A seat reservation is required.
The Rossiya still runs from Moscow to Vladivostok, in about 7 days, for travel within Russia. The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to Russia and the US State Department rates Russia Level 4: Do Not Travel. We show the route and the advice, with no booking link.
No. Since 2024, London passengers take the Eurostar to Paris and board the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express there. It runs about once a week from March to December, overnight from Paris to Venice.
Not as one train: the Moscow to Beijing train via Ulaanbaatar has been suspended since February 2020. Beijing to Ulaanbaatar runs once a week again (trains K23 and K24, about 31 hours).
The Bernina Express, the Flåm Railway, the West Highland Line, the TranzAlpine, the trains to Machu Picchu, the Reunification Express and the California Zephyr run all year. So do The Canadian (twice a week) and the Indian Pacific (once a week).
Pick your city in the planner above. It lists every famous journey whose start, or a stop on its route, has a direct train from your city, with the fastest time and the trains a day, from pickthetrain.com.
Facts checked on 29 Oct 2026. Swiss times from SBB's open timetable, the California Zephyr's from Amtrak's. Direct trains from our own timetable data.