Best Train Trips in Europe

Europe's trains in 2026 are the rare case where the romantic version and the practical version are the same thing. You really can spend a week crossing four countries entirely by rail, watching the landscape change through panoramic windows, with a cup of decent coffee and a power outlet under the table. The catch is that the best train trips in Europe are not the ones with the loudest Instagram presence. Some of the most-photographed routes are tourist-priced and crowded; some of the underrated ones are nearly empty and twice as scenic.

The ten routes worth your time

1. Bernina Express — Chur to Tirano (Switzerland → Italy)

The headline scenic route, and it earns the hype. Glaciers, viaducts (the famous Brusio circle), then a sudden plunge into Italian valleys. 4 hours, panoramic carriages, book the seat reservation in advance. Pair with a night in Tirano and a connecting train back through Lugano for a perfect 48-hour loop.

2. Glacier Express — Zermatt to St. Moritz (Switzerland)

The slowest fast train in the world, as the brochure goes. 8 hours of pure Alps. Expensive (€150–€250 with the panoramic seat) but a once-in-a-trip experience. Book the lunch service in advance — it sounds touristy and is actually charming.

3. Flåm Railway — Myrdal to Flåm (Norway)

The drop from the high plateau down to the fjord in less than an hour, through 20 tunnels and past a waterfall stop you can step off and photograph. Combine with the Bergen–Oslo line for a two-day Norway-in-a-nutshell loop that is cheaper than the marketed packages.

4. Cinque Terre Express — La Spezia to Levanto (Italy)

Short, regional, and one of the best €10 train trips in Europe. The five villages of the Cinque Terre, all connected by a 30-minute hop. Day-pass and walk between two of the towns, train back. Avoid August.

5. Lisbon to Porto — Alfa Pendular (Portugal)

An unsexy choice that quietly delivers. The fast train cuts across the Tagus valley and along the Atlantic coast in 2h45. Book a window seat on the right going north, the left going south. Around €30 with reasonable advance booking.

6. Caledonian Sleeper — London to Fort William or Inverness (UK)

An overnight sleeper that takes you from central London to the Scottish Highlands. Wake up to mist over Rannoch Moor or to Ben Nevis on the horizon. Book the en-suite cabin if budget allows; otherwise the standard sleeper is comfortable enough.

7. Belgrade to Bar — the Adriatic descent (Serbia → Montenegro)

The route nobody mentions. 12 hours through the Dinaric Alps, 254 tunnels, the famous Mala Rijeka viaduct, and the gradual descent to the Adriatic coast. Tickets cost €25 in 2026. Bring your own food, drinks, and a sense of patience — the train is creaky and frequently late, and that is the point.

8. Sofia to Istanbul — the Balkan Express (Bulgaria → Turkey)

Overnight, atmospheric, slow, with a 3 am border check that has been a part of European rail folklore for a century. Not a luxury experience; a real one. €30 in a sleeper. The arrival in Istanbul at dawn is unreasonably good.

9. Bordeaux to Hendaye — the Atlantic coast (France)

An underrated TGV route that runs along the Atlantic-facing pine forests of Les Landes, ending at the Spanish border. Hop off at Biarritz or Saint-Jean-de-Luz for the Basque coast. 2h30, around €35 with advance booking.

10. Innsbruck to Bologna — Brenner Pass (Austria → Italy)

The Alps-to-Italy descent through the Brenner Pass. Tyrolean villages, vineyards along the Adige, then onto the plains. 4h30. Book a window seat on the eastern side. Then have lunch in Bologna and catch a train home.

How to book without overpaying

• Use the national operator's website wherever possible. Trainline and Omio are convenient but add a small markup; SBB (Switzerland), DB (Germany), SNCF Connect (France), Trenitalia (Italy), Renfe (Spain), and ÖBB (Austria) are the cheapest direct sources.
• Book 60–90 days ahead for fast trains. The early-bird fares (e.g., €19 Paris–Lyon, €25 Berlin–Munich) sell out quickly.
• Ignore the rail-pass hype unless you are crossing many countries. Eurail / Interrail makes sense for 4+ country trips. For a single bilateral route, point-to-point tickets are usually cheaper.
• Reservations for scenic trains are mandatory and limited — book the panoramic carriage seats months in advance for the Glacier Express and Bernina Express.

What makes a train trip work better than the photos suggest

Three small things separate a great rail journey from a mediocre one:

• Pack like a long-haul flight, not like a road trip. One small bag you can lift to an overhead rack with one hand. Train luggage racks are not generous.
• Eat before you board on long routes. The on-board food in Europe ranges from "fine" to "regrettable." A baguette and fruit from the station are reliably better than anything sold from a trolley.
• Sit on the right side. A useful general rule for north-south European trains in the northern hemisphere: the eastern (right) side has more sun on the way south, more views going north because of the way valleys tend to fall. Check the specific route, but the rule of thumb is shockingly accurate.

Routes I would politely skip

• "Eurostar from London for the full Paris experience" — fine for the city trip, but the route itself is mostly tunnel and flat northern France. Not a scenic ride.
• Madrid–Barcelona AVE — efficient but visually dull. Worth taking for the time saving over flying, not for the scenery.
• Most German ICE corridor trains — fast and competent, but the routes optimise for speed not views. Take them as transport, not as the trip.

Bottom line

The best train trips in Europe in 2026 are not single days — they are the spine of an entire week. String two or three of the routes above into a loop, build in a couple of nights in cities along the way, and you have a holiday that is genuinely scenic, comfortable, lower-emission than flying, and full of the small accidents that make travel worth doing. The Bernina Express, the Caledonian Sleeper, and Belgrade–Bar are the three I would put first on the list — together they cover the famous, the cosy, and the underrated, which is most of what you need.