Sierra Blogging Post Archives

I can't imagine a better way to travel a foreign (or familiar) land than by train. Train travel is romantic, it's nostalgic... and it puts you in close proximity to a whole slew of other travelers. The saying "it's not the destination, but the journey" was most likely written over coffee in the dining cart of a train.

The Adventure Blog recently wrote a post about a train trip through Madagascar and it got me wondering what other remarkable train trips are out there. So, I looked... and found plenty of answers.



This MSNBC article lists 10 Terrific Train Trips, with #1 being the Bergen Line in Norway. The highest railway in Northern Europe, the Bergen Line travels between Bergen and Oslo. The seven-hour trip is almost entirely above timber line and wows with scenic views of fjords, snow-capped mountains and glaciers. Here are the other nine Terrific Train Trips:

2. The Blue Train, South Africa
3. Denali Star Train, Alaska
4. Eastern & Orient Express, Southeast Asia
5. The Ghan, Australia
6. The Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express, Russia
7. Hiram Bingham Train, Peru
8. Napa Valley Wine Train, California
9. TER Meditarranee, France
10. Tokaido Shikansen, Japan

The Denver Post went a step further and identified the World's Top 25 Trains. This list is nice because it's broken up by continent.

Here's a sampling of the Top Trains:

North America

Rocky Mountaineer (Canada)

GrandLuxe Express (U.S.)

Sierra Madre Express (Mexico)

South America

Andean Explorer (Peru)

Hiram Bingham (Peru)

Africa

Blue Train (South Africa)

Pride of Africa (Rovos Rail) (South Africa)

Asia/Indian Subcontinent

Palace on Wheels (India)

Eastern & Oriental Express (S.E. Asia)

Europe

Al Andalus Express (Spain)

Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (Europe)

Glacier Express (Switzerland)

Australia

Ghan

Indian Pacific

Sunlander

See the complete list.