24 of the world’s most incredible train journeys

02.01.2024 - 18:29 / lonelyplanet.com / Lake Titicaca

From cutting through the countryside to connecting a country’s great cities, the world’s best railway journeys offer entirely new perspectives on a destination.

Train travel always delivers plenty of magic. Sometimes it’s in the cars, as you meet fellow travelers, or as you eat and sleep with the sound of wheels rolling on the steel rails beneath you. Sometimes it’s outside, in the landscape the train traverses – offering an adventure, an experience, an insight into the heart of a nation.

Our upcoming book, Amazing Train Journeys, rounds up the world’s greatest railway rides. Pulled from its pages, these 24 train journeys are truly first-class.

Start: Ho Chi Minh City
End: Hanoi
Departs: Daily
Distance: 1072 miles (1726km)
Duration: Two days

This is one of Southeast Asia’s best-loved railways – and one of the most epic overnight train journeys in the world. There is no more atmospheric way to haul into Vietnam’s twin metropolises as this train rattles through historic cities and swooshes beside spectacular coastlines.

Start: Chicago
End:San Francisco
Departs: Daily
Distance: 2438 miles (3924km)
Duration:52hrs 40mins

For soaking up the scenic grandeur of the North American continent, nothing compares with Amtrak’s California Zephyr, one of the US’ best train journeys. This classic three-day ride travels across prairies, deserts, the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada on its way from the Midwest to the West Coast.

Start: Puno
End: Cuzco
Departs: Three times a week
Distance: 241 miles (388km)
Duration: 10 hours

Traversing the Altiplano, from the shores of Lake Titicaca to the bustling heart of the ancient Incan empire, the railway from Puno to Cuzco cuts a ponderous but picturesque path through the snow-dusted peaks and voluptuous valleys of the Andes, across the epic Peruvian plains, passing hardy bowler-hatted llama farmers and traveling through remote towns and villages.

Start:Beijing
End:Lhasa
Departs: Daily
Distance: 2330 miles (3750km)
Duration: 40 hours

From the futuristic architecture and imperial wonders of Beijing, the Z21 train transports its passengers from the neon lights of urban China across the Tibetan plateau, where it glides past grazing yaks, fluttering prayer flags, snow-capped mountains and boundless blue skies. At your destination, magenta-robed monks await. 

Start:Christchurch
End: Greymouth
Departs: Daily
Distance:139 miles (223km)
Duration: 4hrs 30mins

Under five hours, this journey is surely one the world’s finest and most scenic one-day train rides. Commence the TranzAlpine experience in Christchurch, before speeding along the Canterbury Plains and climbing quickly through the snow-capped mountains of the Southern Alps, then descend through a thrilling tunnel to emerge among the lakes, streams and