From traversing the countryside to connecting a country's major cities, the world's most amazing rail journeys offer a whole new perspective on a destination.
Train travel is magical. Sometimes it’s inside the carriages, meeting fellow travelers, or eating and sleeping to the sound of the wheels rolling on the steel rails below. Sometimes it’s outside, in the landscapes the train passes through – offering an adventure, an experience, or an insight into a country. Here are Lonely Planet’s top 10 rail journeys:
1. Thong Nhat Train
Departure: Ho Chi Minh City; End: Hanoi ; Departures: Daily; Distance: 1,726km; Duration: Two days. This is one of Southeast Asia's most popular rail routes - and one of the world's most spectacular overnight trains. There's no better way to take in two of Vietnam's biggest cities than as the train passes historic landmarks and glides along the spectacular coastline.
PHOTO: LONELY PLANET
2.California Zephyr, USA
Departure: Chicago; Destination: San Francisco; Departures: Daily; Distance: 2,400 miles; Duration: 52 hours 40 minutes. For a truly immersive experience of the North American continent, nothing beats Amtrak's California Zephyr, one of the most scenic train journeys in the United States. This three-day TRAIN journey travels through prairies, deserts, the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada as it travels from the Midwest to the West Coast.
3.Lake Titicaca Train, Peru
Starting point: Puno; ending point: Cuzco; departing: Three times a week; distance: 388km; time: 10 hours. Crossing the Altiplano, from the shores of Lake Titicaca to the bustling heart of the ancient Inca empire, the Puno to Cuzco railway cuts a hard but picturesque path through the snow-capped peaks and alluring valleys of the Andes, across the majestic Peruvian plains...
4. Beijing - Lhasa Express Train Line, China
Departure: Beijing; destination: Lhasa; departures: Daily; distance: 3,750km; duration: 40 hours. The Z21 takes passengers from the neon lights of urban China across the Tibetan plateau, where the train glides past grazing yaks, fluttering prayer flags, snow-capped mountains and vast blue skies...
PHOTO: TIBET TOUR
5. TranzAlpine, New Zealand
Departure: Christchurch; arrival: Greymouth; departures: Daily; distance: 223km; duration: 4 hours 30 minutes. At just under five hours, this journey is surely one of the world's most scenic and stunning one-day train journeys. Start your TranzAlpine experience in Christchurch, before speeding along the Canterbury Plains and quickly climbing through the snow-capped mountains of the Southern Alps...
6.Bergensbanen, Norway
Departure: Oslo; arrival: Bergen; departures: Four times daily; distance: 496km; duration: 6 hours 30 minutes. One of the most scenic train journeys in Europe, but one of the least known outside Norway. The train takes in the Nordic country's stunning natural landscape: climbing gorges, crossing rivers, burrowing through mountainsides and crossing barren, icy landscapes
PHOTO: VISIT BERGEN
7.Tazara Railway, Tanzania and Zambia
Departure: Dar es Salaam; destination: Kapiri Mposhi; departures: Twice a week; distance: 1,860km; duration: 46 hours. Few trains in the world offer the chance to see big game from your seat. Tazara (Tanzania and Zambia Railways) does just that.
8.The Sunset Limited, USA
Departure: New Orleans; destination: Los Angeles; Departures: Three times a week; Distance: 2,000 miles; Duration: 2 days. The ultimate American train ride: east to west, coast to coast, from the bars of New Orleans to the waves of the Pacific. If you've always dreamed of crossing the United States but don't like the prospect of spending two weeks in a car, a trip on the Sunset Limited is the answer.
PHOTO: AMERICAN RAIL
9.The Caledonian Sleeper, UK
Departure: London (Euston); destination: Fort William; departures: Daily; distance: 819km; duration: 13 hours 30 minutes. Travel from the sooty suburbs and crowded concrete cul-de-sacs of central London to the fresh air and sweeping views of the Scottish Highlands on this overnight train that epitomizes the romance of train travel...
10.The Mombasa to Nairobi, Kenya train
Departure point: Mombasa; arrival point: Nairobi; departures: Daily; distance: 579km; time: 5 hours 10 minutes. The Nairobi-Mombasa railway is one of Africa's most legendary railways: it even helped to popularise the modern concept of the safari. This rickety old railway has been rebuilt in recent years, with smart new stations and a new track laid across the Kenyan savannah. What hasn't changed is the mesmerising journey, with trains departing from Mombasa and travelling through the shadow of Kilimanjaro to the summit of the Great Rift Valley.
PHOTO: KENYA RAILWAY
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