Rail journeys
A train lets you watch a country go by without having to drive it. You can look at the sea for an hour, or sleep through the suburbs, and step off in a different place to the one you left. The best rail journeys are not the fastest way between two cities. They are lines where the ride itself is the reason to go.
The journeys gathered here are single lines worth riding for their own sake, most of them taken in a day and two across a continent in three nights or more. Each page sets out the route, the stops worth breaking the journey for, how to book, and what passengers say the ride is like.
Each journey says plainly how we know it. A journey marked Travelled by us is one we have made ourselves, and we write about it in the first person. A journey marked Partly travelled is one we have ridden in part, and the page says which part is ours. A journey marked Researched is one we have not yet ridden: it is built from the operators' own information, official sources and passengers' own accounts, attributed to them.
Find a rail journey by country
Eighteen journeys so far, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Scotland. More will be added here as they are written.
Australia
A heritage railway climbing into the rainforest above Cairns, a whole day down the coast of New South Wales, three nights across the continent to Darwin, and three more from Sydney over the Nullarbor to Perth.
The Kuranda Scenic Railway
Up the wall of the Barron Gorge through fifteen tunnels cut by hand, past Stoney Creek Falls, and back down over the forest on Skyrail: our guide to Kuranda covers both journeys and which way round to take them.
Read the guide →
Partly travelledBrisbane to Sydney by XPT
A whole day down the North Coast of New South Wales, over the Clarence and past the banana country to Brisbane Water: day train or night train, where to sit, and the stops worth breaking for.
Read the journey →
ResearchedThe Ghan
Across the continent from south to north, through the Flinders Ranges and Alice Springs to Katherine and the tropics: which direction, which cabin, and what passengers say it is like.
Read the journey →
ResearchedThe Indian Pacific
From the Pacific to the Indian Ocean, by Broken Hill and Adelaide and across the treeless Nullarbor on the world’s longest straight: which way, which cabin, and what passengers say it is like.
Read the journey →
Planning a wider trip? Visiting Australia covers where to go and how to get around.
Japan
The Tokaido Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto, along the route of the old road; the Sea of Japan coast of northern Tōhoku, on a sightseeing train built for the view; a little mountain railway in open carriages up the Kurobe Gorge; a slow local line along the Tadami River through the mountains of Aizu; and a switchback railway climbing from a hot-spring town into the Hakone hills; and a country line in Shikoku that crosses the clear Shimanto River again and again.
The Tokaido Shinkansen
Japan’s first high-speed line, along the route of the old Tōkaidō road, past the sea, Mount Fuji, tea fields and Lake Hamana: which side to sit, which train to take and where to break the journey.
Read the journey →
ResearchedThe Resort Shirakami
Up the coast with a fifteen-minute stop on the rocks at Senjojiki and Tsugaru shamisen on some days: where to sit, how to book and what passengers say it is like.
Read the journey →
ResearchedThe Kurobe Gorge Railway
Open carriages up a V-shaped gorge in the Northern Alps, running the whole way again since October 2026: which side to sit, the stops worth getting off at, and what is open at Keyakidaira.
Read the journey →
ResearchedThe Tadami Line
A slow local train along a mountain river and over iron bridges, reopened end to end in 2022: which train to take, where to break the journey, and the walk to the bridge viewpoint.
Read the journey →
ResearchedThe Hakone Tozan Railway
Up into the Hakone hills by switchback, tunnel and high bridge, through hydrangeas in early summer: where to sit, what it costs and how it starts the Hakone loop.
Read the journey →
ResearchedThe Yodo Line
A one-car country train along the clear Shimanto River in Shikoku, over and beside bridges with no railings: which train to take, where to break the journey and what passengers say it is like.
Read the journey →
Planning a wider trip? Visiting Japan covers where to go, getting around and whether the Japan Rail Pass is worth it.
New Zealand
The TranzAlpine
Coast to coast across the South Island in a day: the open-air carriage, the Waimakariri Gorge, Arthur's Pass and the Otira Tunnel, and what passengers say it is like.
Read the journey →
ResearchedThe Northern Explorer
The length of the North Island in a day: the Raurimu Spiral, the viaducts below Ruapehu, the open-air carriage, and what passengers say it is like.
Read the journey →
South Korea
The main high-speed line from Seoul to Busan; two lines completed in 2025, one up the east coast and one across the south to Mokpo; and two slow tourist trains into the mountains inland.
The KTX from Seoul to Busan
Korea’s main line, from the Joseon capital to the sea past Gyeongju, old capital of Silla: which train, where to sit and how to stop on the way.
Read the journey →
ResearchedBusan to Mokpo by train
Across the south on the line completed in 2025: two rivers, rice plains and the food towns between, on the weekend S-train or the daily trains.
Read the journey →
ResearchedBusan to Gangneung by KTX-Eum
Three trains a day up the East Sea coast, past fishing harbours and a station beside the beach: where to sit, where to get off and what passengers say it is like.
Read the journey →
ResearchedThe V-Train
A slow tourist train through the gorge of the upper Nakdong, with ten minutes at a station the villagers built: when it runs, how to book and what passengers say it is like.
Read the journey →
ResearchedThe A-Train
The Jeongseon Arirang Train, back in 2026 after a rockfall: one train a day into the mountains of Gangwon, timed for Jeongseon’s five-day market.
Read the journey →
Planning a wider trip? Visiting South Korea covers the country, and getting around South Korea explains how its trains work.
Europe
The first European line on the shelf is in Scotland: lochs, mountains and an empty moor between Glasgow and the sea at Mallaig.
Crossing Scotland another way? Land’s End to John o’Groats is our ride the length of Britain by bike.
A final word on travelling by train
On a good line the window does the work. Choose your side, put the phone away, and let the country come to you at the speed of the train.
Andrew + Margaret
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