Rail travel has never lost its romantic connotations and, judging by the number of firms piling into rail holidays, and the near elimination of competing flights once a high-speed train service is on offer, it is being rediscovered 
by many looking for a more comfortable, 
less stressful way to travel.


But what are the great journeys — the kind of experiences that appear in those stocking-filler books of 1001 things to do before you die? Should you rely on the growing number of trains devoted to tourists, or is it more rewarding to take service trains? The trade between comfort and authenticity varies greatly: for example, there are no luxury tourist trains in Switzerland but half a dozen in India. For some it is more a choice between taking an independent, meet-the-locals adventure or something akin to a package holiday — although, in the case of the US, its Amtrak’s long-distance trains are almost exclusively used by tourists.


For independent travellers, there are hundreds of scheduled trains that make for spectacular journeys. Even commuter journeys around Zürich offer views of lakes and mountains, and Switzerland has far more than its fair share of the world’s great railway journeys. The train east from Geneva along the northern shore of Lac Léman weaves through the Lavaux vineyards with views of the French Alps, and many would choose the routes of the Glacier and Bernina expresses over the mountainous narrow-gauge railways of the Valais and Graubünden.


The views along both banks of the Rhine south of Cologne could almost have been created especially to be seen through the windows of a leisurely moving train, such are the delights that the constantly changing vista offers. Likewise, the network of partly steam-worked narrow-gauge lines that thread the valleys of the Harz Mountains southeast of Hanover is a jewel, linking the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Quedlinburg with its timber-framed buildings, and the summit of the Brocken.


Further north, some of Europe’s wildest, most picturesque country is traversed by railway lines. The routes from Oslo that run west to Bergen and north to Bodø take in landscapes not easily experienced otherwise, including the Arctic Circle and a dramatic fissured coastline. To find such desolate country in Britain, you would have to cross Rannoch Moor on the way from Glasgow to Fort William or cross the Flow Country of Sutherland and Caithness on the train from Inverness to Wick and Thurso.


A similar feeling of immensity is evoked by North America’s longest train journey, The Canadian, between Toronto to Vancouver, operated by VIA and taking three and a half days to roll across the prairie before its climax through the Rockies. The sleeping-, dining- and vista-dome lounge cars are of 1950s vintage, solid and comfortable. This glamorous era is also the design focus of the dining and lounge cars of the new train-cum-hotel Danube Express, which tours central and eastern Europe and offers guided, off-train excursions. 


But there are some journeys you can only undertake on specialist tourist trains. For example, the glorious railway north from Vancouver along British Columbia’s Fraser River can be enjoyed only from the observation cars and verandas of Rocky Mountaineer Vacations’ trains. At Prince George, the Fraser Discovery Route train turns south-east for Jasper along the Rocky Mountain Trench, the continent’s longest valley, passing Mount Robson, the largest mountain in the Canadian Rockies. 


Russia’s equivalent to The Canadian, the 9,290km Trans-Siberian between Moscow and Vladivostok, calls for the comfort of the Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express on a 14-day tour using a purpose-built train. LCD screen-equipped cabins have en suite showers and underfloor heating, and the lounge and bar car is the social hub. Shorter journeys can be made between Ulan Bator and Vladivostok. 


In South Africa, Rovos Rail has become a byword for opulent travel; while, in India, Deccan Odyssey, Golden Chariot and Palace on Wheels (all represented by the Luxury Train Club) offer en suites and even a spa on some trains. 


However, there is one tourist train that still tops all others, despite its age. The Orient Express remains synonymous with glamorous international travel of a bygone era, with the highest standards of cuisine and service. But with features that include a walk down the carpeted corridor to the lavatory and an absence of a shower, passengers are certainly buying the experience of travelling on a piece of history — the finest inter-war train — rather than the luxury. But the annual Paris–Istanbul run (the usual journey is between Paris and Venice), which roughly retraces the route of the first Orient Express in 1883 and has some nights in a five-star hotel, has an unrivalled sense of occasion and panaché and most guests still dress for dinner. 


Orient Express creator, Georges Nagelmackers, would surely have been thrilled that his concept is still going strong 125 years later.