Slow rail journeys

Riding the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway's toy train

A narrow-gauge steam-era line squeezes between shopfronts and switchbacks its way up nearly two thousand metres to the tea town of Darjeeling.

Yuki Tanabe· October 22, 2025

Slow rail journeys

The West Highland Line and the curve over Glenfinnan Viaduct

Often voted the world's most scenic railway, this line from Fort William to Mallaig crosses lochs, moor and one very famous curved viaduct.

Priscila Rocha· September 14, 2025

Slow rail journeys

The Ghan: three days through Australia's red centre

Named for the Afghan cameleers who once opened this route, the Ghan crosses an entire continent from Adelaide to Darwin through country few travellers ever see.

Priscila Rocha· August 20, 2025

Slow rail journeys

The Flåm Railway, one of the steepest normal-gauge lines on earth

Twenty kilometres of switchbacks and waterfalls connect the fjord village of Flåm to the high mountain junction at Myrdal.

Kwame Mensah· July 3, 2025

Slow rail journeys

The Canadian: four days across a continent by VIA Rail

Toronto to Vancouver by transcontinental train trades speed for a slow unspooling of prairie, mountain and lake that no highway or flight can match.

Mateo Duarte· June 27, 2025

Slow rail journeys

The Andean Explorer, Cusco to the shores of Lake Titicaca

South America's only luxury sleeper train climbs out of the Sacred Valley and across the high Andean plateau to Puno on Lake Titicaca.

Freya Lindqvist· May 11, 2025

Slow rail journeys

Kandy to Ella through Sri Lanka's tea country

Sri Lanka's hill-country line climbs through terraced tea gardens and over the famous Nine Arch Bridge on its way to the cool town of Ella.

Yuki Tanabe· March 16, 2025

Slow rail journeys

The Gornergrat Railway, Zermatt to the foot of the Matterhorn

A cog railway older than the resort it climbs from carries you to one of the great mountain views in the Alps without a single step of walking.

Freya Lindqvist· February 9, 2025