24 of the world’s most incredible train journeys to book in 2025
Experience the most spectacular train journeys on the planet – from epic long-distance routes to scenic day trips that give you a unique insight into cultures and landscapes around the world.
Train journeys always deliver plenty of magic. Sometimes it’s in the carriages, where you meet fellow travelers, or when you eat and sleep to the sound of wheels rolling on the steel tracks beneath you. Other times it’s outside, in the landscape the train crosses – offering an adventure, an experience, a glimpse into the heart of a nation.
Lonely Planet’s recently released Amazing Train Journeys brings together the world’s greatest train trips. Drawn from its pages, these 24 train journeys are truly first-class and perfect to book in 2025.
Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi
- Start: Ho Chi Minh City
- End: Hanoi
- Departures: Daily
- Distance: 1072 miles (1726 km)
- Duration: Two days
This is one of Southeast Asia’s most beloved railways – and one of the world’s most epic overnight train journeys. There is no more atmospheric way to travel between Vietnam’s twin metropolises as the train rattles through historic cities and glides along spectacular coastlines.
USA: Chicago to San Francisco
- Start: Chicago
- End: San Francisco
- Departures: Daily
- Distance: 2438 miles (3924 km)
- Duration: 52 hours and 40 minutes
To enjoy the scenic grandeur of the North American continent, there is nothing that compares to Amtrak’s California Zephyr, one of the best train journeys in the USA. This classic three-day trip travels across prairies, deserts, the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada on its way from the Midwest to the West Coast.
Peru: Puno to Cuzco
- Start: Puno
- End: Cuzco
- Departures: Three times a week
- Distance: 241 miles (388 km)
- Duration: 10 hours
From the shores of Lake Titicaca to the heart of the ancient Inca Empire, the railway from Puno to Cuzco cuts a slow but picturesque path through snow-capped peaks and lush valleys in the Andes, across the epic Peruvian plains, past hardy llama farmers and through remote towns and villages.
China: Beijing to Lhasa
- Start: Beijing
- End: Lhasa
- Departures: Daily
- Distance: 2330 miles (3750 km)
- Duration: 40 hours
From futuristic architecture and imperial wonders in 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-covered mountains and endless blue skies. At the destination, magenta-robed monks await.
New Zealand: Christchurch to Greymouth
- Start: Christchurch
- End: Greymouth
- Departures: Daily
- Distance: 139 miles (223 km)
- Duration: 4 hours and 30 minutes
At under five hours, this journey is without doubt one of the world’s finest and most scenic single-day train trips. Begin the TranzAlpine experience in Christchurch before quickly climbing through the snow-capped mountains of the Southern Alps and then descending through an exciting tunnel to emerge among lakes, rivers and rainforests on the South Island’s west coast.
Norway: Oslo to Bergen
- Start: Oslo
- End: Bergen
- Departures: Four times a day
- Distance: 308 miles (496 km)
- Duration: 6 hours and 30 minutes
This fantastic train is one of Europe’s best rail journeys – and one of the least known outside Norway. It spans the full spectrum of the Nordic country’s natural splendor: climbing through gorges, crossing rivers, burrowing through mountainsides and passing barren island landscapes.
