# Europe's Top 10 Scenic Rail Journeys



## MULTIZ321 (Dec 23, 2012)

Europe's Top 10 Scenic Rail Journeys - by Anthony Haywood/ Tips & Articles/ LonelyPlanet.com


Richard


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## Carolinian (Dec 24, 2012)

I have done 3, 6, 8, and 10.  Norway has lots of scenic lines, and I would add the Narvik and Bodo lines to those mentioned.


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## zora (Dec 25, 2012)

Richard, 
Thank you for the great link.  I didn't realize that the lonely planet hosted a site.  Thought it was only books.


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## IreneLF (Dec 25, 2012)

2 8 and 9 here. Would love to do the rest! Thanks for the post.


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## Carolinian (Dec 25, 2012)

If you get a copy of Cook's European Rail Timetable, which is published monthly but I pick one up every year or so (usually at W. H. Smith at Victoria Station in London), they have a table of the scenic rail lines in Europe, about 150 of them, of which I have done over 60.

One great round trip is to start in Stockholm and take the line to Narvik, Norway, inside the Arctic Circle, then take a bus 3 hours south to Bodo, Norway, also inside the Arctic Circle, and then the Bodo to Trondheim and on to Oslo, from where you can do a round trip west to Bergen and the Flam railway.  I did most of that late this summer, after watching a BBC travel show on the railroad to Bodo.  After researching it, I added the Stockholm to Narvik portion.  I originally intended to do the Bergen and Flam line, too, but that cut my schedule too close for my flights, and I needed to get to make the XXII Economic Forum in Kyrnica, Poland, where I was a panelist, so I decided not to push it.  That makes a great trip, and even the bus ride from Narvik to Bodo is very scenic.


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## MULTIZ321 (Dec 25, 2012)

Carolinian said:


> If you get a copy of Cook's European Rail Timetable, which is published monthly but I pick one up every year or so (usually at W. H. Smith at Victoria Station in London), they have a table of the scenic rail lines in Europe, about 150 of them, of which I have done over 60.
> 
> One great round trip is to start in Stockholm and take the line to Narvik, Norway, inside the Arctic Circle, then take a bus 3 hours south to Bodo, Norway, also inside the Arctic Circle, and then the Bodo to Trondheim and on to Oslo, from where you can do a round trip west to Bergen and the Flam railway.  I did most of that late this summer, after watching a BBC travel show on the railroad to Bodo.  After researching it, I added the Stockholm to Narvik portion.  I originally intended to do the Bergen and Flam line, too, but that cut my schedule too close for my flights, and I needed to get to make the XXII Economic Forum in Kyrnica, Poland, where I was a panelist, so I decided not to push it.  That makes a great trip, and even the bus ride is very scenic.



Carolinian,

Thanks for the great tips - definitely added to my bucket list.

I was not familiar with Krynica, Poland. When I looked it up on Wikipedia, I was given a choice of 9 locations in different parts of Poland. Didn't know which one to chose - Krynica-Zdroj, Krynica Morska, Krynica Chelm County, Krynica, Bialystok County, Krynica, Hajnowka County, Krynica, Monki County and Krynica Masovian Voivodeship.

Which one should I chose?

Thanks

Richard


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## x3 skier (Dec 25, 2012)

3, 4, 9, & 10. 

OTOH, my favorite is the Orient Express regardless of the scenery. :

Cheers


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## Carolinian (Dec 26, 2012)

If you do that Arctic Circle trip, I also suggest overnighting in Trondheim to have some sightseeing time.  It is a great city with lots of old buildings.  That is also where they keep the Norwegian crown jewels.  Cook's lists all of the Trondheim to Bodo and Oslo to Trondheim lines in its scenic category but only the northern stretch of the Stockholm to Narvik line.  That works well, as there are two train options on that line, one of which is overnight on the southern portion, which is what I did.  You also need to overnight in either Narvik or Bodo.  Based on the train I took, it was Bodo.  On the train from Stockholm, operated by Swedish railways, the dining car was reasonably priced, and one unusual thing I had to eat was a reindeer sandwich.  The Norwegian dining cars were much more expensive.

Krynica-Zdroj is where they hold the Economic Forum annually, generally referred to as the ''eastern Davos''  ( http://en.krynica.pl/The-Economic-Forum-c22.html ).  It is a spa town from Austrian times (it was part of the Austrian empire until 1918) and with some interesting sights in the area, but I was there for the forum rather than the sights.  While free busses were provided for us from Krakow, I opted to buy a rail ticket as the branch line to Krynica is listed as one of the scenic rail lines in Europe in the list in Cooks Timetable.  The east-west main line between Krakow and Lviv, which is the first part of the trip does not qualify at all as scenic but that changes quickly after you leave that and get on the branch line to Krynica.




MULTIZ321 said:


> Carolinian,
> 
> Thanks for the great tips - definitely added to my bucket list.
> 
> ...


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