Top 10 Great Train Journeys

The Manakara Express railwayline in Madagascar. Photograph: rijvvs/Guardian Witness

WINNING TIP: MANAKARA EXPRESS, MADAGASCAR

The French colonial-era railway that lumbers up from Manakara on the south-east coast of Madagascar to Fianarantsoa in the highlands takes up to 16 hours to cover 87 miles. En route, it passes through mountain gorges and crawls past rainforest. However, tourist attraction it isn't: you'll likely be the only non-local on the train. But no other ride, anywhere in the world, gets you as close to nature as this one.
madarail.mg
rijvvs

BERNINA EXPRESS, ST MORITZ, SWITZERLAND TO TIRANO, ITALY

Photograph: Melinda Moore/Getty Images/Flickr Open

The red carriages of the Bernina Express permit a close-up encounter with the Alps. Highlights include glaciers, frozen lakes, and a sense of the harsh alpine environment. It is particularly exciting in spring, when the contrast between the efflorescence of Val Poschiavo and the icy wastes above are most striking. The switchbacks of the track are … improbable: at one point the train's engine trundles across a bridge which the tail of it is still under.
+41 81 288 6565, rhb.ch, single trip from CHF30 (£20)
ID3208844

CLERMONT-FERRAND TO LIMOGES

France is full of branch lines in unlikely places just like this one in the Massif Central. A single track upon which a smart two-coach train winds its way out of Clermont-Ferrand up the side of the Puy-de-Dôme and through the fields and forests of la France profonde. It hugs cliffsides and follows rivers and chateaux before popping out in the art-nouveau station at Limoges.
voyages-sncf.com
ID992777

BERGEN TO OSLO IN WINTER, NORWAY

Photograph: rockange/Guardian Witness

Leg room was generous in front of the comfortable seats and we settled in to enjoy the trip. The kids were in the children's carriage, equipped with a soft play climbing area, TV and, of course, other kids. And the scenery … beauty that deserves description but leaves one searching for words. Once out and up from the fjords and their rock-bound tunnels, it felt like arriving in a lunar landscape. Snowy plains gleamed in the winter sun; sparse station stops and hut roofs peeking out from the all-consuming snow.
nsb.no, singles from 829NK (£83)
rockange

BROCKEN RAILWAY, GERMANY

Photograph: ID5629215/Guardian Witness

This is one of the most exciting short lines in Europe. The narrow gauge steam train drew us up and through the gradients and curves, including a near-complete spiral to the station that is at the top of the Brocken mountain, (at 1,125m above sea level). The carriages have open-end platforms and you can stand behind the locomotive and hear its sharp noisy exhaust. For those not taken with steam trains, the buffet is a reminder that the Germans have a justified reputation for baking. We also had to have a meal in the Hotel Altora, opposite the locomotive shed in Wernigerode where the drinks are delivered by miniature railway.
hsb-wr.de, single fares from €23
ID5629215

TAZARA RAILWAY: DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA TO MBEYA, ZAMBIA

Photograph: Alamy

The Tazara railway runs from Dar Es Salaam but you can also choose to alight in Mbeya, a sleepy mountain city north of the Malawian border. This 850km-stretch takes around 24 hours. Along the way, each village seems to specialise in a different food allowing for the most picturesque buffet as pineapples, boiled eggs and dough balls are sold through open windows. It also passes through Selous, a game reserve where you have a chance of spotting elephants, giraffes and kudu.
tazarasite.com
rhiannonabike

THE GHAN, AUSTRALIA

Run by The Great Southern Rail, the Ghan journey takes two nights and three days to Darwin, via Alice Springs and Katherine: one way is 1,851 miles. It leaves from Adelaide on Sundays and goes north through the centre of Australia. The distance covered alone is breathtaking, and the colours and desert terrain are life-changing.
greatsouthernrail.com.au, single fares from AUS$499 (£277)
mynameisyourname

NEW YORK CITY, US TO MONTREAL, CANADA

Amtrak is not known for its quality, but even it cannot damage the beauty of the Adirondack route, which leaves NYC and travels north along the Hudson river and through the Adirondack Mountains. The lower portion of the trip – from New York City to Albany – passes through hundreds of years of colonial and US history, with vistas, historic homes, classic bridge spans and more. Once past Albany, it heads into the Adirondack Park, one of the world's largest nature reserves, home to 48 peaks of 1,200m or more. One feels the sweep of American history as well as the vistas that have inspired painters, poets, and writers for hundreds of years.
amtrak.com, single fares from $67 (£40)
Alan D Abbey

BADULLA TO HAPUTALE, SRI LANKA

Our 25p ticket took us through the rolling hills, chugging past women picking tea and children waving at the train. We sat with our legs swinging outside the train doors captivated by the changing green landscape. Beautiful small kitchen gardens and their gardeners looked up as we rumbled past. Stations that would have looked at home in the Norfolk countryside punctuated our two-hour journey. Neat lawns, floral arrangements and Victorian looking benches greeted us when we stopped.
slr.malindaprasad.com
GYgal

THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN LOOP, CANADA

Take an evening train for the 18 and a half hour journey from Vancouver (leaving at 8.30pm) to Jasper, and set an alarm for dawn to be up for the observation car and four hours of spectacle through the Yellowhead Pass, especially Mount Robson. For the return journey, get an early morning train down through Kicking Horse Pass back to Vancouver; these train timings mean you'll definitely get the best of the mountains.