10 incredible rail journeys for summer

From steam trains in Yorkshire to a journey across the Rockies, Anthony Lambert suggests 10 of the finest rail trips for summer. 

1. Yorkshire

Reached from the East Coast main line at Darlington, the Esk Valley line begins at Middlesbrough and soon enters the North York Moors National Park near Roseberry Topping. Every station offers wonderful walks, but most passengers head for the jewel-like fishing port of Whitby and the Magpie Café’s legendary fish and chips. The fit climb the 199 steps to the 13th-century abbey ruins and cliff views; others catch the summer steam-train service that turns off the Middlesbrough line at Grosmont for an enthralling journey over the North Yorkshire Moors Railway to Pickering.

Northern Trains (0800 200 6060; northernrailway.co.uk), North Yorkshire Moors Railway (01751 472508; nymr.co.uk); Darlington-Whitby, from ￡11.90 return; Whitby–Pickering ￡31.

2. Cornwall

Cornish seaside resorts can be a nightmare to reach by car. Fortunately some of the delightful branch lines built to serve them have survived to become valued ways to relieve summer congestion. Lelant Saltings Park and Ride is on the cliff-top journey between the junction with the main line at St Erth and St Ives. The train from Liskeard flirts with the East Looe River all the way to the sea at Looe, serving tiny platforms along the way. Surfboards accompany many of the passengers on the trains from Par to Newquay, renowned for its beaches and their Atlantic breakers.  

Great Western Railway (0345 7000 125; gwr.com); Day Ranger fares for unlimited travel after 8.30am: St Erth-St Ives ￡4; Liskeard-Looe ￡4.60; Par-Newquay ￡5.10. 

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3. Switzerland

Trains over Alan Clark’s favourite railway route (from Geneva to Brig) begin beneath the airport at Geneva and soon afford grandstand views over Lac Léman and the French Alps along its southern shore. Elegant clipper-bowed paddlesteamers furrow the waters, and the grapes that make Vaudois wines grow in profusion along the northern slopes. The walls of Chillon Castle, made famous by Byron, are brushed before the train leaves the lake and follows the Rhone towards its headwaters.

Switzerland Travel Centre (020 7420 4900; switzerlandtravelcentre.co.uk); Geneva–Brig from ￡50.

4. Picardy

The Baie de Somme is famed for its seafood and saltmarsh lamb, and many choose the Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme steam railway to reach the resort and fishing port of St-Valery-sur-Somme, from where William the Conqueror launched his invasion of England. The Y-shaped route from the Calais-Amiens main line at Noyelles-sur-Mer also serves the fishing village of Le Crotoy where Jules Verne lived and wrote 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. Among the eight steam locomotives that haul trains is one that worked on the construction of the Panama Canal.

Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme (0033 22 26 96 96; chemin-fer-baie-somme.asso.fr); ￡12.50 return.

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5. Sweden

The summer-only Inlandsbanan service traverses what is described as the Continent’s last wilderness of largely untouched forests and lakes and runs for an astonishing 1,067km from Kristinehamn to G?llivare. It links isolated settlements with a variety of attractions, including Europe’s largest bear park, one of the world’s longest cable-car rides (13.2km), an open-air museum of Sami historic buildings, and a hotel designed by Ralph Erskine (Borgafjall). 

Ffestiniog Travel (01766 512400; festtravel.co.uk). Price: Mora-Gallivare from ￡185.50. 

6. France and Italy

For most of the 408km journey from Marseille to Pisa, the sea is in sight from the train as it hugs the coast round the Gulf of Genoa with some of the best views along France’s Corniche de l’Esterel around St-Rapha?l. Though the Cinque Terre is justly famous for its villages, the train is the best way to reach rather than see them because of the 32 tunnels between Genoa and La Spezia. But it is still one of the finest stretches of coastal railway in Europe. A change of train is required in Genoa.

loco2.com; Marseille–Pisa from ￡60. 

7. Slovenia

The station in Slovenia’s charming capital, Ljubljana, was built in 1848 and resembles a royal palace. It is served by five or six trains a day over the mountainous line to the junction of Divaca. The train continues on a single-track line to reach the Adriatic port of Koper by a spectacular descent of almost 1,500 feet. Once part of the Venetian Republic, Koper boasts a 15th-century Praetorian Palace and Romanesque cathedral.  

Ffestiniog Travel (01766 512400; festtravel.co.uk); Ljubljana to Koper from ￡28. 

8. Sicily

The train ferry from Villa San Giovanni to Messina carries through services from Rome and Naples to Palermo, including an overnight sleeper for Catania and Siracuse. There are also day trains along the railway overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea for much of the way, serving one of the island’s foremost seaside towns, Cefalù, with its Norman cathedral and many medieval churches and palazzi. A dawn arrival at Palermo is memorable, with the city’s lights sparkling and Monte Pellegrino towering over the harbour.

loco2.com; Messina-Palermo from ￡12.50.

9. Belgium

There is nothing in Europe quite like the Kusttram, which runs for 68km along the Flemish coast linking a chain of resorts between Knokke-Heist and De Panne via Ostend, De Haan and Zeebrugge. Claiming to be the longest tram line in the world, it carries over 3 million passengers a year between the 69 stops and runs right along the beach for much of the way, occasionally diving inland to serve a town centre. Among the attractions en route are Fort Napoleon in Ostend and a museum devoted to the painter Paul Delvaux, famous for his pictures combining female nudes and railway scenes. The best beaches are around Bredene. 

Kusttram (delijn.be); single tickets are €3 or €16 for 10 trips; weekly pass for two people, €36. 

10. Canada

Rocky Mountaineer’s northerly Rainforest to Gold Rush route offers innumerable highlights – the beauty of isolated Anderson and Seton lakes, along which the train gingerly winds just feet from the water’s edge; the stupendous climb through numerous horseshoe curves out of the Fraser River Valley; the endless ranges of forested hills on the upland plateau once farmed by English aristocrats; or the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, Mount Robson. The route has an overnight stop in the characterful logging town of Quesnel.

Rocky Mountaineer (0 800 189 9311, toll free; rockymountaineer.com) Price: from ￡1,543.