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Winter in Europe means postcard-like snowy scenery, twinkling lights, hearty feasts and Christmas markets. It’s a time for people to unwind, gear up for end-of-year holidays and enjoy some much-needed quality time with family.
And what better way to get in the holiday mood than with a luxuriously slow journey through some of Europe’s most beautiful landscapes? Euronews Travel rounds up some of the most picturesque and unique festive European train journeys to take this Christmas.
The Santa Claus Express
This might be one of the most magical train journeys to take at the end of the year. Venture straight into the heart of Christmas fairytales with the Santa Claus Express.
This Finnish overnight sleeper train takes travellers from Helsinki every evening all the way north into the Arctic Circle to Rovaniemi, through frozen lakes and snow-dusted woods. Some lucky travellers can also spot the elusive Northern Lights during certain journeys.
The Northern Lights are currently relatively easier to spot as the sun approaches its solar maximum, which increases the chances of solar storms and the appearance of the lights. Longer nights during winter also contribute to this.
By the time you wake up, you’ll be deep in Lapland, the “Official Hometown of Santa Claus”, with stops including Kolari and Kemijärvi. Here, travellers can enjoy nearby attractions such as Santa Claus Village, and go to the Santa Claus Main Post Office to get their passport stamped with an Arctic Circle stamp. You can also post letters from here.
The train offers standard sleeper cabins, deluxe sleeper cabins and seating carriages. Sleeper cabins usually have two beds, temperature control and private bathroom options with showers. A dining car with breakfast, other meals and snack options is also available.
Espresso Monaco
Night train lovers can try the Espresso Monaco, a special festive night train running between Rome and Munich during the Christmas season.
This offers a nostalgic way to experience the best of the European Christmas market season, taking travellers straight to some of Munich’s most famous ones, where travellers can shop for hand-crafted decorations and tuck into a variety of festive treats like mulled wine.
The celebrations begin on board, with Christmas-themed dining, decorations and entertainment, including live music.
Stops include Verona, Trento, Bolzano, Bressanone, Fortezza, Vipiteno/Sterzing and Colle Isarco/Gossensass in Italy. In Austria, the train will stop at Brennero/Brenner Pass, Innsbruck and Kufstein, before crossing over to Germany to end in Munich.
Accommodation options include four or six-berth couchettes, private sleeping cabins or seated accommodations, if you’re on a budget. Private sleepers come in single, double or three-berth configurations. The train also has a bar and a dining car.
This year, the Espresso Monaco will run on two December weekends. It will depart from Rome on 5 December, returning on 7 December, with another service leaving on 12 December and returning on 14 December.
Bergen Railway
The Bergen Railway, operated by the Norwegian state-owned rail company Vy, is another train line that comes into its own in winter. From Oslo to the city of Bergen on Norway’s west coast, this train travels around 500km in about seven hours and includes about 180 tunnels. It is also one of Europe’s most high-altitude lines.
Enjoy a magical festive winter adventure, as you pass by frozen vistas and waterfalls, snowfields, dramatic mountains, winding fjords, vast plateaus and fairytale-like villages with wooden houses. If you’re particularly lucky, you could catch a glimpse of some wild reindeer or an Arctic fox, too.
Some highlights of the route include the Handangervidda plateau, one of Europe’s largest mountain plateaus, as well as Finse, a high-altitude station with stunning glacier views and Geilo, a popular ski resort town. Travellers can connect to the famous Flåm Railway at Myrdal station for an even more unforgettable descent into the fjords.
Passengers can choose between multiple daily departures, including a sleeper train. The train offers a first and second class, as well as a cafe car, vending machines, and wi-fi. Some carriages are also specially designed for families.
Golden Eagle Danube Express
Love Christmas markets? The Golden Eagle Danube Express is for you.
Offering a variety of year-round itineraries ranging from eight to 12 days, this train is extra special in winter. It runs a Christmas Markets of Central Europe itinerary, which operates between Budapest and Munich, taking in Vienna, the Austrian Alps and Salzburg as well.
This trip includes a two-night stay at a five-star hotel in Budapest, as well as welcome dinners, guided city tours, champagne receptions, and Christmas market tours. Highlights include a traditional horse-drawn carriage ride in Vienna, a concert of Viennese Christmas folk songs and a tasting of Pirker gingerbread. Adjusted itineraries for this route can include other iconic cities such as Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam.
Enjoy a number of different historic cities decked out with thousands of twinkling Christmas lights and frosted landscapes.
Another Golden Eagle Danube Express route perfect for the holidays is the Grand Alpine Express, which whisks passengers through Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland and northern Italy.
Stops include Budapest, Vienna, Semmering Pass, Lake Achen, Innsbruck, Zurich, St. Gotthard Pass, Lake Como, Verona, Trieste, Lake Bled, Ljubljana, Postojna and Venice.
Soak in scenic Austrian Tyrol and Italian Lake District views, with the added advantage of exploring a relatively little-known European treasure, Slovenia. This journey also includes Renaissance and Gothic palaces, picture-postcard villages, and frozen lakes.
More like a five-star hotel on wheels than a train, the Golden Eagle Danube Express offers opulent luxury with marble bathrooms, private en-suite cabins, turndown service, elegant dining, butler-style service and bar cars.
Choose between Deluxe and Superior Deluxe cabins, decked out with seating areas which convert into queen-size beds, panoramic windows, full-length wardrobes, personal safes, luxury toiletries and air conditioning. On board wi-fi is available too.
The bar and lounge car offers entertainment such as live music, cultural lectures and language lessons, along with a wide range of drinks.
Glacier Express
The Glacier Express route is one of Switzerland’s most famous rail journeys and another very strong contender for Christmas. Dubbed the “slowest express train in the world”, it runs between Zermatt and St. Moritz in an epic eight-hour journey over 291km.
Cross the Swiss Alps, passing through 91 tunnels and over 291 bridges, while marvelling at panoramic snow-capped mountain views, icy blue lakes and deep gorges.
Some highlights include the Oberalp Pass, which is open year-round, the dramatic Rhine Gorge, also known as the “Swiss Grand Canyon”, and the Landwasser Viaduct, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Choose from three classes, including second class, first class and Excellence class. The train includes facilities such as wi-fi access, digital infotainment and audio guides, as well as lowerable windows.
Excellence class passengers can enjoy luxurious 5-course dining, with vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and lactose-free options as well as a range of regional Swiss wines and digestifs. All meals are freshly prepared on board, with high-quality, seasonal ingredients and are served in the dining car.
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