Let's be honest. Flying in 2025 is basically a stress endurance test with pretzels. You queue, you shrink, you arrive looking like a crumpled napkin. But trains? Trains are different. Trains are cinema.
Condé Nast Traveler has put together a list of the best summer train trips in Europe for exactly the kind of golden-era glamour that makes you want to wear a linen blazer and stare pensively out of a window. And honestly? We are here for every single second of it.
The routes worth rerouting your whole summer for
We're talking rolling through the sun-baked Spanish countryside, watching olive groves blur past while you sip something cold and feel extremely literary about it. We're talking crossing wild gorges in Switzerland - the kind of scenery that makes your phone's camera feel genuinely inadequate. And then there's the Scottish Highlands, which need approximately zero embellishment because they already look like a fantasy novel cover.
These aren't just pretty rides. They're the kind of journeys that remind you travel is supposed to feel like something, not just be a logistical problem you solved on an app at 2am.
Why this matters more than you think
There's a cultural reset happening around slow travel right now, and train trips are right at the centre of it. People are genuinely rediscovering the radical idea that getting somewhere can be part of the experience - not just dead time to survive before the holiday starts.
Europe is uniquely set up for this. The rail infrastructure is extraordinary, the scenery is obscenely varied, and the dining car situation is, in many cases, genuinely excellent. This isn't the 6:47am commuter special. This is a whole vibe.
The bottom line
If your summer plans still have some wiggle room, seriously consider swapping a short-haul flight for a long-distance train. Your cortisol levels will thank you, your Instagram will thank you, and frankly, the planet will thank you too.
Check out the full roundup over at Condé Nast Traveler for the specific routes, timings, and all the golden-hour details you need to start planning your most aesthetically successful trip ever.
