Long before flying became routine, Europe’s great winter journeys unfolded on rails, linking mountains, plateaus and cities with a sense of continuity that still resonates.
Travelling this way is both immersive and sustainable. It is low impact, deliberate, and rooted in an older idea of movement that values the journey as much as the destination. Along each route, historic hotels wait where they always have, beside stations and at natural stopping points, offering warmth, rest and a tangible connection to travel’s past.
Switzerland: across the Alps, one window at a time
Start here: Fly into Zurich
Take the train: Glacier Express or Bernina Express
End in: The Engadin
Switzerland rewards winter rail travel more generously than almost anywhere else. Trains move with intention, the infrastructure is designed for looking out, and the landscapes feel composed rather than incidental.
From Zurich, it’s a straightforward rail journey south to join the Glacier Express, a daylight-only service running between Zermatt and St. Moritz. It is famously slow, by design, and that pace sharpens attention. Watch for frozen vineyards clinging to the Rhône Valley, snow-packed villages near Andermatt, and the Albula line, where the train gains height by looping through spiral tunnels and sweeping across stone viaducts, sometimes revealing its own carriages ahead.
Bergün arrives quietly, a small Alpine village whose identity is inseparable from the railway. Kurhaus Bergün sits just beyond the platform, a Belle Époque landmark built for travellers who expected to stay a while. Winter here is pared back: early nights, long breakfasts, and the steady rhythm of trains passing through the valley.
Further east, the mood changes. The Bernina Express runs through the Upper Engadin, where the terrain opens out into frozen lakes, high light and bare larch forests before climbing towards the Bernina Pass. Near St. Moritz, Cresta Palace Celerina offers a practical, well-connected base, with cross-country trails and winter routines woven into daily life.
For a quieter conclusion, continue to St. Moritz and take the local bus to Sils Maria. Set above the village, Hotel Waldhaus Sils feels designed for winter slowness, a place to stop travelling altogether and let weather and light dictate the day.
Norway: crossing the country in winter light
Start here: Fly into Oslo
Take the train: Bergen Line
End in: Bergen
Norway’s great winter rail journey is less about drama than endurance. Fly into Oslo, board the train west, and allow time to stretch.
The Bergen Line crosses the Hardangervidda plateau, Northern Europe’s highest mainline railway, and in winter it can feel starkly remote. Snow fences edge the tracks, stations appear briefly out of the white, and long sections pass without visible settlement. This is a journey best taken in daylight, ideally with a window seat and no fixed agenda.
The descent towards the west coast is gradual. Trees return, then houses, then water. After the openness of the plateau, Bergen feels unexpectedly compact and lively. From the station, it’s an easy walk to Hotel Park, a small historic townhouse hotel that suits the reflective mood of arrival. Close enough to feel part of the city, it remains calm enough to absorb the crossing.
This journey persuades quietly. One line, one sustained landscape, and the satisfaction of having crossed an entire country at winter pace.
Italy: the Brenner Pass, southbound
Start here: Fly into Innsbruck or Munich
Take the train: Brenner Pass route
End in: Merano or Milan
The Brenner Pass is one of Europe’s most important rail crossings, and winter is when its gradual shifts are most apparent. From Innsbruck, trains climb steadily through the Tyrol before crossing into Italy with little ceremony.
South of the pass, the change is subtle but unmistakable. Valleys widen, snow thins, and the air begins to soften. From Bolzano, a short branch line leads to Merano, a former spa town shaped by late-19th-century travel culture. Hotel Villa Westend sits among grand villas and promenades, its palm-lined streets feeling faintly surreal after days of Alpine terrain. Winter here is restorative rather than dramatic, with thermal baths, slow walks and unhurried afternoons.
Continue south and the journey resolves itself in Milan. Arrival is decisive and urban, platforms busy, streets immediately animated. A short taxi or metro ride from Milano Centrale, Grand Hotel et de Milan feels like the natural conclusion, a hotel shaped by arrivals and departures, long associated with writers, musicians and travellers passing through.
Reached this way, Italy feels earned, not an escape from winter, but its release.
Poland: finishing in the city
This journey begins quietly. Prague is an ideal place to slow down before crossing borders, a city designed for lingering rather than rushing. Staying at Villa Lanna, a late-19th-century villa set just beyond the historic centre, reinforces that rhythm. Built originally as a private residence, it reflects an era when travel was measured and unshowy.
Start here: Fly into Prague
Take the train: Prague to Kraków route
End in: Kraków
From Prague, trains head east through Moravia and into southern Poland, following a landscape that is flatter and more subdued than the Alpine routes that come before it. Winter here is understated but absorbing: frost-edged fields, bare trees, small towns and industrial edges softened by pale light. Borders slip by almost unnoticed, the sense of transition felt more in atmosphere than announcement.
Kraków announces itself through detail rather than drama. The main station sits close to the medieval core, making arrival unusually direct. Winter sharpens the city’s outlines: church towers against pale skies, tramlines cutting through snow-dusted streets, steam rising from cafés at dusk. Just inside the Old Town, Hotel Polski Pod Białym Orłem offers an easy, historic landing, close enough to arrive on foot, central enough to stay put.
After mountains, plateaus and long crossings, Kraków rewards being on foot. It’s a city made for winter wandering and warm interiors, a reminder that slow travel does not end in retreat, but in engagement.
Before you go: practical notes for winter rail travel
- Book ahead for panoramic trains. The Glacier Express and Bernina Express both require seat reservations in addition to a valid rail ticket, especially in winter when daylight services are limited.
- Travel in daylight. Winter days are short, so choose mid-morning departures where possible to see the landscape at its best.
- Pack for stations as well as scenery. Platforms in Alpine and Nordic regions can be cold and exposed, even when trains are warm and comfortable.
- Plan short onward connections. Some hotels, such as those in Sils Maria or Merano, require a brief bus, tram or taxi transfer from the nearest station, all of which are well coordinated with rail arrivals.
- Build in time to stop. These journeys reward staying put. One or two nights at each destination allows the rhythm of winter travel to settle.
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