Life-Changing Train Journeys That Will Make You Love Slow Travel

If you’ve never experienced a long slow journey by train, then you’ve been missing out. Of course, short-haul plane journeys for weekends away were more popular over the last decade or so. But they’re so well, speedy. You leave your home, and before you know it, you’ve seemingly like-magic popped into a new realm. Yes, it’s exciting that way, but it’s also jolting and terrible for the environment.

On the other hand, slow travel eases you through changing landscapes. Along the way, you catch enticing glimpses of magnificent views, the wilderness, ordinary life taking place, and otherwise unseen places like backstreets and suburban areas. 

Then, there is the social aspect of train travel. On the one hand, you can sit back and passively watch people. But there are also opportunities to have conversations with other passengers, and these moments can become your travel gold.

These are my favorite train journeys which will not only make you love slow travel. They can change your life.

Jaipur to Goa (via Mumbai), India

If you only enjoy one long train journey, then it must be a train journey in India. India’s trains continually clatter and rattle across the country, and I think there is no better way to experience the place.

At the stations, trains pull up, and you can buy food, snacks, and delicious Chai through the windows. Don’t miss enjoying some Pakora’s, the ones sold through train windows are the best in India. Then, as the train trundles along, you can sit in the doorway with your feet dangling, watching the world go past. Or sit on your berth and enjoy a good book, the views, and meeting people. In India, people enjoy having a chat on the train, unlike in the U.K.

The Jaipur to Goa route takes you through desert landscapes in Rajasthan, through the super-city Mumbai, and then down the tropical coast to Goa. All in all, you spend 27 hours and a half on the train.

The views are spectacular, and I’ll never forget the experience of having my handwriting ‘read’ by a chatty passenger I met while on the journey.

New Orleans to Los Angeles, U.S.A. 

America’s all about the road trip. Well, yes and no. While road tripping has to be quintessentially American, long-distance train travel was a way of life for the now pretty-much extinct hobo.

Hoboes would ride the freight trains up and down the country working, living, and loving. They had chosen this way of life, a way of life anchored by the act of riding freight trains from place to place. Nowhere, their home, everywhere their home. Singing a song, telling a tall tale, social and lonely at the same time. This state of being is now immortalized in American literature and music.

And while you can’t run, jump and ride trains easily anymore, you can imagine yourself a hobo on a long-distance Amtrak train journey across the U.S of A.

The Sunset Limited runs one such epic American train journey from New Orleans to Los Angeles. Over 45 hours and 40 minutes, you cross the country passing through Louisiana Bayou country, the cacti-filled southwestern deserts, and into the mountains of California. Want epic? This train journey puts the epic into epic.

Trans-Siberian Railway, Moscow to Vladivostok, Russia

The Trans-Siberian railway is the longest railway line globally, taking a mighty seven days to travel from Moscow to Vladivostok. 

Vladivostok is a city positioned in the far East of Russia, right on the Pacific ocean. They spent 25 years constructing the railway, finally being ready in 1916.

In literature and traveler communities, the Trans-Siberian Railway has taken on a kind of legendary reputation. And the journey remains a unique way to experience not only the landscapes of Russia but also to meet the people. As Paul Theroux put it best:

“Anything is possible on a train: a great meal, a binge, a visit from card players, an intrigue, a good night’s sleep, and strangers’ monologues framed like Russian short stories.”

― Paul Theroux, The Great Railway Bazaar

Trans-Mongolian Express, Moscow to Beijing, Russia, Mongolia, and China

The no-less impressive younger sister of the Trans-Siberian Express, the Tran-Mongolian Express, starts in Moscow and crosses over Mongolia into China before finishing its journey in Beijing. 

Construction of the Mongolian section took eight years. Work began in 1947, and the line was completed at the Chinese border in 1955. 

I don’t think Mongolia needs much introduction when it comes to otherworldly landscapes. Bleak, beautiful, rich, empty, open, wild, wildlife, grassland, mountains, sand, cold, snow, rain, high, dry. If any landscape can have an impact and change your life, Mongolia can. And now imagine Mongolia combined with two other mysterious giants – Russia and China. This train journey takes you through all three countries slowly, giving you time to experience the distances first-hand and process the changing terrain and cultures.

Lastly, some might argue the experience of changing the bogies at the Chinese border is worth the journey alone. Google it!

I Hear the Steam Trumpet

Trains are the way to go, and at their most epic, you can experience the longest train journeys in a week. So steam ahead and stay ahead of the curve. Watch this space. I predict slow travel will soon be on-trend.