All aboard for something wonderful
See the world, one station at a time.
An imaginative AI-created illustration of the adventure ahead.
The journey is part of the holiday
Watch city rooftops give way to open country. Step off beside a Japanese temple town or a European lake. These independent railway adventures connect memorable places with enough time to enjoy them—and a clear plan for where to sleep next.
Shinkansen photograph (2010): tansaisuketti · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Display crop.
14 days · 13 nights · Four bases
Tokyo’s energy, a mountain-inn night in Hakone, Kyoto’s temple streets and Osaka’s food culture. Follow the railway west, with a day in Nara and a practical plan from arrival to departure.
Tokyo → Hakone → Kyoto → Osaka
Discover Japan by train →
21 days · 20 nights · Four countries
Parisian mornings, Alsatian lanes, Swiss lake views and an Alpine crossing before Venice, Florence and Rome. Seven overnight bases turn a multi-country trip into a journey you can savour.
France → Switzerland → Austria → Italy
Begin the European adventure →Find arrival stations, overnight bases, suggested sightseeing and maps. Each travel day has space for the parts a timetable leaves out: checking out, finding the platform and settling in.
Use the itinerary as a starting point. Stay longer where you fall in love, shorten a walk when you need a rest, and choose the attractions that mean something to you.
Selected railway videos give a taste of the ride. Load a player only when you want to watch; nothing plays automatically.
Japan · Tokyo–Kyoto Shinkansen corridor
A Tokyo–Kyoto first-class Shinkansen video. Our itinerary breaks the journey in Hakone and boards westbound at Odawara; this film shows the longer corridor and a premium seat experience.
Riding Japan’s Famous Bullet Train in First Class | Tokyo to Kyoto Shinkansen 🚄 · Luxury Travel Host. Watch on YouTube ↗
Lucerne → Innsbruck · main Alpine section
The Man in Seat 61’s earlier Zurich–Innsbruck journey. It covers the main Alpine section, not the Lucerne–Zurich approach. Check current engineering work and services.
Arlberg Pass: Zurich to Innsbruck by Railjet train · The Man in Seat 61. Watch on YouTube ↗
Start with the time you have, then choose a manageable number of overnight bases. Japan’s two-week journey is a focused introduction along a well-established rail corridor. Our three-week Europe itinerary crosses four countries, mixing fast trains with longer scenic travel days. Neither requires you to move hotels every morning.
Before booking flights, read the arrival and departure plan, compare rail tickets with any suitable pass, and price the full stay. A railway holiday feels freer when the important connections are settled and the smaller discoveries are left open.
