Christmas trains of the world: steam to the Brocken, the Glacier Express and the Polar Express

The Brocken, the highest mountain in northern Germany, spends most of the year wrapped in fog, and that is exactly where steam trains climb every day in winter. A black locomotive in clouds of steam hauls its carriages through the snowy Harz forest just as it did a century ago, and at the top passengers are greeted by wind, frost on every branch and a weather station. The beauty of Christmas trains is that you get snowy mountains without skis, without snow chains and without any particular heroics: you take a window seat and the railway does the rest.

The Harz: steam to the Brocken and half-timbered Wernigerode

The Harz narrow-gauge railways, Harzer Schmalspurbahnen, form Europe's largest narrow-gauge network where steam locomotives run to an everyday timetable rather than just on special occasions. The Brocken branch starts in Wernigerode, runs for about 34 kilometres and reaches the summit at 1,141 metres in an hour and forty minutes. Legend says witches gather here on Walpurgis Night, which is why Goethe sent his Faust up this very hill. In December there are no witches in sight, but there is snow, often when the valleys below have none.

Since October 2025 an adult return ticket has cost around 65 euros, afternoon trains are about ten euros cheaper, and children's fares are noticeably lower. The winter timetable and current fares are published on the Harz narrow-gauge railways website. Save at least one evening for Wernigerode: a half-timbered town hall, a castle on the hill and a small Christmas market in the old town. If you collect German castles, our list of the top 5 castles in Germany has more ideas.

The Glacier Express in winter: the slowest express in the world

The Swiss cheerfully call the Glacier Express the slowest express train in the world. From Zermatt to St. Moritz it takes almost eight hours, crosses hundreds of bridges and dozens of tunnels, and climbs above 2,000 metres at the Oberalp Pass. In winter there is snow outside the panoramic windows nearly the whole way, and that is when the best photos happen.

Mind the gap in service: the train does not run from 11 October to 4 December 2026, and the winter timetable runs from 5 December 2026 to 7 May 2027, with one or two trains a day in each direction. A full-fare second-class ticket for the whole route costs around 160 francs, and a seat reservation is compulsory on top, 54 francs in 2026. Excellence Class, with a multi-course menu and a guaranteed window seat, is a different league: the reservation alone costs 540 francs. Swiss Travel Pass holders pay only for the reservation. Timetables and booking are on the official Glacier Express website.

The Bernina Express: from glaciers to Italian palm trees

The Bernina Express runs from Chur or St. Moritz to Tirano in Italy all year round. Over the Bernina Pass the line climbs to 2,253 metres without a single rack rail, at Alp Grüm you look straight at the Palü Glacier, and further down, near Brusio, the train loops a full circle on a stone spiral viaduct. The Albula and Bernina lines and their landscape have been on the UNESCO list since 2008. Start from Chur and you also cross the Landwasser Viaduct, the one from every postcard, with the track disappearing straight into the rock.

The reservation for the full Chur to Tirano run costs around 40 francs in winter and around 32 from St. Moritz, plus the ticket itself. Budget travellers have a trick: ordinary Rhaetian Railway regional trains use the same line, need no reservation, and have windows you can open for photos without reflections.

The Polar Express: pyjamas, cocoa and a silver bell

Chris Van Allsburg's 1985 picture book and the 2004 film have turned into licensed rides called The Polar Express Train Ride. Children come in pyjamas, the crew hands out hot chocolate and a cookie, the story is read aloud, and at the North Pole Santa boards the train and gives every child a silver bell. In the United States dozens of heritage railroads run these trips, one of the best known being the Grand Canyon Railway from Williams, Arizona.

In Britain, rides for the 2026 season have been announced by the South Devon Railway in Devon (27 November to 23 December), the Wensleydale Railway from Leeming Bar in North Yorkshire, and, for the first time, the Brecon Mountain Railway near Merthyr Tydfil in Wales (13 November to 23 December, tickets roughly 35 to 50 pounds). The most convenient evening departures sell out in autumn, so buy early, and remember that Ukrainian travellers need a UK visa.

Christmas trains of Ukrzaliznytsia

Ukraine does have steam-hauled heritage trains for the holidays, though the format changes every year. In the 2024/25 season the Christmas Expresses ran in Lviv from 25 to 29 December and in Kyiv from 1 to 5 January. The rides were free, 80% of seats went to children of internally displaced people, soldiers, railway workers, police officers and rescuers, and the rest were drawn by lottery among people who registered on the Ukrzaliznytsia website. In December 2025, over the St Nicholas weekend from 5 to 7 December, a Magic Express ran in Kyiv and Lviv for children from frontline communities and railway workers' children. If an air raid alert sounds, the celebrations move from the platforms into shelters. For Christmas 2026 rides, watch the Ukrzaliznytsia app and social media: registration usually opens a few weeks ahead and closes within days.

The Carpathian Tram and the narrow-gauge lines of Zakarpattia

In Vyhoda, in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, the Carpathian Tram runs on a narrow-gauge line originally built to haul timber. The route follows the river through Mizun to the Mahura tract, and the full summer programme takes a whole day. The organisers say they operate all year, but in winter the schedule depends on snow and on demand, so call and book a few days ahead. For more to do in the mountains at this time of year, see our piece on the Carpathians in winter.

As for the Borzhava narrow-gauge railway in Zakarpattia, it is fairer to lower expectations straight away. It once linked Berehove, Vynohradiv, Irshava and the villages below the Borzhava ridge, but regular services stopped long ago, some sections have been dismantled, and it does not belong in a winter itinerary. For now, thermal pools and mountains stand in for railway romance in Zakarpattia.

The Nordland Line: across the Arctic Circle into the polar night

Nordlandsbanen, Norway's longest railway line, connects Trondheim and Bodø: 729 kilometres and about ten hours on the train. On the Saltfjellet plateau it crosses the Arctic Circle, and in December the sun does not rise above the horizon in Bodø for several weeks, so by day you get the blue light of twilight, and at night, with luck, the northern lights. There are day trains and a night train with sleeper compartments, run by SJ Nord, with timetables on the SJ website. Winter weather can cause delays on the line, so do not plan a flight for the same day. For more route ideas, see our guide on what to see in Norway.

Table: Christmas and winter trains 2026/27

We checked timetables and fares in late October 2026, and Swiss and British prices change every season, so confirm them before booking. If you want just one winter train for a first try, the Brocken is the easiest place to start: the ticket is affordable, the trains run daily, and Wernigerode with its Christmas market is a good excuse to stay the night.