1. WILD SWEDEN
The summer-only Inlandsbanan (Inland Line) traverses “Europe ’s last wilderness” of largely untouched forests and lakes for 1,067km from Mora to Gällivare. It links isolated settlements with a variety of attractions, including Europe’s largest bear park, the world’s longest cable-car ride (more than 13km), an open-air museum of Sami historic buildings, and a hotel designed by Ralph Erskine.
● Mora-Gällivare from £185.50. See festtravel.co.uk
2. ADRIATIC ADVENTURE
The station in Slovenia’s charming capital, Ljubljana, was built in 1848 and resembles a royal palace. It is served by five or six trains a day over the mountainous line to the junction of Divaca. The train continues on a single-track line to reach the Adriatic port of Koper by a spectacular descent of almost 460m. Once part of the Venetian Republic, Koper boasts the 15th-century Praetorian Palace and a Romanesque cathedral.
● Ljubljana-Koper from £28. See festtravel.co.uk3. TOURING BY TRAM
There is nothing in Europe quite like the Kusttram, which runs for 68km along the Flemish coast, linking a chain of resorts between Knokke-Heist and De Panne via Ostend, De Haan and Zeebrugge.Claiming to be the longest tram line in the world, it carries more than three million passengers a year between the 69 stops and runs along the beach for much of the way, occasionally diving inland to serve a town centre. Among the attractions it visits are Fort Napoleon and the museum devoted to Paul Delvaux, the painter famous for his pictures combining female nudes and railway scenes in Ostend. The best beaches are around Bredene.
● Single tickets €3 or €16 for 10 trips. See delijn.be4. SICILIAN HISTORYThe train-ferry from Villa San Giovanni to Messina carries through services from Rome and Naples to Palermo, including an overnight sleeping-car train with other portions for Catania and Syracuse.There are also day trains along the railway overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea for much of the way, serving one of the island’s foremost tourist attractions, Cefalù, with its Norman cathedral, medieval churches and palazzi. A dawn arrival at Palermo is memorable, with the city’s lights sparkling and Monte Pellegrino towering over the harbour.
● Messina-Palermo from £12.50. See loco2.com5. PERFECT PICARDIE
The Baie (Bay) de Somme in France is famedfor its seafood and salt marsh lamb, and many choose the Chemin de Fer de la Baiede Somme steam railway to reach the resort and fishing port of St-Valery-sur-Somme, from where William the Conqueror launched his invasion of England.
The Y-shaped route from the Calais-Amiens mainline at Noyelles-sur-Mer also serves the fishing village of Le Crotoy, where Jules Verne lived and wrote 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Among the eight steam locomotives that haul trains is one that worked on the construction of the Panama Canal. - The Sunday Telegraph
● £12.50 return. See cfbs.eu/en..