A nostalgic train ride through Portugal
The Vouga Historical Train offers a quaint ride through the rolling hillsides of Portugal’s Vouga Valley on a 1964 Basque Railway diesel locomotive, the country’s only remaining narrow-gauge railway. The colourful wooden carriages – painted in glossy red, hunter green and royal blue, with mint green interiors and varnished dark wood seats, also feature open-air platforms that allow passengers to get some air during the six-hour journey. The train, which only runs in the summer, stops in several towns including Macinhata do Vouga, where riders are greeted by a 10-piece folk band in regional dress, and Águeda, a colourful artistic city known for its urban artworks, installations and performances.
The British Isles’ only electric mountain railway
Journey high above the Irish Sea on the Snaefell Mountain Railway, which traverses the mountains above the Isle of Man. The only electric mountain railway in the British Isles, this train – along with the Manx Electric Railway – was integral in bringing tourism to the island in 1893 when it first opened. Today, both electric lines still retain much of their original Victorian-era features, such as wooden interiors, glazed vestibules and mirrored panels.
