The best cheap train trips in Europe for epic views – starting at just €3

Short but incredibly sweet, this three-mile journey covers one of the most beautiful routes in the UK. Passengers get a sharp burst of sea air, along with views of windswept dunes and the sparkling ocean, as the train tracks cut into the cliff. On a warm, clear day, passengers passing the crescent-shaped Carbis Bay will spot paddle boarders and bathers before the train descends towards the bird-filled Hayle Estuary, terminating at St Erth.

Journey time: Just 12 minutes with trains running every half an hour throughout the day.

Starting price: From £3.10 on the National Rail

An ideal day-trip from the city of Porto, the journey into the Douro Valley gives passengers a taste of Portugal’s wild side. Departing from the blue-and-white-tiled São Bento station the train is soon hooting along the banks of the Douro River, the valley’s terraced steps rising up on both sides. Like amphitheatres, these were cut by hand and appear to ripple in rich shades as the train chugs around port country. The highlight of the ride is in the final stages from Tua when the wind billows through the open windows and the train runs tight to the water’s edge.

Journey time: 3hrs and 25mins

Starting price: From €15.10 on Comboios de Portugal

Two of the most popular capital cities in Europe for art, classical music and world-class museums,  Vienna and Budapest are barely two and a half hours apart. Austria’s Railjet and Hungary’s EuroCity services both operate comfortable trains with the former offering a dining car and Wifi, but the privately owned Czech operator RegioJet is now enticing passengers with budget fares with the promise that riders can cancel online tickets free of charge up to 15 minutes before the journey begins. Book in advance for a weekend of culture and nightlife.

Journey time: 2hrs and 24mins

Starting price: From €9 on RegioJet

With the countryside speeding past windows that give passengers peeks into working farms and village life, taking the train down the centre of the country is one of the most rewarding ways to travel to the French Riviera from the capital. The regular high-speed TGV takes almost six hours to make the journey and can often cost in excess of £100, but Ouigo’s low-cost TGV service takes just ten minutes longer and with advance booking can cost just a fifth of the price.

Journey time: 6hrs 3mins

Starting price: €19 on Ouigo

European sleeper trains are experiencing a renaissance as passengers turn back to the charms of slow travel. Austria’s state operator, ÖBB, has been pioneering this movement with its Nightjet trains that operate on 20 routes. In December 2023, it launched a brand new fleet that feature capsule-style mini cabins for solo travellers and when booked in advance they can cost less than the price of an equivalent flight, dropping passengers into the heart of the city without the hassle of arriving early at an airport or having to hail expensive taxis in from the suburbs.

Journey time: 14hrs 30mins

Starting price: €34.90 in a seating carriage or €114.90 in a private mini cabin on ÖBB 

Inaugurated in 1895, the 3ft-wide Ferrovia Circumetnea train was originally built to assist farmers travelling around the region which made its wealth from wine and hazelnuts. Today, this clackety steam train is used to ferry school children up and down Mount Etna’s foothills, squeezing around the backs of villas where bunches of lemons bump against the carriages and the scent of rosemary and lavender billows through the open windows. At every turn, the scooped-out peak of the volcano can be spotted, before the train draws into the little town of Linguaglossa, a haven for regional cuisine.

Journey time: 30 mins with trains available up to three times a day

Starting price: €2 on Ferrovia Circumetnea, available to buy from the station before departure