The world’s fourth most beautiful scenic railway is in the UK

Often, a train journey spent looking down at your phone is a train journey wasted. There are so many railway lines around the world that run through spectacular, remote landscapes, offering views you wouldn’t get if you were travelling on foot or by road. 

With that in mind, travel insurance company Insure and Go wanted to know which train routes are the most scenic in the world. Specifically, it wanted to find out which train journeys are the most eye-catching. To do that, researchers showed participants multiple images of views from train routes across the globe and used eye tracking technology to see how quickly their eyes were drawn to each image and how long they spent looking. 

Participants were shown trackside vistas from Japan, Peru, Switzerland and more. But pulling up in fourth place was the UK’s own West Highland Line. 

The world-famous Scottish route earned an eye-catching score of 86 out of 100 and was the only UK entry in the top 15. Travelling 164 miles from Glasgow to Oban, Fort William or Mallaig, it’s best known for gliding over the iconic magnificent Glenfinnan Viaduct, which starred in the Harry Potter films. 

If you peer out of your window at any point along the journey, you will see a view that looks like it should be hanging in a gallery. The track snakes through Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park and curves around Scotland’s dramatic mountains, vast heather moors and glimmering, pine tree encircled lochs. It then splits at Crianlarich to go through Loch Awe to Oban, or high up to the rugged landscape of Rannoch Moor on to Fort William or Mallaig. 

The best part of the West Highland Line is that, unlike a number of the other journeys on Insure and Go’s list, you don’t need an expensive tourist pass to experience it. ScotRail runs a regularly scheduled, affordable service throughout the week. However, if you want to really feel like you’re aboard the Hogwarts Express, you can book a trip on the famous Jacobite Steam Train. 

See all the most scenic train journeys in the UK here.

ICYMI: Four UK destinations are in the top 50 most beautiful places in the world.

Plus: £30 tickets are now on sale for a new affordable train service connecting London and Scotland