These train journeys prove the destination isn’t the only adventure
4 min read- Travel writer Everett Potter is releasing a new book, “100 Train Journeys of a Lifetime.”
- Potter advocates for train travel as a form of “slow travel” that offers a more immersive experience.
- Notable international train journeys include the Orient Express, the Glacier Express in Switzerland, and The Ghan in Australia.
Everett Potter has been a lifelong fan of traveling by train. His new book, “National Geographic’s 100 Train Journeys of a Lifetime,” talks about some of the best trips he’s taken by rail in more than 30 years of covering rail travel on six continents.
A study published in 2025 by Hitachi, a rail equipment manufacturer, revealed that 31% of 11,000 people surveyed worldwide anticipate relying more heavily on rail transportation in the future.
Ahead of the publication date, Potter sat down with USA TODAY to speak about his love of rail travel and why more people should think about seeing the world by train.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Question: How did this project come about, and what was the reporting process like?
Everett Potter: The project came about over decades, quite frankly. I ended up doing some feature stories for National Geographic, and I got pegged as the train guy.
I’ve been working on this book for 35 years or more. I started riding trains the first time I did a Eurail pass years ago.
It had been going on piecemeal for a very long time. I didn’t know I’d be putting all this travel and wisdom into a book. The actual writing of the book came along fairly quickly because I had so much experience riding these rails.
What makes train travel different from other ways of getting from A to B?
These journeys are really about enjoying the moment. Being on the train, particularly if it’s a historic train, a notable train that was built to connect an empire, for example, that has excitement for history buffs. It’s more of an overall experience.
A lot of the train travel I’ve done and I’ve witnessed is really about slow travel.
The whole thing in Europe now, right now, with night trains is very exciting. There was a time about a decade ago when night trains almost ceased to exist. That changed, of course, because there’s a green consciousness that Europeans have that we don’t participate in quite as heavily. The overnight trains are interesting because you don’t have to spend money on a hotel that night when you’re traveling between two cities.
Your travel is public transportation the entire way, and being in a city center is where most people want to be.
Which was your favorite trip? How can you even pick one?
The ones that stand out to me are kind of a varied bunch.
I’ve taken the Glacier Express in Switzerland probably 20 times. That’s definitely a favorite.
If you’re going to take one extraordinary over-the-top train for your honeymoon or something like that, the Orient Express is still hands down one of the most memorable experiences I’ve ever had.
Other favorites include the Machu Picchu-Cusco route in Peru, the Bernina Express in Switzerland, South Africa’s Blue Train – kind of a safari on wheels, or on tracks; The Ghan in Australia – a journey through the great center of the great country of Australia. It gives you time to experience the vastness of the Outback.
In the United States, the California Zephyr, which runs from Chicago to San Francisco, or the Empire Builder from Chicago to Portland and Seattle, are worth the trip. The observation cars are great; you get to mix and mingle with the crazy cast of characters who take the train in America.
Do you think the US will ever improve its rail travel infrastructure?
It’s going to be a long, slow process. Joe Biden, he allocated quite a few billion dollars to improve our rail infrastructure, especially for Amtrak, but it’s a very complicated situation in terms of tracks.
For high-speed rail in this country, the tracks are just not sufficient to handle high-speed trains. In other parts of the world, there’s a will from the governments involved to get these things done and a way to get these things done.
We decided, postwar, to build a highway system that is extraordinary, but in many ways, it was done at the expense of building out a bigger rail network.
What else should people know about train travel?
There are many ways to travel by train. It doesn’t have to be a five-night journey through the Australian outback.
The Mount Washington Cog Railway in New Hampshire is dear to my heart. It was the inspiration for all of the Swiss cog railways.
The Durango and Silverton Railroad in Colorado and the Napa Valley Railroad, which is a Wine Train in California, are both great day trips.
I like some of the short trains very much in this country. The same goes in Europe; you can take a regional train on the French Riviera. For Americans, it’s the most extraordinary sightseeing. Sometimes, what’s in Europe as an incidental form of transportation is wildly exciting to Americans because they’ve never seen anything like that.
