Suggestions needed for international rail trip

[AAARGH!]

I have a good problem. I now have over 1,000,000 frequent flyer miles split 70 / 30 between two major U.S. Airlines.

I'm thinking of doing 1 or 2 international rail journeys, 1 for high speed rail, the other for the most scenic routes. The sky's the limit. No destination is off limits.

If you were planning the perfect world high speed train or scenic railway tour, what would you plan?

As for scenery, I know the jungfrau (sp) line in Switzerland is up there.

For high speed, I'm thinking about the Japanese bullet trains and perhaps the French TGVs. Not sure about anything in China.

I've traveled on almost all the Amtrak long distance routes, so these trips will be international.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I have a good problem. I now have over 1,000,000 frequent flyer miles split 70 / 30 between two major U.S. Airlines.

I'm thinking of doing 1 or 2 international rail journeys, 1 for high speed rail, the other for the most scenic routes. The sky's the limit. No destination is off limits.

If you were planning the perfect world high speed train or scenic railway tour, what would you plan?

As for scenery, I know the jungfrau (sp) line in Switzerland is up there.

For high speed, I'm thinking about the Japanese bullet trains and perhaps the French TGVs. Not sure about anything in China.

I've traveled on almost all the Amtrak long distance routes, so these trips will be international.

Switzerland and Japan are great choices!

You also might consider the Alaska RR and VIAs Canadian between Vancouver and Toronto.

Peru has some great Scenery, and the Train ride to visit Macu Picchu is something else!

Mexico has the Copper Canyon Train between Los Mochis and Chihuahua, which is a Bucket List Trip also!

I haven't been on Chinese( lots of High Speed Trains) and Vietnamese Trains , but friends who have say they're really Fantastic!

 

[jiml]

Not high-speed, but either of the long-distance "cruise" trains in Australia are on many bucket lists.

 

[MARC Rider]

Switzerland and Japan are great choices!

I would agree on these two. You get a lot of variety of different types of trains and great scenery. Switzerland even has trains with panorama windows to get those good views of the Alps. Japan has the original Shinkansen, ekiben, and the added bonus of a truly foreign culture to see, also.

China might be interesting, too. They have a very extensive high speed rail network that even includes overnight HSR trains. But the visa requirements are complicated and I'm not sure about single travelers going off on their own, especially if they don't speak the language(s).

Morocco might be interesting. Not only do they have the famous "Marrakesh Express," they have a 320 km/hr high speed train Tangier to Casablanca. Interesting culture, and you can even hike on the International Appalachian Trail in the Atlas Mountains (which a geologically related to our own North American Appalachian Mountains.) One could combine that with a rail tour of Spain, which has high-speed rail, at least three operating gauges, and interesting culture as well.