Germany: Bavarian Zugspitzbahn
It is said to have been due to the dreaded Zugspitzgeist that Germany's highest mountain was avoided well into the 19th century.
Presumably the 2962 meter high, steep rock spike was considered invincible by most mountaineers anyway.
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However, after the surveyor Josef Naus was the first person to climb the mountain in 1820, the fear of ghosts was quickly forgotten and more and more people wanted to get as close as possible.
The method of choice was the cog railway, opened in 1930.
The white and blue car takes you from Garmisch-Partenkirchen through the Rosi-Mittermaier tunnel to the Zugspitzplatt.
Once at the top, the view extends over hundreds of peaks to Austria, Italy and Switzerland.
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Today the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn is the only still operating nostalgic cogwheel train in Germany, along with the Stuttgart rack railway, the Wendelstein and the Drachenfels railway - and therefore simply a must for passionate rail travelers.
zugspitze.de
France: Tramway du Mont-Blanc
The French have called a Nid d'Aigle - eagle's nest - the highest train station in their country.
There, at 2,372 meters above sea level and at the foot of the highest mountain in Western Europe, the wonderful journey with the Tramway du Mont-Blanc (TMB) ends.
The Tramway du Mont-Blanc goes to the highest station in France
Source: pa / dpa / Gregory Yetchmeniza
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One of the last cogwheel trains in France winds steadily up the mountain flanks over alarmingly narrow rocky outcrops to bring alpine hikers to the starting point for their high mountain tours.
Experienced mountaineers can continue from there over the famous Goûter ridge to the summit of Mont Blanc.
In winter, the TMB wagons only make it through the snow-covered forests and slopes to the Bellevue plateau at around 1,800 meters, but still offer panoramic views of the Bionnassay glacier.
The Bellevue area is also ideal for long snowshoe hikes and cross-country skiing tours.
montblancnaturalresort.com
Greece: Odontotos
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Most of the narrow-gauge railways in the Peloponnese fell victim to austerity measures during the Greek financial crisis, but fortunately the legendary Odontotos rack railway still runs on one of the most spectacular railway lines in the country.
Spectacular: the Odontotos train overcomes gradients of up to 28 percent
Source: picture-alliance / dpa
It was inaugurated in 1896 after only five years of construction and runs from Diakofto on the Gulf of Corinth through the wild Vouraikos Gorge, one of the most beautiful landscapes in Europe.
Rock forms into a canyon with a size of a guard, evergreen trees balance on rocky outcrops, and the Vouraikos river falls photogenically into the depths in many places.
Before the Odontotos reaches the mountain town of Kalavryta after around 22 kilometers, a popular destination for hikers and winter sports enthusiasts, it is worth making a stopover to visit the Mega Spileo monastery, which hugs the rugged cliffs.
trainose.gr
UK: Snowdon Mountain Railway
Nothing beats the romance of a train ride through the mountains, thought the Welsh people too, and in 1896 they sent the Snowdon Mountain Railway up the highest mountain in Wales for the first time, the 1085 meter high Snowdon.
Some steam locomotives from the opening year are still in use today.
Gently undulating: The Snowdon Mountain Railway travels through the Welsh mountains
Source: pa / robertharding
From the starting point in Llanberis, they puff past lakes and sheep pastures up into the dramatic mountain landscape of the Snowdonia National Park, which was pushed up by volcanic forces 450 million years ago.
Before Britain's only cogwheel train reaches the terminus below the Snowdon summit after an hour, it jerks, tooth for tooth, over a difference in altitude of a good 1000 meters on the 7.5 kilometer route.
Surrounded by peregrine falcons that live in the Welsh mountains and look for prey by the railroad tracks.
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snowdonrailway.co.uk
Switzerland: Jungfrau Railway
The Swiss have proven that there is nothing in terms of cog railway that cannot be improved.
The goal of the Confederates: the Jungfraujoch.
Up there they built the highest railway station in Europe at 3454 meters.
Nowhere else can you climb such a height more comfortably than with the Jungfrau Railway.
Great: The Jungfrau Railway heads for the highest train station in Europe on the Jungfraujoch
Source: picture alliance / prisma
The pure mountain railway happiness, however, was preceded by 16 years of hard work, in which there was drilling, chopping and blasting in shifts, because a large part of the journey leads through a tunnel and right into the interior of the mountains Mönch and Eiger.
In order to still be able to enjoy the view, windows were even carved into the mountainside in several places, where the train takes breaks.
Since it opened in 1912, the Jungfrau Railway has been taking passengers from the Kleine Scheidegg pass up to the “Top of Europe”, where, with a little luck, a fantastic view of the distance awaits.
jungfrau.ch