South America’s railway history tells a fascinating story of ambition, engineering prowess, and economic cycles that have left a patchwork of operational lines across the continent. While many historic routes have been abandoned, others continue to serve local communities or have been preserved specifically for their scenic and historical value.
Beyond the famous tourist trains like Peru’s Machu Picchu route lie numerous spectacular journeys that remain largely unknown to international travelers. Here is a list of 20 spectacular train journeys across South America that offer breathtaking views, cultural immersion, and historical significance while remaining refreshingly free from the crowds that dominate better-known routes.
The Tren a las Nubes
Snaking through the dramatic landscapes of northwestern Argentina, this engineering marvel climbs to over 13,800 feet on its journey from Salta to the Chilean border. The train traverses 21 tunnels, 29 bridges, and 13 viaducts, including the stunning La Polvorilla viaduct that curves 224 feet above the desert floor.
While tourist versions run part of the original route, locals still use the less publicized services that depart in the pre-dawn hours, offering a more authentic experience alongside Andean villagers transporting goods to market.
The Central Railway of Brazil
This historic line stretches from Rio de Janeiro into the mountainous interior, climbing through the Atlantic rainforest that once covered much of eastern Brazil. The regular passenger service navigates a sequence of 18 tunnels and numerous switchbacks constructed in the 1880s, passing through small colonial towns virtually unchanged since the imperial era.
The early morning departure from Rio Central Station offers spectacular views of mist-shrouded mountains as the train climbs into highlands that rarely feature on standard Brazilian tourist itineraries.
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The Ferrocarril Central Andino
Operating on the world’s highest standard-gauge railway line, this Peruvian route connects Lima to Huancayo, crossing the Andes at a breathtaking 15,688 feet. The train makes a hair-raising ascent through 69 tunnels and across 58 bridges, gaining more than 13,000 feet of elevation in just 106 miles.
Unlike tourist-oriented Machu Picchu trains, this service primarily carries local passengers and operates just twice monthly, with carriages often filled with indigenous traders and their colorful textiles bound for highland markets.
The Vitória-Minas Railway
This Brazilian line connects the coastal city of Vitória with the mineral-rich interior of Minas Gerais, passing through segments of the endangered Atlantic Forest ecosystem. The route follows historical pathways once used by 18th-century gold miners, with the train winding alongside crystal-clear rivers and through narrow valleys hidden from road access.
The twice-daily passenger service offers reclining seats and large windows perfect for viewing waterfalls that cascade directly beside the tracks during the rainy season.
The Old Patagonian Express
Made famous by Paul Theroux but still overlooked by most travelers, this narrow-gauge steam railway in Argentina’s southern wilderness is locally known as La Trochita. The wood-burning locomotives dating from the 1920s pull vintage coaches with wood-burning stoves across the Patagonian steppe between Esquel and El Maitén.
The regular weekend service carries a mix of locals and adventurous travelers through landscapes of windswept grasslands where wild horses still roam freely alongside the tracks.
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The Tren Crucero
While Ecuador’s luxury tourist train gets attention, the regular Tren del Sur service follows much of the same spectacular route without the premium price. The journey from Quito descends dramatically through the Avenue of Volcanoes, navigating the near-vertical Devil’s Nose section via a series of switchbacks blasted into the mountainside.
The two-day service includes an overnight stop in a small Andean village and passes through 86 miles of protected cloud forest rarely visited by international tourists.
The Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacífico
This Mexican engineering marvel traverses the Sierra Madre mountains from Los Mochis to Chihuahua, crossing 37 bridges and passing through 86 tunnels along its 418-mile route. The segunda clase (second class) service offers a fraction of the tourist experience at a quarter of the price, with locals often sharing home-cooked meals with fellow passengers during the 16-hour journey.
The train climbs from sea level to over 8,000 feet, offering views into the 8,000-foot-deep Copper Canyon that dwarf those of the Grand Canyon.
The Buenos Aires-Bahía Blanca Line
This Argentine long-distance route crosses the vast pampas grasslands, offering a glimpse into the country’s agricultural heartland rarely experienced by foreign visitors. The overnight service includes comfortable sleeping berths where passengers wake to misty morning views of wetlands teeming with birdlife near the southern reaches of the route.
The train stops at small farming towns where gauchos on horseback sometimes ride alongside the tracks, and local vendors sell regional specialties through the windows during station stops.
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The Serra Verde Express
While Brazil’s tourist trains dominate the Curitiba-Morretes route on weekends, the weekday service carries commuters and light cargo through 30 miles of pristine Atlantic rainforest. The train descends through 14 tunnels and crosses 30 bridges, spanning waterfalls that cascade through lush vegetation, harboring over 5,000 plant species and hundreds of rare birds.
The morning departure from Curitiba offers the best light for photographing the Serra do Mar state park, recognized by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve of irreplaceable biodiversity.
The Transoceanic Railway
This recently completed engineering marvel connects Peru’s Pacific coast with Brazil’s Atlantic through the heart of the Amazon basin, creating South America’s first transcontinental railway. The Peruvian section from Cusco to Puno features spectacular high-altitude views across Lake Titicaca, with the train reaching elevations where passengers often experience the unique optical illusions created by thin air and the lake’s reflective surface.
The weekly mixed passenger-freight service offers an authentic glimpse into the lives of communities in one of the world’s most isolated regions.
The Arica-La Paz Railway
This historic international line connects Chile’s northernmost port with Bolivia’s capital, climbing from sea level to over 13,500 feet in just 260 miles. The Chilean section sends passenger carriages through the driest desert on earth before ascending through multi-colored canyons where ancient petroglyphs can be spotted from the train windows.
The twice-weekly service transports local traders who hang Bolivian textiles inside the carriages, creating a moving gallery of traditional Andean art during the 8-hour journey.
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The Southern Fueguian Railway
Operating at the southernmost extremity of Argentina, this narrow-gauge line was originally built by prisoners to transport timber from the forests surrounding Ushuaia. The year-round service extends beyond the tourist section into remote valleys where the subpolar forests contain species found nowhere else on Earth.
The vintage steam locomotives navigate landscapes that transition rapidly from coastal views across the Beagle Channel to alpine scenery near the Chilean border, all within a compact 20-mile route.
The Pantanal Express
This Brazilian line crosses the world’s largest tropical wetland ecosystem on a raised track that sometimes becomes an island during seasonal floods. The twice-weekly mixed passenger-cargo service between Campo Grande and Corumbá passes through regions accessible only by rail or water, offering unparalleled wildlife viewing opportunities from the train windows.
Passengers regularly spot capybaras, caimans, and even jaguars during the 12-hour journey that transforms dramatically between the dry and wet seasons.
The Huancavelica-Huancayo Railway
Known locally as the Tren Macho because ‘it leaves when it wants and arrives when it can,’ this Peruvian narrow-gauge line operates at some of the highest elevations on earth. The diesel railcar climbs to nearly 13,000 feet, connecting remote Andean communities that rely on the service to transport agricultural products to regional markets.
The train passes below glaciated peaks and through tunnels where passengers chew coca leaves to combat altitude sickness, creating a truly authentic high Andean travel experience rarely featured in guidebooks.
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The Transandine Railway
This historic Chile-Argentina line once carried passengers between Santiago and Mendoza, crossing the Andes through some of the most dramatic mountain scenery on the continent. While the complete international route awaits restoration, the Chilean section between Los Andes and the Christ the Redeemer tunnel operates seasonally, climbing through 22 miles of switchbacks and passing beneath the shadow of Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas.
The vintage coaches offer panoramic views of snow-capped peaks and hanging valleys inaccessible by road.
The Tren del Valle
This Argentine service follows the Río Negro through northern Patagonia’s apple and wine-growing regions, connecting Neuquén with Cipolletti through landscapes of startling contrast. The recently restored line carries commuters past orchards and vineyards, with the dramatic backdrop of the Andes visible in the distance on clear days.
The afternoon service offers particularly spectacular views as the setting sun illuminates the river valley and distant glaciated peaks that remain snow-covered even during summer months.
The Atlantic Railway
Brazil’s Salvador-Aracaju line hugs the northeastern coastline, offering views of pristine beaches and mangrove ecosystems far from the tourist crowds of Rio and São Paulo. The train passes through small fishing villages where time appears to have stopped in the colonial era, with colorful wooden boats pulled up on beaches visible from the carriages.
The twice-weekly service carries a mix of locals and Brazilian vacationers heading to remote coastal areas accessible only by rail, with vendors selling fresh seafood directly on board during the journey.
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The Northern Peruvian Railway
This historic line connects the coastal city of Chiclayo with the Andean highlands, climbing through terrain so varied it encompasses five distinct ecological zones. The twice-monthly mixed passenger-freight service navigates 62 tunnels and 48 bridges, many constructed during the railway boom of the 1870s and virtually unchanged since.
The 15-hour journey offers glimpses of pre-Incan ruins visible only from the train, with local guides sometimes boarding to explain the archaeological significance of sites that receive fewer annual visitors than Machu Picchu does in a single day.
The Tren de la Libertad
Ecuador’s ‘Freedom Train’ connects Ibarra with the Afro-Ecuadorian community of Salinas through the dramatic Chota Valley. The recently restored diesel-electric train descends through 27 miles of switchbacks and tunnels hand-carved by Jamaican workers in the early 1900s.
Unlike the tourist-oriented weekend excursions, the Wednesday service carries primarily local passengers through a landscape where Ecuadorians of African descent have maintained unique cultural traditions since arriving as escaped enslaved people during the colonial era.
The Tren del Fin del Mundo
While tourists flock to the short demonstration route near Ushuaia, few discover the extended service that continues along the original prison railway deeper into Tierra del Fuego National Park. The year-round operation carries scientific researchers and park rangers along a route once used to transport timber harvested by convict labor in the early 1900s.
The train passes through landscapes of southern beech forests and peat bogs where unique subantarctic species thrive, offering guided commentary focused on ecology rather than tourist-oriented narratives.
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The Steel Road Through Time
These twenty railway journeys reveal a different South America—one connected by steel rather than asphalt, moving at a pace that allows genuine appreciation of landscapes and cultures often missed by conventional tourism. As air travel and highways have redirected most travelers away from these historic routes, the trains have become time capsules preserving both engineering heritage and a way of life increasingly rare in our accelerated world.
For those willing to embrace flexible schedules and occasional comfort compromises, these lesser-known rail journeys offer authentic connections to South American landscapes and communities that remain delightfully untouched by mass tourism.
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