Köln / Cologne / Koeln to Milano / Milan / Mailand by train

These ICE trains travel at up to 285 km/h on Germany's fastest high speed line between Siegburg/Bonn and Frankfurt Flughafen.

They also take another higher speed route later in the journey between Karlsruhe and Offenburg.

But aside from the thrills of travelling at high speed, this isn't a particularly scenic journey.

So if time is on your side, or if you will be travelling with a rail pass, an alternative option is to travel by the EC trains on the exceptionally scenic route through the Rhine Valley.

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If your reserved seat is on the left of the train (when facing the direction of travel) there are some fabulous views over the beautiful Thunersee

On departure from Thun station:

And then on departure from Speiz station:

... though these videos were taken from a train travelling in the opposite direction, but they showcase how fine the views can be on a sunny day...

After departing from Brig these trains travel through The Simplon Tunnel which was the world's longest regularly used railway tunnel for much of the 20th century.

When the trains exit the tunnel, they travel through an impressive gorge in the mountains before descending to Domodossola.

Then for much of the journey between there and Arona the railway line is beside Lake Maggiore; and again the views of the lake are on the left.

As can be seen the view over the lake can be worth seeing even on a grey day; the beautiful islands in the video are just to the north of Stresa station.

The railway is also by the lake shore to the south of Stresa.

The train will reverse direction on departure from Bern so when boarding Basel hope that your assigned seats are on the right hand side.

These trains may be faster than ever, but now that they use The Gotthard Base Tunnel and the brand new Ceneri Base Tunnel, this journey is also less scenic than it used to be.

The Gotthard Base Tunnel is now the world's longest railway tunnel, so long that it takes trains more than 15 mins to travel through it.
An announcement is made on the train just before it enters the tunnel.

However, this is still one of Europe's most epic express train journeys and thanks to those tunnels the journey time is now more than an hour faster than it was previously.

From the LEFT of the train (when facing the direction of travel) the first highlight to look out for is the view over Lake Zurich, as the train ascends up from the shore.

Then, if the weather is behaving itself, after departure from Zug station comes what is now the highlight of the journey, the view over the Zuger See.
This lake with its mountain peaks on the far shore can be seen on the right for more than 15 mins between Zug and Arth-Goldau station.

The next beautiful vista to look out for comes after departure from Arth-Goldau station, when on the right, the train will pass by the Lauerzersee.

The train then travels through a dramatic landscape to the north of Schwyz, which used to be a preview of what was to come when the trains still used the older Gotthard route.

Just to the south of here, also look out on the right for glimpses of the Luzernsee.

Now that the trains on this route use the Ceneri Base Tunnel the next scenic highlights on the journey
come shortly after departure from Lugano, where there are views over the lake, initially over on the LEFT.

The final wow moments come after departure from Lugano station, the train will travel along the shore of the Lago di Lugano

and then the train will cross the lake.

After the trains have crossed the lake, the best of the views switch to the right.

The Italian section of the journey south of Chiasso is more mundane, despite the trains passing through Como, its namesake lake can't be seen from these trains.