10 Best Train Stations

What is the most unwanted thing for the tourist right now? It’s the long time spent on waiting for your train to come and take you back home, as Christmas vacations are over and no one wants to be left in a station of a foreign country.

But wait a minute! After getting acquainted with our list of the best stations in the world, you’ll get the idea why some of the tourists don’t even want to get home but rather spent hours in the stations waiting for their trip to get delayed.

1.Atocha, Madrid, Spain

What is it? Mini-jungle or a botanical garden? This question is being asked by every traveler, who is having his first visit to the main railway station in Madrid. So it’s simply a station under a huge glass which makes it possible to stretch this green oasis of exotic plants and palm trees. So for some of the tourists it’s a great pleasure to have few cups of coffee waiting for a train in this tropical paradise.

2. Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai, India

The historic building, listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List is now being used as the main railway station of the city of Mumbai. Originally it was called Victoria Terminus during the England ruling the country, and then was renamed in honor of national hero in India. The impressive dome, complex towers and arches make an unusual appearance from the outside, and the inside is built in the spirit of the Victorian era: the interior is decorated with wood carvings, framed by beautiful iron staircase railings. All of this reminds of the fairly-tale stories.

3. Union Station, Chicago, USA

Chicago Station is not just a place to change trains and killing time between the trains. The building, which is constructed in the style of the American Renaissance, with strict and noble classical contours is often being used as a ceremonial hall for various events. So do not be afraid if your train is delayed and you have to spend a little more time here, looking at the marble floors and brass fixtures.

4. Pickering Station, Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Not so long ago, this station in North Yorkshire has been restored, and now any traveler who stopped here can feel the charm of an old British railway station. You will see the interior of the last century with all of its antique equipments. If that is you will not be enough to move you back to the half-century back to the Yorkshire, in October it will host the annual “Military Weekend” and the locals will come to the station, dressed in the fashion of 1940’s.

5. Ushuaia Station, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

“Station on the edge of the world” – can be read at the poster placed in front of this delicate wooden structure. Railhead Ushuaia actually located on the outskirts of the national park of Tierra del Fuego is at the extreme end of the Latin American continent. It is understandable why this place seems to be the end of the world for the prisoners who were brought here to labor camps in the beginning of the XX century.

6. Choum Station, Mauritania

Probably, at the first glance Choum seems not the most pleasant place, where you will need to pass the time while waiting. A small hut, which is the actual railway station is surrounded by others alike – ugly huts which sell tea and various foods. But look around. Compensation for such conditions will be breathtaking vision of the surrounding desert. At the same time friendly locals are always ready to entertain the tired travelers with their local tricks.

7. Tanggula Mountain, Tibet

This is the most high-altitude railway station – it is at an altitude of 5 058 meters above the sea level. In such circumstances, it is hard to breathe for those who are not familiar with this kind of heights, and that’s why the Sino-Tibetan railway carries passengers in special cars equipped with systems of oxygen supply. After leaving the train, most likely you will not meet people: it is cold and desolate terrain not like other stations in the world. But if you’re not afraid of frost, visiting the Tanggula Mountain is first of all, for the incredibly beautiful lakes and glaciers.

8. Broken Hill, Australia

As if for some of you Australia is the best place for the airports, then you should visit its railways stations to change your opinion. Old railway station in New South Wales was built in 1888 to serve as a small mining town. Today it is used mostly by tourists who want to see the picturesque region, which is mostly popular due to its huge wall paintings: the two images seem to be very realistic as if destroying the wall and enter the building from the both sides.

9. Haydarpasa, Istanbul, Turkey

East Station of Istanbul is remarkable in the way that it is surrounded by water on three of its sides and built on almost 1100 wooden piles, reinforced at the bottom of the sea. The station was built as a gift to Sultan Abdulhamidu II from the German Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1908. The building resembles Teutonic castle and looks just gorgeous. Marble steps lead to the monumental facade with a large baroque clock. If you have enough time, be sure to look in a restaurant in the east wing and admire the unusual tile decoration.

10. Divisadero Barrancas, Mexico

Probably, no other station in the world opens such a wonderful view as does this small Hispanic Station. It is the hosting place for the people traveling through the deepest canyon on the planet. Yet none of the visitors of this station make any complains about the delay in train: usually you witness the opposite scene -when the tourists are ready to watch beautiful pictures on the edge of the canyon, at an altitude from which the head is spinning for long hours. And while waiting for a train, you can refresh  yourself eating cakes  immediately sold by the locals – and even choose some of them to bring home as  gifts.