We show you how is the tour of the Alps with the Train des Merveilles which takes us through several towns and beautiful landscapes.
We had already heard about the Train des Merveilles (Train of Wonders) for a long time. It is a train that goes from Nice to Tende, a town in the Alps bordering Italy and located at more than 1000 meters of altitude, but until now, we decided to take it, here we tell you how the route is.
Information about the Train des Merveilles in the Alps
- It leaves Nice Ville station at 8:30 (updated 2022).
- The train passes through several towns. When you get on they give you a map, the bad thing is that it only lasts three minutes in each place, so there is no opportunity to get down and up again. We went to the final destination, which was Tende.
- The price: 29 euros per person round trip.
- The tour lasts approximately two and a half hours.
- The last train back from Tende leaves at approximately 5:34 PM (so stay tuned)
And the train is hard to mistake, it has a special decoration.
Tip: get there early to get a good spot. On the way, it is preferable to sit on the right side.
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The surprising thing about the Train des Merveilles in the Alps
The train crosses the Alps and goes “up”, which is a feat since you can see how the train goes through tunnels and how it goes up the mountain. Best of all, is that there is a person who is giving explanations of each place we pass through. And there are things that would have gone unnoticed if they hadn’t asked us to turn around and see. The explanations are given in French and English, the guide made a great effort and was also very nice.
The route of the Train des Merveilles
When starting to tour the Train des Merveilles in the Alps, you have to be very alive to take decent photos. The train does not stop. Maybe it happens that in some parts the driver goes slower since the train is tourist.
You can tell we’re going up
When you get to Sospel you stop feeling hot. And as you continue to travel, you see villages that are in the middle of the mountain. Now, it is difficult to imagine the reason that made them settle there, but they explained to us that if these villages were born, it is because it was convenient for them to survive.
Sometimes we came across colorful domes, like the one in the church that I managed to photograph in the distance.
Mussolini’s station
And the time comes when we see the great feat of this train. See that bridge up there? Well, here we go! The train makes a sort of U-turn like every hilly road, wow. As we pass through tunnels we arrive at the Saint Delmas de Tende station, there we see this station very different from the others that were basic. The reason it was built at the time of Mussolini when this town was part of Italy, and bordered with France. For this reason, it had been built in such a way as to show the “might” of Italy. When in reality being a small town, it did not justify having such an elaborate train station. There it is for history!
Arriving at Tende
Upon arrival, you can see the town of Tende in the distance. A population of just over 2000 inhabitants.
In our case, we only stayed a few hours to tour the town and enjoy the cool weather. In the afternoon, we take the train back. A very pleasant tour that we will surely repeat to stay longer in the area.
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