In the late 19th and early 20th century, train travel was at the forefront of innovation and technology. City planners were rushing to design larger, grander stations to meet the increasing demand and impress visitors. As a result, some of the world’s stations have become tourist attractions in their own right for their epic scale, iconic features and artistic flourishes. Our list of favourites also includes a few stations simply for their jaw-dropping locations. This may be considered cheating, but we hope you forgive us. Also, these are in no particular order.

London St Pancras

Most of our customers will be starting their holiday from the international departures hall of this station, which opened on 1 October, 1868. The iconic façade includes the former Midland Grand Hotel, designed by prolific Victorian architect George Gilbert Scott. This Grade I listed part of the station is now reinvented as the luxurious St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, the perfect place to start your trip if you’re celebrating a special occasion.

The Eurostar runs from here to Lille and Paris in France, Belgian capital Brussels and direct to Amsterdam.

Paris Gare de Lyon

Gateway to the Côte d’Azur and other countries in Western Europe with its cross-border services to Switzerland, Italy and Spain, the Gare de Lyon is also a Parisian landmark, located near the north bank of the Seine, in the city’s Bastille district.

It was built for the World Exposition of 1900 along with the famous restaurant, Le Train Bleu (pictured) which still offers fine dining between connections in a beautifully ornate setting. The restaurant is decorated with 41 paintings representing cities and regions of France.

Madrid Puerta de Atocha

A grand 19th century construction of iron and glass, Atocha is Madrid’s largest train station where high speed services depart to Andalucia, Barcelona and Perpignan (among many other destinations).

The most striking feature of the station is a lush tropical garden made up of around 260 different species of plants from around the world, complete with ponds, which runs along the main concourse. Just down the road is Madrid’s ‘Golden Triangle’ of art galleries including the world-famous Prado museum.

Porto São Bento

If there was a winner for most beautiful station interior in the world, this might be a forerunner. Located in the historic heart of the city, São Bento (Saint Benedict in English) takes its name from a monastery that occupied the site in the 16th century.

The entrance hall of this Beaux-Arts building is decorated with 20,000 breathtaking azulejo ceramic tiles which depict scenes from Portuguese history. They were laid at the beginning of the 20th century by artist Jorge Colaço.

Jungfraujoch – Switzerland

At 11,332 feet above sea level, Jungfraujoch is not only the highest train station in Switzerland, but also in Europe. It’s not beautiful – in fact it’s actually underground, but the spectacular location more than makes up for this.

A series of tunnels connects you with the Top of Europe building with a panoramic terrace overlooking the surrounding peaks, the Aletsch Glacier and, on a clear day, as far as the Black Forest. You can also visit a mountain top ice palace here and even discover Lindt Swiss Chocolate Heaven!

Taormina Giardini  – Sicily

Taormina-Giardini is one of the stations along the beautiful east coast line of Sicily which runs from Messina to Siracusa.

You can await your train to Catania or Palermo while listening to the waves lapping the sea wall adjacent to the platform and looking out for the looming peak of Mount Etna in the distance. This definitely beats your average daily commute.

Grand Central Terminal – New York City

Opened to the public on February 2, 1913, Grand Central Station is a Manhattan landmark in its own right, with almost as many tourist visitors as Times Square. Along with the vaulted central concourse and network of tunnels, the station boasts over 60 shops and 35 eateries.

Grand Central connects NYC to the North-East via the Metro-North Railroad but if you want to head further afield, you’ll probably end up at the more modern New York Penn station.

Amsterdam Centraal

Amsterdam Central station is another Gothic Revival masterpiece, designed by architect Pierre Cuypers who also designed the Rijksmuseum, hence the obvious similarities between the two buildings. The elegant facade effectively blocks the view of the waterfront from the city, one of many reasons why its original construction was fraught with controversy.

However, the modern station is within easy reach of all the sights and offers a gateway to cities all over Europe including Paris, Berlin, Zurich and (after the December timetable change) Vienna by NightJet sleeper.

Helsinki Central Station

One of Helsinki’s famous landmarks, the central station was designed by Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen. It regularly features on lists of the world’s most beautiful stations with its clock tower and Art Nouveau-esque statues with lamps flanking the main entrance.

There is a persistent rumour that the clock in the tower is always set a minute fast so that passengers are always on time for their trains.

Kaikōura – New Zealand

This is a staff favourite – which again is more about location than the building itself. But, what a view! The Coastal Pacific service runs alongside the ocean, past basking seals and the distant Seaward Kaikōura ranges before pulling into what is colloquially known as ‘the Whaleway Station’.

Simon’s video shows you how quickly you can disembark and be on the sweeping beach. And why ‘the Whaleway Station’? Because Kaikōura offers some of the world’s best whale watching.