Train Des Merveilles Lescarene Paul SmitTrain Des Merveilles Lescarene Paul Smit
©Train Des Merveilles Lescarene Paul Smit

The Wonder Train Reopening on 15 December 2025!

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The Wonder Train is back on track return from 15 december 2025

For lovers of the mountains, heritage and contemplative journeys: the Nice-Tende line will reopen to traffic on 15 December 2025, after more than a year of major works!
This long-awaited return marks the rebirth of an emblematic rail route, a veritable link between the Mediterranean, the hilltop villages and the high valleys of the Mercantour.

Prepare your spectacular escapade in the villages of the valley 👇

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©H.R. Tsua

    The extraordinary

    journey

    Departure from Nice station, 9.32 am. On the station platform, you have a date with the Alpes-Maritimes. Terminus Tende at 11.32am. Don’t miss out! Comfortably installed on board the air-conditioned train, you’ll discover unique panoramas over the Paillon valley, the Roya valley and the Bévéra valley. The icing on the cake: from May to October, on the morning journey only, a guide will tell you all about this exceptional heritage.

    The Train des Merveilles route is recognised asone of the most astonishing railway landscapes in Europe. From Nice to Tende, it takes you through sumptuous landscapes stretching from the Mediterranean coast to the Mercantour National Park. That’s what makes this line so special: for justone hundred kilometres, it starts at sea level and climbs to an altitude of 1,000 metres…

    With a guide please

    Take advantage of the commentary (French-English) provided by a tour guide. What’s more, it’s free (excluding the price of the journey)! Only on the 9.32 am journey from Nice, from 14 February to 1 March 2026.

    Please note: The timetable may vary from one period to another.

    History

    of an extraordinary project

    Begun in 1883, the construction of the Nice-Breil-Tende-Cuneo railway line is atitanic undertaking. It was a technical challenge that required no fewer thana hundred bridges and viaducts, and almost as many tunnels and retaining walls.

    Inaugurated in 1928, the railway line is a monumental work of art, admired as much for the landscapes it passes through as for its many engineering structures, starting with the helical loop tunnels that allow you to gain altitude by means of a series of bends inside the mountain itself.

    A colossal construction site, vertiginous scaffolding and admirable technology for its time make this railway line considered to be one of the most beautiful in the world.

    Some of the engineering structures were destroyed during the Second World War to prevent German troops in Haute Roya from being supplied. The line was fully reopened in 1979.

    ©Pango Visual
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      The Train des Merveilles takes its name from the Vallée des Merveilles, itself named after a misinterpretation: in Italian, the “valle delle Meraviglie” refers to the “valley of mysteries and spells”.

      ©Paul Smit
        Train Des Merveilles Vallee De La Roya Pango Visual3Train Des Merveilles Vallee De La Roya Pango Visual3
        ©Train Des Merveilles Vallee De La Roya Pango Visual3|Pango Visual
          ©Pango Visual

            An ode to

            contemplation

            Before your eyes, the landscapes pass by, each one as breathtaking as the next. Your eyes will be trained on the details of viaducts and tunnels, villages and forests. At the end of the journey, you’ll be surprised to see that despite the 800-metre altitude at Tende, the vegetation still retains Mediterranean characteristics: broom, lavender, thyme and endemic orchids still perfume the landscape. Above all, you’ll love this charming, timeless interlude that tastes… marvellous.

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