22.07.2025
200 years ago, in 1825, the world climbed aboard a train for the first time – literally. The first passenger train departed Stockton for Darlington in England, a roaring steel monstrosity that ushered in a new era.
There is also reason to celebrate in Estonia – 130 years ago, the first narrow-gauge railway began to make its way through the bog from Pärnu to Valga. Today, only the Lavassaare Museum steam train runs there, carrying more memories than peat.
An international train journey starting from Estonia is currently something that can only be seen in a museum – but until Rail Baltica is completed, it’s good to tune in to the wave of train travel again by exploring the past and future of railways at exhibitions. For true railway fans, several museums in Europe have preserved this fascinating past and are also looking forward to the future of railways. We recommend seven museums where even a die-hard “rabbit” will feel the urge to pay for a ticket, they are just that good!
The Emperor, the Horse, and the Elephant Went on a Train Ride: The Crazy History of the German Suspension Railway
In Wuppertal, Germany, at the eastern end of the world's oldest electric suspension railway line, near the Werther Brücke station, is the Schwebodrom museum, which will open in late 2023 and showcases the technical and cultural heritage of Germany's most famous monorail system. The exhibition, which consists of three galleries, takes visitors on a journey through more than a century of railway history using light art, historical artifacts and virtual reality.
The first gallery section focuses on the construction and commissioning of the funicular railway, including the event in 1900 when Emperor Wilhelm II took a test ride with his horse, giving the daring construction its imperial approval. The second gallery highlights the most famous and bizarre episode in the entire history of the Schwebebahn – the story of Tuff. A young circus elephant was loaded onto a carriage in 1950 as a publicity stunt, but the frightened animal broke out of the window and fell into the Wupper River. Fortunately, he survived and lived for another 49 years, becoming the mascot of Wuppertal – his image adorns souvenirs, street art and even milk cartons, and a small elephant statue marks his landing site. The third section takes visitors back to 1929 with the help of VR glasses: sitting in the restored carriage no. 11, you can experience the funicular railway ride through the historic industrial city, just as it was at the beginning of the century. Schwebodrom is not just a technology museum, but a living memory site where everyday means of transport become a carrier of the city's identity. A full ticket costs €17,50, with discounts for children, students and groups.
Wuppertal is located about 500 kilometers from Berlin, between Düsseldorf and Cologne (40 km from Cologne, 30 km from Düsseldorf).
Cité du Train – a railway museum that is almost as big as Tallinn's Old Town
In eastern France, on the outskirts of the industrial city of Mulhouse in Alsace, lies the largest railway museum in Europe and one of the top ten in the world. Cite du Train – a gigantic, 50,000 square meter complex located in former locomotive depots and feels more like a historic train town than a classic museum. The exhibition spaces take the visitor through an arched journey to the highlights of French railway history: golden Belle Époque passenger carriages, 19th century steam-powered monsters, wartime armored trains and elegant SNCF express trains, which form a parade of immobile memories. A separate gallery explores the role of the railway in French everyday life – the train as a means of commuting, a companion, a witness to historical events. A spectacular environment has been created using light, sound and staged elements that show trains not only as machines, but as social phenomena. The exhibition does not get stuck in nostalgia, but also deals with the development of express trains and future transport. The Cité du Train is not just a collection of carriages, but a multi-level theatre stage where the railway is not the backdrop but the protagonist. The ticket price for adults is €14, with discounts for children, students and families, and the museum also offers a number of tours and thematic workshops.
The whole history of Britain's railways in one station. FREE!
The National Railway Museum in York, UK, is a monument to the cult of trains at its most glamorous, nostalgic and mechanically impressive. One of the largest collections of railway heritage in Europe, it brings together both engineering genius and imaginative history. The displays range from the everyday lives of working-class people to royal salons, from the age of steam engines to the smooth futurism of Japan's Shinkansen. The Flying Scotsman – the world's first train to officially exceed 160 mph and still looks like a Hollywood star in her prime – stands there as a dignified symbol of the golden age of British rail culture, alongside the elegantly curving Mallard, still the world's fastest steam train. The museum was awarded the title of European Museum of the Year in 2001, has been repeatedly named one of the best free attractions in Europe and was voted one of the top ten 'Best of the Best' by visitors in the recent Travellers' Choice Awards. This is not just a train exhibition, but a meticulously curated time machine that combines aesthetics, technology, and cultural history into one holistic and captivating spatial experience.
Where the world went on rails: Shildon Locomotion and 100 steam engines. FREE!
Shildon, the birthplace of the world’s first public railway, is home to Europe’s largest indoor collection of locomotives. It was here that the first Stockton-Darlington passenger train left the line. The high-ceilinged depot now houses 100 steam engines, including railway legends such as Stephenson’s Rocket — the world’s first truly successful passenger locomotive, whose triumph at Rainhill in 1829 launched the modern era of the railway. Its boiler design and speed were revolutionary at the time, and the Rocket became a technical benchmark for the next century. Locomotion doesn’t try to be more glamorous than it is: instead, the museum shows the rust, weight and clatter of the trains exactly as they once ran — and that makes these locomotives seem more alive than any polished exhibit. The café next to the new gallery serves gingerbread made to the Stephenson family recipe, which can be enjoyed in seats that resemble Eurostar saloons — a nod to the past and the speed of the future. Locomotion doesn't just glorify machines, it reminds us that it was in Shildon, not in the palaces of the capital, that the movement that put the whole world on rails began.
A Swiss museum that travels to the past and the future at the same time
In Lucerne, between a picturesque lake and mountains, lies Switzerland's most popular museum - Swiss Museum of Transport or the House of Transport, whose train hall is like a national altar. There, the Swiss have set up full-size turnpikes, interactive train simulators and model railways. Historic locomotives, including early Swiss electric trains and those that passed through the legendary Gotthard Tunnel, stand as if on parade, each representative of its own significant era. Alongside the train and rail culture, the entire technical nervous system of Switzerland unfolds – from early means of communication and aircraft to space technology and future traffic. The Verkehrshaus doesn’t just show how people move – it shows how a nation that keeps time to the second has moved through the centuries with the utmost precision and creativity. A full ticket costs CHF 32, children CHF 12; family and group packages are available.
Peat wagons and steam trains: The Lavassaare bog continues to live the train life
In Pärnu County, in the former Lavassaare peat mine, Estonia's only functioning narrow-gauge railway – a living memory of a time when bogs smoked and trains carried peat, not tourists. The museum, built in an old depot, is not just a shrine for train enthusiasts, but a place where metal does not stand behind glass, but moves: a steam engine whistles, carriages rattle on the rails, and a locomotive soars towards the sky.
The collection includes over 80 historic locomotives and carriages – the largest of its kind in the Baltics – and in the summer, visitors are taken on rides in genuine steam engines that kept people’s daily lives moving during the peat era. Riding the train here is not so much a service as a ritual: a square ticket, a puff of sneakers and a slow ride into the forest.
But if you already like the steam of Lavassaare, it's worth marking August 9 and 10, 2025 in red in your notebook, when the annual steam days will take place and everyone is welcome to ride the train!
A full ticket costs €10, seniors €8, children (6+ years) €5, and children up to 5 years old get in for free. The train moves, clatters, and whistles from the end of May to mid-September.
When the train brought summer to Haapsalu
Haapsalu Railway and Communications Museum is not just a nostalgic blast from the old station building, but a journey into the heritage of Estonian communication and railway masters built on sharp thinking and good tracks. The former station building – one of the most beautiful in Estonia – is full of authentic objects and a timeless holiday scent, which reminds us that it was by train that writers, artists, business people and politicians arrived in Haapsalu from the capital a century ago to spend the summer, with lacy parasols and elegant suits.
The museum's permanent exhibition, located in the historic station building and on the platform, tells the story of Estonia's railway and communications history. The nearly 220-meter platform, an old steam locomotive, and a collection of telecommunications equipment make the exhibition more of an exciting production — the Estonian communications and train heritage slowly unfolds like a chapter in a manuscript, where each object contains an entire epoch.
A full ticket costs €6, a discount ticket €4, and a family ticket €14.
The story was first published as a content marketing story in Õhtuleht on July 22, 2025, 10:48 AM.
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