One of our favourite parts of the movie The Polar Express is hearing the Conductor shout out a phrase commonly heard around the world – “All Aboard.” Intoned several times throughout the movie it speaks of adventures to be had when travelling by train. While The Polar Express is all about the North Pole, perhaps I could make light of this blog (it’s all about trains) by calling it “The Molar Express!” That was a bit of dental humor and to be honest, it’s about the only thing you will “tooth-related” in this blog. That’s because while we are still closed during the current COVID-19 crisis, you may have noticed we’ve been blogging instead about fun things to do with the kids. Just recently, we found a post all about famous train rides you can take. It piqued our interest and we hope it piques yours too.
You can turn this train adventure into a fun activity for the whole family, it could be a learning tool in place of school – you might even choose to pin a map of the world to the wall and stick a pin in the location of each train trip. Or, perhaps, you’ll just have some fun! Whatever you do, enjoy the ride!
Trips include a bright red train that travels between Switzerland and Italy, passing through towns and villages, mountains, lakes and more. It’s a bird’s eye view from the engine of the train. Your child could be the engineer! You can also take a trip on The Matterhorn Railway through snow covered mountains and another trip puts you in a small little “cab” (Pilatus bahn) going straight up a mountain, through tunnels and with some pretty jaw dropping views along the way. It’s the world’s steepest railway. You’ve got to see it!
You might also have fun taking a peak at the tramway through Porto Vecchio Tieste. The location itself isn’t really the really the highlight but a few close ups of the engineers wheel, the train wheels turning and the inside cabin might make this interesting for little ones. Then there is the Lisbon Elevador Lavra that shows a pretty cool view of how trams climb an incredibly steep hill, through incredibly tight spaces and while turning incredibly tight angles. It’s an engineering marvel that involves stopping to feed some pigeons at the top of the climb! It’s a video we really enjoyed viewing and hope you do too. There’s a train that travels through the Arctic Circle and finally, there is even a “train” in Wuppertal, Germany that travels UNDER the tracks, suspended from the rails rather than riding on them! Now that’s a sight to see.
There were so many videos we could have spent a day watching magical train rides from around the world. Have an adventure with your little one. Pack a travel bag with a baseball hat in place of an engineer cap, some snacks for the “trip” and enjoy a trip around the world! Don’t forget to pack your toothbrush and ”don’t forget to be a BFF with your mouth and Brush that SMILE!”
Check out “www.kidsactivitiesblog.com” for a list of all the amazing adventures you can take by train – have fun, stay safe, stay healthy and “All Aboard!”
