Roger Farnworth Railways

[rogerfarnworth]

Guardian Lifestyle Travel - Saturday 23rd May 2026
Part 2 – Nice to Tende

The travel section of the Saturday Guardian Magazine on 23rd May 2023 included a few pages about train journeys in Europe (pages 72 to 77). This is the second part of a look at those pages. …

The featured image for this article is the Train des Merveilles (Train of Wonders), a scenic tourist train that runs between Nice, France, and Tende, France. Services also run on to Cuneo. The train travels through the Roya Valley, through rugged gorges, picturesque villages, and numerous tunnels. The line is a feat of engineering, featuring hundreds of bridges and tunnels to traverse the steep terrain of Les Alpes Maritime. The viaduct shown in the featured image is the Viaduc de l’Erbossiera, a unique structure designed to run longitudinally through a river gorge having a singular upturned ‘U’-shaped pier (just off the left of the photograph), © Monaco Tribune, (although used on a significant number of different webpages). [14]

2. France’s Wonder Train

My wife and I stay regularly in Nice or in Les Alpes Maritime and have often travelled on the line between Nice, Tende and Cuneo – Le Train des Merveilles. A particular favourite location to stay has been the perched village of Saorge which overlooks a section of the line.

In recent years, the valley of La Roya has experienced devastating flooding. In October 2023, Storm Alex hit the valleys of the Royal and the Vesubie causing catastrophic damage.

The Institut Géographique National published excellent interactive maps showing the Roya and Vésubie valleys before and after Alex. These can be found here. [2]

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/05/24/the...-to-tende/