The Biggest Travel Trend in 2026 Brings You Back to the Golden Age
It feels like everywhere I turn these days, I’m seeing people all over tap into nostalgia. Whether it’s building physical media libraries or re-creating a landline in the kitchen, people are finding ways to bring past trends back into their lives. And this phenomenon is not just relegated to how they live at home — at least not according to this new research.
In May 2026, tour company EF Go Ahead Tours and research group Qualtrics Research surveyed 900 respondents and found that people were very interested in train travel — as in the kind of journey where being on the train is the experience, not just taking the Amtrak from New York City to Boston. “Train travel has always carried a certain romance and nostalgia, but today’s travelers are looking for experiences that let them slow down, take in the scenery, and enjoy the journey,” said Lael Kassis, EF Go Ahead Tours’ vice president of market innovation and development, in a press release.
Train Travel Is in Demand in 2026
In the survey, when asked on a scale of 0-100 how interested they would be in tourism by train, respondents gave an average 73.06 score. The top motivations for train travel included: comfort, scenic views, uniqueness, convenience, and sustainability.
Of those surveyed, 66% were interested in train travel because they expected it to be comfortable — train travel regularly includes amenities like better seating, sleeping cabins, and more — while 64% of respondents were excited about scenic views associated with travel and 63% were interested in the uniqueness of the experience. People were also excited about how convenient train travel is (49%) as well as how sustainable it is compared to other forms of travel (29%).
How to Do Tourism by Train
You can plan out your own trip, of course; there are many trains that exist across the world where you travel on it for a week at a time. But if you’d rather have someone else do the planning for you, there are plenty of options for that as well.
EF Tours runs train tours themselves — they offer European tours including, but not limited to, one from London to Venice; a tour of the alps by train including Germany, Austria, and Switzerland; a tour of Italy; and, if you’re interested in staying in North America, a tour of the Pacific Northwest, including Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver. These tours all range from eight to 14 days and seem genuinely fabulous.