Mexico's most scenic railway connects Los Mochis on the Pacific coast with Chihuahua in the country's arid inland. The route takes 14 to 16 hours, and  includes several stops in the fabled Barranca del Cobre (Copper Canyon) - actually a group of 20 canyons, and all up four times larger than the Grand  Canyon. The 655km (406mi) train line passes through 86 tunnels and over 39 bridges as it cuts through the Sierra Tarahumara's sheer canyons, hugging the sides of towering cliffs and offering dizzying glimpses of river beds far  below.

The views are stunning, particularly between Creel and Loreto; they're generally best on the right side of the carriage when heading inland (east) and  on the left when heading to the coast (west). Stops along the way include the  attractive colonial town of El Fuerte; Divisadero, with excellent views down into the 2300m (7544ft) depths of Copper Canyon; Areponápuchi,  teetering right on the canyon's edge; Creel, a base for hikers and the  regional center for the local Tarahumara people; and the Mennonite hub of Cuauhtémoc.