THE Vale of Rheidol has been named as the second most beautiful rail journey in Europe – just behind the Orient Express.

The steam railway that takes travellers from Aberystwyth to Devil’s Bridge, has come second in a list released by student travel company, Rustic Pathways, who analysed the number of Tripadvisor reviews containing beauty descriptors, such as ‘beautiful,’ ‘lovely’ and ‘spectacular’ across 29 scenic train journeys in Europe.

The £3,000 a ticket Venice Simplon-Orient-Express came out top as Europe’s most ‘beautiful’ scenic train journey, with the highest number of reviews that contain keywords related to beauty.

Each train journey has been ranked based on the percentage of reviews containing these beauty keywords out of their total number of reviews.

Nearly a third of travellers on the Ceredigion steam railway praised the beauty of the trip.

63.9 per cent of Tripadvisor reviews for the Vale of Rheidol describe the journey’s beauty.

Of 1,280 reviews, 346 describe the train as ‘lovely’, 249 describe it as ‘beautiful’ and 191 describe it as ‘stunning’.

The Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways also made the top 10 in seventh place, beating the Swiss Gotthard Panorama Express, with the Brecon Mountain Railway securing 10th spot.