The Brenner Pass near Innsbruck.

1.   There are three ways of traveling through the Brenner Pass. There is an ordinary road, an extravagant motorway that is carried high above the valley floor, but seems to isolate the traveler from the environment and high on the other side of the valley, (right in this view) and far more discreetly, runs the railway line between Italy and Innsbruck.

It was the railway that brought us from Italy to Innsbruck - by far the best way of making the trip, in the opinion of one who has tried them all. Sitting at the back of the long train, watching the coaches curving ahead behind the bright red locomotive, there was one moment when I suddenly exclaimed, "Good heavens, there is another train down there!" being fooled for the moment by the steeply descending, curving track. Unlike the brutal structures that carry the motorway and dominate the scenery, the railway is more sympathetic, hugging the slope and curving in and out with the folds of the ground. It is an exciting ride.

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