Our most scenic Routes

Our journey begins in the Wild West in the Rocky Mountains. Way up in this remote area, forest workers settled and decorated their houses for Christmas season with an abundance of lights. Here you can follow a tree’s transport route: The logs are put onto the forest railroad and subsequently float down the long water slide right down to the sharp teeth of the saw mill.

In a long forgotten side valley, you’ll see some some gold diggers at work. They’d certainly rather lead a more comfortable life, but still hope for the ‘big one’ -  however, few of them are lucky to find a substantial amount of nuggets.

The Half Dome, one of the most distinctive mountains in Yosemite National Park, welcomes every passing traveller. Our well informed passengers surely will notice right away that the presidents’ faces carved into Mount Rushmore look down onto California instead of South Dakota in Wunderland’s geographical layout. Caution might be advisable in the vicinity of "Area 51", since it is not quite sure whether the secret base is able to keep all unknown flying objects and their crews under control.

We continue our trip onwards into hotter regions. Ore mines and abandoned drifts remind us of heavy mining in the old days. Once again, we marvel at the natives’ pueblo architecture and their ability to survive in this solitude with almost no rain and boiling heat.

After crossing the Grand Canyon, the legendary gold digger town of Las Vegas comes into view. Here, the lucky diggers often lost all they had found through lust and gambling. Nowadays, there’s one casino next to the other along the Las Vegas Boulevard and gigantic billboards with thousands of mini-LEDs lure the Wunderland people to try their luck. In order to beat the bad guys and clear the underground world, a “Special Weapon And Tactic” unit, in short SWAT, with a good amount of gunfire is required to re-establish law and order. If you take a closer look, you’ll find Spiderman rushing through the maze of houses for aid.

If you prefer a more relaxed journey, we recommend a boat ride through the mangroves, but watch out for alligators! If you're lucky, you might see the Space Shuttle in the distance, taking off into the skies.

If you are afraid of heights, better not look out of the window while crossing the 8 meters long Storebelt suspension bridge, high above Wunderland's North and Baltic sea! Leaving Denmark over the bridge, you'll see not only wrecks and various animals in the waters below, but also the sunken town of Atlantis which in the Wunderland even has it’s own railroad access at the bottom of the sea. In case you missed the offshore oil platform in the distance, don’t worry: There are many more industrial areas to come in the Norwegian port of Bergvik. Apart from a dry dock and a container terminal where ore is loaded, the ferry “Kronprinz Frederik” certainly draws the attention of the visitor. Soon, cars will be boarding the ferry.

In case you have time, why not take a boat trip through the harbor? The lock is an adventure in itself! A bit further up the river, a bascule bridge made of steel lattice formwork slowly swings upwards to let us pass. Shortly after, our ship disappears between steep cliffs into a narrow fjord. If you look back upon leaving the station of Bergvik, two sights stand in sharp contrast: The 800-year old stave church of Borgund, made of wood and built with axes and bare hands only - and a bit further away the Arctic Sea Cathedral of Tromsö, a construction of steel, aluminum, and glass.

Now, better pull the hood down over your ears to protect yourself against the icy northern winds, because we're entering snow covered Sweden! Pippi Longstocking, her monkey Mr. Nilsson and her horse Old Man greet us at the first station. However, her “Villa Villekulla” is barely visible in the drifting snow. Tough guys can spend the night at the ice hotel, which is newly built every year with big chunks of ice. Not good enough yet? Then come with us to the Arctic Sea where icebergs float south in the distance. And if you're still not freezing, wait till the appearance of the "Flying Dutchman" gives you the creeps...

The visit of the Kiruna Ore Mine is the perfect ending of our trip. The industrial buildings spread over a vast area. In a rotating kiln, raw iron ore is transformed into fine pellets. The pellets subsequently are loaded onto 7 merters long trains and transported to the ore docks of Bergvik. In the romantic town center of Kiruna with it's mainly wooden houses, the challenges and danger of heavy snowfall are visible.

Coming from the south, you'll pass Bad Klosterberg and approach the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Like in any other buzzing city, skyscrapers dominate the skyline. Whereever even the tinyest space is left, there will be another high-rise building soon. The first cranes come into sight as you approach the Dammtor junction station with its self-supporting glass roof. A new megacity is under construction here, whose modern glass facades might well become a new landmark of Hamburg. There's just one drawback to the plan: The foundation of the building is from an old factory, so heritage preservationists would rather transform it into a cultural center.

Looking through the glass roof construction with steel lattice framework, one can see the trade fair grounds, where the yearly "Hanseboot" fair attracts lots of visitors interested in boats. For those needing a break, the rotating restaurant in the TV tower offers a spectacular view over the entire city and a wide choice of cake and coffee for refreshment.

Some visitors wonder at the maze of tracks leading to the platforms at the central station. This movement area is needed so that the trains can enter the respective track without complicated crossing maneuvers. To your left, you can see the train depot, used for maintenance and smaller repairs. With brushes and rags, the vehicles are cleaned from the in- and outside, so that the next passengers can enjoy a "brilliant" atmosphere.

The central station offers a direct link to the S-Bahn, U-Bahn, tram, bus, and taxi network and is a perfect starting point for exploring Hamburg's night life. Stressed-out citizens take the long distance trains to the North or Baltic Sea or even to Denmark from here, in order to clear their heads and get some fresh air. However, leaving Hamburg, the air first gets worse as one passes a landfill and a waste incineration plant, its stacks emitting soot-blackened clouds.

If you turn towards the harbor, the abundance of terminals handling ships from all over the world gives evidence of Hamburg's trading tradition and business acumen. Furthermore, architects and developers of the Köhlbrand bridge have proven that one doesn't need mountains to build a high and long bridge.

As a farewell, the animals in Hamburg’s zoo "Hagenbecks Tierpark" greet the traveller with a cacophony of sounds, out of which the most distinct is the elephants' trumpeting. Now, if you wonder why there are dinosaurs in a zoo... Well, then we kindly ask for your patience, because this and other stories will be told another time…