Train travel is enjoying a renaissance, and 2017 might just be the year you want to reserve for riding the rails, recommends Conde Nast Traveler. 

“From Peru to Japan, new and newly refit locomotives are chugging along the rails, treating passengers to gourmet local cuisine in white-tableclothed dining cars, five-star service in sleeping suites, and old-fashioned globe-trotting camaraderie with other guests around the bar and in glass-walled observation cars,” writes Andrew Sessa. 

Where to start? First, head to Souther Africa for a ride on the Shongololo Express. 

“Acquired a bit over a year ago by Rovos Rail — which, together with the Green Train, is the go-to outfit for luxury locomotive travel on the African continent — this 19-car train now sports new dining and observation cars, as well as a signature cream-and-green exterior paint-job,” notes Sessa. 

There’s also a new train in the Peruvian Andes — the Belmond Andean Explorer. 

“Traveling through the Peruvian Andes on one of the highest-altitude rail lines in the world, this 48-passenger train trip launches in May, connecting the ancient Incan-turned-Spanish colonial capital of Cusco to the waters and islands of Lake Titicaca and onwards to the volcanic-rock city center of Arequipa,” writes Sessa. 

READ MORE: India's First Bullet Train Will Go Underwater 

Also from Belmond is the sure-to-be-amazing Belmond Grand Hibernian, which just debuted last summer. 

“Here, a classic aesthetic evokes Dublin’s Georgian architecture, with various tartans providing colorful accents,” says Sessa. 

For more journeys that are cropping up around the world, read on here.