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Luxury Trains
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Here are links to some of the most well-known
and popular luxury train journeys in the world. Regular train service also
exists for many of these routes. Fares are usually per person, double-occupancy and vary
by season and service class.
Many of these rail journeys include excursions along the route and
some are a combination of train, ship and air travel. You can find
detailed descriptions of these luxury trains from numerous tour
companies, as well as, any official website for a specific luxury
train.
Some luxury train trip tours may include airfare and hotel
accommodations as part of the journey but you can almost always just
purchase the train journey itself separately. However, getting a
package does reduce take the planning time if you are going to put
it together on your own. We have links below to some of the tour
companies and official websites.
Searching the Web
If you want to broaden your
search for a website with online reservations, background
information and bookings for your chosen train to compare prices and
other differences, use the name of the train and the words:
reservations bookings tickets. Don't hesitate to send an
email or phone them to ask detailed questions. Also,
passengers may have first-person stories to tell about their journey on
the train which they are sharing via a travel blog or discussion
forum. To search for stories, again use the name of the train
and terms like blog, personal story or forum.
The
Society of International Railway Travelers (IRT)
has a wealth of information about rail travel worldwide, as well as,
their own luxury train tours.
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Place |
Train Name |
Routes |
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Africa |
Cape
to Cairo* |
|
Route |
Background |
Wikipedia |
Cape Town
South Africa
- Cairo
Egypt
(train, boat, plane)
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Reservations and Bookings
CapetoCairo.com |
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Asia |
Eastern &
Oriental
Express |
|
Route |
Background |
Wikipedia |
Bangkok
Thailand
- Singapore
Singapore (and reverse direction)
Bangkok
Thailand
- Chiang Mai
Thailand
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Reservations and Bookings |
Eastern & Orient Express
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Australia
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Indian-Pacific
The Overland
The-Ghan
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Canada
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The Canadian
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Rocky Mountaineer |
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China to Russia |
Nostalgic Istanbul
Orient Express |
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England
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The British Pullman
The Royal Scotsman |
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Route |
Background |
Wikipedia |
British
Pullman
individual
trips:
Brighton,
Canterbury, Cambridge, Bath, Stratford on Avon, Norwich,
York weekend, Grand National Racecourse
Royal Scotsman:
various Scotland destinations
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Reservations and Bookings: British Pullman
-
Luxurytrains.com
Royal Scotsman |
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England - France
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EuroStar
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|
Route |
Background |
Wikipedia |
England -
France
bi-directional
Passenger service under the English Channel (Chunnel).
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Reservations and Bookings:
Eurostar.com |
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Europe |
Nostalgic Istanbul
Orient-Express
Northern Belle
Venice-Simplon
Orient Express
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India
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Fairy Queen
Palace On Wheels
Royal
Orient
Deccan Odyssey
Heritage on Wheels |
|
Routes |
Video-
Deccan Odyssey |
Background |
Wikipedia |
Fairy Queen
Routes:
Delhi, Alwar and Sariska. Oldest working, broad gauge, steam locomotive in the
world - built in the year 1855.
Bookings:
Palace On
Wheels
Rajasthan State and Delhi and Agra
Royal
Orient: Gujarat,
Rajasthan and Diu States
Deccan Odyssey:
covers the vast expanse of Maharashtra and a little of
Goa - Mumbai, Ganpatipule, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Goa,
Pune, Aurangabad, Ajanta and Ellora.
Heritage on Wheels:
Regions of Bikaner and
Shekhawati, famous beholders of the Heritage of
Rajasthan.
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Reservations and Bookings
Luxury
Trains in India
Royal
Orient |
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Mexico
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Sierra Madre Express
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Route |
Background |
Wikipedia |
Tucson-Nogales-Copper
Canyon-Chichuahua-Guadalajara
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Reservations and Bookings
Sierra Madre Express |
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Russia |
Golden Eagle
Trans-Siberian Express |
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Route |
Background |
Wikipedia |
Moscow to Vladivostok. The 5,800 mile
journey takes 14 days and includes stops in Kazan, Irkutsk, Lake
Baikal and Khabarovsk among others.
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Reservations and Bookings:
GW
Travel |
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Southern Africa
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Blue Train
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Rovos Rail
Dune Express
Good Hope Express
Southern Express
Edwardian Train Safari
Shongololo Express |
|
Routes |
Background |
Wikipedia |
Within
South Africa and between South Africa and Tanzania,
Namibia, Swaziland, Lesotho and Zimbabwe.
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Reservations and Bookings
Rovos Rail |
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Spain |
Andalusian Express
Alandalus Express
Al Andalus Express |
|
Route |
Background |
Wikipedia |
Madrid-Seville and southern Spain
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Reservations and Bookings
The last time we checked this train was no longer
operating, |
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Sweden-Norway |
The
New Polar Express |
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Arctic Circle
Express |
|
Route |
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Background |
Wikipedia |
Stockholm -
Crossing the Arctic Circle
- Ofoten Railway journey - Narvik -
Trondheim - Geiranger -
Fjord Cruise - Flåm Railway excursion - Bergen
- Bergen Railway journey - Oslo
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Reservations and Bookings
Great Rail |
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Switzerland |
Glacier Express
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United
Kingdom |
Royal Scotsman |
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United
States
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GrandLuxe
Express
California Zephyr
Southwest Chief
Silver Meteor
GrandLuxe Limited
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Orient_Express
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The
Orient Express
The train whose name is synonymous
with luxury and mystery. But there are three trains
that bear the name in Europe these days so it has become
somewhat confusing. Wikipedia does a good job of
sorting it out in their
Orient Express
article. From that and other sources, here is the
current situation. (We won't discuss the other
"Orient-Express" trains in the world. Just the original one
here.) |
Standard
Orient Express. This is the daily train service
between Strasbourg, France and Vienna, Austria. This is the
direct descendant of the first "Express d'Orient" that left
Paris on October 4, 1883 for Istanbul, Turkey although now
it only goes as far as Vienna. And that first train
was not a single train that made the entire journey. In fact
the first trip used two trains and two ferries.
Today's train does not use restored vintage cars although
there may be some wagon-lit cars present.
As far as today's situation this excerpt from Wikipedia sums
it up well: "Though the current service only runs from
Strasbourg to Vienna, it is possible to retrace the entire
original Orient Express route with four trains:
Paris-Strasbourg, Strasbourg-Vienna, Vienna-Belgrade and
Belgrade-Istanbul, each of which operate daily. Other routes
from Paris to Istanbul also exist, such as
Paris-Munich-Budapest-Bucharest-Istanbul, or
Paris-Zurich-Belgrade-Istanbul, all of which have comparable
travel times of approximately 60 hours without delays."
See our
Train Travel topic for many
websites where you can
make reservations and buy tickets for these routes.
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"Nostalgic Orient Express".
This runs from Zurich
to Istanbul and Athens but not regularly. Here are two
websites with more information:
Thanks Darling and
Nostalgic Istanbul Orient Express. |
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Venice
Simplon Orient Express.
The ultimate
luxury train journey. This runs from London to Venice
between from March to November. They also offer, from
time to time, trains tours from Venice on to Istanbul. This
is the luxury train that is for the rich with about $2,500
for a one-way ticket. There are actually several
trains involved and passengers are transferred to the
nostalgic Orient Express rail cars in France for the
remainder of the trip to Venice. See
Orient-Express.com |
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