The Eastern & Oriental Express crossing Tha Chompu Bridge
Romance of the rails
Nicola Corthay knows a thing or two about the world’s greatest rail journeys, whether they be long hauls across continents or short, scenic rides to mountaintops.
When I was in my early twenties, I took my first great train journey: six days from Beijing to Moscow on the Trans-Mongolian Railway. Thanks to communist subsidies, the ticket cost just US$80 – a small price to pay for some very big scenery. On the second day, I awoke to find the train chugging through the Gobi Desert, then on across the wide steppes of Mongolia, carpeted with long grass and yellow flowers, where herds of horses grazed. In Siberia, endless birch forests shimmered under fresh white clouds and, at tiny village halts, babushkas sold strawberries through the train windows.
Mesmerised by these vast dimensions of time and space, I’ve been hooked on train travel ever since. That first trip was probably the greatest, but I discovered that not all memorable train journeys are marathons. There are short rides up Swiss mountains that provide some of the most stunning landscapes in the world. There are regular scheduled trains that provide a cheerful way of passing time with locals. And, as I discovered later in life, there are luxury trains a world away from the endless borscht and hard sleepers of the Trans-Mongolian: think fine dining and doonas instead.
Dining on board the Majestic Imperator
Recently, travellers have been rediscovering the romance and good value that train travel offers. Train travel is also becoming a holiday in itself, with significant growth in the range of rail packages available to holidaymakers. Luxury rail trips, in particular, have been undergoing a renaissance. For sheer variety, look no further than India, where there are numerous luxury options. The fabled Palace on Wheels started the trend, using refurbished carriages that once belonged to maharajas on tours of Rajasthan. The Shekhawati Train, Royal Orient and Fairy Queen are now other luxury options that take in Rajasthan. Last year saw the launch of the opulent Royal Rajasthan on Wheels, which even offers an onboard spa.
Elsewhere in India, the Golden Chariot, based in Bangalore, meanders on a seven-night voyage that takes in Mysore and Goa, magnificent rock-carved temples and the ruined city of Hampi. The Deccan Odyssey does an eight-day round trip from Mumbai and has an onboard gym, beauty salon and yoga centre.
The latest luxury train to be unveiled in India is Maharaja’s Express, a joint operation between an Indian rail company and Cox & Kings that will start its first journeys in January 2010. The train has deluxe, junior suite and suite carriages, as well as a presidential suite exclusively in one carriage. Dining options include two fine-dining restaurants, a bar and an observation lounge. State-of-the-art pneumatic and hydraulic suspension systems ensure a smoother train ride, and cabins even have direct-dial phones. The train will operate two main itineraries, one from Mumbai to Delhi foccusing on Rajasthan, and another from Delhi to Kolkata, taking in such sights as Agra and Khajuraho.
The Sunlander is a scenic journey through Queensland
Southeast Asia has another cornucopia of choice. The Vietnam Reunification Express makes 16-night journeys that run the length of the country, from Ho Chi Minh City to beachside Nha Trang, Hoi An, the imperial capital of Hue and on to Hanoi. But for sheer elegance and old-world luxury, the Eastern & Oriental Express offers impeccable service, the finest of carriages and five-star cuisine. Its Thai-Laos Explorer runs between Bangkok and Vientiane in Laos. The famous E&O Express, meanwhile, is a two-night journey between Singapore and Bangkok, occasionally continuing on to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.
There are some remarkable luxury trips available in Africa, too. The Pride of Africa offers routes through South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania – the Cape Town to Dar-es-Salaam route takes 14 days. Carrying just 72 passengers, this is an exclusive holiday with 24-hour service and the best of luxury on a rebuilt 1920s train whose suites feature private lounges and Victorian-style bathrooms as well as WiFi. Its chief rival is the Blue Train (there are actually two of them) with butler service and all mod cons. Its Cape Town to Pretoria journey takes visitors 1,600 kilometres through the most scenic parts of South Africa, and includes an excursion to the Kimberley diamond country.
If Africa is about scenery, South America’s best rail journeys combine scenery with culture. The Andean Express, with its glass-walled observation car, is a journey of just one day but takes in splendid snowcaps, the Huatanay Valley and Lake Titicaca on its route out of the Peruvian tourist centre of Cuzco. Also departing Cuzco is the Hiram Bingham Express to Machu Picchu, allowing guests panoramic views, gourmet meals and superior service on the way to these famous ruins.
Kitchen on the move at British Pullman
Mountain vistas also roll past the windows in North America. One of the world’s most epic journeys takes travellers on VIA Rail’s The Canadian for the cross-continent trip between Toronto and Vancouver, crossing wide-open prairies and Rocky Mountains along the way. It’s certainly one of the world’s great train journeys. If you don’t have that much time, however, the Rocky Mountaineer is extremely popular with Australian travellers, offering spectacular train trips around British Columbia and Alberta. Its two-day journey through the Rockies is one of the most scenic you’ll encounter anywhere.
In the USA, Amtrak is the country’s largest passenger rail service and offers everything from 100-kilometre hops to journeys across the country, and if you are travelling a lot by train, a USA Rail Pass may be just the thing. Long-distance trains have sleeper cars, some with private and some with shared bathrooms, and regular meals are included. Among the routes, Capitol Limited (Washington DC to Chicago), Coast Starlight (Seattle to Los Angeles) and Crescent (New York to New Orleans) are bound to be pleasers. But I reckon the Silver Service is hardest to beat: who wouldn’t be happy with a train from New York to Miami, by way of iconic destinations such as Charleston, Savannah and Orlando.
Of course, the spiritual home of rail travel and the place where it all started is Europe. To my mind, the best trip of all is the Glacier Express that, despite its name, chugs at a snail’s pace on an eight-hour route between St Moritz and Zermatt in the Swiss Alps. Other European contenders for most scenic journey include Oslo to Bergen in Norway, the summit of the Jungfrau in Switzerland, and The Jacobite steam train through the Scottish Highlands.
The Indian Pacific heads for Broken Hill
The Venice-Simplon Orient Express meanders around the most romantic cities in Europe, from Venice and Rome to Paris and Prague. The train still oozes romance and luxury: count on Art Deco detailing, Lalique glass and impeccable service. The same company offers several luxury train experiences in the UK, including British Pullman and Royal Scotsman.
In Spain, El Transcantábrico takes just 40 passengers at a time on an eight-day journey from León to Santiago de Compostela in all-suite compartments with private bathrooms featuring hydro-saunas. In Austria, the Majestic Imperator uses carriages impeccably refurbished in the style of the originals, which Emperor Franz Joseph I would occupy. The train operates scheduled journeys from Vienna around Austria and Bavaria, taking in cities such as Munich, Innsbruck and Salzburg. It has no sleeping compartments: passengers stay at five-star hotels along the way.The latest European luxury train is the Danube Express, which visits 19 European cities. The carriages have twice the normal space and ensuite showers.
Who says you have to travel half around the world for a great train experience? Australia has some real gems, from the scenic hop through sugarcane fields from Cairns to Kuranda to the more leisurely Sunlander, which travels the coast between Brisbane and Cairns in 32 hours. The great Indian Pacific runs east-west right across Australia from Sydney to Perth, taking in the longest stretch of straight track in the world across the Nullarbor. A new luxury train called The Southern Spirit, meanwhile, operates a variety of outback routes (such as Darwin to Sydney) combined with deluxe excursions and five-star accommodation.
A carriage of the Indian Pacific
The Ghan is perhaps the most famous Australian train; new Platinum cabins on board have upped the ante in the luxury stakes, with plenty of space and 24-hour service. Taking this train is another extraordinary rail experience. You leave from Adelaide, where seals play in oceans that sweep up from the Antarctic and the air is crisp and wintry. You chug across the hottest, driest, most lonesome landscape on Earth, from one side of a continent to another, and get off on the steamy tropical shores of Darwin, where crocodiles cruise the waterholes and the sun sets over the Arafura Sea. It’s an amazing journey that will leave you with a distant look in your eyes and dreams of more, equally memorable trips down the track.
Photography courtesy railway companies and tourism offices.
Travel Facts
Getting around
- Asia Pacific Travel Marketing (The Canadian, Rocky Mountaineer, Amtrak), phone 1300 300 713 or 02 9319 6624 or visit www.aptms.com.au
- Blue Train, phone +27 12 334-8459 or visit www.bluetrain.co.za
- British Pullman, Eastern & Oriental Express, Hirham Bingham, Royal Scotsman and Venice-Simplon Orient Express, phone 1800 000 395 or visit www.orient-express.com
- Danube Express, phone +44 1462 441 400 or visit www.danube-express.com
- El Transcantabrico, phone 1800 500 016 or visit www.ibertours.com.au
- Glacier Express, phone +41 27 927 7777 or visit www.glacierexpress.ch
- Great Southern Rail (Ghan, Indian Pacific and Southern Spirit. Phone 13 2147 or 1300 132 147, or visit www.gsr.com.au
- The Golden Chariot, phone 1800 156 671 or visit www.goldenchariot.com
- Maharaja’s Express, phone +91 22 6690 4747 or visit www.rirtl.com
- Majestic Imperator, phone +43 1 513 2881 or visit www.imperialtrain.com
- Palace on Wheels, phone 1800 156 671 or visit www.palaceonwheels.net
- Rail Europe, phone 03 9642 8644 or visit www.raileurope.com.au
- Rail Plus (Andean Explorer, Rovos Rail, Trans-Siberian), phone 1300 555 003 or visit www.railplus.com.au
- Tempo Holidays, phone 1300 558 987 or visit www.tempoholidays.com
- Royal Rajasthan on Wheels. Phone +91 11 2338 3837 or visit www.royalrajasthanonwheels.com
- The Sunlander, phone 07 3235 7322 or 1300 131 722, or visit www.qr.com.au
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