The Venice Simplon Orient Express (VSOE), with its restored, 1920s vintage cars, is the world’s most authentic luxury train. Made famous in the Agatha Christie story, the train still runs on the legendary route from Paris to Istanbul. Other itineraries are also available.
Special Offer: Book VSOE northbound March 24, 2010 from Venice to Paris/London, and receive two free pre-train nights at Venice' boutique Hotel Londra Palace. Includes breakfasts, taxes & transfers. Offer may be discontinued at any time. Please call or e-mail for rates.
Royal Scotsman
Region:Europe Train Type:Luxury
The Royal Scotsman is a standout train. A small venue—just 36 passengers—it’s great for those who wish for a more intimate, luxury setting with gourmet, five-star dining, wine-pairing and superior service. Simply put, it is one of our favorite hotel trains. All the train’s cars, save the 1928-era diner, are of 1960s vintage equipment, but they have been recast into an Edwardian confection of varnished woods, polished brass and fine fabrics.
Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express
Region:Europe Train Type:First-Class
The new, all-ensuite Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express launched in April, 2007 to much fanfare in Moscow. The train has Gold and Silver Class accommodations, both with en-suite bathroom, as well as two dining cars and a lounge car. The train plies the famous Trans-Siberian route between Moscow and Vladivostok.
Danube Express
Region:Europe Train Type:First-Class
The new Danube Express private train began service in 2008 on routes in central Europe. The train has brand-new deluxe carriages which offer the best train accommodations in Europe. In 2009, the Danube Express will take about 80 passengers in both classic and deluxe compartments.
Glacier Express
Region:Europe Train Type:First-Class
The Swiss proudly hail the Glacier Express as the world’s slowest express. The train takes almost eight hours and the services of two private, narrow-gauge railroads to traverse the 168 mountainous miles between two posh resorts—Zermatt and St. Moritz. The Alpine route of the Glacier Express is what makes this train so marvelous.
Bergen Railway
Region:Europe Train Type:First-Class
The complete Oslo-Bergen line was opened in 1909 as the only year-round land transport between Norway’s two largest cities. The 300-mile length of track passes through 200 tunnels and 18 miles of snowsheds in addition to crossing more than 300 bridges. The scenery on the 7-hour Bergen Railway trip across the Hardanger plateau, the largest wilderness area in Europe, is breathtaking.
Flam Railway
Region:Europe Train Type:First-Class
With the Flåm Railway, it’s what you see outside that counts. In about an hour, the line climbs some 2,833 feet from Flåm station, nestled in the innermost corner of the Aurlandfjord, to the mountain station at Myrdal on the Bergen Railway. On the 12.4-mile-long ride, you’ll see rivers that cut through deep ravines, waterfalls cascading down the sides of steep, snowcapped mountains and farms clinging dizzily to sheer slopes.
Bernina Express
Region:Europe Train Type:First-Class
The spectacular Bernina line was started more than 100 years ago and was completed in 1910. It is run by Rhaetian Railways. Beginning in Chur, St. Moritz or Davos, it passes the glaciers of Piz Bernina, making this the highest railway crossing in all of the Alps. It travels over 38 miles, climbing grades of up to 7%––without rack and pinion––to more than 7,391 feet at the Bernina Pass summit, and drops down to just 1,408 feet at Tirano, Italy.
El Transcantábrico
Region:Europe Train Type:Luxury
The 52-passenger El Transcantábrico train, which traverses Northern Spain, started in 1983. Its launching was one of the first stories in The International Railway Traveler, also founded in 1983. Each train set has six sleepers, each with four double compartments. The train is operated by Ferrocarriles Españoles de Vía Estrecha (FEVE), which means Narrow-Gauge Spanish Railways.
British Pullman
Region:Europe Train Type:Luxury
The British Pullman is a luxury, vintage day train that completes the British leg of Orient-Express journeys between Paris and London. Passengers from the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express debark in Calais, France, and board a special Orient-Express bus for the short "piggyback" train ride through the Eurotunnel to Folkestone. There, they board the British Pullman for the ride to London's Victoria station.
