To travel hopefully may well be better than to arrive, but Robert Louis
Stevenson never had to stare into a sick bag for six hours on the bus to
Darjeeling. Let me tell you, arrival looks pretty good after that. Throw in
two burst tyres, one dead dog and a near-miss with a cement mixer, and it’s
little wonder I took the train back. Coughing its way down through tea
plantations and teak forests, chugging through back yards filled with waving
school kids, the train took me on a journey that changed my life.
I am a rail addict, sometimes even planning my travels around a single train
ride. Yes, it’s green; yes, you can stretch your legs; but what I love about
trains is the peace: no staring at the road, in thrall to the next lorry;
just a predictable, mind-freeing chug along the tracks to journey’s end.
Station bustle, brief encounters, the slow unfurling of a landscape — now
that’s what Stevenson was talking about.
Below are some of my favourite rail journeys, plus one or two so new, I’ve yet
to hit the tracks myself.
Prices are per person, based on two sharing, including transfers where
part of a package. Flights are from London. Ask the operator for regional
options
CALEDONIAN SLEEPER
London to Mallaig
Dinner in London, whisky outside Crewe, breakfast somewhere on Rannoch Moor
against a backdrop of red deer and abandoned glens. After breakfast, the
line arcs west around Ben Nevis to Fort William, over the 21-arch Glenfinnan
Viaduct (three-time star of the Harry Potter films) and down to Mallaig,
with views across the Atlantic towards the Cuillin mountains on Skye.
Tickets, please: First ScotRail (0845 755 0033, www.firstscotrail.co.uk)
advertises singles for as little as £19 — sleeper berth included — from
Euston to Fort William, then £13.50 return for the 80-minute ride on to
Mallaig, but we’re talking hen’s teeth. In practice, the cheapest available
fare is a Caledonian Apex Sleeper at £107 return.
ORIENT-EXPRESS
Paris to Istanbul
The venerable dame of European rail. Paris to Constantinople was the very
first route operated by the Orient- Express, in 1883. Now, it runs just once
a year (next departure: August 31, 2007), leaving Gare de l’Est and crossing
the Thracian plain into Istanbul five days later, via Switzerland, Austria,
Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. Extravagantly elegant — think Agatha Christie
with Bulgari body scrubs — this is an icon of passenger rail.
Tickets, please: £5,630 for nine nights, including three
nights’ full-board on board, one night each, B&B, five-star, in
Paris, Budapest and Bucharest, and three nights, B&B, five-star, in
Istanbul. The price includes first-class Eurostar from London to Paris, and
flights with British Airways from Istanbul to London. Contact Orient Express
(0845 077 2222, www.orient-express.com).
THE TGV
Paris to Antibes
The double-decker TGV has a 186mph panorama out over the vineyards of
Burgundy, the Rhône Valley, the Alps and the Ardèche; it puts our trains to
shame. After superb views of Avignon and its papal palace, the train drops
down to Marseilles, following the Mediterranean coast through Cannes to
Antibes.
Tickets, please: Eurostar (0870 518 6186, www.eurostar.com)
has up to 17 departures from London to Paris (2 hours 35 minutes), with
returns from £59. From Paris to Antibes, TGVs depart up to seven times
daily, with returns (8 hours 52 minutes) from £109. Alternatively, depart
daily 7.09am from Waterloo, change in Lille, arrive Antibes at 5.12pm;
returns from £109.
TRANS-SIBERIAN EXPRESS
Moscow to Beijing
The grandaddy of them all, chuntering 6,152 miles from Moscow to Vladivostok —
seven days, seven time zones and an inescapable vodka hangover if your
Russian roomies have any say. Most tourists branch south at Ulan Ude, via
Ulan Bator, on Trans-Mongolian Train Four, sweeping across the Mongolian
steppe, crossing the Great Wall on day six to reach Beijing.
Tickets, please: tickets can be bought at Moscow’s
Yaroslavsky station for £168 in second class (four-berth) or £236 in first
class (two-berth), but they sell out almost as soon as they’re made
available, 45 days in advance. Ffestiniog Travel (01766 512400, www.festtravel.co.uk)
has 17 days by rail, from London to Beijing, for £2,995, including
first-class berths on Train Four and 12 nights, B&B, in Moscow, Irkutsk,
Ulan Bator and Beijing.
CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR
Chicago to San Francisco
Following the wagon-tracks of the great pioneers, the Zephyr is the flagship
in Amtrak’s fleet, a double-decker superliner with an all-window panoramic
lounge car and a tick-list of iconic Americana that includes the cornrows of
Nebraska, the Rockies, the Sierra Nevada, Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City and
San Francisco. Fifty-one hours; 2,438 miles — a classic.
Tickets, please: two-berth sleepers from £211pp. Contact
Amtrak (00 1 800 872 7245, www.amtrak.com).
Bon Voyage (0800 316 0194, www.bon-voyage.co.uk) has six nights from £895,
including standard Zephyr berths, two nights, four-star, room-only, either
end, plus flights with British Airways into Chicago and out of San
Francisco.
ROCKY MOUNTAINEER
Vancouver to Banff
The Rocky Mountaineer plies three routes into the heart of the Rockies, but
for 1,000ft canyon walls, glacier-fed lakes, towering Rockies peaks and
ancient cedar forests, the Kicking Horse route from Vancouver to Banff is
our pick. You’ll stay one night in Kamloops, and travel always during
daylight hours. The route is closed for winter, reopening April 3, 2007.
Tickets, please: glass-domed GoldLeaf fares cost £565;
standard RedLeaf fares cost £270; both include an overnight in Kamloops. In
winter, The Canadian covers much the same ground on its journey between
Toronto and Vancouver, part of a nine-day Canada tour through Great Rail
Journeys (01904 521980, www.greatrail.co.uk),
including three nights in Toronto and two in Vancouver, both room-only, a
trip to Niagara Falls, Silver and Blue Class berths on The Canadian and
flights with Air Canada into Toronto and out of Vancouver.
INCA LINE
Cuzco to Aguas Calientes
Riding high into the Andes, with views of towering snowcapped peaks, the
3½-hour ride zigzags steeply out of Cuzco, descends into the lush Sacred
Valley and cuts through a steep gorge carved out by the Urubamba River all
the way to Aguas Calientes — just an hour’s walk or 20-minute bus ride from
Machu Picchu. The deluxe Hiram Bingham (daily except Sunday, out 9am, back
10pm; £265 return) gives you brunch on the way out, cocktails and dinner on
the way back and a guided tour of Machu Picchu, but we say ride with
coca-chewing locals instead. Same views, twice the memories.
Tickets, please: PeruRail (00 51 84 238722, www.perurail.com
) has returns from £36 on The Backpacker, departing daily 6.15am, back into
Cuzco 8.20pm. Last Frontiers (01296 653000, www.lastfrontiers.com)
has 11 nights in Peru, four-star, B&B, from £1,870, including the Inca
Line to Aguas Calientes and flights to Lima with Iberia Airlines, via Madrid.
BLUE TRAIN
Pretoria to Cape Town
You can do this entire journey — or at least the Johannesburg-Cape Town leg —
for as little as £40, including sleeper berth, on the Trans-Karoo. The High
Veld, the Orange River, the Karoo, it’s all there; but what you pay for on
the Blue Train — and, boy, do you pay — is pure luxury. A butler per coach,
ensuite bathtubs in Luxury Class, fabulous fine dining and wines included,
Cuban Montecristo cigars with your port. It’s 994 spectacular miles, 27
hours, with a tour of Kimberley diamond mine en route — but good luck
meeting any locals.
Tickets, please: one-way, deluxe, costs £543; luxury class,
£585. Contact the Blue Train (00 27 12 334 8459, www.bluetrain.co.za).
Rainbow Tours (020 7226 1004, www.rainbowtours.co.uk)
incorporates the trip in a seven-night South Africa package; from £1,945,
including flights.
KANDY EXPRESS
Colombo to Kandy
The route climbs nearly 2,000ft through lush, mahoganied ravines, groaning its
way past paddy fields and deep valley views to the bustling hill town of
Kandy. Shanty towns, scrapheap dogs, children bathing in rivers — nowhere
does life spill so breathtakingly close to the tracks.
Tickets, please: guidebooks will try to persuade you to plump
for the first-class Observation Saloon (£1.50, purchased at the station) —
don’t be tempted. One, it faces the wrong way; two, you’ll be surrounded by
camcorders. Book a second-class window seat (75p) on the right of the
carriage, and the only thing keeping you from your view will be the family
in the next seat stuffing you full of pakoras. W&O Travel (0870 499
0677, www.westernoriental.com)
has six nights, B&B, from £993, including three nights at Galle Face
Hotel in Colombo, one night, five-star, in both Kandy and Sigiriya, Kandy
Express tickets, and flights to Colombo with Sri Lanka Airways.
THE VICEROY OF INDIA
Mumbai to Kolkata
Completing its maiden voyage just last month, with 10 departures scheduled for
2007, this is a 15-day cross-country epic in the land where train is king.
Using the lavish Deccan Odyssey, with catering by Taj Group chefs, the train
calls at Jaipur, Agra, Delhi, Bharatpur Nature Reserve and Varanasi, stops
while you detour by steam up to Darjeeling on the Toy Train, then reaches
the Bay of Bengal, 1,430 miles after setting off from the Arabian Sea.
Tickets, please: from £5,695, full- board, through GW Travel
(0161 928 9410, www.gwtravel.co.uk ).
Flights with Jet Airways (0800 026 5626, www.jetairways.com),
into Mumbai and out of Kolkata, cost from £435.
TANGULA EXPRESS
Beijing to Lhasa
Opened in July this year — complete with extra oxygen pumped into carriages —
the Qinghai-Tibet line is the highest in the world, crossing the Tangula
pass (16,640ft), linking the 700-odd largely permafrosted miles from Golmud
to Lhasa that were previously possible only via a gruelling 48-hour bus
journey.
Tickets, please: passengers must have a Tibet permit and
hotel/tour booked in Lhasa, which means using a Chinese agent, who will
charge from £135 for the two-day trip, one-way, in a four-berth compartment.
Chinahighlights Travel (00 86 773 283 1999, www.chinahighlights.com)
has nine nights for £755, including two nights on the Beijing-Lhasa Express,
plus three nights, four-star, either end, including most meals, all
sightseeing, permits and return flights to Beijing. Trailfinders (0845 058
5858) has flights to Beijing with Air China from £385.
THE GHAN
Adelaide to Darwin
Named after the Afghan cameleers who helped to build the line, the Ghan used
to terminate in Alice Springs, but since 2004 has forged the full 1,851
miles north to Darwin. Crossing the Red Centre, the Ghan takes in saltpans,
opal mines and the world’s largest sheep stations, limping across Arnhem
Land into Darwin almost 48 hours after leaving home.
Tickets, please: one-way fares from £224, seat-only, to £775
in Gold Kangaroo sleeper berths. Contact Great Southern Railway (00 61 8
8213 4444, www.gsr.com.au). Bridge & Wickers (020 7483 6555, www.bridgeandwickers.co.uk)
has 10 nights from £2,485, including Gold Kangaroo berths to Darwin, two
nights, four-star, room-only, each in Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin, a
two-night, full-board, Kakadu camping safari and flights.
