Douglas Rogers
The Rail Thing
The Orient Express, founded in 1883, evokes all kinds of opulent images, and with good reason: As it ran routes between Paris, Strasbourg, Vienna and Bucharest, the original hotel-on-tracks became second-home to royalty, celebrities and fictional murderers. The legacy of rail-car luxury was cemented.
Yet the train's standards declined in the post-WWII years and it finally, uh, ran out of steam in 1977. In fact, the business of luxury trains (and ocean liners) had started to decline in the 1950s, with the advent of air travel. By the 1970s, the entire premise of luxury-rail travel had bottomed out. But just as cruise ships have made a comeback and now resemble five-star hotels at sea, high-end trains are back in vogue as well.
From European Alps to Russian Steppes, Canada's Rockies to Africa's savanna, it's now possible to travel by rail through some of the most beautiful, far-flung parts of earth in the kind of comfort passengers in the 1930s golden age of rail travel could only dream of...
The Rail Thing
The Orient Express, founded in 1883, evokes all kinds of opulent images, and with good reason: As it ran routes between Paris, Strasbourg, Vienna and Bucharest, the original hotel-on-tracks became second-home to royalty, celebrities and fictional murderers. The legacy of rail-car luxury was cemented.
Yet the train's standards declined in the post-WWII years and it finally, uh, ran out of steam in 1977. In fact, the business of luxury trains (and ocean liners) had started to decline in the 1950s, with the advent of air travel. By the 1970s, the entire premise of luxury-rail travel had bottomed out. But just as cruise ships have made a comeback and now resemble five-star hotels at sea, high-end trains are back in vogue as well.
From European Alps to Russian Steppes, Canada's Rockies to Africa's savanna, it's now possible to travel by rail through some of the most beautiful, far-flung parts of earth in the kind of comfort passengers in the 1930s golden age of rail travel could only dream of...
Douglas Rogers The Rail Thing The Orient Express, founded in 1883, evokes all kinds of opulent images, and with good reason: As it ran routes between P... more
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1
The Venice Simplon-Orient Express
Europe
Connecting London, Paris, Venice, Prague, Rome and Budapest on romantic overnight trips, the VSOE is such an accurate re-creation of the original Orient-Express that its sleeper cars have no air-conditioning or double beds, and carriage 3425 is the same one King Carol of Romania used to conduct love affairs on in the 1930s. But from the Gérard Gallet-redesigned 1931-built Bar Car, to the caviar, oysters and foie gras served by Italian waiters in the three dining cars, you'll be treated like royalty. In 2007 it marks the 125th Anniversary of the original Orient-Express with debut trips to Warsaw and Krakow.2-day Venice to London, $2,605 per person www.orient-express.com
2
The Palace on Wheels
Rajasthan, India
Explore the desert forts and lakeside palaces of historic Rajasthan on this week-long return journey from Delhi, taking in such storied cities as Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Udaipur, with the Taj Mahal and a tiger sanctuary thrown in for good measure. Refurbished in 1995, the 14-coach train with 56 wood-paneled twin or double-bed cabins has two restaurants and an opulent lounge bar where the turban-clad staff serves food and drink fit for a polo team of Maharajas. The train only travels at night, allowing you to explore the sights during the day. Air-conditioned cabins each have bathrooms and televisions, but a major highlight is the doting service from cabin attendants known as "khidmatgars," who not only do housekeeping but also room service, including bringing breakfast in bed.$295-$385 per person per nightwww.palaceonwheels.net
3
The Royal Scotsman
Scotland
This classic Edwardian-style Orient-Express train offers various itineraries of between two and seven days from Edinburgh through the Scottish Highlands. Soak up the scenery from mahogany-paneled dining carriages and sleeping cars as a luxury coach travel next to the train to take you on day-trips to castles, distilleries and salmon smokehouses.3-day Highland Itinerary, $3,120 per personwww.orient-express.com
4
The Blue Train
South Africa
South Africa's fabulous five-star hotel on tracks is named for its distinctive sapphire-blue carriages that have traversed the bush veld between Pretoria and Cape Town since the 1940s. Two 11-coach trains make the 27-hour run two or three times a week in each direction, though one train is out of commission until October, 2007. The trains' 74 suites featuring gold-fitted marble-tiled bathrooms, direct-dial telephones and satellite TVs. For all the mod-cons, the train evokes the colonial era of the great mineral rush: There's a jewelry boutique on board; semi-formal evening dress is required in the silver-service dining car; and one featured stop is the famous diamond mining town of Kimberly.$1,125-$1,800 per person www.bluetrain.co.za
5
Golden Eagle Trans-Siberia Express
Russia and China
Several tour operators offer trips on the legendary 6,000-mile-long Trans-Siberian Railway, but British-based GW Travel owns the Trans-Siberian Express, the one train guaranteed to look after you like an oligarch. April, 2007 sees the debut of the Golden Eagle, a streamlined 21-carriage train with 12 new sleeping cars (built by Russian company Zircon for $25 million) that will travel Trans-Siberian routes in summer and the Silk Route between Moscow and Beijing in spring and autumn. Gold and Silver class cabins are chic and boutique in style, with double beds, under-floor heating, air-conditioning, DVD/CD systems and LCD screen televisions. And the contemporary red-banquette-lined Bar Car, serving a variety of vodka cocktails, would not be out of place in Manhattan's SoHo. Guest academics and media personalities are booked to give talks in the lecture car en route.15-day Moscow to Vladivostok (or reverse), $6,995-$11,995 per person; 21-night Beijing to Moscow (or reverse), $13,995-$24,995 per personwww.gwtravel.co.uk
6
Royal Canadian Pacific, Rocky Mountains
Canada
This intimate, seven-car 32-person train is unique for the themed golf, fly-fishing and culinary tours it offers on six-day itineraries through the Canadian Rockies from Calgary. While its cabins are small and as many as three nights are spent in hotels en route, the themed itineraries add an extra dimension to dramatic scenery of Yoho National Park, the Okanagan Valley and Kicking Horse River. On a typical 6-day Culinary Wine and Music tour, chefs give cooking lessons; sommeliers host wine, cognac and whiskey tastings; and classical musicians perform in the 1926-built Mount Stephen observation car, which has hosted the likes of Winston Churchill and Bill Gates.6-day Rockies Experience, $6,600 per personwww.railsnw.com
7
The Eastern & Oriental Express
Southeast Asia
Launched in 1993, the quarter-mile-long E&O is modeled on the Shanghai Express Marlene Dietrich rode in the 1932 film. Connecting Bangkok and Singapore on regular two-night trips, and now including Laos and Burma itineraries, it doesn't actually go to China, but the atmosphere does evoke all the exotica of the colonial-era Orient. An open-deck Observation Car with rattan chairs, sofas and a lounge bar is the perfect spot to watch passing temples, jungle and rice paddies; while European-Asian dishes -- anyone for beef with fried lotus chips? -- are served in a gilded wood-paneled dining car. In the Bar Car, ask the pianist to play a Marlene tune while you sip a Shanghai Express cocktail. The 66 air-conditioned compartments include two 124-square-foot Presidential Suites.4-day Bangkok to Singapore, starts at $1,860 per person www.orient-express.com
8
The Deccan Odyssey
India
Operated by Taj Hotels and launched in 2004, the sleek 21-coach Deccan Odyssey travels from frenetic Mumbai through lush coastal Goa before exploring inland Maharashtra State on its regular eight-day excursions. You pass through rural east India in a bubble of first-world designer comfort, with a beauty salon, spa and conference car with internet access. Two restaurants are helmed by five-star Taj chefs, and beige and gold-hued lounges are lined with silk cushions and framed portraits of Mughals on the walls. Standard coupes measure 110 square feet, but two 220-square-foot Presidential Suites are huge by train standards. Scenic highlights include visits to the UNESCO-listed rock statues at Ellora and Ajanta Caves.$350 per person per nightwww.thedeccanodyssey.com
9
The Hiram Bingham
Peru
Forget hiking the Inca Trail. Started in 2003, this 1920s-style Orient Express/PeruRail day service from the Andean city of Cusco to the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu is the most sumptuous tourist train in South America. Named for the American explorer who discovered the Lost City in 1911, it leaves Cusco at 9 a.m. and treats a maximum 84 passengers to a brunch of champagne, smoked trout and alpaca tenderloin as it traverses rivers and villages in the lush Sacred Valley. Arriving at Machu Picchu three-and-a-half hours later, passengers are given a guided tour of the ruins, as well as lunch and high tea at the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge, before re-boarding at 6 p.m. for cocktails, live music and a five-course dinner on the return home.Round-trip $504-$547 per personwww.orient-express.com
10
Rovos Rail
Southern Africa
In the late 1980s South African rail enthusiast Rohan Vos began buying and restoring old steam engines and rail carriages. Today he owns luxury train company Rovos Rail, running the most extensive network of any tourist train in Africa. With plush Edwardian interiors, Rovos trains feature 1920s-style observation cars, teak pillar-lined dining cars and three grades of sleeping coupe, each with minibar and 24-hour steward service. The premier 172 square-foot Royal Suites have private lounges, writing desks and claw-foot bathtubs. Bonus: The first hour of the regular two-day Pretoria-Cape Town journeys are always powered by steam. Charter routes include Namibia, Durban, Kruger Park and an epic 14-day Cape Town-to-Dar es Salaam safari that crosses majestic Victoria Falls.3-day itinerary, $1,200-$2,300 per person; 14-day Cape Town to Dar es Salaam $9,800 per person www.rovos.com
[source: https://www.forbestraveler.com/adventure/train-trips-story.html ]
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