10 Luxurious Rail Journeys of Yesteryear

Simplon-Orient-Express

The Orient-Express has to be the all-time winner for name recognition among iconic trains. The Simplon-Orient-Express excursion train still makes the traditional run from Paris to Istanbul via Budapest and Bucharest once a year (local rail conditions permitting)—lacking only the original's onboard murder and intrigue. But most trips are shorter two- to four-day links on varying routes connecting London, Venice, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, and Bucharest. The train uses original vintage coaches upgraded to operate on modern railroads and is hauled by modern and usually electric locomotives.

The Simplon-Orient-Express folks operate vintage trains over several other European routes at comparable rates.

Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express

The Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express serves the world's longest continuous railway line. This luxury train operates 15-day itineraries in modern cars, linking Moscow with Vladivostok. The train provides three classes of service; all three include in-cabin showers, meal service, drinks, excursions, services of onboard tour guides, porterage, and even services of an onboard doctor in the base prices. Golden Eagle also operates a Silk Road train linking Moscow with Beijing via Bukhara, Samarkand, and Almaty.

You can also do the regular straight-through seven-day Trans-Siberian Express over the same route through Real Russia.

The Blue Train

South Africa's Blue Train is yet another storied luxury train. All accommodations are in private two-person compartments with built-in showers and toilet facilities. The trip cost includes meals and drinks and a high level of personal service. The Blue Train runs between Cape Town and Pretoria; in either direction, you leave early in the morning and arrive at around noon the next day. Trips run four to five times a month. A few luxury suites include bathtubs rather than showers; these are more expensive. The Blue Train operates on other South African routes as well.

If you just want the Cape Town-Johannesburg train trip, you can ride a sleeper on the bare-bones Shosholoza Meyl tourist train, with prices starting at around 600 rand (about $60), or take the Premier Classe deluxe train. Arrange both through African Sun Travel.

Eastern & Oriental Express

The Simplon-Orient-Express operators also run the Eastern & Oriental Express between Bangkok and Singapore. All accommodations are in two-person cabins, including a toilet and a shower, with upper/lower beds in Pullman Class and twin beds in State Class. As is standard with luxury trains, fares include meals, lots of personal attention, and sightseeing stops, including a side trip to the River Kwai bridge. The complete trip takes two to three nights, depending on the itinerary.

Ride overnight in a sleeper from Bangkok to Butterworth, stay overnight in a Butterworth hotel, then continue from Butterworth to Singapore by day train (or vice versa). The best way to buy tickets in advance is through a travel agency, such as Thailand Train Ticket for the train between Bangkok and Butterworth and Malaysian Railway for the train between Butterworth and Singapore.

Rocky Mountaineer

Rocky Mountaineer runs excursion trains over several Canadian routes, but the most important is the classic run between Calgary and Vancouver. Operating on Canadian Pacific tracks, this train passes through Canada's top mountain scenery, including Banff and Lake Louise—a better route than the alternate, between Vancouver and Jasper. This is the route once traveled by Canadian Pacific's famed transcontinental train, the Dominion, which was discontinued when Via Rail Canada took over Canadian train travel. Unlike other luxury trains, the Rocky Mountaineer travels only during daylight hours, stopping for overnight hotel stays in Kamloops.

VIA Rail Canada does not run trains on the old Canadian Pacific line. Its transcontinental, the Canadian, runs over the less-scenic Canadian National route via Jasper rather than Calgary. Another scenic option in Canada is the Skeena between Jasper and Prince Rupert. Like the Rocky Mountaineer, this two-day train trip runs during daylight hours only. It also stops overnight at Prince George.

The Royal Scotsman

Those busy folks at Orient-Express also run luxury train The Royal Scotsman on a variety of two- to seven-night excursions around Scotland and England. As with the others, The Royal Scotsman features deluxe accommodations in single, double, or twin cabins; fancy meals; onboard service; and the rest.

The Royal Scotsman's name is a neologism of the former top two British intercity trains: the Royal Scot from London to Glasgow and the Flying Scotsman from London to Edinburgh. In the glory days of steam, both trips took a bit longer than seven hours. Trains on both routes now make the trip in about four and a half hours. You can also trace all of The Royal Scotsman's routes on ordinary trains.

Great Southern Rail

Although it's the only through train on the route, Australia's weekly transcontinental Indian Pacific, linking Sydney (Pacific Ocean) with Perth (Indian Ocean) now runs primarily as an excursion train. It's run by private operator Great Southern Rail. The three-night trip features varied scenery, from the Snowy Mountains near Sydney to the desolate Nullarbor Plain near Perth, and includes the world's longest stretch of perfectly straight rail track (297 miles).

Great Southern Rail also operates Australia's other iconic long-haul trains: the Ghan, from Adelaide to Darwin through the Outback via Alice Springs, and the Overland between Adelaide and Melbourne. These private-excursion trains are the only ones operating over these routes.

Tren Crucero

Ecuador's historic 280-mile narrow-gauge rail link between Guayaquil on the Pacific Ocean and Quito, 9,350 feet high in the Andes, just reopened after years of neglect. Tren Crucero runs all-daylight four-day excursions with three overnight hotel stays along the way. Trips run from June through August and from December through February, and some are hauled at least partially by vintage steam locomotives. The feature here is spectacular scenery and legendary railroading—not onboard luxury, although the coaches are designed for sightseeing tourists.

So far, no other train operates over the entire line. But given the cost of rehabilitation, don't be surprised to see the Ecuadorian railway start providing conventional through trains.

Palace On Wheels

India's Palace on Wheels operates weekly tours on a Delhi-Jaipur-Sawai Madhopur-Udaipur-Jodhpur-Agra-Delhi route. The focus is on hitting northwest India's destination spots rather than highlighting scenery along the way. Modern period-decorated cars include individual compartments with private bathrooms. The tour includes local sightseeing at most stops, meals, and lots of personal service.

Other luxury tourist trains in India include the Maharaja's Express, running in the same general area as the Palace on Wheels, and the Deccan Odyssey and Golden Chariot, running in southern India. All are available through Luxe Train Journeys and other specialists in Indian travel.

All of the luxury train routes are also served by conventional trains, which you can arrange through Indian Railways, which accepts American Express, or Cleartrip, which accepts MasterCard and Visa (according to The Man in Seat Sixty-One, a great resource for rail travel worldwide).

California Zephyr

The closest Amtrak comes to a luxury/historical train trip is the California Zephyr between Chicago and Emeryville, near Berkeley. It covers much of the route of the original California Zephyr on the Burlington, Rio Grande, and Western Pacific railroads, although it now uses the Southern Pacific Donner Pass route rather than the original Western Pacific Feather River route. The three-day, two-night trip is scheduled for mostly daylight viewing on the two most scenic segments: through the Rockies from Denver to Salt Lake City and through the Sierras from Reno to Emeryville. The westbound schedule is slightly superior. This train carries bi-level sleepers plus dome cars for optimal sightseeing.

Two other Amtrak runs replicate America's two most iconic trains: The Southwest Chief travels the same route as Santa Fe's famed Super Chief (except for the short stretch from San Bernardino to Los Angeles), and the Lake Shore Limited retraces the route of New York Central's legendary 20th Century Limited. Old-time rail buffs will tell you it's not even close to the same experience. But you take what you can get.

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