Adrian Bridge
There is much to love about the romance of luxury train travel – the beautiful carriages, the impeccable service, the fine dining. And yet, with one-night journeys on top-end trains often costing close to $8000 per person, the experience is way beyond the means of most.
The good news is that you don’t have to spend that kind of money to tap into the spirit of that golden age of train travel. In Kyrgyzstan, for example, for less than $20 you can travel in style on a train that transports you through a series of canyons and gorges to the country’s largest lake.
In Japan, an exquisitely adorned train will take you from mountains to ocean – and serve you sushi along the way – for just $30. In Western Europe, new sleeper train stock – complete with comfortable beds and en-suite bathrooms – can whisk you from cities such as Amsterdam and Brussels to Vienna and Zurich, or from London to the Scottish Highlands, recreating some of that golden-age allure without having to take out a mortgage. So here’s our selection of heavenly train experiences that don’t cost the Earth.
Issyk-Kul Express
Route: Bishkek–Balykchy, Kyrgyzstan
Price of most expensive ticket: 800 som ($14)
There are few luxurious train experiences which can be had for less than the price of a pint of beer, but this one – through the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan – offers just that. Running from June to September, the train sweeps guests from the capital, Bishkek, to Balykchy on Issyk-Kul lake, in a four-hour journey that passes through the Chu River Canyon and Boom Gorge.
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Its VIP class features colourful settee-style seats and sofas that evoke the Silk Road, panoramic windows and air conditioning, with snacks and drinks available on board. A bit of a gem – though the booking portal requires skilful navigation.
Visit railway.kg
Caledonian Sleeper
Route: London to Fort William
Price of most expensive ticket: £285 ($548) a person in double-bed cabin
It may not be plush plush, à la Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, but any sleeper train that offers double-bed accommodation and the chance to wake up looking out onto the glorious “deerstalker” Scottish Highlands is a notch or two up on most. Welcome to the Caledonian Sleeper, a legendary train offering journeys between London and multiple spots in Scotland on every night of the week bar Saturdays.
A 2019 refurb involved a much-needed modernisation of the cabins, many of which now boast superior bedding and en-suite shower and toilet facilities, and a spruced-up Club Car where haggis, neeps and tatties can be enjoyed with a wee dram from a selection of malt whiskies. It’s not super cheap, but it is a classic travel experience.
Visit sleeper.scot
Nightjet of the new generation
Route: Amsterdam-Innsbruck
Price of most expensive ticket: €280 ($463) in two-bed Comfort Plus cabin
Nightjet, the Austrian-owned company that has led the renaissance of sleeper train services in Europe, is widely considered to offer the largest selection of night routes across the continent and, with its new generation trains, the best accommodation in which to enjoy them. While a lot of attention has been focussed on the revolutionary “sleeper pods” that draw comparison with Japanese capsule hotels, its top-end Comfort Plus offering is the one that comes closest to being luxurious.
These contemporary, spacious cabins – for one or two – contain comfortable bunk beds (complete with duvets); separate table and chair and en suite bathroom. A la carte breakfast selections are served to your room, as is a complimentary bottle of sparkling wine. In this way, the great northern cities of Amsterdam, Paris and Brussels are connected by stylish sleeper train with the likes of Zurich, Innsbruck, Salzburg and Vienna.
Visit nightjet.com
Corona
Route: Budapest-Brasov
Price of most expensive ticket: €84 ($139) per person in two-bed sleeper
It is the dining car experience that for many exemplifies the luxury train experience and this service – which connects the wonderful central European city of Budapest with the Transylvanian treasure of Brasov – delivers a delicious take on it.
The train is of 1960s stock with beautifully maintained wood-panelled sleeper compartments and a good old-style dining car that serves up hearty Hungarian goulashes served at tables with white tablecloths with a selection of the region’s exceptionally good wines. No black tie required – and with a departure time from Budapest of 5.40pm, there’s scope to sit and linger over dinner while passing through one of the most enchanting parts of Europe.
Visit bileteinternationale.cfrcalatori.ro
Belles Montagnes et Mer
Route: Takaoka-Johana; Takaoka-Himi, Japan
Price of most expensive ticket: ¥3200 ($26) one-way, including set sushi menu
A dining experience of an altogether different nature awaits on board the Belles Montagnes et Mer, a dinky single-car train which offers two shortish journeys in the northern prefecture of Toyama – one to the coast and one to the mountains (hence the name). A stylish interior containing Inami wood carvings is complemented by stunning scenery viewed through panoramic windows and – pièce de résistance – a kitchen offering freshly prepared sushi to enjoy along the way.
The train – often shortened to Berumonta – is one of a cluster of “sightseeing trains” in Japan designed to enhance enjoyment of the journey itself and to showcase the craftsmanship and special features of the country’s many differing regions.
Visit westjr.co.jp
Royal Blossom
Route: Bangkok-Pa Sak Jolasid Dam, Thailand
Price of most expensive ticket: THB 2500 ($109) (passenger car)
Elsewhere in Asia, a train that has attracted rave reviews since launching in 2024 is the Royal Blossom, a bold fusion of Japanese engineering and Thai design and hospitality. The carriages, which originally served overnight routes in northern Japan, were given to the Thais in 2016 and repurposed to provide comfortable passenger spaces complete with velvet seating, cedar-wood finishes and a café-style car serving snacks and drinks that provide a convivial hub.
It is owned by the State Railway of Thailand and used for day and weekend excursions to places such as Pa Sak Jolasid Dam where, in trips during the cooler season between November and February, the train traverses directly above the reservoir for a dramatic 15-mile stretch earning it the name “Floating Train”.
Visit dticket.railway.co.th
GoldenPass Belle Epoque
Route: Montreux-Zweisimmen, Switzerland
Price of most expensive ticket: CHF68 ($122) including seat reservation
In what is universally acclaimed to be the greatest country in the world for rail lovers, one of the lesser-known – and more affordable – ways of exploring Switzerland by train (in style and comfort) is via the GoldenPass Belle Époque, a plush affair involving dark wood interiors, brass fittings, comfy armchairs and vintage lamps.
As the name suggests, it’s redolent of an earlier age and an appealing way to spend just over two hours travelling from the shores of Lake Geneva to the chalet village of Zweisimmen in the Bernese Alps. Luxuriate in the roomier First Class carriages before heading to the train’s wine cellar coach, where regional vintages can be sampled alongside a selection of Swiss cheeses.
Visit mob.ch/en/stories/belle-epoque
MiraDouro
Route: Porto-Pocinho, Portugal
Price of most expensive ticket: €16.10 ($27) one-way
This train transports you from the beaux-arts marvel of Porto’s São Bento station along the glorious Douro Valley, at times almost touching the river while marvelling at the vineyards that rise so spectacularly along its sides.
The services on regular trains are themselves pretty sublime, but the MiraDouro train – which is very similarly priced – offers the opportunity to cover the same ground in 1940s-era Swiss-built carriages pulled by a vintage diesel locomotive. Reaching Pocinho takes about three and a half hours; many alight at Pinhão for vineyard visits, short river cruises and to marvel at another station adorned with fabulous blue and white azulejo tiles.
Visit cp.pt/info/en/miradouro-train
Cape Cod Dinner Train
Routes: Buzzards Bay-West Barnstable; Hyannis-Cape Cod Canal, United States
Price of most expensive ticket: $US180.10 ($261)
While the once mighty railroads in the United States are not what they were, this is a lovely reminder that here, too, you can enjoy heritage train experiences. Nowhere is this more true than on the Cape Cod Central Railroad, which offers a selection of short round-trips across the hook-shaped peninsula extending into the ocean some 70 miles south of Boston.
For the full Gilded Age experience, opt for Platinum Class on the Cape Cod Dinner Train which will give you access to a lounge featuring original woodwork and leaded glass dating back to 1917, and a table in a domed vista car for a dinner that could involve New England clam chowder soup, pistachio-crusted haddock and cherry-filled tarts. Along the way you will pass coastal woodlands, salt marshes and cranberry bogs.
Visit capetrain.com
El Chepe
Route: Creel to Los Mochis, Mexico
Price of most expensive ticket: $MX5700 ($472)
A personal favourite, this is a truly spectacular journey that winds its way more than nine glorious hours through the great Copper Canyon of the Sierra Madre mountain range in Mexico, as it hoots and hisses its way down to the mighty Pacific Ocean.
The train is designed for tourists, and its First Class accommodation offers many of the features associated with luxury train travel – gourmet dining featuring regional specialities, a bar car and, at its rear, an open-air observation terrace, enabling passengers to feel even closer to the spectacular scenes all around them. A glorious adventure, with the most spectacular stretch coming between Divisadero and El Fuerte. Worth every peso.
Visit chepe.mx/en
Booking tips
Specialist operators – which can book many of the trains and package trips around the journeys listed – include Railbookers, Tailor Made Rail and Eurail. Mark Smith – aka the Man in Seat 61 – is an invaluable source of information and DIY options for many of these journeys.
The Telegraph, London
