A once-in-a-lifetime rail journey can inspire a booking, but how do they stack up? Travel Weekly tests out trips across four continents.
Belmond Andean Explorer, Peru
Hollie-Rae Brader
You’d be forgiven for thinking of backpackers and hostels when asked for itineraries to Peru, but the travel landscape of this colourful country changed when Belmond set up here in 1999. Fast-forward nearly two decades and the operator now has six hotels and two luxury trains, the newest of which launched just last year.
Belmond Andean Explorer is the first luxury sleeper train in South America. The train runs on one or two-night itineraries between Arequipa – the second-largest city in Peru – and Cusco, the capital of the Inca Empire. My two-night adventure stops in Puno to explore Lake Titicaca, and Raqch’i, home to an important Inca settlement that isn’t visited by many tourists.
The carriages were originally built for the Great South Pacific Express in Australia, but when Belmond acquired them, they were shipped across to Peru for transformation, and are now named after local Peruvian flora and fauna.
“My favourite spot onboard is the open-air vestibule at the back of the train – just grab a pisco sour from the observation car bar and head out.”
Each of the 24 en-suite cabins (two deluxe doubles, six junior doubles, 11 twins and five bunk-beds), is equipped with oxygen masks – which I make use of as I try to sleep at an altitude of 4,319m.
Yet the real focal point is the view, and my twin room boasts huge windows offering phenomenal views day and night. My favourite spot onboard is the open-air vestibule at the back of the train – just grab a pisco sour from the observation car bar and head out.
With a bounty of Peruvian delicacies served onboard across two dining cars, there’s no doubt this is how to see Peru in style. Just leave the backpack at home.
Book it: Prices start from $462 per person for the one-night Spirit of the Andes journey, fully inclusive with all meals, an open bar and scheduled excursions. belmond.com
Rocky Mountaineer, Canada
Hollie-Rae Brader
There’s no doubt in my mind the Canadian Rockies are best seen from the comfort of Rocky Mountaineer – it ticks the boxes on scenery, service and cuisine, and then some.
The view is all-encompassing thanks to the domed glass roof in the upper-level GoldLeaf carriages, and service is typically Canadian – happy, friendly and courteous.
Then there’s the delicious breakfast and lunch menus – reminiscing is enough to get my taste buds tingling – though passengers disembark for dinner and overnight stays (other than those caught having a nap after their sumptuous lunch).
“Over the course of the next two days I become gripped by wildlife spotting (bald eagles, elks, and, of course, bears) and the awe-inspiring scenery.”
I join the train in Vancouver, bound for Banff, with an overnight stop in the sleepy town of Kamloops. It doesn’t take long to feel at home. As soon as I slump into my comfy heated, reclining chair, I’m immersed in the Rocky experience. Staff are quick to offer a welcome drink, then our guide’s voice rings aloud around the dome.
“Cheers everyone – let’s make the next two days the best adventure,” he says.
Over the course of the next two days I become gripped by wildlife spotting (bald eagles, elks, and, of course, bears) and the awe-inspiring scenery. The surroundings transform overnight from a barren desert-like landscape on day one to a spectacular vision of endless snowcapped mountains as the train cuts through the mountain range alongside crystal clear glacier-water streams.
There’s nothing to distract as the train doesn’t have Wi-Fi and during the remote parts of the journey, there’s hardly any mobile signal. So you can’t help but sit back in your heated, reclining chair and relax.
Book it: Rocky Mountaineer’s First Passage to the West Classic itinerary leads in at £1,664 per person in GoldLeaf Service.
rockymountaineer.com
TranzAlpine, New Zealand
Katie McGonagle
There aren’t many train journeys I’d go all the way to the other side of the world for – not just once, but twice – but the TranzAlpine is that rare exception.
When I first took the four-and-a-half-hour journey from Christchurch to Greymouth as a backpacker, I’ll confess to being a bit underwhelmed – the epic views were hidden behind a sheet of rain, and I left wondering if it really merited the title of New Zealand’s most scenic journey.
Until now, that is. Ten years on, all that glorious South Island scenery is positively sparkling in the sunshine – it’s like going from black and white to dazzling Technicolor.
“The only tough choice is whether to watch this scenery unfold from the comfort of the seat or the open-sided viewing carriage.”
The train rolls through towering mountain passes, across dizzying river valleys, and past the fiery scenery of the Antipodean autumn, all the more exciting for the backdrop of the snow-covered Southern Alps and the vast Canterbury Plains.
The only tough choice is whether to watch this scenery unfold from the comfort of the seat – carriages were upgraded in 2012 with large panoramic windows and pairs of forward-facing reclining seats or tables of four – or the open-sided viewing carriage. The latter is my choice for most of the journey, along with other camera-wielding tourists keen to capture the wild beauty of the scenes ahead.
So would I go back to ride for a third time? You bet.
Book it: APT’s Luxury Southern Tourer itinerary includes a journey on the TranzAlpine from Christchurch to Arthur’s Pass, priced from £2,895 for nine days, land-only.
aptouring.co.uk
Toy Train, India
Reviewed by Jenni Doggett
As the name suggests, the Toy Train is cosy in its dimensions. I begin the five-hour journey from Kalka to Shimla wedged knee to knee with an unsmiling couple, but by the end of the trip we are the firmest of friends, taking turns at the window and sharing our snacks.
The journey fosters a sense of community as we slowly sway up into the Himalayan Shivalik foothills, round endless bends, through more than 100 tunnels. Each elevation brings dramatic views and distinctive flora: tropical scrub and prickly pears give way as we gain altitude to sacred cedars and oak forests, replaced in the highest reaches by alpine fir, spruce and larch.
Windows down, we feel the breeze dropping by degrees as we climb. Pink pock-marked houses terrace the steep inclines, and the mountains are a coarse green carpet rumpled up into peaks, fading to blue in the distance.
“Each elevation brings dramatic views and distinctive flora: tropical scrub and prickly pears give way as we gain altitude to sacred cedars and oak forests.”
We sip from tiny paper cups of fragrant milky chai and marvel at this extraordinary feat of ingenuity, which feels more time machine than train.
Arriving in Shimla at dusk, with candy-floss clouds low in the mountains and inhaling crisp evening air, it’s the perfect antidote to the intensity and close heat of Kalka.
Yet the defining moment comes when we hop off – the rustic stations are utterly charming and full of fascinating historical detail, not to mention toilets that aren’t in motion – but misjudge how long the train will stop. On seeing the train start to pull out from the station, we race along the platform, and people start calling to the driver to slow down. He stops to wait for us, and we leap aboard to great cheers and camaraderie. Hard to picture quite the same response on the 17.10 to Penge.
Book it: The Toy Train is included on Great Rail Journeys’ India’s Golden Triangle tour, which starts at £2,195 for 13 days.
greatrail.com
Read more
Rocky Mountaineer: Adventuring through Canada by train
Adventure in Australia’s outback on board The Ghan
Toy Train trips in the Golden Triangle
