Best time to go: the Eastern and Oriental Express operates year-round, and the weather is hot and humid throughout the 12 months. If clients want to miss the monsoon season along the west coast of Malaysia, the period to avoid is April-October.
How to book: through specialist operators or Venice Simplon-Orient-Express on 0171-805 5100. The company organises trips with Malaysian Railways (KTM) and Thai Railways (SRT).
What to expect: unadulterated luxury between Singapore and Bangkok on a train that recreates the region’s colonial past. Clients can relax in the observation carriage-bar at the rear of the train, or in one of two restaurant cars.
Routes on offer: the E&O supplies the three-day, two-night journey between Singapore and Bangkok, departing from Singapore on Sundays and from Bangkok on Wednesdays and Fridays. The route takes in Kuala Lumpur, Butterworth (for Penang), Surat Thani (for Phuket), Hua Hin, Kanchanaburi and Bangkok – a journey of 1,262 miles. At Butterworth, passengers transfer to bus and then trishaw to enjoy a whistle-stop tour of Georgetown, Penang, while a trip on the River Kwai is offered at Kanchanaburi. A two-day air extension to Siem Reap in Cambodia, and from there overland to the temple complex of Angkor Wat, is now also available.
Sample price: Elegant Resorts offers two nights in Bangkok’s Oriental Hotel, the E&O to Singapore, two nights in the Raffles Hotel and then a week at the Datai on Langkawi for £2,375 per person, flying with British Airways.
Type of client: the UK accounts for around 11% of the 11,000 passengers that travel each year on the E&O. The journey is short and expensive, so clients tend to be well heeled, and some opt for dressing up in keeping with the ambience of the train.
Operator view: “It’s a chance to travel in top quality, with a nostalgic feel, and to experience the countryside you wouldn’t normally get to see. The E&O is also as much of an experience as a part of your holiday.”
Vanessa Morris, head of contracting for the Eastern Hemisphere, Elegant Resorts.