We’re all now familiar with the idea of jumping aboard a Eurostar service in London or Kent and disembarking on the Continent – something that was once unheard of in our island nation. But you may still be surprised at how far you can travel overland by train without the need for flights. On our staff, one of us has travelled from London to Damascus by train, another from Witham in Essex to Beijing! This blog will give you a good idea of just how far you can travel by rail.

Europe

Travel by Rail to Amsterdam

If you’re not driving, you can still fly to the Dutch capital or take a ferry to the Hook of Holland. But the direct Eurostar service now takes you from the centre of London directly to the heart of the Netherlands, with no need to change trains or restrict the amount of liquids in your hand luggage.

Our holidays with the direct Eurostar to Amsterdam include Amsterdam & Delft, Amsterdam & Rotterdam and Venice Simplon-Orient-Express Amsterdam to Venice.

Travel by Rail to the French Riviera

Getting to the South of France is a breeze by rail with high-speed TGV services connecting Paris with Marseille, Nice and Cannes. If all goes to plan then, in 2022, Eurostar will be reinstating their direct service from the Thames to the Med with a service 4 times a week from London to Marseille.

Our holidays to the French Riviera include The French Riviera: Nice and Cannes and Paris, Lyon and Marseille

Travel by Rail to Venice

Venice is one of the world’s most popular travel destinations and there’s nothing quite like arriving here for the first time by train. The Ponte della Libertà spans the Venetian Lagoon, connecting Venice Mestre station on the mainland with Santa Lucia station on one of the city’s 118 islands. You can take the rail route via the Alps with a stop in Lausanne, Zurich or Munich en route or, of course, it’s possible to board the British Pullman in London and arrive in style aboard the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express.

Or holidays to Venice include Venice via the Brenner Pass, Venice via the Glacier Express, Venice via the Gotthard Pass and Classic Orient-Express: London to Venice

Travel by Rail to Athens

If you’re looking for an exciting rail journey across Europe, this one is hard to beat. You can combine two ancient cities by heading for Rome and then taking the ferry across to Patras, with a domestic Greek service linking across to Athens or, to make the whole journey by rail, why not travel via the Balkans? Our London to Athens via the Balkans itinerary includes a stunning journey through the Austrian Alps along with nights in Zagreb, Belgrade, Sofia and Thessaloniki.

Travel by Rail to the Arctic Circle

Fancy a real rail adventure? How about travelling to the far north of Norway, Swedish Lapland or to visit Santa Claus near Rovaniemi in Finland! You can take the train via Belgium, Germany and Denmark with plenty of stops along the way to make the journey a real holiday in itself.

Our holidays to the Arctic Circle include Stockholm & the Northern Lights, Finnish Explorer and London to the Arctic Circle.

Travel by Rail to Moscow

Easts meets west on this epic rail journey – though you only need to change trains once if you take the direct sleeper (Paris – Moskva Express) from Paris! There is also a sleeper train service from Berlin (Strizh or Swift in English) or from Warsaw – with a day train from Berlin.  This last route is the one we recommend on our London to Moscow & St Petersburg itinerary. You can also find out more about this route by reading our London to Moscow by Train blog.

Asia

Travel by Rail to Istanbul

Straddling Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus, Istanbul was the original destination of the Orient-Express, inaugurated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits in 1883, though it was called Constantinople in those days. This is where Agatha Christie developed her love of trains, travelling to visit her archeologist husband in Turkey. Nowadays, the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express only travels from Istanbul to Paris once a year and the journey sells out very early. However, you can still use public trains to get here quite easily. Find out more with our suggested London to Istanbul itinerary.

Travel by Rail to Beijing

If you have a spare 10 days or so, it’s perfectly possible to get to Beijing by public train (as our staff member who did it will testify). You simply need to travel to Moscow (as detailed above), catch the world-famous Trans-Siberian (or, more accurately in this case, the Trans-Mongolian) across Russia, around the Gobi Desert, through Mongolia to China. Flying back to London takes 8 hours but is far less fun.

For a luxurious option, we also offer an unforgettable journey along the Silk Road to Beijing with the Golden Eagle.

Africa

Travel by Rail and Ferry to Marrakech

London to Continental Africa by train? Well, not exactly as you do have to take a ferry at some point. But there’s certainly no need to get on a plane. You can travel south through France and Spain to Algeciras where you can catch a fast ferry across to Tangier. From here, the train network can take you to capital Rabat, Fes, Casablanca and Marrakech. Find out more by visiting our Moroccan Discovery holiday.

Travel by Rail and Ferry to Tunis

We don’t feature it on our website, but it’s so easy to get to Tunisia that it needs to be mentioned! You can either catch a ferry for a 24-hour crossing from Marseille (meaning that, once the direct service from London is back, this journey would only involve one change!) or you travel down to Palermo in Sicily and take a ferry from there to the African Continent.

For any of these journeys or even further afield (Ho Chi Minh City or Tehran anyone?), then just give us a call or drop us an email to tailor make your trip!