As any seasoned traveller knows, there is something special about watching the world whizz by through a train window. Flying may be faster and driving more convenient, but there’s nothing quite as romantic as riding the rails. Boarding a sleeper train in one country and waking up in another is an experience that never quite loses its magic, no matter how many times you do it.
Buoyed by the success of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express and the Rocky Mountaineer, travel companies have cottoned on to the growing popularity of rail holidays, and there’s a huge choice of routes, especially at the luxury end of the market. Whether it’s tracking the Silk Road, crossing Canada from coast to coast or experiencing the eccentricity of the rail network in India, travelling by train is the only way to go in 2026. Here’s my pick of the journeys on offer — all aboard.
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1. Peruvian highlands in style
Glide over the rooftops of the world on this luxurious train that passes through the highlands of Peru on Belmond’s Andean Explorer. Travelling from Cusco to the remote Colca Canyon, the journey follows one of the highest stretches of track in the world, where alpacas graze, mountain lakes glitter and the Andes brood on the horizon. It’s utterly spoiling — plush Peruvian decor, evening canapés and, of course, an onboard spa car. The five-night trip includes a tour of 3,000-year-old cave paintings, a private picnic on the islands of Titicaca and stays at two top hotels: Palacio Nazarenas, A Belmond Hotel, in Cusco and Las Casitas in Arequipa.
Details Five nights — two full board in a hotel and three all-inclusive on the train — from £3,741pp, including transfers (belmond.com). Fly to Cusco
2. South Africa and Namibia safari
Savannahs, sand dunes, canyons, waterfalls, diamond mines and deserts; this 2,100-mile, 11-night adventure sleeping onboard Rovos Rail from Pretoria to Walvis Bay feels like a geography textbook opening up in front of you. It is a journey into the wild side of Africa — walk the edge of the Kalahari Basin, look out over the Sossusvlei salt pans, stargaze on the sand dunes of the Namib desert, cross the Karoo and, with luck, spot the big five in Etosha National Park. Despite the wildness, aboard the train it’s all old-school luxury, with white table linen, waistcoated waiters and formalwear for dinner.
Details Eleven nights’ all-inclusive from £7,536pp, including tours and transfers (rovos.com). Fly to Johannesburg
3. Less-stress India
A journey across India by train sounds like fun, but in reality it can be more of an ordeal than an enlightenment. Saga’s guided, 16-day Great Indian Rail jaunt minimises the stress with a well-thought-through itinerary that combines six trains, each offering a different experience of the network. You’ll take a train from Delhi across the Golden Triangle to Jaipur, ride the dinky Toy Train from Kalka to Shimla, cross the Punjab to see the temples of Amritsar, experience an early-morning visit to the Taj Mahal and go tiger-spotting in Ranthambore National Park, staying in hotels.
Details Sixteen nights’ half-board from £2,750pp, including flights and some extra meals (saga.co.uk)
4. Deep dive into the Balkans
The Balkans is a fantastic region to explore by rail. Starting in Slovenia, Explore’s Balkans Rail Adventure is a 16-day, fast-paced trip that travels through Kosovo, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and North Macedonia, stopping in cities including Pristina, Ljubljana, Tivat and Belgrade, with natural splendours such as the waterfalls of Plitvice, Lake Bled and the vast Bay of Kotor to see, staying in hotels. Culture features strongly, with slap-up dinners from a Serbian barbecue to a traditional Macedonian feast. The overnight sleeper train from the Montenegrin city of Bar to Belgrade is an experience — and the trip is fully guided, so there are no worries about missed connections.
Details Fifteen nights’ B&B from £3,195pp, including guides and some extra meals. Fly to Ljubljana and from Pristina
5. Belle époque elegance in Spain
The Al Andalus is a lavish train that glides through the sunbaked landscapes of La Mancha, Extremadura and Andalusia and harks back to a more elegant era of European rail travel, it having been a favourite of the Spanish royal family in the 1920s. It’s modelled on the belle époque opulence of the Orient Express, with wood-panelled carriages, gilded table lamps, chaises longues and decadently dressed cabins. There’s space for 64 guests, so there are attentive staff everywhere you look. The route runs from Madrid to Seville, with highlights including the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, the bewitching old cities of Caceres, Toledo and Merida, the magnificent cathedral in Cordoba and a detour via the windmill-filled landscape of Campo de Criptana, loved by Cervantes.
Details Eight nights — six full board on the train and two B&B in hotels — from £6,995pp, including flights
6. Silk Road through China and Tibet
The mere mention of the Silk Road inspires wanderlust, conjuring daydream-inducing images of spice markets, caravan trains and forgotten eastern cities. But the distances involved are formidable. That’s where the Golden Eagle Silk Road Express comes in — a premium passenger train that spares no expense, with observation cars, deluxe cabins, silver-service dinners and wines included. Of the available routes, the most adventurous is Undiscovered Horizons of China, which travels from the city of Urumqi in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to Lhasa in Tibet. On the way the train visits the Silk Road cities of Turpan, Kashgar and the weaving centre of Hotan. It also skirts the epic Taklamakan desert and crosses the Tanggula Pass, the highest point of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.
Details Twelve nights’ full board from £29,463pp, including transfers (goldeneagleluxurytrains.com). Fly to Urumqi
7. Japan by ballot train
Impressive as the Shinkansen bullet trains are, there are three super-exclusive Japanese sleep-aboard cruisers that are so wildly sought after that the only way to get a ticket is to apply by ballot. Japan Private Tour has 2026 departures for the Seven Stars train, which follows a fascinating circuit around the island of Kyushu. Wood-panelled throughout, with a harmonious blend of Japanese and western decor, the train is a stunner, and over the five-night tour you will visit sacred shrines, tour kagura mask workshops, visit the Takachiho Gorge and volcanic Mount Aso and attend a performance of the mythic Yokagura night dances.
Details Five nights’ full board from £19,740pp, including flights and excursions (japanprivatetour.com). Fly to Tokyo
8. A grand tour of Switzerland
The engineering ingenuity of some of the mountain railways in Switzerland defies belief, and you will experience four famed lines on this grand tour from Wexas — the GoldenPass Express from Montreux to Interlaken; the Glacier Express from Zermatt to St Moritz; the Bernina Express from Chur to Tirano, in Italy; and the Gornergrat cogwheel train for the ultimate view of the Matterhorn. Needless to say, the mountain vistas are out of this world, and for trainspotting kudos don’t miss the cogwheel journey to Jungfraujoch, the highest railway station in Europe. You stay in hotels on the way.
Details Nine nights’ B&B from £4,960pp, including flights (wexas.com)
9. Into the Malaysian rainforest
Everyone knows about the Venice Simplon-Orient Express, but there’s also a sister train from Singapore to Malaysia inspired by that experience. The Eastern & Oriental Express, a Belmond train, is the brainchild of the American businessman James B Sherwood, who developed the service in the 1990s, refitting its carriages in lavish style to echo turn-of-the-century Indochina, with cream-and-green suites you sleep in, batik prints, glossy wood corridors and a tinkling piano bar. Of the five routes offered by Belmond, its Wild Malaysia tour is the high point, travelling from the bright lights of Singapore and deep into the rainforest of Taman Negara before touring the atmospheric old quarter of George Town and exploring the Cameron Highlands.
Details Three nights’ all-inclusive from £4,243pp, including transfers and excursions (belmond.com). Fly to Singapore
10. Coast to coast in Canada
The Trans Canadian Rail Odyssey from Titan Travel is a coast-to-coast trip that takes in a full sweep of epic Canadian landscapes, from sprawling prairies and thundering waterfalls to craggy coastline and snowy peaks. It begins in Toronto and takes 14 days to travel cross-country to Vancouver. Along the way you’ll ride two of the country’s flagship services, the transcontinental Canadian (sleeping onboard) and the Rocky Mountaineer from Jasper via Banff to Vancouver, staying in hotels en route. Visits include the Niagara Falls, the vast Columbia Icefield and sapphire-blue Lake Louise.
Details Thirteen nights’ room only — nine in hotels, three on board and one in flight — from £5,936pp, including flights and tours
11. Thailand’s ancient cities
This luxury Thai train has been running since 2025 and is the country’s most exclusive rail experience, with only five departures in 2026. Starting from Hua Lamphong station in Bangkok, it trundles north through the heart of sacred Thailand, stopping at the ancient capital of Ayutthaya, the temple outposts of Uthai Thani and Sukhothai, and Chiang Mai, the beguiling northern city where you can chat with monks and hike with local tribespeople. The train dates from the 1960s and has space for 37 passengers; classic cabins can be a little basic, so it’s worth upgrading to premium.
Details Eight nights — six nights’ half-board in hotels and two nights’ full board on the train — from £7,427pp, including most excursions (thebluejasminetrain.com). Fly to Bangkok
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