The Inside Track on the Best Luxury Rail Travel

While talk of new routes through the Channel Tunnel to Germany and Switzerland never make it out of the sidings and European sleeper services are cancelled or delayed, it’s full steam ahead for one area of train travel: the luxury rail market. 

This year sees new hotels on wheels touring around Britain, France and Italy, while the next 12 months will see new suites and routes in Australia and South Africa, and new high-end trains departing in Saudi Arabia, across the old  Silk Road route in Asia and the rebirth  of the Orient Express from Paris to  Istanbul. All aboard! 

Dream of the Desert, Saudi Arabia

Rail enthusiasts will have the chance to experience Saudi Arabia’s breathtaking landscapes aboard a new luxury train, departing in 2026. The Dream of the Desert features 14 carriages and 34 suites, and, following departure from Riyadh, the train  will traverse the northern section of the country’s rail network, with guests invited  to join curated cultural programmes devised by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Culture to complement itineraries that immerse passengers in the country’s cultural heritage and desert landscapes.

The Arabian wolves and golden eagles of the King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Royal Natural Reserve will be highlights of the journeys before the train reaches its destination of Al Qurayyat on the Jordanian border. The train has been designed with sandy hues and sculptural textures by interior designer Aline Asmar d’Amman and her studio, Culture in Architecture. The project is a partnership between Saudi Arabia Railways and Italy’s Arsenale Group, which is also behind La Dolce Vita Orient Express.

Accommodation prices available on the website, luxurytrainclub.com

Rovos Rail, Africa

South African-based Rovos Rail ranges across the south of the African continent, from Angola to Zimbabwe. Its most famous journey is the 14-day, 3,600-mile trip from Cape Town to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania via the Madikwe Game Reserve and Victoria Falls, but from 2026 it is offering a new 11-night route to Cape Town from Walvis Bay in Namibia. 

En route, the ‘Namibia Safari’ stops at a cheetah conservation project, a game drive and overnight stay in a lodge in the Etosha National Park and a drive through the Namib Desert. Back on board, the views from the armchairs of the observation car and open-air balconies include the Kalahari Desert, the Hex River Valley and the winelands of the Western Cape. The style of the carriages feels like a luxurious mobile safari, especially in the Royal Suites, which come with both a shower and a roll-top bath. 

Accommodation on the Namibia Safari starts from £9,000; rovos.com

Golden Eagle Silk Road Express, Asia

Current Golden Eagle itineraries include the castles of Transylvania and the treasures of Uzbekistan, but in 2026, an entirely new train, the Golden Eagle Silk Road Express, is set to be unveiled, journeying between the key staging posts of the historic Silk Road trading route that linked east and west from the second century BCE to the 15th century CE. 

Itineraries include 12 days from Beijing to Lhasa, 14 days from Ho Chi Minh City to Shanghai, and 22 days from Beijing to Tashkent; rest assured that with so much time spent on board, accommodation is supremely comfortable, whether in the elegant Superior Deluxe Cabins or the lavish Han Dynasty Suite, which includes a separate sitting room and an en-suite bathroom complete with bathtub. Two restaurant cars offer both Western and Chinese cuisine, there’s a Bösendorfer piano  in the bar car and an observation carriage with a 270-degree panoramic window. 

Accommodation starts from £13,729, goldeneagleluxurytrains.com

Belmond Britannic Explorer, England and Wales

Belmond has long been the pioneer of luxury train travel; it kickstarted the trend back in 1982 with the revival of the Venice Simplon-OrientExpress, and it currently operates seven hotels on wheels, from the Andean Explorer in Peru to the Eastern & Oriental Express in Southeast Asia. The Britannic Explorer was due to launch as we went to press as the last word in luxury  UK staycations. 

Three-night itineraries, all departing from London Victoria, take in Cornwall, Snowdonia and the Lake District in eight antique-strewn carriages, with the 18 cabins designed with wood, stone and wool to evoke the landscapes outside. Stops en route might include a black-tie gala at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, but the food onboard is just as impressive, with British menus overseen by Simon Rogan of three-Michelin-starred L’Enclume fame. The observation car invites relaxation as the countryside rolls past, and there’s even an onboard wellness suite.

Accommodation starts from £11,000; belmond.com

La Dolce Vita Orient Express, Italy

French hospitality giant Accor will be relaunching the Paris-Istanbul Orient Express in 2026 — not to be confused with Belmond’s Venice Simplon-Orient-Express — with train interiors designed by architect Maxime d’Angeac. A taste of what is to come is on offer with an Italian accent aboard La Dolce Vita Orient Express, which took to the rails in April from Rome’s Ostiense Station. 

The first Italian-made luxury train comprises 18 suites and 12 deluxe cabins in which to spend the night during nine itineraries that take in Italy’s greatest hits, from the perennial favourites of Rome, Venice and Portofino to the Tuscan vineyards of Montalcino and the atmospheric cities of Sicily. Sixties-style interiors are as stylish as one would expect — wood-panelled ceilings, modernist textiles, brass sconces and smoked mirrors — while swish evenings begin with aperitivi in the bar ahead of regional Italian cooking devised by three-Michelinstarred chef Heinz Beck of La Pergola in Rome.

Accommodation starts from £3,029; orient-express.com

The Ghan, Australia

Once a week, The Ghan undertakes the 1,851-mile trip from Adelaide to Darwin via Alice Springs (for Uluru), traversing the scorched Red Centre of Australia and the tropical Northern Territory en route. Sister trains the Great Southern and Indian Pacific make equally exhaustive trans-continental expeditions from Brisbane to Adelaide and Perth to Sydney, respectively.

The journeys are long — upwards of three days — but luxurious, and even more so from 2026, when two new suites, the Aurora and the Australis, are added to The Ghan and Indian Pacific, promising a private bar stocked with Bollinger La Grande Année Champagne, a generously proportioned bedroom and en suite bathroom, and service from your own dedicated butler, who can magic up in-room private dining should you not wish to join your fellow guests in the elegant Platinum Club carriage. Meals include Aussie ingredients such as kangaroo and barramundi washed down, of course, with standout Australian wines. 

 Accommodation starts from £1,376; journeybeyondrail.com

Le Grand Tour, France

Launching this autumn, Le Grand Tour allows guests to experience the French landscape at a more leisurely pace than from a TGV window seat. The new train comes courtesy of the team behind the history-focused Puy du Fou theme park and offers a six-night tour of France’s historic highpoints. 

Trains depart from the Gare de l’Est in Paris before stopping in the cathedral city of Reims in Champagne, Beaune in the heart of Burgundy, the former papal seat of Avignon in Provence, the walled city of Carcassonne, the Arcachon Bay on the Atlantic coast and the medieval port city of La Rochelle. The Belle Époque-style carriages feature 18 cabins and, with only 36 passengers attended to by 15 members of staff, there’s a good chance you’ll get to know both your fellow guests and Grand Tour team over the six-night journey. Meals in the restaurant car, meanwhile, are overseen by three-Michelinstarred chef Alexandre Couillon of La Marine in the Vendée. 

Accommodation prices available on the website, legrandtour.com