In South Africa, you have the choice of the renowned Blue Train, which offers an overnight journey from Cape Town to Pretoria (with the option to continue on to Hoedspruit), or the classic Rovos Rail, which provides a variety of itineraries to Cape Town, Victoria Falls and Durban, or further afield to Namibia and Dar es Salaam.

India is a fabulous destination for train travel with an excellent network of tracks crossing the country. The three main luxury train companies - Maharaja Express, Deccan Odyssey and Palace on Wheels, offer a selection of itineraries travelling around the north of the country in beautifully restored carriages. The itineraries are from 3 to 7 nights in duration and can easily be incorporated into a longer itinerary to India. Alternatively, if you are looking for a taste of standard train travel in India, a ride on a local train can easily be included in most itineraries and is a great way to experience the real India and mix with the locals!

Other memorable train journeys around the world include the train to Machu Picchu, either by the luxurious Belmond Hiram Bingham train or the Vistadome train, during which you can choose to alight after 104km and hike the remainder of the route to the Incan ruins!

For an epic train journey, and also a great way to cover the vast distances involved, Australia offers a number of iconic routes. The Ghan travels north from Adelaide to Darwin via Alice Springs, while the Indian Pacific crosses the country from Perth in the west to Sydney in the east. Each journey takes a few days but both offer you the chance to sit back and enjoy the view as you cross the continent.

There are many shorter train journeys around the world, in countries as varied as Ecuador, Sri Lanka and China, so if you are keen to include a train trip in your itinerary, do let us know and we will do our best to incorporate one where possible.