Ever splashed out on a bougie train journey and thought, ‘damn, I wish this was going to be my life for the next 100 days?’ Well, lucky you. If you’ve got all that time (and exactly £112,900) to spare, you now can.
Shiny new tour operator Adventures By Train has just announced its flagship planet-wide tour, Around the World by Train in 100 days, and it’s officially open for bookings, with the first departure scheduled for March 17 next year.
Only 12 people can join the inaugural journey, which comes with a very hefty price tag (though book as a couple and it’ll cost you a mere £89,950 each). But you do get a whole load of bang for your buck.
Adventures by Train director Jim Louth says the ‘trip provides the perfect mix of world-class rail travel with hand-picked immersive experiences in optimum comfort’ and 14 countries (France, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Türkiye, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Japan, Canada and the USA) are visited in total.
But let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. The 100-day itinerary features legs through the Swiss and Austrian Alps, sleeper trains through central Asia, China’s high-speed rail network to Xian, Japan’s ‘shinkansen’ bullet train and the California Zephyr Amtrak route through the Rocky Mountains.
There’ll be plenty to keep you entertained: wine tastings in Georgia, marbling workshops in Türkiye, classical concerts in Vienna, street food tours in Kyoto and even a walking tour of UNESCO-protected Khiva, the city of a thousand minarets, in Uzbekistan.
And trains aren’t all – you’ll spend 23 days on the North Pacific Passage Luxury Cruise from Tokyo to Vancouver, and a seven-night Atlantic Crossing on the Queen Mary 2 from New York to Southampton. There’s also a 24-30 hour trip from Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan and an overnight one from Shanghai to Osaka.
And some outstanding hotels will be stayed at along the way – the likes of the Fairmont Peace Hotel in Shanghai, Shangri-La in Vancouver and The Langham New York Fifth Avenue are all on the itinerary, as is Istanbul’s Pera Palace, where Agatha Christie famously penned Murder On The Orient Express.
This is obviously a big old trip to pack for, but to ensure you’re able to keep things light (in bags small enough for the overhead containers), the company will allot $100 (£78) per person per hotel for laundry services.
Fancy splashing out on this mega-adventure? Take a look at Adventures By Train’s website here.
Did you see that one of Europe’s new sleeper train routes has already been axed?
Plus: This European capital has officially voted to ban cars from 500 streets.
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Travel newsletter for all the latest travel news and best stuff happening across the world.
