All Aboard Your moving view of the world
Winter / Spring 2014
DEPARTURES UNION TO GRAND CENTRAL: TORONTO TO NEW YORK VIA NIAGARA FALLS
Alluring
Andalucia Tapas, toreadors and the scent of orange blossom; impressions of exotic Al-Andalus
GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING RETURNS TO THE HAGUE TRAFALGAR SQUARE TO THE DJEMAA EL-FNA ABOARD THE MARRAKECH EXPRESS 25 YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL TOP LOCAL TIPS FROM A TOP VENICE HOTEL CONCIERGE
Jungfraujoch Top of Europe Up to the highest-altitude railway station in Europe · 3454 m
jungfrau.ch
Opened in 1912, the sensational Jungfrau Railway undoubtedly counts as one of Switzerland‘s most impressive excursions. Aletsch Glacier – the longest ice-stream in the Alps, 22 km long and up to 800 m thick. Ice Palace – 30 metres beneath the glacier surface Sphinx – the highest vantage point of the Top of Europe, 3571 metres alt.
Jungfrau Railways CH-3800 Interlaken · Switzerland Tel. +41 (0)33 828 71 11 info@jungfrau.ch
Interlaken The Gateway to Jungfrau
interlaken.ch
Pure Swissness – Interlaken, heart of Switzerland and excellent departure point for any kind of excursions. Pure Adrenaline – Come and join the action, all in the most spectacular of settings. Pure Entertainment – Fine boutiques, casino, Spa, the lakes and our golf course. When can we expect you for the holiday of your dreams?
JJ+TOI_Railbookers_250x210_2014.indd 1
Interlaken Tourism CH-3800 Interlaken · Switzerland Tel. +41 (0)33 826 53 00 mail@interlakentourism
27.05.14 10:28
Your route calls at... Welcome aboard...
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here’s plenty to tempt and inspire you in Issue 2 of All Aboard magazine, from honeymoons to operatic legends and epic rail journeys. Travel writer Adrian Phillips takes the train from Canadian culture capital Toronto to New York City via Niagara Falls. Mark Smith, otherwise known as the Man in Seat 61, embarks on a journey through Vietnam aboard the historic Reunification Express. Old and new collide for Peter Lynch on an epic journey through Morocco. And, 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall we look back over the recent history of this ever-changing city. We are also proud to announce our collaboration with the prestigious Travel Photographer of the Year and Railway Children, a charity which offers support to street children in Africa, India, Pakistan and the UK. Happy reading and, as ever, let us know what you think of the magazine at allaboard@railbookers.co.nz
1st stop | P4 The Hague
2nd stop | P5 The French Ardennes
The Mauritshuis gallery reopens with its famous masterpieces back in place.
8th stop | P14 Vietnam The Man in Seat 61 aboard the Reunification Express.
3rd stop | P6 Honeymoons
Tick all the boxes and plan your perfect honeymoon.
Ian Weightman races around his favourite region in a 2CV.
7th stop | P13 Top 5 Rooms with a View
Where to stay for the best view from your window.
6th stop | P12 Baglioni Venice Concierge Guide
One of Venice’s oldest 5* hotels gives us the inside track.
Emily Morrison EDITOR
All Aboard Winter / Spring 2014
Design & Artwork by Matthew Murphy
Ontario to New York State with Adrian Phillips.
5th stop | P11 Eastern & Oriental Express
Find out what it’s like aboard this luxurious train.
10th stop | P22 Busseto
9th stop | P16 Morocco
Opera lover Adrian Mourby visits Verdi’s home town.
Peter Lynch takes the Marrakech Express, Railbookers style.
11th stop | P24 France and Spain
From Chartres to Andalucía with William Yeoman.
15 stop | P33 Waiting Room th
12th stop | P28 Berlin
25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Puzzles with prizes.
Emily
4th stop | P8 Toronto, Niagara Falls and New York
16th stop | P34 My Favourite Rail Journey
14h stop | P31 Ask the Expert
Our Travel Centre Manager answers your questions.
Travel Consultant Sarah Turner takes the scenic route to Italy.
Next Issue
13th stop | P30 Christmas Markets The festive season is closer than you think.
Destination | The Hague
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Images 01 The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius 02 View of Delft by Johannes Vermeer 03 The Mauritshuis in The Hague 04 Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer
Vermeer’s Girl Comes Home
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After a two year world tour, Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer returns to its home collection at the newly re-opened Mauritshuis in The Hague.
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n 27th June this year, one of Europe’s Girl with a Pearl Earring joins other master most important art galleries, the works of the Dutch Golden Age by the likes Mauritshuis in The Hague, reopens of Rembrandt van Rijn and Hans Holbein in a after a major renovation. collection of around The most exciting and highly 800 paintings, 50 She has captured publicised element of this miniatures and 20 imaginations reopening is the return of Girl with a sculptures housed Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer in a newly restored across the world. to her home collection, after an 17th century palace. But she’s getting a extended, incredibly successful Other works attracting little homesick now world tour. Dr Emilie Gordenker, attention at the director of the Mauritshuis has said gallery include View of the Dutch masterpiece: “She has of Delft, also by captured imaginations across the world. But Vermeer. The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius is she’s getting a little homesick now.” another painting which, like Girl with a Pearl
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Earring, has inspired a bestselling book, this time a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Donna Tartt. Tickets to the museum are currently €14 for adults and free for under 18s. The Hague is also the seat of the monarchy in the Netherlands so there are some richly decorated palaces open to the public as well as other impressive art galleries. These include the ultra-modern Gemeentemuseum, which boasts the world’s largest collection of works by Piet Mondrian. Emily Morrison
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Destination | French Ardennes
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Images 01 Citroën 2CV 02 Racetrack at RETROscapade 03 Ardennes Forest
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Visiting the
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Did you know…
French Ardennes
…the Citroën 2CV took its name from the fact that early models had a 375cc engine and were rated at just two horsepower (or deux chevaux, as the French have called it ever since)? The Ferrari F458, by contrast, offers 562 horsepower (as well as one, world-famous prancing horse). I mention this only because, these days, a visit to the French Ardennes offers a very privileged opportunity to get up-closeand-personal to both of these rare breeds. As red-letter-days go, this one really does take some beating. Manufactured between 1948 and 1990, Citroën 2CVs were designed primarily for rural areas of France, where farmers still relied on the horse and cart. Rugged, basic, hard-wearing and economical, the deux chevaux ended up being called “the most original make of car since the Model T Ford”, and won a place in the heart of motorists across Europe. Now, there’s an entire fleet of these classic cars on offer with Retroscapade - a new company in the Ardennes, which is determined to
First, at the start of the Piste Dragster, before going from 0-200kph in a handful of scintillating seconds. Then at the entrance to the Piste Rapide track where the g-force was enough to send my cheeks flapping somewhere around the back of my ears. And finally, at the Drift, where we proceeded to burn rubber for fun.
is as ea sy as
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make driving a deux chevaux as easy as 1-2-CV… Everything - instructions, routes, maps, even a starting handle (“just in case”) - is included, with prices starting from just €99 for four hours. But before I could drive off in my blue 2CV, I first had a date with a red Ferrari. Bristling with power and energy in the corner of a hangar at the Pole Mécanique des Ardennes, it’s driven by Pascal Michel, the director of the racetrack now looking to offer a wide variety of high-octane fun to holiday makers arriving in this region. Pascal took me on a guided tour of the racetrack complex in the €260,000 thoroughbred Ferrari, pausing only briefly on three occasions.
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The emblem of the French Ardennes is the wild boar. You see it everywhere. But be warned: when you come back from a trip like this, you’re very likely to become one yourself! Ian Weightman is the managing director of Ian Weightman Media Services – specialising in destination PR and representing some of the finest areas of the UK as well as the French Ardennes.
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Destination | Honeymoons
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Happy Honeymoon Planning a honeymoon? Why not create your dream itinerary with us? You can even get your friends and family to contribute with our dedicated honeymoon portal. Let us help you plan your own tailor made trip or choose from one of our special honeymoon packages. Prepare to be pampered!
Speed down to Cannes and mingle with the jet set before taking a private helicopter transfer to the Fairmont Monte Carlo for an unrestricted view of the Mediterranean. Alternatively, make your way to the bellissima Amalfi Coast, either via the majesty of the Swiss Alps or with a stop along the way in the Eternal City of Rome. Spend your nights on the coast overlooking the harbour in Positano or soaking up the sunshine in Sorrento.
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SCENERY
Travel to Venice via the spectacular scenery of the Alps with a transfer on arrival to the beautiful Luna Hotel Baglioni, where a bottle of chilled champagne awaits you. Experience the best panoramic journeys of Switzerland including a lake view room at the Fairmont Montreux and time to unwind in St Moritz. Or get up close and personal with the Canadian Rockies on a luxurious journey aboard the Rocky Mountaineer with stunning hotels along the way.
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Destination | Honeymoons 03
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Enjoy first class train travel, upgraded rooms, VIP treatment and Paris when it sizzles on a European Grand Tour. Soak up the scenery, sun-drenched squares and sherry bodegas of Andalucia on a honeymoon to Seville, Granada and Cordoba. Or, fly into Malaga and cross the Straits of Gibraltar for a fascinating journey into Morocco, including luxurious hotels, first class rail and private transfers.
ST Y L E
Experience the life of a Maharaja as you visit the wonders of India from your roving hotel aboard the opulent Maharajas’ Express. Take the elegant Eastern & Oriental Express from Singapore via the Malaysian hillside retreat of the Cameron Highlands to Bangkok before relaxing on the beaches of Koh Samui. Or embark on the signature journey from London Victoria to Venice Santa Lucia aboard the matchless Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. Images 01 Positano 02 Grand Hotel Tremezzo 03 Hotel George V, Paris 04 Koh Samui, Thailand
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Destination | Toronto to New York
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To ro n to to N ew Yo r k b y Ra i l Adrian Phillips takes the Maple Leaf service from Canada into the USA, via one of the world’s most famous waterfalls 8
“You build your stations like we build our cathedrals”, declared the Prince of Wales, buttoned up in his best tunic to cut a ribbon with golden scissors. That opening ceremony took place in the 1920s, a lost era of knickerbockers and thin moustaches, but the Great Hall of Toronto Union Station would still sit comfortably in sepia tint. Limestone arches leapfrog between Corinthian pillars weighing 75 tonnes. Marble rectangles arrange themselves in herringbone patterns on the floor, blotched with light from barrel-vaulted windows. However, today there’s also an escalator that carries you to sleek, silver tubes with narrow windows and Amtrak go-faster stripes in red and blue. It’s like moving from a medieval temple to a spacecraft hangar, your pocket picked of the here and now.
Railbookers
Destination | Toronto to New York
“You build your stations like we build our cathedrals”, declared the Prince of Wales, buttoned up in his best tunic to cut a ribbon with golden scissors
saucer of the CN Tower, its surface flaring white in the sunshine, to a rowdy place of Victorian red brick and girders.
This was St Lawrence Market in ‘Old Toronto’, air thick with the chat and cry of stallholders selling ice wine, cheeses, caviar, crocodile steaks, strudels, speciality peameal bacon baps drizzled with honey mustard. “It used to be noisier before they banned live animals”, said Bruce Bell above the hullaballoo. “The lobsters were allowed to stay”, he 02 added, as we passed a tank. “They’re a quiet bunch.” Everybody in Old Toronto knows Bruce, a journalist, guide and clarion-calling champion of local history. Flower girls waved as we passed and meat sellers in smeared aprons patted his shoulder fondly. He spent the morning talking to me of 19th century Irish gangs and American slaves who followed the North Star to freedom in Canada. I learned the creator of Superman had grown up in Toronto, and that the Metropolis skyline was modelled not on New York but those yellowing skyscrapers at the cross-section of Young and King Streets. Mostly he spoke of St Lawrence Market. By the 1970s, industry had declined in this district, and the market was a decaying iron carcass in a ghost neighbourhood. It was marked for demolition. But people rallied to save a building that had stood since 1845, and they put it at the heart of a programme of urban renewal. Now the ghosts are gone, there are curtains in the houses and the market is again the community hub. In a city of 21st century chrome
Such a time-traveller’s skip seemed appropriate as I left for the next stop on my Maple Leaf rail trip from Toronto to New York. Earlier I’d walked from the sci-fi
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03 Images 01 Inside Toronto Union Station 02 CN Tower, Toronto 03 Maid of the Mist, Niagara Falls
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Destination | Toronto to New York and thrusting determination to live at the cutting edge, Bruce offers reminders of the importance of the past, the rewards of looking back to the future. Aboard the train, the voices were very much of the present. “My son-in-law does research into spiders”, said a woman in the seat behind me. “No kidding!” replied her companion. “My daughter was bitten by a spider. She had to have a blood transfusion and was off work for three months.” We threaded the city limits, apartment blocks giving way to a scrubby hinterland of strawcoloured grass and rusting containers. In a siding, black and white geese walked over empty carriages, stiff-hipped like portly cowboys. A boxy processing plant was caught in an octopus hug of snaking pipes. After an hour, the landscape broke into the open fields of wine country, their neat lines of vines strewn with apple-green netting; after another hour, and a lazy wail of the whistle, we drew into Niagara Falls. Don’t be fooled by reputation: you have to fight to find romance in Niagara. Throw a stick and you’ll hit a hotdog stand, and that stick is likely to ricochet into the baseballcapped head of a T-shirt seller or through the open door of a motel guaranteeing the very best views in town. Charles Dickens declared that the beauty of the Falls had stamped itself ‘changeless and indelible’ on his heart, but he visited before the arrival of Bollywood Bistro and Comfort Inn. Poor old Charlie was denied the chance to play golf at a glow-in-the-dark, pirate-themed mini putt on Clifton Hill before stopping for a burger at Dave and Buster’s. But get up high and the beauty shifts into focus. All is clear and quiet at 1,500 feet. Concrete casinos become the work of insects, and neon pinks fade to nothing beside the browns and blues in nature’s bigger picture. From inside the helicopter’s glass bubble, I looked down on the vast sweep of the river, its broad channel
dividing and collapsing into a series of misty plumes. It did indeed seem changeless, something both of the present and the prehistoric, hypnotic, like an endless flow of sand through an hourglass. As we headed above the edge of American Falls, the pilot pushed us into a dive, leaving my stomach somewhere near the roof. “That’s the closest you’ll get to going over the Falls in a barrel” he joked in my headphones, although if I took to the Falls in a barrel I wouldn’t do so straight after eating a turkey sandwich. Two days later, I was on the train once more. The journey to New York takes just under nine hours and passes through towns called Rochester, Amsterdam, Rome and Yonkers. Woodland rushes up and sucks away like surf on a beach, and if you’re lucky, as I was, you’ll glimpse a deer in a glade. Cormorants stand on posts in a lake near Syracuse and as evening falls over Albany the track meets the Hudson River, lighthouses blinking on islands as the sun lowers behind the mountains. Some passengers will be on their way home, others going to see Mary Poppins on Broadway. I was to do the tourist things: dodge cyclists in Central Park, climb the Empire State Building, eat shrimp with toasted thins. But first I would walk to the 9/11 memorial on the site of the World Trade Center, where the past is remembered in a pair of manmade waterfalls – changeless, hypnotic, like sand through an hourglass.
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Images 04 Central Park, New York
Adrian Phillips is an award winning freelance journalist and also Managing Director at Bradt Guides.
Bradt Travel Guides is offering All Aboard readers a 50% discount on its guides to the USA and Canada. Please visit www.bradtguides.com and enter code RB50 at checkout. The offer includes free UK p&p and is valid until 31st December 2014.
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Destination | The Eastern & Oriental Express
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ush forests and jungle, rice paddy fields, golden temples and green mountains shrouded in mist. Enter an exotic and entrancing new world when you board the green and gold carriages of the Eastern & Oriental Express and embark on the journey of a lifetime through Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Laos. Aboard the train, you can expect the facilities of a 5 star hotel with beautifully appointed en suite compartments, two sumptuous dining cars, a bar car with its own baby grand piano and a teakwood colonial style observation coach. Find out more about the onboard experience here.
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All meals are freshly prepared onboard using locally sourced ingredients. The set menus for lunch and dinner include eastern and international specialities, served in one of the two elegantly furnished restaurant cars. Breakfast is served to you in your compartment at a time to suit you. You can also enjoy refreshments in the bar car or observation coach at any time.
ACCO M M O DAT I O N
There are three types of sleeping compartment aboard the train. Pullman Cabins are of a similar size to a deluxe sleeper compartment on a standard European train, with two bunk beds (folded up during the day) and an en suite shower room. For more space and the advantage of not having to climb a ladder to bed, the State Cabins are double the size of the Pullmans, with two single beds at night and a sofa, armchair and freestanding chair by day. For the ultimate accommodation experience, there are two Presidential Suites on each train which are larger again than the State Cabins, but with a similar configuration.
EXPERIENCES
From fresh fruit-tasting sessions and traditional Thai dancing aboard the train to sampling Thai wines at the Khoo Yai vineyards or learning more about the infamous River Kwai Bridge, there is a wide ranging selection of activities to choose from. All activities aboard the Eastern & Oriental Express aim to give guests an insight into local culture and history.
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Destination | Luna Hotel Baglioni Concierge Guide
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Insider ’s guide
02 Images 01 Luna Hotel Baglioni 02 Doge’s Palace 03 Luna Baglioni private dock 04 Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge
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In this issue, we get the inside track on what to see and do in Venice from the concierge team at the prestigious Luna Hotel Baglioni Q: What attractions would you recommend during a summer break to Venice?
A: We suggest visiting St. Mark’s Square (St.
Mark’s church, Doge’s Palace, Correr Museum, the Bell Tower), Accademia of Fine Arts, Guggenheim Collection, Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana, Frari Church, Ca’Rezzonico Palace and the three main islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello.
Q: Where would be the best place to go shopping?
A: The best places to go shopping are the Via
22 Marzo and the Via Mercerie, both just one minute’s walk from our hotel. Guests of the Luna Hotel Baglioni can enjoy some special treatments in the most well-known boutiques like La Perla, Ermenegildo Zegna and Bally.
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Q: How about getting around? Is there a
special ticket for public transport that you’d recommend?
A: Travel Cards are the best solution for
people who want to get around Venice and its surroundings on Actv’s land and water services. They allow unlimited travel and can be used on all services - both waterborne and on land. Validity can be 12, 24, 36, 48 or 72 hours up to 7 days, depending on the chosen tariff solution.
Q: What annual events in Venice should not be missed?
A: You should not miss the famous Carnival
of Venice, one of the world’s most popular and admired carnivals. Luna Hotel Baglioni opens its doors for unforgettable masked balls in the historical setting of its Marco Polo Ballroom. Another important event is the Festa
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del Redentore (Redeemer Feast), one of the Venetians’ most beloved festivities which falls on the third Sunday in July, when Holy Mass is held in the presence of the Patriarch, followed by a religious procession. One more important event in the Venetian calendar is the Regata Storica, a historical regatta which takes place every year on the first Sunday of September. This is an unforgettable sight and a true reconstruction of the glorious past of one of most the powerful and influential Maritime Republics in the Mediterranean.
Q: How should I go about booking a gondola ride?
A: Booking a gondola ride is very easy. Guests
can reserve the ride directly with our Concierge once they are here at the hotel. Information supplied by the Head Concierge at the Luna Hotel Baglioni in Venice.
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Destination | Top 5 Rooms with a View
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The City View: Terrass, Paris
Majestically perched atop the Butte de Montmartre, the Terrass Hotel commands sweeping views of Paris, especially from its 7th floor Terrass’ en Haut Bar and Restaurant where you can watch the city lights twinkle whilst enjoying your Tartare de Boeuf.
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The Mountain View: Kirchbühl Grindelwald
If you’re looking for spectacular mountain scenery, you can’t get much better than Hotel Kirchbühl, nestled amongst snowy peaks above the village of Grindelwald in the beautiful, UNESCO World Heritage listed Bernese Oberland.
The Sea View: Fairmont Monte Carlo
Fancy having a flawless view of the Mediterranean with no cars, beaches or sunbathers? Then book a Deluxe Sea View room at the Fairmont Monte Carlo. The panoramas from the restaurant and rooftop pool aren’t bad either.
Railbookers
The Canal View: Luna Baglioni, Venice
One of the oldest hotels in the city, the Luna Baglioni occupies an enviable position overlooking the Grand Canal and Venetian Lagoon. Upgrade to the Suite Tiepolo Lagoon and sunbathe on your own private balcony, counting the passing gondolas.
The Original View: Degli Orafi, Florence
Recreate the window scenes of the famous Merchant Ivory film with your own ‘Room with a View’ at the Hotel Degli Orafi. The hotel’s roof terrace bar overlooks the River Arno, the Ponte Vecchio and the dome of Florence’s cathedral.
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Destination | Vietnam
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t’s 6.59pm at Hanoi Railway Station, a minute before the departure of Vietnam’s premier train, the SE1. The noise and bustle of boarding are over and the platform is strangely deserted. Outside each sleeping-car, uniformed carriage attendants look up and down the train anxiously, each holding a lantern aloft. The locomotive gives a short impatient hoot, and a last staccato announcement shatters the warm night air. At 7pm
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precisely, with one long plaintive blast on the horn, train SE1 sets off on its two night, 1,070 mile journey to Saigon. First completed by the French in 1936, the Hanoi-Saigon railway was severed in 1954 as Vietnam split into a mutually hostile North and South. Hanoi to Saigon trains were restored in 1976 after the Vietnam War
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Destination | Vietnam
(or as the Vietnamese call it, the American War), and it’s been known as the Reunification Line ever since. Our train is soon racing the traffic on the adjacent road through the Hanoi suburbs, as the carriage attendants check tickets and passengers chat, read or make dinner, with Vietnamese families settling down to a dinner of tasty noodles made with the free boiling water from the samovar at the end of each carriage. The train is part of the ‘real’ Vietnam, outside the tourist bubble - it’s the way the Vietnamese themselves travel. The 1990s Chinese-built carriages are reasonably spacious considering they run on narrow metre-gauge tracks, with powerful airconditioning which makes a cardigan or fleece worthwhile. The soft sleepers have two upper and two lower berths per compartment, clean bedding is provided and in our compartment there’s even a power socket for cameras or mobiles in the corner - but the train is well worn by western standards, so realistic expectations are key. This is an adventure! A trolley comes down the train with snacks and drinks, and after a convivial evening over a beer or two we settle down to sleep in our bunks to the steady rock of the train. Next morning we wake to rural Vietnam outside our window - picturesque villages, rice fields and water buffalo. We’re running on time, and shortly after 8am the train rolls into Hué, the ancient capital of Vietnam. This is a must-see city, not only for the ruins of the ancient citadel, but for day trips out on the Perfume River and (if Vietnam War history interests you) the DMZ or ‘De-Militarised Zone’. It’s well worth several days. When it’s time to move on, the next short hop to Danang is a real treat as it’s one of the most scenic train journeys in Southeast Asia. The Reunification Line joins the coast, passing beaches with the occasional house on stilts, then it climbs and runs along a series of jagged cliffs with the angry South China Sea breaking on the rocks below. Finally the line
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Images 01 Ha Long Bay 02 Rice fields 03 Ho Chi Minh City skyline 04 Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum 05 The Citadel, Hanoi
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strikes inland, climbing further through the lush jungle-covered mountains of the scenic Hai Van Pass before descending to Danang, the largest city on the Hanoi-Saigon route. This is the stop for the pretty town of Hoi An, a UNESCO World Heritage site, 18 miles away by bus or taxi. On board the train again beyond Danang, night falls over the rice fields and villages, and we are asked if we want to order a hot meal from the kitchen car, served shortly afterwards in our own compartment. For just under £1, the rice, soup and chicken are very welcome, washed down by another can of cold Vietnamese beer. Bright and early next morning - well, early at least, as it’s barely dawn - the train rolls into Saigon station, right on time. The conurbation has been renamed Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) after the celebrated North Vietnamese leader, but the centre remains known by its traditional and historic name and it is ‘Sai Gon’ which appears in big illuminated red letters on the top of the station itself. We’ve done it, we’ve travelled the length of a nation, from its modern capital to its ancient capital to its laid-back southern metropolis and former capital of South Vietnam. Three very different cities, each unique. And there’s no better way between them than aboard the Reunification Express. Mark Smith runs the popular website www.seat61.com, named after his favourite seat on the Eurostar.
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Destination | Morocco
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Destination | Morocco
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Marrakech Express
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igh-speed trains, French cuisine, tapas, tinto de verano, party people, conmen, a cathedral that’s a mosque, a living medieval city and a Mediterranean port with a whiff of old scandal – that’s the Marrakech Express trip from London. The actual Marrakech Express is a short four-hour train ride from Casablanca to Marrakech whereas my trip is an exotic overland route planned and organised by Railbookers, from London, through France, Spain and Morocco. St Pancras station is always crowded but the Eurostar check-in is a speedy and straight-forward affair. It’s a constant amazement to arrive in the centre of Paris in less time than the city centre transfers take from Sitting upstairs, the Gatwick and Charles de Gaulle airports. views are excellent There’s enough time for a and get even better coffee and crepe in Paris before the further south boarding my onward duplex train from the Gare de Lyon we go to Barcelona.
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Sitting upstairs, the views are excellent and get even better the further south we go. By the time we reach Nîmes, red roofs, palm trees and olives have appeared, so the Mediterranean is close. By 7.30pm we’re burrowing beneath the Pyrénées and arrive into Barcelona at 8.30pm. Instead of going directly south I detoured to some Spanish highlights, stopping off in Madrid, Granada and Cordoba before arriving at the port of Tarifa for the ferry to Tangiers.
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Destination | Morocco
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Destination | Morocco
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Destination | Morocco Tangiers still has that whiff of old scandal but it’s not the dangerous place it’s often painted and the Europe meets North Africa mix is well worth the stopover. Moroccan trains are surprisingly comfortable and the countryside en route to Fez is lush and fertile with the Middle Atlas Mountains providing a dramatic backdrop. Our riad in the ninth century medina is classically Moroccan – palatial courtyards with running water and spectacular rooftop views, but all hidden behind a small door off an innocuous alleyway. The most amazing thing about Fez is that it’s a living medieval city with a thriving life of its own that’s centuries old. No wonder it has UNESCO World Heritage status. There’s a new part of Fez but the old walled city is an enthralling maze of bustling alleyways where most residents are going about their traditional business rather than catering for tourists.
Old and new constantly collide – a man riding a donkey was chatting on a mobile phone and the chaotically jumbled skyline is dotted with both satellite dishes and minarets. Marrakech is a world away from Fez, it’s Morocco’s tourist hotspot and don’t all the locals know it. The roads within the walled medina are choked with traffic, a taxi costs whatever they can get away with. The price of everything has to be clarified and negotiated before purchase – but that’s all part of the experience. Peter Lynch is an author, travel writer and hotel reviewer. He writes for the West Australian Newspaper and also has his own blog at www.peter-lynch.co.uk
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Images 01 Overleaf: Atlas Mountains, Morocco 02 Cap Spartel Lighthouse, Tangiers 03 Platform, Tangiers (©Adam Alexander) 04 Riad Fez (©Adam Alexander) 05 Tanneries, Fez 06 Djemaa el-Fna, Marrakech 05
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Destination | Morocco
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Destination | Busseto
th 10stop
B usse to via Verd i La musica vi renderà liberi
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awn was bright over Naples. Looking out of my room at the top of Hotel San Francesco al Monte I could see Vesuvius bathed in an orange glow. It was a warm April morning but by the time I reached Busseto we’d be back in winter. You don’t need to book a taxi if you’re arriving at Busseto by train. Exit north through the railway station and you can easily walk the half a kilometre avenue into the town, following a route that Verdi took every time he walked here to play the piano at Casa Barezzi. Verdi is the reason why the commune of Busseto is known around the world. All the new streets outside the line of the old city walls are named after Verdi’s fellow Italian composers: Bellini, Leoncavallo, Monteverdi, Ponchielli, and Puccini, as well as some honoured foreigners: Bach, Bartok, Bizet and Mozart. There are even streets named after Verdi’s publisher (Via Giovanni Ricordi) and the great Verdian conductor (Via Arturo Toscanini). For the first-time visitor, that walk from the station down Viale Alfonso Pallavicino is
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significant because it takes you past the Museo Nazionale Giuseppe Verdi, which is housed in a moated baroque palazzo that used to belong to the ancient Pallavicino family. In Verdi’s day the Pallavicini were the most powerful aristocrats in this area. Up until 1636 they ruled this part of La Bassa as an independent country, Stato Pallavicino. By the time Verdi was born the Pallavicini were on the decline but still a force to be reckoned with, while he was just the penniless son of an innkeeper from nearby Le Roncole. What a difference two hundred years makes! Now Le Roncole has been renamed Roncole Verdi and the Pallavicini home is a Verdi museum. Crossing the ring road that runs round the line of the old city wall, I stepped into Via Roma, the old Roman road that runs north-south through Busseto. It has colonnades that use overhanging piani nobili to protect pedestrians from rain and sunshine. Halfway along, on the left side stands Palazzo Orlandi where Verdi composed Luisa Miller, Stiffelio, and Rigoletto, and lived with the soprano Giuseppina Streponi.
It’s a mark of how respected Verdi was even in early middle age that from 1849 to 1851 he lived, unmarried, with a singer in the middle of Busseto and yet escaped censure. During this time he was also building Villa Verdi, his country estate in Sant’Agata to the north of Busseto. Via Roma empties out in Piazza Verdi which in Verdi’s day was a marketplace in front of the castle of the Pallavicini. I found Casa Barezzi on the right side of the square, where the lanky, dark-haired 17-year-old gave his first public performance in 1830. Antonio Barezzi, a wealthy merchant, had heard there was a talented young boy playing the organ of San Michele in Roncole and had invited him to his house. Today just the piano nobile of Casa Barezzi has been restored by the ‘Amici di Verdi’. It’s a lofty and spacious room for such a small town. Had the adolescent Verdi ever seen such grandeur? There are two churches next to Casa Barezzi, the smaller of the which, Santissima Trinità next to Salumeria Sapori della Bassa, is
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Destination | Busseto where the composer married the daughter of his patron, Antonio Barezzi in 1836. In classic manner Verdi had been employed to teach Margherita the piano and ended up falling in love with her. No wonder music teachers were always considered a danger in Italian farces. Crossing Piazza Verdi, I came to the old castle of Rocca Pallavicino. In Verdi’s time, half of the castle had been converted into a theatre where the young composer saw his first operas. Since 1868 the opera house has been named Teatro Giuseppe Verdi. To honour the man they were now calling the ‘Swan of Busseto’, the people of his hometown not only renamed their theatre, they tore it apart and rebuilt it in a much more opulent style with a royal box, smoking room and ridotto where sopranos could serenade affluent gentlemen from a private balcony. Verdi was said to have been furious when he heard that the building he had loved was being destroyed – and in his name - but in the end he gave money to help complete the project. That night I had a great meal of local specialities from La Bassa, matched with local
wines at the hotel I Due Foscari, built by the great Verdian tenor Carlo Bergonzi and run by his son. Unsurprisingly, Verdi dominates the hotel, which is built to resemble a Venetian palazzo. A huge poster advertising a Zeffirelli production of Aida looked down at me as I ate and a portrait of the maestro loomed large on the stairs as I went up to bed. After breakfast the next morning with a Texan traveller who was on a similar pilgrimage to mine I walked back down Via Alfonso Pallavicino to the station and waited in the misty landscape for the train that would take me on my onward journey to Vicenza. I had moved away from the tourist trail and discovered a real insight into the life of Italy’s greatest composer. I could have gone straight from Naples to the Palladian delights of Vicenza but my 24-hour diversion had been something wholly memorable. Adrian Mourby is a freelance journalist, author and opera lover. He is a regular contributor to The Independent and Independent on Sunday.
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Images 01 Teatro Giuseppe Verdi 02 Rocca Pallavicino in Busseto
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Destination | France and Spain
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Australian journalist William Yeoman embarks on a rail journey through France and Spain
Railbookers
Destination | France and Spain
T
o wander through the gardens of the Generalife in early spring with a light breeze bearing birdsong and the scent of orange blossom and the red walls of the Alhambra, the white walls of Granada and the snow-capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada shining in the distance, is truly to know paradise on earth.
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01 Yet this was just one of many highlights my wife and I experienced during a spectacular Railbookers train journey which took us from Chartres and Bordeaux in France through Madrid to picturesque Andalucía in Spain’s south before travelling north to Barcelona and Paris. In Chartres there were of course the stained-glass windows of the famous Gothic cathedral and the eccentric Maison Picassiette, which its builder Raymond Isidore decorated inside and out with pieces of broken crockery.
But we also discovered the intimate charms of Le Grande Monarque hotel, a former 17th century inn, as well as Marie-Sylvie and Xavier Jouffrieau’s quirky restaurant and shop, Le Pichet 3. In Bordeaux we enjoyed the luxury of the Grand Hotel de Bordeaux & Spa while admiring the city’s elegant boulevards. A wine tour to Saint-Émilion meanwhile offered a different experience altogether, with a visit to the medieval town of the same name as well as tastings and conversations with winemakers at Château de Pressac and Château Cantenac. In Madrid, there was the Prado and its unrivalled collection of paintings by Velázquez and Goya especially; but a tourist bus tour of the city also showed us just how multi-layered and textured Spain’s history-laden capital was. In Cordoba, we marvelled at the hypnotic arches and columns of the Mezquita and the sudden baroque explosion of the cathedral built in their midst, as well as the imposing beauty of the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos, not far from our hotel, Las Casas de Judéria. It was here, too, that we were privileged enough to witness an intimate flamenco concert in a small courtyard. In Seville, we luxuriated in the serene gardens and Mudéjar architecture of the Real Alcázar before experiencing first-hand one of the city’s famous Holy Week processions. Here, hooded Nazarenos carrying crosses or candles, ornate floats festooned with flowers and carried on the shoulders of teams of men known as cuadrillas, and marching bands, all wended their way through streets lined with thousands of people as flamenco singers filled the night air with plaintive saetas. In Granada, we made our way through the steep, narrow streets 03
of the historic Albaicín, better to get a look at the Alhambra prior to our visit. But just as impressive was the picturesque rail journey between Seville and Granada: hills and valleys filled with olive and orange groves, sheep and cattle grazing in the fields, rustic villages with tiled roofs like corn cobs, church steeples and dilapidated stone cottages, now just houses for birds. In Barcelona, that vibrant, bustling Catalonian capital, our minds were stretched by Gaudi’s fantastical Basílica de la Sagrada Familia, Joan Miró’s playful, surrealist art and the astonishing Romanesque frescoes in the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, housed in the Palau Nacional de Montjuïc which offers superb views of the city. To relax, we enjoyed a seaside stroll, an early morning ramble down La Rambla and an evening classical guitar recital in the gorgeous Palau de la Música Catalana. In Paris, we explored the Latin Quarter with the charming Saint Paul Rive Gauche hotel as our base, browsing books in Shakespeare & Co and soaking up the ambience of the Musée de Cluny. Naturally, we also strayed further afield, enjoying some of Paris’ gardens, such as the Jardin des Plantes and Les Puces flea market, while reacquainting ourselves with the splendours of Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle and the Louvre. Sound like too much to cover in a little over two weeks? Perhaps so, and ideally one would stay more than the two nights we had allocated to most of our destinations. But as far as tasters go – what a feast! William Yeoman is Books (Literary) Editor, Senior Arts Writer and a staff photographer and travel writer at The West Australian newspaper.
Images 01 Alcázar, Seville 02 Saint-Émilion 03 Alhambra, Granada
DS MEN ECOM R S ER BOOK Spain bastian, RAIL e e and . r F anc nce to San S f Andalucia e t a o a r s F ie h Ultim it g c u nning l thro Trave the stu id and r d FROM a M
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Destination | Berlin
th 12stop
The
Berlin Wall 25 Years
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years ago this November, I was sitting in a German lesson and my teacher suddenly swooped from the classroom, never to return. The cause of this unexpected departure? After months of civil unrest, the East German government had announced that its citizens could move freely into West Germany. The Berlin Wall was defunct. My teacher (she later explained) had friends in the Soviet sector of the city. She also knew West Berliners who had not seen family members for decades. This was the greatest tragedy of the Wall. It didn’t just split a city crudely and violently in half, it also divided friends, families and loved ones. It divided streets. It divided people from their jobs. West Berlin became an isolated enclave, surrounded by the new Deutsche Demokratische Republik, the DDR. My education in European geography was based on this immutable fact: There was an East Germany and a West Germany. Between them was the ‘Iron Curtain’, a line running from the Baltic Sea down to Yugoslavia and the People’s Republic of Bulgaria. On one side was ‘the West’, on the other the communist Eastern Bloc, controlled from Moscow.
On
The first time I visited Berlin, the Wall had been demolished nine years previously but walking along Unter den Linden and through the Brandenburg Gate, unhindered, still seemed a small miracle. The city still seemed to be taking stock, gathering its breath, assessing the damage. The Potsdamer Platz was a The building site (apparently the largest in Europe at the time). There were no signs or markers to indicate that the Wall ever existed, except for small paint covered chucks being sold on the streets. After 25 years, things are Walking along Unter slightly different. You can learn den Linden and through more about the Wall and East Berlin at the Checkpoint Charlie the Brandenburg Museum, where a section of Gate, unhindered, still the wall has been rebuilt. The seemed a small miracle Berlin Wall Memorial is also a rebuilt section of 1 mile, running along what was the border strip at Bernauerstrasse. Along with the memorials, there are also places where the previous track of the Wall has been given new life. The Mauerberg, a buzzing, trendy park in NDS the former ‘death strip’ at Prenzlauer Berg is a MME RECO S R E lin fantastic testament to a city healing its wounds d Ber BOOK RAIL ne an y by rail into g o l o a and moving with spirit into the future. C t holid on to Lond ating 6 nigh 1 pp in c s . A fa $1,04 DDR rmer ROM
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Destination | Berlin
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Destination | Christmas Markets
Christmas Markets
Choose from traditional staples like wooden toys, decorations, gingerbread, jewellery and wine. Or look for local produce such as Printen (gingerbread biscuits) in Aachen, Black Forest glass in Freiburg, wonderful chocolates in Brussels or amber in Krakow. Warm up with a few laps around the ice rink and enjoy a glass of glühwein or mulled cider, guaranteed to give you a festive glow. Listen to yuletide choirs, savour the evocative aromas of cinnamon and pine, and come home feeling entirely Christmassy!
Get festive at Europe’s colourful Christmas markets
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t may be the season for T-shirts and summer dresses, but the festive season is only just around the corner. And now that Eurostar tickets have become available for the Advent period, it’s time to start planning your festive Christmas markets break if you want to take advantage of the best prices and availability. Before you know it, you will be packing scarves, gloves and extra jumpers in preparation for a winter break to one or two of Europe’s lovely Christmas Markets, where you will find gifts, mulled wine and a healthy dash of festive spirit.
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13thstop Railbookers
Destination | Ask the Expert
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?
Ask the
Q: My wife is a complete chocoholic,
A: With the exception of private
A: There are two obvious choices –
Q: I don’t really like to fly. Is it
Q: How far in advance would you
mean? How flexible are your holiday itineraries? | Vivienne Hampton, Hampshire
trains which run on specific dates, our independent holidays can be completely tailor made to suit you. You can choose when, where and for how long you want to go. You can decide what class you’d like to travel in, what kind of hotels you would like to stay in (though we don’t sell below 3* standard) and how much help you would like in terms of transfers, tours, car hire and other extras. If the train goes there, we can get you there!
Matthew
E x p er t Your holiday questions answered by our Travel Centre Manager Send your questions for Matthew to allaboard @ railbookers.co.nz
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Q: What does ‘tailor made’ really
Foy
possible to get to Portugal by train?
where would be good to take her for her birthday? | Andy Reid, Perthshire
Belgium and Switzerland. Both argue that they produce the best chocolate in the world. In Bruges, you can visit a Chocolate Museum (with tastings of course). From Montreux on the Swiss Riviera you can even take a ‘Chocolate Train’ up to the Maison Cailler/ Nestlé chocolate factory at Broc. Other great European options are Turin, home of the Cioccola-Tò chocolate festival and Madrid, where it’s perfectly acceptable to have churros dipped in hot chocolate for breakfast.
Paul Westwick, London
recommend I book? Do you have last minute offers? | Joan Parrott, Cheshire
A: Yes of course! The quickest route
A: Like airlines, most rail services
is down through France to Irun just across the Spanish border and then a night train to Lisbon, arriving the following morning. You can also take a day train to Barcelona, stop in Madrid for a couple of nights and then catch a direct sleeper from there to the Portuguese capital. Alternatively, take a sleeper from beautiful San Sebastian to the historic city of Coimbra. Perhaps travel out one route and back another? Once you’re in Portugal, there are trains running all the way from Porto down to Faro in the Algarve.
release their tickets a certain period in advance with the best priced seats selling out first. This is particularly the case with the Eurostar where seats are released four to six months prior to departure. Similarly, hotels often offer early booking discounts. Both trains (particularly sleepers) and hotels get fully booked so for the best price and the best availability, it really pays to plan ahead. You are likely to pay a lot more for a last minute break. Of course, if you want to book an impulsive weekend away, we are still very happy to help!
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Destination | Waiting Room
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One country is missing from the grid. Tell us which one and you could win one of ten £50 Railbookers gift vouchers. Simply email the missing country along with your name and address to allaboard@railbookers.com for your chance to win! ALBANIA ANDORRA ARMENIA AUSTRIA AZERBAIJAN BELARUS BELGIUM BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA BULGARIA CROATIA CYPRUS CZECHIA DENMARK
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Destination | The Gotthard Pass
th 19stop
My favourite
Rai l J o urney
H
ave you ever noticed how when you watch a film, it isn’t the main plot that captures your imagination? The question of what happened to the old lady’s necklace in Titanic, or the true meaning of ‘Rosebud’ in Citizen Kane, for example. To my surprise and delight this is exactly how I felt recently travelling to Italy on holiday. The journey from Zurich to Milan takes just under four hours by train and, although I had heard stories about how lovely the journey was, I really wasn’t prepared for quite how beautiful my essentially practical journey would be.
When I leave Zurich in the morning, I depart with the low sun gleaming off the lake and zoom onwards towards the heart of the Swiss Alps. As I pull further and further away from the city, suburbs evaporate, and it seems as though
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As we ascend up to the Gotthard Tunnel and then descend dramatically towards Italy, the ethereal beauty of Switzerland gradually taking on a more Italian flavour with tantalising glimpses of Lake Lugano. the model villages that I visited as a child have reappeared around me. Chocolate box towns dotted with churches and traditional chalets pepper the landscape as the urban buzz melts away into verdant plains, unfolding promisingly into a veritable Narnia, with the train as my transport through the wardrobe! The train seems to rise and fall through the mountains, the track an unobtrusive guide as we ascend up to the Gotthard Tunnel and then descend dramatically towards Italy, the ethereal beauty of Switzerland gradually taking on a more Italian flavour with tantalising glimpses of Lake Lugano.
The journey from Zurich to Milan tops my list of train journeys. It has made me realise that I’ve always thought of train travel as either functional or inspirational (the once in a lifetime journeys, whose essential purpose is to be awe inspiring and beautiful). Well, taking the train through the Gotthard Pass is both! And once you do arrive, you can let Milan Centrale serve as your gateway to Italy, one of the most gorgeous countries in the world. It’s only another hour and a half to Florence… or two and a half to Venice… or three hours to Rome! But don’t be surprised if, when you look back at your trip, the Gotthard Pass was a clear highlight!
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Destination | The Gotthard Pass
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