Dear Traveller,

There exists a particular kind of magic that happens only when a perfectly plated dish meets a window full of passing countryside. It is the alchemy of movement and flavour - the way a glass of vintage Chianti tastes bolder when vineyards blur past, or how a Peranakan laksa seems richer when the jungle canopy parts to reveal the silver ribbon of the Malay coast. This edition is devoted entirely to that magic.

We have journeyed through eight of the world's most extraordinary culinary rail experiences - from the spice-laden carriages of India's Deccan Odyssey to the whisky-scented Highland corridors of the Royal Scotsman, from Australia's sunbaked wine country aboard the Indian Pacific to the baroque splendour of Europe's wine valleys. We hope this edition inspires your next great journey.

Bon Voyage - and Bon Appétit.

Boarding the Eastern & Oriental Express at Singapore feels like stepping through time - into an era where dinner is ceremony, and the jungle, paddy fields, and colonial platform towns provide the backdrop.

The train's culinary soul is Peranakan - the layered, luminous cuisine born from centuries of Chinese and Malay cultural interweaving across the Straits of Malacca. Fiery yet delicate, bold yet fragrant, it speaks in candlenut, galangal, and shrimp paste. Across five courses in the ornately carved dining car, the Executive Chef honours that heritage while elevating it: pandan crème brûlée, rendang-braised short rib, compressed cucumber - tradition meeting contemporary finesse.

The sommelier's pairings are equally considered, matching Southeast Asian aromatics with Alsatian Rieslings and Burgundian Pinot Gris - varieties whose perfume and acidity are natural allies to Nyonya spice.

Breakfast brings its own quiet theatre. Curving through the Cameron Highlands, guests savour kaya toast and soft-boiled eggs from the open observation carriage. At Penang, a guided excursion through UNESCO-listed George Town weaves between heritage shophouses for dim sum and a hands-on Nyonya kueh class - the journey's flavours extending well beyond the dining car.

Federico Fellini could not have imagined a more fitting tribute to his vision of luxurious abandon than La Dolce Vita Orient Express - 12 carriages of 1960s Italian design, each a rolling homage to mid-century elegance, threading through the olive groves and cypress-lined roads of Tuscany at the speed of a very good daydream.

Its gastronomic identity shifts with the landscape. Through the Chianti Classico heartland, the dining car serves a five-course Tuscan menu of vine-ripened tomatoes, hand-rolled pici, and the season's finest Sangiovese. Come autumn, white truffles sourced from a single tartufai family near San Miniato arrive with a theatrical ceremony.

The wine cellar reads like a private collector's wishlist: Brunello, Barolo, Amarone, Super Tuscans - refreshed seasonally by head sommelier. As the train descends into the golden Val d'Orcia, features live music and entertainment in the bar/lounge car, often with piano and other performances during evening service.

Breakfast is pure Italian ritual - cornetti from a Roman pasticceria, Sicilian blood orange juice, regional formaggi - savoured without hurry, as Fellini would have insisted.

The Royal Scotsman does not rush. It drifts through Scotland with the unhurried ease of a laird surveying his estates - and that same unhurriedness defines every meal served aboard.

The kitchen follows a philosophy of radical locality. Langoustines from Loch Fyne, Aberdeen Angus from estate farms, Hebridean lamb glazed with heather honey, game from the Glorious Twelfth - the menu is essentially a portrait of Scotland's larder, redrawn with each passing landscape.

The whisky programme is, predictably, outstanding. Over 60 single malts rotate through the cellar, curated with Speyside and Islay distilleries. On the Highland & Speyside Grand Tour, guests step off for private distillery visits at Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, or Cardhu - accessing barrel samples unavailable to the public. Back aboard, the whisky ambassador leads masterclasses pairing seven regional expressions with smoked and aged Scottish cheeses.

Dinner unfolds across five courses in the mahogany-panelled State Car, tartan-upholstered and warm with candlelight, as stags stand motionless in the darkening glens outside.

India has a variety of cuisines - each bound to a particular river valley, a linguistic community, a dynasty's spice trade, or a monsoon pattern. To ride the Deccan Odyssey or the Golden Chariot is to eat your way through this extraordinary plurality, with each dining car service calibrated to the region the train is passing through.

The Deccan Odyssey, operating across Maharashtra and Goa, opens its menus to the full breadth of Maharashtrian cooking. A morning in Pune might see the service car set with a traditional misal pav breakfast - a bowl of sprouted moth bean curry crowned with farsan, raw onion, and kokum-laced chutney. Evenings in the Konkan region bring seafood fragrant with kokum, coconut, and fresh coriander.

The Golden Chariot, tracing Karnataka and Kerala's southern reaches, turns to Mysore's refined palace cuisine - dishes with the elegance of a Wodeyar court: Bisi bele bath of extraordinary depth, and a coconut-laden Malabar prawn curry that has been on the menu since the train's inaugural year.

Both trains employ regional culinary consultants who work alongside the on-board kitchen brigade to ensure authenticity at every course. The cultural dining excursions are a highlight unique to Indian rail luxury. Vegetarian and Jain dietary requirements are accommodated with the same care and artistry as the non-vegetarian menu - a reflection of India's sophisticated culinary pluralism.

Nashik sits at 560 metres above sea level in the Western Ghats' rain shadow, where warm days, cool nights, and volcanic basalt soil conspire to produce wines of surprising complexity. For decades it was India's table grape capital. Today, with over 50 wineries and counting, it is rapidly becoming a serious object of international oenophile attention.

The Deccan Odyssey's Wine & Wilderness itinerary transforms a train carriage into a rolling wine school as it approaches Nashik. The tasting begins with Sula Vineyards' celebrated Dindori Reserve Shiraz, a wine that regularly confounds European tasters who assume 'Indian' and 'serious red wine' are contradictions in terms. It continues through a Grover Zampa La Réserve Cabernet Shiraz and a small-production Chenin Blanc from York Winery - a grape that, remarkably, has found in Nashik a climate almost as hospitable as the Loire Valley.

On-train, the dinner service on the Nashik evening showcases the wine-friendly cuisine of North Maharashtra: slow-cooked mutton with a dry spice rub that echoes the minerality of the valley's Shiraz, and a dessert of Nashik grape tart with saffron custard.

For those who wish to extend the wine experience, the Deccan Odyssey's concierge team can arrange an overnight stay at one of Nashik's boutique vineyard villas between train segments - allowing for a deeper exploration of wineries not accessible on the standard excursion.

The Danube and Rhine rivers form the twin backbones of European wine culture, and the Golden Eagle Danube Express traces their course with the quiet reverence of a seasoned wine merchant on a grand buying tour.

The Budapest to Vienna journey covers five countries overs 11 days, with each evening's menu mirroring the landscape outside. Dinner in Austria brings gossamer-thin Wiener Schnitzel alongside a Wachau Grüner Veltliner - its vineyard slopes visible from your seat. Cross into Czech territory, and the kitchen pivots to svíčková paired with Moravian Welschriesling.

The Rhine Valley remains the wine lover's crown jewel. When explored separately by cruise, experience the Riesling terraces hand-worked for a millennium cling to near-vertical slopes, while the sommelier narrates each passing estate. Shore excursions venture beyond the tracks - including a private tasting in a 17th-century Douro quinta cellar, hosted by the owner himself. The coveted Chef's Table dinner on the Cruise, delivers seven courses mapping the entire route through food and wine.

Crossing a continent by rail - 4,352 kilometres of red desert, salt lake, and scrubland - the Indian Pacific turns the journey itself into a culinary event. The train's dining programme has matured into something genuinely world-class, showcasing Australia's remarkable regional produce at every sitting.

Adelaide is the wine watershed. The galley restocks here with an exceptional cellar: Hill of Grace Shiraz, Penfolds Grange, Coonawarra Cabernet, and Clare Valley Rieslings that rank among the world's finest. A resident sommelier runs a daily 'cellar door on rails' session in the lounge car, guiding guests through four or five bottles while the boundless Nullarbor Plain creates an oddly intimate backdrop for tasting.

The Queen Adelaide Restaurant shifts its menu as the landscape does - Kangaroo Island rock lobster bisque one evening, Hunter Valley lamb with saltbush jus the next. Breakfast descending the Blue Mountains is pure theatre: wagyu sausages, Adelaide Hills eggs, avocado on sourdough, eucalyptus forest dissolving into Sydney's skyline.

Most unforgettable, however, is the stop at Cook - a ghost town marooned in the Nullarbor's heart - where billy tea and damper are served beneath a sky of absolute, uninterrupted darkness.

Living the Luxury Train Journeys of Famous Movies and Novels

For generations, trains have captured our imagination - not only as a mode of travel, but as a setting for unforgettable stories. From classic murder mysteries and sweeping cinematic journeys to beloved novels filled with romance and discovery, railways have inspired some of the world's most enduring tales.

In our latest blog, we bring those stories to life through luxury train experiences that echo the magic of cinema and literature. Whether you're captivated by intrigue, romance, adventure, or introspection, there's a rail journey waiting to be lived.

Read on to explore journeys inspired by your favourite movies and novels!

The Art of Slow Indulgence

Luxury rail journeys are not simply about arriving.

They are about lingering - over a second glass of Chianti, a perfectly aged single malt, or a spice-laden curry served beneath crystal chandeliers.

In a world that moves quickly, these trains remind us that true luxury lies in time - and in taste.

Reserve your place on the world's finest culinary rail experiences. Journeys fill months in advance - we recommend booking at least 12 months ahead for peak season departures. Talk to our Luxury Travel Specialists.

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Until our next journey together, travel well and stay inspired.