Last month, we hosted over a hundred guests at the London Transport Museum to hear from some of the most well-train-travelled experts in the country – including the Man in Seat 61 himself, Mark Smith. He was joined by rail travel geek Andy Brabin and our MD, Simon Hodge with Lonely Planet’s Tom Hall as the moderator.

Here, we focus on the routes, destinations and holidays they mentioned as some of the best available in Europe – whether because of the scenery, end destination or authentic cultural experience.

Their recommendations ranged from the last remaining boat-train across to Sicily to the joys of riding local trains in Eastern Europe, the scenic delights of Switzerland to the comfort of high speed travel through Spain.

We’ve taken their recommendations and matched them to Tailor Made Rail holidays – have a browse below – or take a look at our summary of the panel’s discussion on the night.

1. The Venice-Simplon-Orient-Express – London to Venice

This was Mark’s slightly unusual pick for a regional train – an extra special journey for him, as it’s where he got engaged to ‘Mrs Seat 61’. For many people, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime bucket list trip. 

Pure luxury, the experience starts in London with a Eurostar Plus service to Paris and a private transfer to your 5* Paris hotel. You’ll be picked up the next day and transferred to the departure point for the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. 

From there, sit back and relax as you travel in style through the Alps through Switzerland and down to Venice for a few days in one of Venice’s finest hotels.

2) The Grand Train Tour of Switzerland 

Switzerland and its comfortable, efficient and extremely scenic trains, were mentioned a lot by our Rail Experts. The country’s central European location means many of our itineraries pass through on the way to Italy, Austria or further east.

The Bernina and Glacier Express were particular favourites of our panel, but if you want to experience all of the scenic trains, alpine destinations and beautiful cities that Switzerland has to offer, our Grand Tour of Switzerland is the holiday for you. Panoramic trains, jaw-dropping viaducts, stunning mountain scenery and charming cities and towns make this the perfect all-in-one destination.

3) Train travel in Eastern Europe

If you were at our event, you’ll know that Andy Brabin, one of our panel, is a huge fan of rail travel in Eastern Europe. From sleepers to high speed trains and meandering regional services, Andy believes that Eastern European trains – and destinations – make for a culturally diverse, vibrant and authentic holiday. 

So, what better than our Eastern European Explorer holiday, taking in Prague and Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic, Bratislava in Slovakia, the Budapest, the Hungarian capital and the Serbian capital, Belgrade. And there are plenty of opportunities to really tailor make this holiday with add-ons into Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece or Istanbul. Talking of Istanbul…

4) An epic rail journey – London to Istanbul

…One of the biggest topics of conversation, and a favourite journey of our MD Simon Hodge, was the journey from London to Istanbul by train. There are many ways that you can make this journey. Simon’s chosen route from London to Istanbul by train goes via Munich, although Switzerland is another great option, before stops in Budapest, Bucharest and Sofia. 

This is one of the most popular holidays that Tailor Made Rail books for our customers, and many people in the audience had taken the trip. Our journey is one-way, with a flight back. But, its very easy to add in more stops, extensions to other destinations or, indeed, to come back by train via another route.

5) Swiss mountains and Italian lakes

Another destination mentioned frequently and well loved by our panel is Italy, a particular favourite of Mark Smith, and the number one destination on his seat61.com website. Italy was also on Mark’s ‘ultimate rail holiday’ itinerary, travelling via Switzerland. So, our next rail experts holiday recommendation is Scenic Switzerland and Italy, 

Combining several of the best scenic trains – the Matterhorn-Gotthard Bahn, Glacier Express, Gornergrat Mountain Railway and the Bernina Express – the holiday finishes with a relaxing few days on stunning Lake Como. And if you haven’t had your fill of Italy yet, you can continue on with our next recommendation.

6) A rail holiday to Sicily via the stunning Amalfi Coast

For something totally unique, take Europe’s last remaining boat-train from the bottom of Italy across to Sicily, a route many of our audience had undertaken themselves.

Before the boat-train though, the route takes you from London to Zurich, then down to Milan before heading to Salerno along the Amalfi Coast – famous for its dramatic coastal scenery. Once in Sicily, spend a few days in the capital, Palermo, before heading back on a comfortable sleeper train.

7) Follow a continental rail journey to Transylvania

This holiday combines Andy Brabin’s favourite country to travel by train – Romania – with sleeper train journeys and fantastic Eastern European cities.

The resurgence of overnight sleeper trains was mentioned as one of the positive changes in European rail travel over the past ten years or so. Our rail experts enthused about the quality of the trains, breadth of the network and the advantages of adding an overnight train into your itinerary.

There is so much to see on our Transylvania to the Black Sea holiday. Visit Count Dracula’s castle, UNESCO World Heritage Site Sighisoara and Transylvanian Gothic architecture before Constanta on the Black Sea. The holiday ends with a few nights in the cultural capital, Bucharest.

8) The famous Belgrade to Bar railway

According to Mark Smith, there is a rail journey to rival Switzerland for first place in the rankings for scenic railways in Europe – and that is the Belgrade to Bar railway.  In fact, this route has a well-established reputation as one of the most scenic in the world, not just Europe.

Starting out from London, the route goes via Zurich to Zagreb before picking up the famous Belgrade – Bar line through Serbia and Montenegro. Spend time in Serbia’s capital Belgrade and the pretty coastal town of Kotor before travelling back by train, boat or plane. There are lots of options to tailor make additional stops in Montenegro, Croatia or further afield.

9) The Rhine and Moselle valleys – German vineyards and castles

So far, a lot of our recommendations have been south or east – but one of Mark Smith’s other recommendations was Germany – and the beautiful route along the Rhine Gorge.

This part of the world is famous for its schlosses (castles) and of course its wine. Our Romantic Rhine and Moselle valleys by rail holiday winds past each river and stops in the off-the-beaten track town of Trier, with eight UNESCO World Heritage landmarks to its name, and Boppard. If you’re keen on this holiday, make sure you take the time to find a winery tour or tasting from Rüdesheim. 

10) Picturesque Cinque Terre 

For our final recommendation, it’s back to Italy and the gorgeous Cinque Terre region, one of Simon’s favourite areas to visit by train, and part of his ‘ultimate rail holiday’, which would take in Lake Como, Milan and finish in Rome.

If you’re looking to explore the beautiful Cinque Terre region, our Cinque Terre Discovery holiday takes you from London via the Gotthard Pass to the heart of the area, Rapallo. Base yourself here for a few days and take your time exploring the Cinque Terre villages, with their pretty coloured houses perched on the rocky coastline. The holiday finishes in Cannes, on the French Riviera.

These holidays are those we think match the most to what our Rail Experts were saying on the night. But, they mentioned many more trains, destinations, routes and experiences – and it’s impossible to list all of the holidays we have that overlap their advice!

Our website has plenty of suggestions, categorised by destination and holiday type. Have a browse through our suggested itineraries as a starting point, but remember we can tailor make these, or any other holiday by rail, to your precise requirements.  

Or, if you have a rough idea of when and where you want to go, just give one of our own rail experts a call for some inspiration.