The heavyweights of luxury rail – the Venice-Simplon Orient Express, The Ghan, the Rocky Mountaineer – need no introduction. Their names alone evoke images of lavish bedrooms, gourmet food and classic cocktails enjoyed against a backdrop of splendid scenery, scudding by through huge picture windows.
And lately, more of us than ever are succumbing to the charms of big-ticket rail travel, says Eleanor Flagler Hardy, co-owner and president of the Society of International Railway Travelers, who has seen a huge increase in passengers requesting super-deluxe suite options.
But if you thought this was the very peak of the luxury rail market, you’d be wrong. For the elite, there’s an entire upper echelon of rail travel that makes these price tags look like spare change. From the most in-demand new journeys from world-renowned companies, to buying your own private train, here are eight ways the super-rich are leaving the station.
Royal Suite on the Copper Trail, Rovos Rail
With its glamorous journeys through southern Africa, Rovos is already known as one of the world’s top rail companies – but in 2022, it upped the ante, introducing its new Copper Trail route, a 1,900-mile, 14-night extravaganza that passes through Zimbabwe, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola.
The trip includes several excursions, including a visit to an elephant sanctuary, a copper mine (hence the name) and Victoria Falls. The most expensive sleeping option, the Royal Suite, is a luxurious 171 square feet with wood paneling, an en suite bathroom (with a Victorian-style bathtub, no less), and a lounge with enormous windows.
From $23,000 per person
La Dolce Vita, Orient Express
Orient Express La Dolce Vita is planning to launch later this year but such is the fanfare preceding its arrival that various high-net-worth travelers have already forked out $550 purely for the privilege of pre-registering for the chance to book.
The train will offer six different itineraries covering the north and south of Italy, ranging from one to two nights. The interiors are designed as an homage to the Italy of the 1960s, when the likes of Federico Fellini and Sophia Loren made the cinema-going public ache to run off to Rome. While details are still scant, the route’s website promises a surprise ballet, a gaming area in the bar car, and Le Grand Soir, the train’s flagship evening event. Suffice to say, tickets won’t be cheap.
Price: Unknown
Imperial Suite on the Caspian Odyssey, Golden Eagle
The luxury rail service Golden Eagle focuses mainly on Central and Eastern Europe and parts of Asia, with all its journeys carrying a sizable price tag. Its longest, however – the 16-day Caspian Odyssey – rather takes the biscuit. The route begins in Armenia before traveling through Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan (you needn’t worry about running out of suitably glam outfits – laundry service is included).
Various high-net-worth travelers have already forked out $550 purely for the privilege of pre-registering for the chance to book.
Springing for the Imperial Suite, for which prices start at $58,600 per person, means you’ll be welcomed on board with a bottle of Dom Perignon, as well as having your own private car and guide for excursions. With the border still closed between Azerbaijan and Georgia due to Covid restrictions, travelers are ferried from Yerevan to Baku by chauffeured car and private jet, then put up at five-star hotels.
From $58,600 per person
Presidential Suite on the Indian Panorama, Maharajas’ Express
When the name of a train company means “king” in Sanskrit, you know a certain level of luxury is on the cards. The Indian Panorama from Maharajas’ Express is a seven-day journey that starts and ends in Delhi, with stops in Jaipur and Agra, among others.
Clocking in at a whopping 441 square feet, the Presidential Suite – of which there is only one – has two bedrooms, a separate living room, and a personal valet to attend to your every whim. It’ll set you back around $25,500 per person.
Approximately $25,500 per person
Deluxe Suite on Seven Stars, Kyushu Railway Company
There are exclusive places, and then there’s Seven Stars. You can’t simply book yourself a room on this train: all prospective passengers must submit a request during an open application period, with winners decided via a lottery. They then need to complete a questionnaire, after which they’ll receive a personalized itinerary, including details on the train’s dress code.
If you’re lucky enough to make it on board, you’ll stay in a wood-paneled suite with interiors combining East and West (including artisanal woodwork, cups and pottery) and feast on gourmet Japanese cuisine, all while watching the breathtaking Kyushu countryside race by.
From $11,480 per person
Charter the Royal Canadian Pacific
With its 100-year-old restored carriages and space for just 36 passengers, this is what Simon Pielow, co-founder of the Luxury Train Club, calls “the holy grail of luxury train travel”. Mere mortals need to join a long, competitive waiting list in order to hop aboard one of its three luxury excursions, which range from three to five nights and start at almost $9,000 per person.
But if waiting isn’t your style (for the super-rich, it rarely is) – and you’ve $25,500 to spare – you could charter the whole train instead. But be warned, that’ll only get you dinner. Day trips start at $46,400, and if you’d like to stay overnight, you’re looking at around $56,000 per day.
$56,000 per day
Rent your own train …
Ah yes, the private charter. The super-rich don’t like to share with the riffraff, so when it comes to rail travel, those in a certain tax bracket prefer to simply hire the entire train. Pielow has arranged for private charters of various luxury trains, from the aforementioned – and infamously hard-to-book – Seven Stars, to the Royal Scotsman and British Pullman, the latter of which can host around 200 of a billionaire’s nearest and dearest.
From $44,600
Mere mortals need to join a long, competitive waiting list in order to hop aboard.
… Or buy one
There’s rich, and then there’s “owns a train that gets used one week a year” rich. The cost of buying one depends on its condition at the time of purchase and the amount of work that needs to be done – whether engine rehauling or interior decorating – but it’s likely to set you back at least a few million dollars.
And, much like owning a private yacht or jet, that’s just the start. Once it’s ready to go, staff are needed (the British Butler Institute runs a fine Luxury Rail Steward and Stewardess School, if you’re looking), plus you’ll need somewhere to keep it when it’s not being used. If you haven’t got room at home, that’ll involve paying to keep it on a private rail line – or building your own.
Price: Multiple millions
Elissa Hunter is a writer and copy editor based in Brooklyn, New York