Ultimate Train Journeys: World profiles 30 great train trips from every inhabited continent, selected by long-time rail fan and travel writer Tim Richards. Environmental concerns are prompting travellers to consider the surface route – and the best means of transport at ground level is undoubtedly rail.
Tim's curated selection covers the full range of rail options, from the humble commuter train to long-distance night trains with sleeper berths and dining cars, and all journeys are blessed with great scenery. There's the
Coast Starlight (Los Angeles to Seattle), the
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling) and
The Orient Express (London via Paris to Venice), just to name a few. Each chapter includes a detailed itinerary, fast facts, photos and maps.
With space to move and no road traffic to get snarled up in, the real drawcard of train adventures is that they are immersed within a shifting environment, yet not entirely of it. You can witness your surrounds at a steady pace, and properly get to know your travel companions. The old-school ways of travel are fast becoming new again.
The bestselling series from Australia’s favourite travel publisher Hardie Grant Explore
The Ultimate books offer the very best of travel in Australia and beyond, from road trips to train journeys, and cycling routes to hiking trails. Beautifully designed for easy use, these books will inspire you to make the most of your trip with detailed maps, photos, itineraries, and essential information on your route, including things to see and do, where to eat and kid-friendly attractions.
The Ultimate series won’t just help you on your upcoming adventure, it will inspire you to plan your next one.
About the Author
Tim Richards is an award-winning travel writer, specializing in rail travel, who will hop aboard any train at a moment's notice. His work has appeared in newspapers, magazines and websites around the world, and in Lonely Planet's guidebooks. He's the author of Heading South (2021, Fremantle Press), an Australian rail-travel narrative; self-published travel memoir The Kick of Stalin's Cow (2016), about post-communist Poland; and fantasy novel Mind the Gap (2014, HarperCollins). He's a regular contributor to the Traveller lift-out of Australian national newspapers, and of travel articles for Lonely Planet's website. You can see his published work at iwriter.com.au, and he writes regularly about travel at patreon.com/timrichards.
