With luxury train travel, the traveller can experience first class service on a middle class budget. From the Orient Express to the Canadian Winter, the passenger takes in exquisite scenery all over the world while their every need is catered for by skilled and experienced staff.

The most widely known service the world over has got to be the familiar Orient Express. It all began in 1864, when George Pullman (1831-1897), an entrepreneur and rail enthusiast in America, built what was at the time a sophisticated, high technology train. By the 1870s, he had introduced sleepers and parlor carriages in Great Britain. Travellers could, for the first time, enjoy the comfort and convenience of taking their meals on the train. The Pullman Limited Express launched a regular luxury rail service between Brighton and London in 1881. Eventually, Pullman Limited formed connections with the ferry companies and established a service between Paris, France and London, England.

While the Pullman service was being established in Great Britain, on the other side of the English Channel in Belgium, George Nagelmackers was designing his own version of the luxury train carriage. The Orient-Express launched its service between Paris and Giurgi in Romania by the year 1883. Soon afterwards, the Simplon Tunnel through the Swiss Alps cut considerably the journey time between Paris and Venice. By the 1920s, everything was set to launch the Golden Age of luxury train travel and the Orient-Express was launched from London all the way to Istanbul, Turkey.

The Golden Age was not to last. The borders in Europe were closed and the ferry services discontinued during the Second World War. Later, the advent of cheap air travel put luxury trains under more economic pressure and the Orient Express closed in 1977. The rolling stock was auctioned off in Monte Carlo.

There was, however, a light at the end of the tunnel. American James Sherwood, a railway enthusiast and founder of Sea Containers Limited managed to buy 35 of the original carriages and restore them to their former luxurious standard. The Orient Express from London to Venice had been reborn.

Prior to its inauguration on the Orient Express, the Pullman car carried it first prestigious passenger, the body of President Abraham Lincoln, from Washington, DC, to his home and final resting place in Springfield, Illinois, attracting the attention of the nation. More recently, Pullman service has been enjoyed by celebrities both real and fictional, including actor Gregory Peck, international singing sensation Cher and Agatha Christie's legendary detective Poirot.

Today, the Royal Scotsman, also run by Orient Express, is arguably the most luxurious rail service. Its passengers are carried into the heart of the Scottish Highlands and treated to exclusive visits to castles, country homes and distilleries. A maximum of 35 guests are transported through some of the most magnificent scenery that Scotland has to offer.

The taste for luxury train travel has spread far beyond the borders of Europe. Intrepid voyagers can now mimic the lifestyle of the Maharajas on India's Palace on Wheels. The really bold can travel on the Canadian in Winter, a snow-filled journey through the Rocky Mountains. The trip includes a visit to Niagara Falls and concludes with a farewell dinner in Vancouver.