Ravishing Railway Journeys In Southern Africa

Listen to the rhythmic clicking of the wheels and feel the gentle swaying of the carriage as you sip your cap classique sparkling wine or your old cape brandy. Stretch out on your bed in your luxury compartment or sit in the sumptuous lounge and watch the ever changing landscape rush effortlessly past.

South Africa is a very big country with seemingly endless wide open spaces and many, varied, extraordinary landscapes. To get a true sense of the scale and the diversity of the country you really have to travel overland across it.

There is no better way than to make the journey by rail in the supreme comfort of a luxury train.

With superb service, outstanding cuisine, the best South African wines and spadefuls of old-world charm South Africa's luxury trains are the ultimate way to experience this magnificent country.

This option is now available not only within South Africa, but to the Victoria Falls, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, the DRC and even Angola, creating the possibility of undertaking one of the world's truly epic train journeys.

With all the contacts of the Hays Travel Group we can get the best prices on these journeys for you, and having lived in the region for 50 years, we can help you build to build a superb South African or Southern African holiday round your epic train trip. We package all our holidays to make sure thay are ATOL protected. In short, we do the work - you have the holiday!

To start the planning with a no-obligation discussion, contact us now and we will call you back!

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Ravishing Railway Journey Options In Southern Africa

There are two main options to choose from. Both offer superb journeys....

The Blue Train

As a schoolboy, Mike travelled by train four times a year from Johannesburg to Cape Town and back. One of the rituals on each trip was to watch for the legendary Blue Train as it rushed past on its way from Cape Town to Pretoria or back, in the same way it had been doing since 1946 and has been doing ever since. To travel on that train, with its liveried butlers, its sumptuous cabins and its exquisite food and drink was a dream. Though much has changed in South Africa, this iconic train still epitomises service, luxury and pleasure.

The equivalent of a five star hotel, all rooms are, of course, fully air conditioned. They all have ensuite bathrooms, wifi and entertainment centres.

There is a butler service and the outstanding cuisine is served off fine china, accompanied by the best Cape wines served out of crystal glasses; the meals are in elegant dining cars. The club cars and observation cars offer the perfect position from which to watch the ravishing scenery as you travel.

Rovos Rail

Inspired by the Blue Train and other luxury trains Rohan Vos founded Rovos Rail (you get it Ro-Vos!) in 1985. To make up for its late arrival, Rovos has a stronger commitment to history and tradition that the Blue Train. It complements its superb luxury with a degree of formality, expecting patrons to dress for dinner and celebrate the elegance of rail travel in traditional style.

Rovos offers a much wider range of options. It includes Port Elizabeth and Durban, as well as the Kruger Park on its South African routes and offers some special interest trips: for golfers, for instance.

The Shongololo Express, operated by Rovos Rail also criss-crosses the length and breadth of Southern Africa, with trains going as far as Windhoek, in Namibia, and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, and also serving Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia. It has recently added a service crossing the DRC to Lobito in Angola.

Rovos Rail trains offer lavish standards of luxury, but they also have slightly less lavish options. They provide elegant and comfortable dining cars, club cars and observation cars and their food and service are superb.

We would love to help you decide whether a luxury railway journey is the best option for you, which one would suit you best, and what to combine it with, to tailor make your dream holiday.

Contact us today to start the planning!