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Luxury trains can easily compete with five-star hotels these days. They boast beautiful living quarters and around-the-clock services, exquisite design, and just as many comforts as you’d find in a ritzy presidential suite in New York or Paris.
The same can be said about the dining. Embark on any high-end rail journey across Europe, Africa, India and beyond, and you’ll be treated to meals that could be straight out of a Michelin-starred restaurant. This is achieved through elaborate presentations (no easy feat, considering they’re prepared in a moving kitchen) and tantalizing flavors—often courtesy of chefs with more than a stellar award under their belt.
To match those menus are lavish dining cars featuring bespoke tableware and studied interiors that make having breakfast, lunch, or dinner not just a matter of substance but style, too.
Have we piqued your interest yet? Below are some of the most sumptuous restaurant cars to consider when booking your next big adventure on wheels. Take note: Your taste buds (and IG grid) will thank you.
Belmond Andean Explorer, Peru
Peru’s first luxury sleeper train ticks all the boxes of an over-the-top ride: impeccable service and spectacular landscapes, Peruvian-inspired interiors and on-the-move pampering thanks to an onboard spa. But it’s the food—and the perfectly mixed Pisco sours—that really elevates the experience (besides, of course, the altitude itself: you’ll be 16,000 feet above sea level).
Two lavishly appointed dining cars, named Llama and Muña, welcome guests with plush leather seats, artisanal millwork, and polished macramé divider screens to keep things private if you so wish, creating an ambiance that’s both intimate and eminently refined. On the menu are seasonal dishes that spotlight Peru’s bountiful raw ingredients and culinary traditions, inspired by the country’s flavors from the coastline, highlands, and rainforest—think spices like cumin, smoked paprika, coriander, and ancho chile, as well as fresh produce spanning corn, quinoa, and plenty of vegetables. Jorge Muñoz, the newly appointed executive chef at Monasterio, A Belmond Hotel, Cusco (and one of the country’s brightest gourmet stars) is the mind behind it all, so you know you’ll be in for a real treat.
Whether before or after dinner, do make a stop at the bar in the observation car. With its open deck, it’s the perfect spot to sip your Pisco while gazing at the Peruvian sky. Tickets for a twin bed cabin on a three-night Cusco-Puno-Arequipa journey start around $7,500. A two-night trip from Cusco to Puno starts around $5,500 for two adults in the same room category.
The Palace on Wheels, India
If Europe has the Orient Express, India has the Palace on Wheels. The luxury train, first introduced in 1982 (it got an overhaul in 2017), is, quite literally, a railroad mansion, with decor fit for a maharaja, and a series of services designed to make the journey live up to its high price tag. That includes the cuisine on board.
The train’s two restaurants, Maharaja and Maharani, serve up regional Indian dishes in regal surroundings embellished with hand-carved furnishings and colorful wall lamps, intricate floral tapestries, and mahogany paneling. Sumptuously draped curtains and crisp linens add to the royal aesthetic, though both dining cars have panoramic windows on both sides, to ensure you enjoy the breathtaking views with your meal.
On the menu, the focus is mostly on Rajasthani specialities given the Palace’s route through the desert state. Offerings change daily but always feature the star ingredients of local cooking: Rich ghee and sweet jowar (sorghum), nutty bajra (pearl millet), and earthy lentils, all rendered in mouth-watering dals and curries.
There are plenty of meat choices, too, from mutton saagwala to tandoori chicken. Guests can also expect North Indian and Mughlai classics, as well as continental, Thai, and international options, which are alternated throughout the trip. Can’t take the heat that often comes with Indian food? Fret not. The chefs—some of India’s best—will happily adjust the level of spices and salt to your request. The bottom line though: Everything tastes—and looks—phenomenal. Tickets start around $5,820 per person for an 8-day journey in a deluxe cabin during the low season.
Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, Europe
A recurring name on pretty much any list of the best luxury trains in the world, Belmond’s Venice Simplon-Orient-Express has, unsurprisingly, three really great dining cars. To add to that, there’s also a brand new cabin category, the Suite, which features its own dining area for afternoon tea and breakfast, and might just be the most luxurious train accommodation yet).
Called L’Oriental, Etoile Du Nord, and Côte d’Azur, each restaurant dates back to the 1920s and has since been meticulously hand-restored to preserve some of the original period details, from the floral marquetry to the Lalique glass panels and lacquer decorations, transporting you right back to the heyday of luxury train travel.
Don’t expect the atmosphere to be stuck in the past, though: French culinary master Jean Imbert, who was appointed as the new chef for the iconic train last year, has brought in a new visual identity for the cars, introducing new mood lighting, bespoke art-adorned French porcelain dinnerware, and menu designs that reflect the distinct color palette and history of each carriage.
He’s also revamped the food offerings, blending the Simplon’s gastronomic heritage with a renewed attention to seasonal and local produce (read: French and Italian, with a touch of Austria for the Paris to Vienna itinerary). That means dishes that change over the course of the train’s calendar and an eye for the highest quality ingredients. Recent menus included lunches of free-range guinea fowl with corn polenta and marinated carrots and dinners of lobster vol-au-vent with white pudding and spinach.
Add to that the expert stewards and sommeliers who tend to passengers with a breezy manner that never feels stuffy and some of Europe’s most spectacular landscapes, and you have got yourself one of the most enjoyable train rides there are. For a one-night journey from Paris to Rome, tickets start at $4,594 per person in an entry-level cabin.
Rovos Rail, Africa
A gong heralds lunch and dinner aboard the Rovos Rail, Africa’s most luxurious train journey. It’s a formal call signaling more formal things to come: The restaurant cars—one or two depending on the number of passengers, as itineraries vary from 48-hour trips to 15-day explorative tours—look straight out of the Edwardian era with high-backed, tufted leather chairs, thick carpeting, dark wood, and bell-shaped lamps befitting of an early 20th century private members’ club. In the evening, guests take their seats in long dresses and suits, and happily so: The frill is part of the experience on the high-end sleeper (lunch, while less fancy, is still ‘smart casual’).
Food-wise, things are equally elaborate. Four-course meals created by Cape Town-based executive chef Maryke Reuvers alternate between international and South African cuisines, and focus on fresh ingredients that spotlight the territories the train rides through. Among the local staples, expect delicacies like springbok loin and karoo crumble (a mature hard cheese), as well as treats like amarula (a cream liquor) parfait and koeksister (traditional South African sticky donut).
Everything is, of course, paired with a strong selection of South African wines, making for a dining experience to be enjoyed leisurely and at length as the train passes through craggy mountains and sprawling desert landscapes that can be admired from the comfort of your table. That is, if you manage to peel your eyes off the dishes in front of you. Tickets usually start at $1,630 per person for short journeys in an entry-level suite, or $13,600 per person for long journeys (15 days) in the same room category.
Seven Stars, Japan
Getting on Japan’s most exclusive sleeper train, the Seven Stars, requires some luck—and we mean it. Aspiring passengers must enter a lottery months in advance for a chance to experience it. But manage to snag a seat, and you’ll be in for a truly outstanding ride. That applies to everything from the 10 beautifully appointed cabin suites to the amenities and the dining car.
Called Jupiter, the carriage features a similar decor to the rest of the ride: rich wood paneling, beautifully carved screens, plush floral fabrics for the chairs, and suffused lighting. Once seated, passengers are served seasonal cuisine from the island of Kyushu—the part of Japan the train travels through—crafted by a team of local masters that only works with trusted farmers in the area. The quality of the food is excellent and varied, as dishes are customized to each journey, although you can expect classics like takiawase (an assortment of bite-sized vegetables served with fish, meat, or tofu), and takikomi gohan (seasoned rice cooked with seasonal ingredients, from mushrooms and vegetables to meat and fish).
Besides the train, guests also have the opportunity to eat at some of the region’s most sought-after restaurants, from the French La Verveine to the all-Japanese Imoto—one of Kyoto (and Japan)’s best dining spots—where dinner is a full omakase affair of 10 to 12 dishes that change seasonally. Tickets start at $4,330 per person for a two-day trip.
The Ghan, Australia
The Ghan—the legendary luxury train linking Adelaide to Darwin since 1929 (it also runs from either destination to Alice Springs and back)—offers a full-immersion into Australia’s wild outback. So does the food on board, which is essentially a celebration of Australian cuisine.
Guests get to enjoy not one, but two different restaurant cars and two lounges, plus a swish private club, each designed to have their own character and specific ambience. The classically styled Queen Adelaide with its Art Deco details, for instance, serves hearty breakfasts, two-course lunches, and three-course dinners, while the more relaxed Outback Explorer is a lounge-meets-social hub where you can sip tea or beer over a board game. Then there’s the newly introduced Gold Premium Dining—another beautiful display of Art Deco design by design firm Woods Bagot—which does two-course regionally inspired lunches and four-course dinners with well-thought-out Australian wine pairings; and the Gold Premium Lounge, where you can go to for a morning cup of coffee or an evening night cap. Lastly, the more exclusive Platinum Club, accessible to Platinum Service passengers only (top-of-the-line ticket holders), is the ideal place for a quiet formal dinner with decor that features quartzite tabletops, timber flooring, and leather banquette seating.
The culinary team works closely with local suppliers, farmers, and providers to source ingredients from the diverse environments the train travels through across all of its cars, offering a regionally inspired menu that includes local lamb, saltwater barramundi, Margaret River cheeses, and grilled kangaroo filet. Tickets start at $1,840 per person one way for an entry-level (Gold Twin) cabin from Adelaide to Darwin, and $1,200 per person one way in the same cabin category from Darwin to Alice Springs (in low season). Platinum fares start at around $3,100 per person one way.
Royal Scotsman, Scotland
Another Belmond train, the Royal Scotsman really is all about the journey and giving guests one of the most memorable experiences of their lives. Leaving from and returning to Edinburgh's Waverley Station by way of the Scottish Highlands, the uber-indulgent ride places a strong emphasis on its dining offerings as well as the libations, with some 30 fine wines, liqueurs, and malt whiskies to tickle guests’ fancy throughout the day. There are two dining cars, Raven and Swift, appointed with mahogany-paneled walls and on-brand tweed upholstery (you are in Scotland after all), stark white linen, and fine china.
The best of Scottish produce from both land and sea makes up the menu created by head chef Mark Tamburrini, with plenty of Scottish specialties featuring at each meal—think smoked salmon, kidgeree, spiced roast halibut and pigeon salad. At breakfast, the Full Scottish is a must-try if you like meat—it’s a hefty combination of eggs, back bacon, sausage, black pudding, and haggis (a type of pudding composed of the liver, heart, and lungs of a sheep).
But it’s not just about the food. Together with the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, the Royal Scotsman also does a five-day Scotch Malt Whisky Tour that—besides three-course lunches and four-course dinners (which you get on the regular trips as well)—comes with tasting opportunities and distillery visits.
And when it’s time for a little R&R, you can either head to the recently unveiled Dior Spa Royal Scotsman, the only spa on rails in the UK, or book yourself into one of the new ultra-luxe Grand Suites set to debut for the 2024 season.
Tickets start at around $7,000 per person for two nights in a twin cabin.