Experience an ever changing perspective on the mystical landscapes of Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Laos aboard the splendid, distinctive green and cream carriages of the Eastern & Oriental train. Evoking the grand age of luxury train travel, you’ll sleep in elegant compartments, enjoy delicious Asian and European cuisine and be treated to friendly and courteous service. Travelling between sightseeing highlights – with several stops along the way – you can pass your time in the train’s bar car with its resident pianist, the saloon and a reading room/library and the open-decked observation car.
The E&O accommodates one hundred and thrity two passengers in a choice of three grades of wood-panelled, air-conditioned, fully en-suite cabin: Pullman Superior, with bunk beds, State Cabin, with two singles, and much larger Presidential Cabin. All meals are included.
Bangkok – Singapore (or vv)
Leaving Bangkok’s Hualamphong station early evening, the train travels through a countryside carpeted by paddy fields. The following day the train stops at the River Kwai Bridge station, where passengers can enjoy a raft trip along the river as well as a visit to the Thailand- Burma Railway museum. On the second full day you visit Penang, stopping at Butterworth and ferrying across to Georgetown, the island’s capital. During the visit there’s a ride by trishaw past the key sights before stopping for an afternoon drink at the colonial E&O Hotel. After breakfast on the third day you leave the train in Singapore having crossed the causeway of the Straits of Johor.
Price 3 nights from £1160 pp. Please ask our consultants for more details and departure dates.
Bangkok – Vientiane – Bangkok
Leaving Bangkok in the afternoon, the E&O Express (the pace is far more leisurely than the name suggests) heads northeast, arriving at Hin Dat the following morning for a tour of Phimai, one of the most important Khmer monuments in Thailand and a World Heritage Site. After lunch on the train your next stop is the Khao Yai ‘New Latitude’ vineyards. The next day you cross the border into Laos where you travel by coach, over the Mekong River by the Friendship Bridge, to Vientiane, the capital with its mix of French colonial architecture and gilded Asian temples. The night is spent back on the train, arriving in Bangkok at breakfast the following morning.
Price 3 nights from £1070 pp. You can also do a one way, 2 night trip from Bangkok to Vientiane from £890 pp or 1 night trip from Vientiane to Bangkok from £740 pp. This route only operates in February and October; please ask your consultant for exact dates.
Bangkok – Chiang Mai – Bangkok
You’ll board the train in the afternoon and head north, arriving in Chiang Mai soon after breakfast the following morning. There's a full day of excursions arranged in Thailand’s second city, with a choice of experiences from a visit to an elephant camp (and a ride!) to a handicraft workshop. The next day the train arrives at Sawankhalok where coaches will be waiting to take you to Si Satchanalai, part of the northernmost citadel of the ancient Khmer empire, a World Heritage Site and home to impressive 13th century Buddhist temples. After returning for lunch on the train you’ll continue the journey to Lampang and a horse-drawn carriage ride to Baan Sao Nok, the ‘house of many pillars’ built in traditional Lanna Thai style and supported by 116 teak pillars. After a final night on the train you’ll arrive back in Bangkok after breakfast.
Price 3 nights from £970 pp. You can also do a one way, 2 night trip from Chiang Mai to Bangkok (£840 pp), or 1 night from Bangkok to Chiang Mai (£740 pp). Please ask our consultants for more details and departure dates.
