Bill Halkett, Lancashire, writes:
My wife and I and another couple would like to travel by train to Venice and then on to Istanbul, flying back to Manchester. The idea is to make the trip after the school summer holiday in 2014. We’d like to spend a couple of days at interesting cities en route (perhaps Paris and somewhere else), then have three days in Venice and three or four in Istanbul. We don’t have the budget to do the Orient Express — we would prefer to use our funds to stay in comfortable hotels and eat well. Do you know of a company that could help to arrange our trip? We’d also welcome your advice about routes, places to stay and places to see.
Anthony Lambert, Rail expert, replies:
Paris is a good place to break the journey because the Eurostar terminates there. For the additional city, I recommend Berne in Switzerland, which is reached by direct TGV from Paris. Its enchanting old town is a World Heritage Site and there are lots of good galleries and museums. It is easy to reach the city’s mountain, the Gurten, by the S3 train or tram 9 and a funicular for walks through woods and fields to the sound of cowbells. The vaulted Kornhauskeller is a spectacular setting in which to try Bernese dishes.
Currently, leaving after breakfast, there is an onward service to Brig for a cross-platform change to a direct train with restaurant car to Venice, arriving after lunch. Your problem is the final stage to Istanbul, as there are no longer trains across the border into Slovenia, so the best route would be circuitous, via Vienna, Budapest and Bucharest. If time is tight, you might think of flying that leg of the journey.
via Venice to Istanbul by train – Telegraph.
