Michelin meals on trains, in-flight sleeping pod rentals: Fancy travel’s next stops

This story is part of the June 28 edition of Good Weekend.See all 21 stories.

Let the good times roll

Love the thought of rolling through Great Britain’s bucolic beauty without the petrol stops? Belmond’s Britannic Explorer will take luxury on British tracks to the next level when it launches in July with 18 sleeper suites. The train will offer three-night itineraries across three destinations – Cornwall, the Lake District and Wales. Expect lots of tea, and modern British cuisine overseen by Michelin-starred chef Simon Rogan. Three nights all-inclusive starts from £11,000 ($22,900) per person, based on twin-share accommodation.

If you want the Rolls-Royce of trains, go for the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express – another one from Belmond. Its new Paris-to-Tuscany route launched in May, departing Paris Gare d’Austerlitz to arrive in Castello di Casole three nights later. It’s priced from £9350 per person. This train also recently unveiled the L’Observatoire – a luxury sleeper carriage with interiors by artist JR – priced from, wait for it, £80,000 ($167,000) a night for double occupancy.

The L’Observatoire sleeper carriage’s luxury bathroom.

Closer to home, in April next year, Journey Beyond will release its “next-level platinum” cabin class on select trains. The Aurora and Australis suites (which you can find on The Ghan and the Indian Pacific) will be the Adelaide-based brand’s most luxurious offering yet. The Aurora Suite is priced from $7990 per person ($11,890 per person for the slightly larger Australis Suite) on the two-night, three-day Adelaide-to-Darwin trip aboard The Ghan in November 2026.

Take me to the river

Along with expeditions, river cruising is the fastest-growing sector in the cruising category. Australian Pacific Touring started out doing local bus tours before branching out into overseas cruises. In April this year, APT launched Solara, followed by Ostara in June. The near-identical ships have 77 suites across three cabin categories, and hold 154 passengers and 60 crew. The sweet spot is the Balcony Suites, offering full-length, electric slide-down windows opening onto a French-style deck. Choosing APT means you’ll never have to explain a flat white, or ask for the Vegemite while sailing on the Rhine, the Main or the Danube. An eight-day cruise from Munich to Amsterdam starts from $7645 per person in a Balcony Suite.

The lobby on APT’s Solara ship.

Viking River Cruises began in 1997 with just four river ships; today, it’s a juggernaut with about 80, mainly in Europe but also on the Mississippi and the Mekong. But the most immediate growth is scheduled for Portugal – with ships planned for the Douro River – and Egypt, where Viking plans to have 10 ships on the Nile by the close of 2026. These include Thoth, from October this year, hot on the heels of Amun, which is set to debut in September. Both cater for 82 guests and 48 crew. Our value pick is the 22-square-metre Veranda Stateroom, where, for $14,795 per person, you can book the 12-day “Pharaohs & Pyramids” cruise.

Talking of next-generation river ships, Tauck is preparing to debut MS Serene in early 2026. The ship holds 124 guests and 41 crew, and will focus on the River Seine. A sibling, the slightly longer MS Lumière (for 130 guests and 44 crew), will be released at the same time. Both ships feature a large sundeck with a pool and bar area, plus The Retreat – a fitness centre, massage room and lounge area encased by floor-to-ceiling windows. An 11-day Bordeaux, Paris and The Seine cruise sailing in 2026 is priced from $10,990 per person on MS Serene.

The pointy end

Cathay Pacific became one of the few airlines to offer the privacy of a sliding door on its airline’s business-class seats from late last year. While it’s more of a sliding screen (you can see over the top), it still creates a “cocoon in the sky” vibe. Each of Cathay’s refurbished B777-300ERs has 45 business- class Aria Suites in a 1-2-1 configuration, with all-aisle access. The seat is 53.3 centimetres wide, with a bed length of 190.5 centimetres when it reclines to fully flat. But it’s the ultra-high-definition screen that has the biggest “wow” factor. At a whopping 60.9 centimetres, it’s perfect for film buffs. The Aria Suites are only on Cathay’s refitted 777s and to date, only a handful have been refreshed. Cathay flies daily between Hong Kong and Sydney, London and Beijing. Business class is always expensive, but Webjet data for 2024 shows the airline was one of the most competitively priced options.

Cathay Pacific offers a “cocoon in the sky” vibe in business class.

Emirates has refitted 19 of its 120 B777-300ERs from nose to tail. Earlier this year, it began flying its refurbished four-class 777s between Dubai and Melbourne, putting its new “Game Changer” first-class suites, with fully enclosed floor-to-ceiling sliding doors, on an Australian route. There are three flights daily between Melbourne and Dubai: two on refurbished A380s, and one on the refurbished 777 (flight number EK405). The 42 business-class seats are set out as 1-2-1, and are 52.6 centimetres wide, stretching to 199.6 centimetres when flat, and there’s a 58.4-centimetre entertainment screen.
Air New Zealand unveiled its first refurbished 787-9 Dreamliner last month and it flies between Auckland and Brisbane, Rarotonga, Vancouver and San Francisco. The airline has gone from having among the worst business-class seats to an acclaimed product across two pointy-end options – Business Premier (22 seats) and Business Premier Luxe (four seats) that come with sliding privacy doors. Seats in both areas are 54 centimetres wide, reclining to 203 centimetres when flat.

An option to look out for 2026 is Air NZ’s innovative SkyNest, which will only be available for economy passengers. SkyNest is the airline’s bunk-bed-style sleeping pod, where you can book a four-hour session to lie down for considerably less than you’d pay for a business-class seat.

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