New luxury train will travel some of world’s most remote, exotic regions

Is there any more evocative term in travel than “Silk Road”?

Reaching back through history to the second century BC and China’s Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), rulers created it as a route between Asia and Europe. Alexander the Great and Marco Polo were among the many who traversed the web of caravan tracks the route comprised. It was used for more than 1500 years before sea trade became the easier option.

Golden Eagle Gold Class Cabin.

With freedom and romance replacing trade and power as the wind beneath their travelling wings, the hippies and footloose backpackers of the 1960s and 1970s revived it, with painters, authors and musicians chronicling their bohemian odysseys for posterity.

Golden Eagle bar car.

Now, you can choose all manner of travel modes to explore the wonders of the route, but few are as alluring as a luxury train, from which you can admire the passing scenery and experience eclectic stops from a capsule of luxury.

Golden Eagle restaurant.

To celebrate its new train, the Golden Eagle Silk Road Express, and to mark its 35th anniversary, Golden Eagle Luxury Trains has launched an epic 22-day journey, Grand Silk Road, melding six nights onboard its new train, and 12 nights on the Golden Eagle train.

Set to depart in September 2026, it promises to “take in some of the world’s most remote and historically rich regions in supreme comfort and safety”. On all counts, it sounds like the mother of all understatements.

The Grand Silk Road Express travels a wondrous 6500 kilometres, departing from Beijing and heading across China to Kashgar, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, before meandering through the “Stans”, of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan with many stunning stops.

Golden Eagle Luxury Trains packages include private ensuite rail accommodation, meals and drinks plus off-train excursions.

Two other itineraries across 12 and 13 days are also available on the Golden Eagle Silk Road Express in 2026. See goldeneagleluxurytrains.com