Asia rail holidays
India and Japan are our top destinations for railway holidays in Asia, but other countries are catching up.
Asia’s railway network is full of iron giants. This is the continent where high-speed rail was born. In Japan, the world’s first bullet trains shot onto the scene in the 1960s. Now China has the largest network of high-speed rail anywhere in the world, with over 50,000km of track built in just two decades. Asia is home to some of the world’s longest train services – some journeys span close to 10,000km, whilst Tokyo, Osaka, and Kolkata are among the world’s busiest train stations.
Our Asia rail holidays have long been popular – especially for exploring the well-known routes in India and Japan – but other routes, both new and niche, deserve the spotlight too.
Over such a vast and varied continent, you’re bound to find some quirky journeys on our railway holidays. Idiosyncratic experiences include riding Cambodia’s bamboo trains – locally-built bamboo platforms powered by motorbike engines, which have been adapted to old railway lines. You can enjoy unobstructed green views of Sri Lanka’s hill country through the left-open doors of slow-moving trains between Kandy and Ella. On Train Street in Hanoi, services whip so close past the cafes that they could knock the froth off your cappuccino.
Your views need updating if you’re still thinking of hundreds of people clinging to the outside of carriages. Globalisation and modernisation are changing the networks. “Gone are the old-world sleepers with the chai being served up,” says Nick Pulley from our partner Selective Asia, “now you've got modern service, blaring air conditioning and endless food.” India is phasing out its traditional pantry cars – narrow galleys where huge pots of rice and vegetable curries are cooked up for passengers, and Soviet diesel trains in central Asia are being replaced.
Many railway lines were developed by colonial powers to control the nations they occupied, to move troops and transport materials – the French in Vietnam, Japan in Taiwan, the British in India. These lines have been improved and changed over the decades, and now they serve the people.
The result is that you’re getting more comfort and more convenience on our rail holidays. Thanks to Google Translate, you’re probably having better conversations with the other passengers now, too.
Asia’s railway network is full of iron giants. This is the continent where high-speed rail was born. In Japan, the world’s first bullet trains shot onto the scene in the 1960s. Now China has the largest network of high-speed rail anywhere in the world, with over 50,000km of track built in just two decades. Asia is home to some of the world’s longest train services – some journeys span close to 10,000km, whilst Tokyo, Osaka, and Kolkata are among the world’s busiest train stations.
Our Asia rail holidays have long been popular – especially for exploring the well-known routes in India and Japan – but other routes, both new and niche, deserve the spotlight too.
Over such a vast and varied continent, you’re bound to find some quirky journeys on our railway holidays. Idiosyncratic experiences include riding Cambodia’s bamboo trains – locally-built bamboo platforms powered by motorbike engines, which have been adapted to old railway lines. You can enjoy unobstructed green views of Sri Lanka’s hill country through the left-open doors of slow-moving trains between Kandy and Ella. On Train Street in Hanoi, services whip so close past the cafes that they could knock the froth off your cappuccino.
Your views need updating if you’re still thinking of hundreds of people clinging to the outside of carriages. Globalisation and modernisation are changing the networks. “Gone are the old-world sleepers with the chai being served up,” says Nick Pulley from our partner Selective Asia, “now you've got modern service, blaring air conditioning and endless food.” India is phasing out its traditional pantry cars – narrow galleys where huge pots of rice and vegetable curries are cooked up for passengers, and Soviet diesel trains in central Asia are being replaced.
Many railway lines were developed by colonial powers to control the nations they occupied, to move troops and transport materials – the French in Vietnam, Japan in Taiwan, the British in India. These lines have been improved and changed over the decades, and now they serve the people.
The result is that you’re getting more comfort and more convenience on our rail holidays. Thanks to Google Translate, you’re probably having better conversations with the other passengers now, too.
Rajasthan tours by rail, India
Discover the evocative northern province of Rajasthan
From
£928 to £1425
15 days
ex flights
Japan golden route holiday
9-night classic Japan trip: Tokyo, Fuji, Kyoto
From
£2200
10 days
ex flights
Rural China cultural holiday, tailor made
See traditional village life in mountainous Guizhou & Yangshuo
From
€2667
12 days
ex flights
South India tour by bus & rail
Head to the beaches and backwaters of southern India.
From
£595 to £1015
16 days
ex flights
Japan small group holiday by bullet train
Explore Japan’s golden route and the Japan Alps
From
£4490 to £5930
14 days
ex flights
Malaysia to Nepal overland adventure
Through Asia’s heart: Mekong to the majestic Himalaya
From
£10015 to £10520
28 days
ex flights
Long distance train journeys in Asia
You can get to Istanbul in all sorts of ways, but arrive on an overnight train from Sofia or Ankara and it's a whole different experience.![]()
“You can get to Istanbul in all sorts of ways,” notes Simon Maddison from our expert long distance rail partner Sundowners Overland, “But arrive on an overnight train from Sofia or Ankara and it's a whole different experience.”
The world’s largest continent is irresistible to ambitious overlanders. Yet crossing Asia on the horizontal plane is a geopolitical puzzle. Iran and Russia were traditional overland routes. In the seventies the hippie trail took you through Iran, Lebanon and Afghanistan – no longer easy visits. The Trans-Siberian Railway – the most famous of Asia’s long distance routes with its epic seven-day, 9,300km-long journey between Moscow and Vladivostok – was put out of bounds for most international travellers by war in Ukraine. A choke point on our round the world without flying holiday was the closed Georgia-Azerbaijan border; Azerbaijan kept its land border entirely closed for six years after the Covid pandemic.
The good news is that new routes are opening. The modern super-connector is China – the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s so-called ‘New Silk Road’, is linking countries at pace. This is great for moving freight, its primary purpose, but also good news for tourists. The Laos-China railway is transformative for Laos, which previously only had a few kilometres of built railway in the entire country. The planned Kunming-Singapore Railway aims to strengthen links between China and Southeast Asia. Other epic planned lines include the Khunjerab Railway, from China through the Karakoram mountains into Pakistan, and the proposed Five Nations Railway Corridor, which will link Western China with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran.
The world’s largest continent is irresistible to ambitious overlanders. Yet crossing Asia on the horizontal plane is a geopolitical puzzle. Iran and Russia were traditional overland routes. In the seventies the hippie trail took you through Iran, Lebanon and Afghanistan – no longer easy visits. The Trans-Siberian Railway – the most famous of Asia’s long distance routes with its epic seven-day, 9,300km-long journey between Moscow and Vladivostok – was put out of bounds for most international travellers by war in Ukraine. A choke point on our round the world without flying holiday was the closed Georgia-Azerbaijan border; Azerbaijan kept its land border entirely closed for six years after the Covid pandemic.
The good news is that new routes are opening. The modern super-connector is China – the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s so-called ‘New Silk Road’, is linking countries at pace. This is great for moving freight, its primary purpose, but also good news for tourists. The Laos-China railway is transformative for Laos, which previously only had a few kilometres of built railway in the entire country. The planned Kunming-Singapore Railway aims to strengthen links between China and Southeast Asia. Other epic planned lines include the Khunjerab Railway, from China through the Karakoram mountains into Pakistan, and the proposed Five Nations Railway Corridor, which will link Western China with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran.
Our long-distance rail holidays in Asia
Thanks to joined-up long distance networks, you can theoretically cross the continent from Istanbul, on the threshold with Europe – all the way to Hong Kong on the South China Sea – our Istanbul to Hong Kong holiday does just that over three weeks, and features Turkey’s longest train journey, the 24-hour-long Dogu Express from Ankara to Kars. Alternatively, wend your way up the Malay Peninsula, shimmy into Thailand and then Laos and China. Turn right and you can head into the Gobi Desert, spending a day on the Trans-Mongolian Railway and eventually you’ll make it to Ulaanbaatar on our Malaysia to Mongolia by train holiday.
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The best places to travel in Asia by rail
East Asia
The Far East leads the way when it comes to its tracks. China’s vast distances once took days to conquer – that’s changed now. “What used to be overnight services, a day and a half, two days – these are all done in the same day,” says Simon. “It really does improve the journey. You can stay in a relatively comfortable hotel and do a big section by high speed.”
The country’s impressive feats include the world’s largest train station and the world’s highest railway route – the Guangzhou to Lhasa line, which reaches elevations comparable to Everest Base Camp. The network is getting faster all the time. You can now get from the Terracotta Army to the giant pandas in less than four and a half hours – in the 2010s, travelling from Xian to Chengdu used to take 12.
Taiwan is ringed by its railway, meaning you can circumnavigate the island easily by train, avoid the road traffic around Taipei and enjoy high-speed rail along the west coast. For a slow and scenic experience, the Alishan Forest Railway connects indigenous communities with each other on its journey up through the trees, and is a highlight on our Taiwan private tour.
Most tourists heading to Japan will get a rail pass; more passenger kilometres are undertaken by train than any other mode of transport in the country, and trains remain among the safest and most reliable in the world. The Golden Route between Tokyo and Kyoto is well trodden for a reason, but if you’re looking further afield you can take the train to Kyushu and Shikoku for a 13 day south Japan rail tour. Alternatively, head up to Hokkaido for cranes with your trains – the island is linked to Honshu by the second-longest tunnel in the world (though most people fly).
“South Korea has high-speed trains connecting most of the country and in places where it is too mountainous for trains (it’s something like 80 percent mountains) there’s a really nice coach network,” says Rhian Osborne from our partner Inside Travel Group. Hopping on and off the KTX bullet trains makes for a great two week train adventure. The high-speed line that connects Seoul and Busan takes just over two hours.
The country’s impressive feats include the world’s largest train station and the world’s highest railway route – the Guangzhou to Lhasa line, which reaches elevations comparable to Everest Base Camp. The network is getting faster all the time. You can now get from the Terracotta Army to the giant pandas in less than four and a half hours – in the 2010s, travelling from Xian to Chengdu used to take 12.
Taiwan is ringed by its railway, meaning you can circumnavigate the island easily by train, avoid the road traffic around Taipei and enjoy high-speed rail along the west coast. For a slow and scenic experience, the Alishan Forest Railway connects indigenous communities with each other on its journey up through the trees, and is a highlight on our Taiwan private tour.
Most tourists heading to Japan will get a rail pass; more passenger kilometres are undertaken by train than any other mode of transport in the country, and trains remain among the safest and most reliable in the world. The Golden Route between Tokyo and Kyoto is well trodden for a reason, but if you’re looking further afield you can take the train to Kyushu and Shikoku for a 13 day south Japan rail tour. Alternatively, head up to Hokkaido for cranes with your trains – the island is linked to Honshu by the second-longest tunnel in the world (though most people fly).
“South Korea has high-speed trains connecting most of the country and in places where it is too mountainous for trains (it’s something like 80 percent mountains) there’s a really nice coach network,” says Rhian Osborne from our partner Inside Travel Group. Hopping on and off the KTX bullet trains makes for a great two week train adventure. The high-speed line that connects Seoul and Busan takes just over two hours.
South Asia
Going by train is a big, exciting experience in India. Distances are considerable and trains can be slow, but it’s a fantastic way to tour the Golden Triangle, or see South India between Kerala and Tamil Nadu – which is why the train features on some of our most popular holidays. Whilst trains are modernising, you do still get the older services too – like the historic, narrow gauge lines into the mountains with their toy trains, “I kind of like that contradiction in India actually,” says Nick, “That sense of old and new, because you've got a lot of old and new within the places you're visiting as well.”
Sri Lanka doesn’t have a large rail network, but you can travel from Colombo into the tea plantations – the picturesque stretch between Nuwara Eliya (Nanu Oya) and Ella is the most popular with visiting travellers.
Sri Lanka doesn’t have a large rail network, but you can travel from Colombo into the tea plantations – the picturesque stretch between Nuwara Eliya (Nanu Oya) and Ella is the most popular with visiting travellers.
Southeast Asia
Thailand probably has the best rail network in Southeast Asia, and travellers might be particularly interested in taking a two and a half hour ride on a section of the Death Railway, as part of our Kanchanaburi adventure holiday – the line was built by POWs in World War II and made famous by the 1957 film The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Other famous journeys in the area for travellers include the Reunification Express – Vietnam’s only significant railway line goes along the coast north-south and is a great way for travellers to see the country over a 15 day Vietnam rail holiday. Malaysia has a modern network, but other countries in the area aren’t well known for their rail infrastructure: Cambodia had no trains at all for large parts of the 2000s and 2010s. Laos now has the Laos-China railway linking popular destinations like Vientiane, Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang – with Kunming in China – a trip down by bullet train is an optional extension on our North Vietnam and Yunnan small group tour. Indonesia has the first high speed railway in the Southern Hemisphere, a great way to cross Java from Jakarta to Ketapang, though the other islands are less well served.
Other famous journeys in the area for travellers include the Reunification Express – Vietnam’s only significant railway line goes along the coast north-south and is a great way for travellers to see the country over a 15 day Vietnam rail holiday. Malaysia has a modern network, but other countries in the area aren’t well known for their rail infrastructure: Cambodia had no trains at all for large parts of the 2000s and 2010s. Laos now has the Laos-China railway linking popular destinations like Vientiane, Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang – with Kunming in China – a trip down by bullet train is an optional extension on our North Vietnam and Yunnan small group tour. Indonesia has the first high speed railway in the Southern Hemisphere, a great way to cross Java from Jakarta to Ketapang, though the other islands are less well served.
Central Asia
Kazakhstan, the richest country in the stans, has a good rail network – as does Uzbekistan, where there are trains linking popular Silk Road sites like Khiva via Urgench, Bukhara, and Samarkand with Tashkent. See them both on our Silk Road small group tour.
“There's still a number of these old Soviet trains out there in Central Asia,” says Simon. “It’s a bit wild and rough and ready, but it's an amazing experience.”
“There's still a number of these old Soviet trains out there in Central Asia,” says Simon. “It’s a bit wild and rough and ready, but it's an amazing experience.”
West Asia
Saudi Arabia’s rail network has had a period of mass improvement, and Mecca, Medina and Jeddah are linked by high-speed rail. Taking a few rail journeys is useful if you want to cut out some of the internal flights usually needed to see a country of this size.
Trains link Iran’s main cities – useful for a country this size, and there are some scenic rail routes to take out of Tehran. You can take a luxury tourist train in Iran – days feature the line from Tehran to Savadkuh, which reaches a high point 2,000m above sea level at Veresk, where you’ll encounter a gorge-straddling bridge. The Trans-Iranian Railway is UNESCO-listed.
Trains link Iran’s main cities – useful for a country this size, and there are some scenic rail routes to take out of Tehran. You can take a luxury tourist train in Iran – days feature the line from Tehran to Savadkuh, which reaches a high point 2,000m above sea level at Veresk, where you’ll encounter a gorge-straddling bridge. The Trans-Iranian Railway is UNESCO-listed.
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