RAIL ROMANCE

THE ORIENT EXPRESS, EUROPE THIS is still the world's most famous train, the epitome of romance. Hitchcock filmed it, a French president fell from it, Ian Fleming, Graham Greene and Agatha Christie wrote bestsellers about it, an American spy was pushed out of it and a Spanish duchesshad to be rescued from her manic bridegroom on it.

Built to carry Europe's elite - the rich, royal and aristocratic - the Orient Express began operations in 1883. It quickly became a favourite of people like Toscanini, Caruso, Melba, Nijinsky, as well as King Edward VII, the King of Belgium, the Tsar of Russia, the Maharajah of Cooch Behar, the Arch Duchess Marie Valerie of Austria and World War I superspy Mata Hari. They travelled in luxury on routes which criss-crossed the continent, linking Asia and Africa with Europe.

The advent of the Iron Curtain and jet aircraft brought about the great train's demise. Later, United States millionaire James Sherwood searched Europe for the original carriages, had them meticulously restored and reinaugurated the Orient Express on the London-Venice route. Today the train also operates on the London-Dusseldorf and London-Vienna routes travelling to Paris, Frankfurt, Cologne, Innsbruck, St Anton, Buchs, Verona and Zurich.

The cabins are small but exquisitely fitted out. The pianist in the lounge car plays nostalgic tunes from the 1960s. The gourmet cuisine in the dining cars is served in 1920s style and splendour. Most travellers get into the spirit of the journey by dressing for dinner.

For those who don't have the time or money for the transcontinental journeys, the Orient Express also has day-trips around Britain.

THE TRAIN TO MACHU PICCHU, PERU.

STRICTLY for the adventurous, this trip through Peru to the lost city of the Incas high in the Andes is probably one of the greatest rail experiences in the world.