I Put Britain's “Most Luxurious” Train To The Test!
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- I spent a day on what Conde Nast Traveler Magazine calls “Britain’s Most Luxurious Train”, and rates as one of the world’s Top 10 Trains: the “Northern Belle”.
I’ll reveal what the eye-watering fare got me, the unusual history of the train, it’s link to cruising and some surprising quirks I never thought I’d see or experience on a train.
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#NorthernBelle #train #BritishPullman
Marvellous videography Gary. Wonderful also to get your insight into something different and share a special memory with us.
I'm really happy to see you have added the train packages to your channel. A few years ago my wife and I took a bus tour which routed us through Scotland. We loved it, until she got very car sick traveling from Ben Nevis to Oban (she is sensitive to motion sickness--BTW, Oban was fantastic). She told me she would not take the bus the next day to Glasgow, so what I did was book us two tickets on the train. The station is Glasgow was two blocks from our scheduled hotel. It worked out great and we loved the train trip, which while it was just a standard train, we really enjoyed. It was a whole separate adventure! Anyway, as a result she is now interested in these types of excursions......
That trip did seem a bit pricey tho….
A delightful departure, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!Your comments on anything you do are always thoughtful, gracious and informative. We're along for the ride wherever you go!
How lovely of Mark to treat you to such a cool trip. I love seeing Mark along with you on trips!
Fantastic video, Gary! I watch your videos to be educated and entertained and this train video is tops!
What a fun video! I love trains and train travel, so this was a nice surprise when this popped up instead of the usual cruise content. Yay! 👍👍(Love the cruise content, just enjoy that you mixed it up a bit)
Agreed.
I love when Mark pops up. That was such a lovely experience for you both.
Have just returned from a ‘imagine cruising’ package - Queen Mary 2 from Southampton to Civitavecchia followed by a stay in Lake Garda then return to UK on Orient Express to Calais and the Belmont Pullman to London. The whole trip felt opulent and well with the price. I was so impressed by the Belmond - we had afternoon tea which took the whole journey back. I would be quite happy to pay out for a trip like yours, to celebrate an occasion, as the Pullman trains are very special.
I love the look of that journey and will seriously consider going on it. Also, it was great to see Mark participating in the video. You should stream more things as a team n
Loved this. Will definitely add to our itinerary next time we are in London!
LOVE it sooooooo much! I want more of this, exotic and amazing trips. Just returned from Alaska for the third time, many cruises in. Kind of over it, after 35 years; perhaps it’s time of life, perhaps many things, really.I don’t know how you have done 100…..I would really be ‘over’ the process of it all. If you know of a channel which might cover this, please share. UNLESS YOU will be doing more. The fancier and cleaner, the better. Hugs from Oregon.
Really liking the different episode 👏🏼
That looks like an amazing day, I really want to give it a try.
Love - and worth every penny! Did something very similar when things were managed by VSOE in 1996 prior to the 15DEC96 crossing onboard QE2. Different china and crystal. Same strolling duet. No stops, just a fab brunch. Will never forget - and will repeat, thanks to your review, Gary!
That did look a great train for a special trip. Excursion trains have become very expensive. Quite often over £100 for standard class non dining. And nudging £300 for first class dining. So not that crazy expensive in terms of today's excursion trains.
LOVE the special edition episode!!!
We have a trip on this booked for special birthdays next year. I've been on the Virtuoso and I am definitely looking forward to this day out more!! Great review thanks guys....
It looks amazing! Especially for you and Mark, having been on so many cruises, this day on the train seems like a perfect idea! I would like to go on a cruise on a ship decorated like this train! Thank you for the video!
Comparing this experience with a 3-day cruise aboard a low cost cruise line does not seem to be comparing like items. The experience looks wonderful but is not to everyone's taste. Thanks for posting this and giving us an idea of what the experience is like.
Thank you Gary and Mark for taking us on an adventure on land!! We're planning on a trip in 2025 to the United Kingdom and we'll look into this once in a lifetime side trip. ❤❤
Gary, this is great content and appreciated.
I know this is primarily a cruse channel however providing some train content is worthwhile because some of us may include a train voyage before or after a cruse.
Wow, ~ really enjoyed seeing this latest adventure. We've been hoping to take this day trip on our next visit to the UK. Excellent to see.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
How delightful! Though it's likely going to stay a dream I would love to take a luxury train vacation.
What an awesome experience! Thank you for the insight into it. When in Peru, we took the Hiram Bingham to Machu Picchu. It was fabulous, I highly recommend!
Very nice adventure for you two. Loved the video and yes, it was pricey but what great memories you both will have. 🎉
Very helpful. Thanks. Perhaps you could do one on the Orient Express also.
Wow, a fun change. I like these kinds of posts. But these kind of trips are so dear.
I loved this content!!! I hope we as viewers can see much more in the future!
Thank you for the both of you on a great trsin trip for the day. I agree with Mark as well, I am not a backwards seating person. I did enough of that because of my career flying. Yes, the jump seats were enough for me in those years. Now, as I have traveled, I prefer to sit forward. But yes, if I am traveling with a friend or relative then I give up a good seat as a courtesy to another person.
Really enjoyed this video.
nice, love train trips, price and value are two different things, so pick and choose and enjoy your time on this planet
Lovely day out! I looked up the schedule to see if I could do a trip 😊
Honestly £440 doesn't seem to be too much to pay for this experience.
I'm guessing that they have included alcoholic wine/champagne and if you want something fancier that option is there for you but it's extra.
The food, service, entertainment, and the train itself looks stunning.
And it's about the experience.
For two people, in NYC, Broadway show tickets and dinner/after glow coukd easily top $1K, if you really splash out.
@@lilbatz I've spent more than that on a bottle of Bordeaux in New Orleans.
Prices of everything are just stupid right now and the first thing that becomes out of reach are the luxuries that sooth some of our souls.
So honestly I do think it's a good value but I'd caution Americans and other non Europeans what exactly the voyage is all about.
I'd love this but I'm pretty sure many of my fellow Texans might not understand how amazing it is that those American Pullman cars made in the Chicago area and shipped to the UK still even exist.
We don't have much of a passenger rail heritage past the 1950s which was two decades before my birth.
For me it would be as much about the train than the journey.
I think I will stick to the 1750 SWR service to London Waterloo, arriving at 1949 (also this seems slow compared with GWR Paddington to Newport/Cardiff, LNER King's Cross to Leeds/York, or Avanti Euston to Preston/Manchester Piccadilly/Liverpool Lime Street).
Loved this Gary....we both love cruises and I love trains (not my husband tho)
What a great day. I love trains and train travel.
I get emails for these trips. They look wonderful and you two lads looked so very nice in your smart suits; love the colour. You should dress up more often in your videos. Maybe you'll start a trend. Thanks for covering this type of getaway.
That looked lovely. I want to go now.
It's so good!
Hope you enjoy the Indian Pacific in December.
Wow on a train very cool!
It looks like a lovely trip, though pricey. I hope you get a chance to try out the Royal Scotsman on one of the three or five day trips. Very much like a river cruise. Also pricey but well worth it.
What a lovely day, would love to experience this.
Just a (pernickety) FYI:
Alnwick is pronounced "Ann-ick"; Belvoir is pronounced "Beaver".
Train looks fab!
Also Glamis is pronounced Glaamz.
How much fun! Good for you!!!
mark and I are opposite, I love travelling backwards on trains, I have no idea why!
You could have cruised but your partner looked divinely happy!
We are travelling Paris to Rome next year on a Pullman train as part of an Imagine Holiday trip. In Rome we board the Queen Victoria for a cruise
Made a mistake. Not Pullman but Venice Simplon
You call that eye wateringly expensive?
Try travelling at short notice from London to Edinburgh!
By the way Glamis is pronounced Glamz (Sorry, picky Scot!☺)
Loved the trip. Quite close to me, so I'll give it a try. I hadn't heard of it at all. Thank you 💖
Very interesting...and an interesting price tag, too. We love train travel and with there were more opportunities here that were budget friendly. We enjoy your cruise videos even though we are more flyers and ferry-users than cruisers. It's all good though. #armchairtravel
Another one for my bucket list! I live where I have to get the train to visit my family for Christmas, so I have been on the Bergensbanen in Norway more times than I can count, from different starting stations at the eastern or middle part of Norway (now south east). But to go on a trip where I don't have to bring food and get a 3 course meal, would be heaven (and heavenly expensive)
Very interesting. When you were walking in the train station (0:46), were you just using the Insta360 mic?
It was on my DJI Osmo Pocket with the microphone attachment
The train looks half empty. How often does this service run?
FYI: Belvoir -- named after Belvoir Castle -- is actually pronounced "BEAVER."
If only these luxury trains had intercity schedules instead of excursions.
I was a little concerned with how empty the train seemed, for it to continue to be viable :(.
who is MARK sorry im lost
It's so strange seeing you on land.!
👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽🥰🇺🇸 I wanna go on the train.
That is an utterly insane price ESPECIALLY since everything (like alcohol) isn’t included. 880£ plus drinks for a day trip? Sorry no.
The Belvoir is pronounced Beaver. Nice video though.
Last third of video only audio, no video.
I was on their website. Their trains are not wheelchair accessible which is inexcusable in 2023. Such a great disappointment.. and quite honestly, infuriating.
You seem to be missing the whole point of the experience which is to sample heritage railway carriages which were built in an age when accessibility was not a consideration many decades ago and are unable to be adapted. This is a similar situation to the ancient manor houses where you cannot adapt without destroying the fabric of what makes it an attraction.
☀️❤️🇨🇦🐿️
The music kills it for me. I never know what the heck to do while they're in your face. Are you supposed to tip?
I would have rather have gone on cruise
"Dairy sensitive" = sorry have to end watching
Many adults are lactose intolerant. What's wrong with that?
@fabrisseterbrugghe8567
Allergic is different to intolerant is different to sensitive
@@danielwebb8402 I've heard them used interchangeably. Not everyone is a doctor. I also know that my dad was never officially diagnosed as allergic to garlic, but hearing him throw up after he'd had some led me to believe he might have a sensitivity to it.
I love cruising and so did my grandad. When he became too ill to go on a cruise we went on the Northern Bell and it was the most magical journey. It means the world to me that I got to spend that last special day with my grandad. The staff and other passengers were wonderful with grandad, I know everyone gets amazing treatment but they seemed to go above and beyond for him. Would highly recommend!
Fab, great video, Gary. Looking forward to trains being a regular feature! And Mark, you are a kind and generous man ! 😊
Agree with everyone - love that you have added this content. And while clearly an expensive trip, it looked like the furnishings, facilities and food were all excellent.
I live in north Georgia, and there is a similar, though not as luxurious, day trip train ride there. A premier seat will cost you $100 for a 4 hour trip to a small town nearby that is on the border between GA and TN, and I thought this was very reasonable. Considering there is a tea service, small lunch, gift tote with magnets and high quality enamel pin, etc., I consider this to be well worth the price of admission. I’d probably consider taking your train ride myself if I had the time when I’m next in the UK!
I live in Knoxville. Tell me more!
@@cherylkoski7184 they might be referring to the Tennessee Valley RR Museum's "Copperhill Special," which runs from Delano TN (near Etowah) over to Copperhill TN/McCaysville GA, as the towns are on the state border. It is nowhere NEAR as luxurious as this, but a fun day-long ride.
I've been on this train ride and it was fun! Beautiful scenery. But nothing like what Gary and Mark experienced.
Actually $100 for four hours seems very reasonable, as I just paid £50.20 for a very utilitarian 105 minutes (should have been 95) from Paddington to Newport (Gwent) in second class.
Blue Ridge? We are neighbors!
My god, that cheese plate!
I enjoyed this episode very much. I love a train trip and splashing out on a luxury line would be great fun.
It’s fun to see you taking some different adventures! Cruising is my first love, but I also like to mix it up with some different types of travel now and then
My dad mourns the loss of a proper cheese board in restaurants. I think he'd be satisfied by the one on this train.
You always do a great job on your reviews. Alongside your commentary I liked the informative cinematography and the overview.
Thank you Mark for spending your bonus on this trip.
Thank you both for sharing this trip and having something different on the channel. I enjoyed it very much and hope this train can stay in operation for decades to come.
I’m glad you put most luxurious in inverted commas, I have travelled on it a couple of times, once when it under VSOE and once after West Coast Railway took it over, standards although good have dropped. For personal reasons I drink decaf coffee, other trains use decaf filter, they use instant sachets with warm water, at your table. The food is preprepared off train, just heated on board. On my last trip with them, some light bulbs were not working, the supposed entertainment didn’t show up. Frankly I found it overpriced. We stopped at a station for almost an hour without any information, turned out it was a locomotive problem. Also they branded themselves “most luxurious train “ for real luxury try the Royal Scotsman ( still run by Belmond ).
Wait a minute, this isn't a cruise.. .
Nice trip. Glad you and Mark had fun!
This looks like a winner. I will add it to our Canadian cross country train: The Rocky Mountaineer Toronto to Vancouver or reverse
Seems very empty.
I love trains. We have too few here in America. I must say that Mark sitting there looks very "to the manor born"!
Looks good. Just back from 2 days on the Rocky Mountaineer (Gold car). Great trip but also very expensive for what it was.
Traveled on the Northern Belle earlier this year, absolutely fantastic experience and worth every penny. Will definitely be doing it again!
Looks like the train we took back to the sacred valley from Machu Pichu, it was an amazing experience. Part of Celebrity cruise land and sea experience paired with Galapagos
Sadly, when I took the Orient Express to Venice last year, Belmond had to cancel the British Pullman/coach/Eurotunnel Le Shuttle portion of the trip and put us on the Eurostar instead. All thanks to delays at border crossings at Calais, due to Brexit. It was a delightful trip nonetheless, and we received a substantial onboard credit. I hope that one day I can do the British Pullman, because it looks fantastic!
We went from Liverpool to Edinburgh 3years ago in covid times to celebrate my hubby’s 70th . Had a fantastic day, everything on the train was tip top. The weather was glorious . Can highly recommend.
What a fantastic experience. My husband and I decided to focus on experiences rather than things, when we retired. Wish we'ed learned that earlier in life.
Looking very smart, Gary!
I love train trips, again you have given me something else to add to my bucket list, and Mark gave me a laugh with the cooking vinegar comment
Wonderful!
Jelly! That trip looked fabulous.
Though you say it's spendy, it's cheaper than two top tier Broadway show tickets with dinner.
(alas, I have The Poors, and couldn't do the train nor the show lol)
YES! Thank you so much for doing a review of this wonderful train! Hope there will be more in the future.
Next time you’re in Civitavecchia or Italy in general do check out if your trip matches up with one of Italys historic trains (Arlecchino and Settebello are highly recommended :) )
Glad you had a good time!
Thank you so much for making this video. It was a fun change of pace and something I would not have ever known about.
What a fun thing to do. That train is gorgeous and the food looked over the top. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Gary, my wife and I are wondering about the device you are using for some of your walking shots. I see you holding something but I see no connection to the camera? Off on Fred Olsen out of Liverpool this Friday with a friend in Wales. Thnx for that video! DS Maryland.
Fabulous content tbankyou .I am booked for Christmas lunch departing from Newcastle .
The idiosyncrasies of English places names! I believe Alnwick = ‘Annick’ and Belvoir = ‘Beaver’. Happy to be corrected though if wrong!
I was bracing myself for a much higher fare for this absolutely incredible train (a once in a lifetime experience). However, I’m probably in the minority, I could do without the entertainment.
where why would you travel by train vs bus coach vs river cruise? where would you ocean cruise?
Every single non- alcoholic wine I've ever tried has been like cooking-vinegar . You'd think someone would have fixed it by now.