6.6/1014 votesLoading...#1 - Kiev to Odessa
Season 6 Episode 1 - Aired 3/8/2018
No description available
Director: Dave Minchin
Writer: N/A
7.1/1018 votesLoading...#2 - Rome to Taormina
Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 11/12/2014
No description available
Director: Dave Minchin
Writer: N/A
7.2/1015 votesLoading...#3 - Genoa to the Brenner Pass
Season 5 Episode 4 - Aired 10/11/2016
No description available
Director: Tom Richardson
Writer: N/A
7.4/1021 votesLoading...#4 - Bordeaux to Bilbao
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 12/1/2013
No description available
Director: Hayden King
Writer: N/A
7.4/1016 votesLoading...#5 - Warsaw to Krakow
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 11/19/2014
No description available
Director: Tom Richardson
Writer: N/A
7.4/1016 votesLoading...#6 - Lyon to Marseille
Season 3 Episode 6 - Aired 12/10/2014
No description available
Director: Tom Richardson
Writer: N/A
7.4/1016 votesLoading...#7 - Athens to Thessaloniki
Season 4 Episode 4 - Aired 11/13/2015
Armed with his 1913 Continental Railway Guide, Michael Portillo embarks on a Greek odyssey from Athens's port of Piraeus north to the city of Thessaloniki, captured the year before from the Ottoman Turks, who had ruled much of Greece for 400 years. Exploring the Acropolis and delighting in the tastes of moussaka and baklava, Michael discovers the many influences at play in the creation of modern Greece - from its classical past to the oriental Ottomans and the great European powers of Britain, France and Russia. Along the way, Michael discovers the parlous state of Greek finances at the time of his guidebook. He learns how an aristocratic English poet became a Greek national hero and relives Greek athletic victory at the first modern Olympic games.
Director: Cassie Farrell
Writer: N/A
7.4/109 votesLoading...#8 - Linz to Bratislava
Season 7 Episode 5 - Aired 9/2/2020
Michael Portillo travels by train through Austria and the Czech Republic, following his Bradshaw’s Continental Railway Guide, published in 1936. Michael’s journey takes him through spectacular scenery, from the handsome Baroque buildings of the northern Austrian city of Linz, through Czech South Bohemia to Prague, the city of a hundred spires, and onto the canyons and caves of the Moravian Karst region near Brno. He finishes on the River Danube in the Slovakian capital, Bratislava.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.5/1018 votesLoading...#9 - Transylvania to the Black Sea
Season 5 Episode 1 - Aired 9/20/2016
No description available
Director: Ben Rowland
Writer: N/A
7.5/1015 votesLoading...#10 - Rotterdam to Utrecht
Season 5 Episode 6 - Aired 10/25/2016
No description available
Director: Dave Minchin
Writer: N/A
7.6/1022 votesLoading...#11 - Dresden to Kiel
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 11/10/2013
No description available
Director: Dean Griffiths
Writer: N/A
7.6/1019 votesLoading...#12 - Prague to Munich
Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 11/24/2013
No description available
Director: Tom Richardson, Dave Minchin
Writer: N/A
7.6/1017 votesLoading...#13 - Haifa to the Negev
Season 3 Episode 5 - Aired 12/3/2014
No description available
Director: Dave Minchin
Writer: N/A
7.6/1015 votesLoading...#14 - Zermatt to Geneva
Season 5 Episode 2 - Aired 9/27/2016
No description available
Director: George Pagliero
Writer: N/A
7.6/1018 votesLoading...#15 - Riga to Tampere
Season 5 Episode 5 - Aired 10/18/2016
No description available
Director: Dave Minchin
Writer: N/A
7.7/1012 votesLoading...#16 - Batumi to Baku
Season 6 Episode 2 - Aired 3/15/2018
No description available
Director: Dave Minchin
Writer: N/A
7.7/1011 votesLoading...#17 - Stockholm to the Arctic Circle
Season 7 Episode 6 - Aired 9/10/2020
Michael Portillo embarks on a scenic, thousand-mile rail journey from the Swedish capital, Stockholm, to Abisko in the northern reaches of the Arctic Circle. Steered by his 1936 edition of Bradshaw’s Continental Railway Guide, Michael boards a steam train to celebrate Midsummer in Marielund, learns to decorate a Dala horse in Mora and takes an icy dip in one of the country’s 96,000 lakes.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.8/1017 votesLoading...#18 - La Coruña to Lisbon
Season 3 Episode 4 - Aired 11/26/2014
No description available
Director: Cassie Farrell
Writer: N/A
7.8/1023 votesLoading...#19 - Sofia to Istanbul
Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 10/16/2015
Armed with his trusty 1913 Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide, Michael Portillo travels east through the Balkans along the most exotic section of the route taken by the Orient Express. His journey begins in Sofia, capital of Bulgaria, and includes stops in the ancient city of Plovdiv, the region of Rumelia, and former capital of the Ottoman Empire Edirne. Arriving in Istanbul, Michael takes a trip on the Bosphorus - a much-coveted stretch of water - finds out about Turkish delight and travels along the Marmaray metro line, which connects European and Asian Istanbul via a tunnel beneath the Bosphorus.
Director: Dave Minchin
Writer: N/A
7.8/1015 votesLoading...#20 - Tangier to Marrakech
Season 5 Episode 3 - Aired 10/4/2016
No description available
Director: Dave Minchin
Writer: N/A
7.8/109 votesLoading...#21 - Salamanca to Canfranc
Season 7 Episode 1 - Aired 7/29/2020
Michael Portillo sports a strikingly modern edition of his Bradshaw’s Continental Handbook, dated 1936. His destination lies close to his heart: the ancient kingdom of Spain and land of his father, recommended in Michael’s guidebook for its exceptional climate and glorious history. 1936 was a turbulent time in Spain, with political upheaval descending into a brutal civil war. Michael begins an emotional rail journey, which takes him deep into his family’s past and reveals the tentacles of the regime which forced his father into exile.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.8/1010 votesLoading...#22 - Orleans to Reims
Season 7 Episode 2 - Aired 8/5/2020
Michael Portillo travels from the chateaux of the Loire Valley to the heart of the Champagne region at Reims. Beginning in historic Orleans, Michael follows his Bradshaw’s guide to the magnificent stained-glass windows of the Cathedral of Sainte-Croix, which tell the story of the heroine of France, Joan of Arc. The image of the saintly teenage warrior endures as a symbol of resistance, and her life is celebrated in an annual parade. Michael meets her modern-day incarnation.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.9/1012 votesLoading...#23 - Barcelona to Mallorca
Season 4 Episode 6 - Aired 11/27/2015
Steered by his 1913 Bradshaw's Guide, Michael Portillo returns to Spain to trace the early 20th-century roots of the Spanish Civil War, which divided his Spanish family and sent his father into exile. He discovers a nation fractured at the time by social tensions and regional loyalties, which today offers a rich diversity of cultures to delight the tourist. Special dispensation to fly to the Balearic island of Mallorca allows Michael to spoil himself rotten with spectacularly scenic rides aboard a sublime 1912 vintage railway and a 1913 tram. On his travels, he is trampled underfoot at the bottom of a Catalan people steeple and learns to make the perfect paella. He pays homage to the genius of Barcelona's most famous architect and meets the man responsible for finishing off Antoni Gaudi's life's work. And he discovers a beautiful art nouveau Palace of Music with an emotional history.
Director: Titus Ogilvy
Writer: N/A
8.0/1020 votesLoading...#24 - Hungary to Austria
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 11/15/2012
Steered by his 1913 railway guide, on this journey Michael Portillo explores the once-great empire of Austria-Hungary, domain of the famous Habsburg monarchs. Starting in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, he travels via Bratislava in Slovakia to the beautiful and elegant city of Vienna, where he immerses himself in prewar decadence. From there, he travels to Salzburg, before heading to the magnificent scenery of the Salzkammergut region to visit the emperor's Austrian summer house at Bad Ischl, where in 1914 European history changed course forever.
Director: Cassie Farrell
Writer: N/A
8.1/1020 votesLoading...#25 - London to Monte Carlo
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 11/8/2012
Leaving London behind, armed with his 1913 railway guide, Michael Portillo follows the most popular route of the Edwardian traveller through France. His first stop is Paris, where he absorbs the atmosphere of La Belle Époque, before he travels south to the Cote D'Azur, where he samples the Edwardian highlife and learns why the area attracted the rich and artistic alike. He then ends his journey as he arrives at the gaming tables in glamorous Monte Carlo.
Director: Dave Minchin
Writer: N/A
The Worst Episodes of Great Continental Railway Journeys
Every episode of Great Continental Railway Journeys ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Great Continental Railway Journeys!
Michael Portillo travels on the great train routes of Europe, as he retraces the journeys featured in George Bradshaw's 1913 Continental Railway Guide.
Genre:Documentary
Network:BBC Two
Worst Episodes Summary
"Kiev to Odessa" is the worst rated episode of "Great Continental Railway Journeys". It scored 6.6/10 based on 14 votes. Directed by Dave Minchin and written by N/A, it aired on 3/8/2018. This episode scored 0.5 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Rome to Taormina".