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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!

Binge this in 1d 22h•Peaking at 8.9/10

Michael Portillo travels on the great train routes of Europe, as he retraces the journeys featured in George Bradshaw's 1913 Continental Railway Guide.

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BBC Two
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Seasons8

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 8 Episode 20 - Lisieux to Giverny
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #1 - Lisieux to Giverny

    S8:E20

    In the apple orchards of the Calvados region, Michael Portillo discovers how the classic digestif has been distilled since 1865 at the Pierre Huet estate.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 6 Episode 1 - Kiev to Odessa
    6.6/10(15 votes)

    #2 - Kiev to Odessa

    S6:E1

    No description available

    Director:Dave Minchin
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 3 Episode 2 - Rome to Taormina
    7.1/10(19 votes)

    #3 - Rome to Taormina

    S3:E2

    No description available

    Director:Dave Minchin
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 5 Episode 4 - Genoa to the Brenner Pass
    7.1/10(16 votes)

    #4 - Genoa to the Brenner Pass

    S5:E4

    No description available

    Director:Tom Richardson
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 8 Episode 14 - Rotkreuz to Brienz
    7.2/10(5 votes)

    #5 - Rotkreuz to Brienz

    S8:E14

    Michael Portillo scales the Swiss Alps on one of the the steepest cog railways in the world and visits the 19th-century fairy-tale Grand Hotel Giessbach.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 8 Episode 16 - Nantes to Lorient
    7.3/10(6 votes)

    #6 - Nantes to Lorient

    S8:E16

    Michael Portillo’s rail travels take him to the north west corner of France, where he explores the beautiful regions of Brittany and Normandy and learns of their connections with Great Britain.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 2 Episode 6 - Bordeaux to Bilbao
    7.4/10(22 votes)

    #7 - Bordeaux to Bilbao

    S2:E6

    No description available

    Director:Hayden King
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 3 Episode 3 - Warsaw to Krakow
    7.4/10(17 votes)

    #8 - Warsaw to Krakow

    S3:E3

    No description available

    Director:Tom Richardson
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 3 Episode 6 - Lyon to Marseille
    7.4/10(17 votes)

    #9 - Lyon to Marseille

    S3:E6

    No description available

    Director:Tom Richardson
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 4 Episode 4 - Athens to Thessaloniki
    7.4/10(19 votes)

    #10 - Athens to Thessaloniki

    S4:E4

    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:Unknown

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  11. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 8 Episode 15 - Zweisimmen to Lausanne
    7.4/10(7 votes)

    #11 - Zweisimmen to Lausanne

    S8:E15

    Aboard the Golden Pass Express, Michael Portillo wends his way in style down steep mountainsides from Interlaken to the Swiss Riviera. In Lausanne, he contends with a knife-wielding robotic arm.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 8 Episode 19 - Bayeux to Argentan
    7.4/10(5 votes)

    #12 - Bayeux to Argentan

    S8:E19

    In Bayeux, Michael Portillo admires the Bayeux Tapestry, the 70-metre-long work of art commissioned to record William the Conqueror's conquest of England and the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 4 Episode 6 - Barcelona to Mallorca
    7.5/10(14 votes)

    #13 - Barcelona to Mallorca

    S4:E6

    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:Unknown

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  14. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 5 Episode 1 - Transylvania to the Black Sea
    7.5/10(18 votes)

    #14 - Transylvania to the Black Sea

    S5:E1

    No description available

    Director:Ben Rowland
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 7 Episode 5 - Linz to Bratislava
    7.5/10(12 votes)

    #15 - Linz to Bratislava

    S7:E5

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 8 Episode 10 - Roskilde to Copenhagen
    7.5/10(6 votes)

    #16 - Roskilde to Copenhagen

    S8:E10

    Michael Portillo concludes his epic rail journey across Norway and Denmark, crossing an 18-kilometre box girder bridge between the islands of Funen and Zealand, known as the Great Belt Bridge.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 8 Episode 12 - Sedrun to Schwyz
    7.5/10(6 votes)

    #17 - Sedrun to Schwyz

    S8:E12

    Michael Portillo ventures into the bowels of an immense hydroelectric dam to learn how the Swiss use their mountainous environment to power the country.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 8 Episode 13 - Zurich
    7.5/10(8 votes)

    #18 - Zurich

    S8:E13

    In Zurich, Michael has a brush with the absurd in the anarchic paintings of the Dadaists and visits the Grossmunster Church to learn about the rebellious pastor at the centre of the Swiss Reformation.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 2 Episode 3 - Dresden to Kiel
    7.6/10(23 votes)

    #19 - Dresden to Kiel

    S2:E3

    No description available

    Director:Dean Griffiths
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 2 Episode 5 - Prague to Munich
    7.6/10(20 votes)

    #20 - Prague to Munich

    S2:E5

    No description available

    Directors:Dave Minchin, Tom Richardson
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 3 Episode 5 - Haifa to the Negev
    7.6/10(18 votes)

    #21 - Haifa to the Negev

    S3:E5

    No description available

    Director:Dave Minchin
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 5 Episode 2 - Zermatt to Geneva
    7.6/10(16 votes)

    #22 - Zermatt to Geneva

    S5:E2

    No description available

    Director:George Pagliero
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 5 Episode 5 - Riga to Tampere
    7.6/10(19 votes)

    #23 - Riga to Tampere

    S5:E5

    No description available

    Director:Dave Minchin
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 5 Episode 6 - Rotterdam to Utrecht
    7.6/10(17 votes)

    #24 - Rotterdam to Utrecht

    S5:E6

    No description available

    Director:Dave Minchin
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 6 Episode 2 - Batumi to Baku
    7.7/10(12 votes)

    #25 - Batumi to Baku

    S6:E2

    No description available

    Director:Dave Minchin
    Writer:Unknown

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Lisieux to Giverny" is the worst rated episode of "Great Continental Railway Journeys". It scored /10 based on 0 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 4/4/2025. This episode scored 6.6 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Kiev to Odessa".