Blue Train – South Africa’s Majestic Rail Trip
January 27th, 2011 by Rob Atherton, under Vacations. No Comments
The Blue Train path links Pretoria and Cape Town. It’s a 27-hour experience of 1,600 kilometres (994 mls), through part of the most diverse and impressive surroundings offered by the African sub-continent. It carries travellers across the excellent scenery featuring service which is made up of exceptional food and huge cabins. The Blue Train has been running since 1939 and takes its name from its blue engines, carriages and leather seating. It owes it’s origin to the Union Limited along with the Union Express, that, from 1923, connected Joburg with the mail ships departing from Cape Town for England. In the past as your Union Castle boat arrived at Cape Town, you may well have taken the Blue Train to Joburg, South Africa’s monetary powerhouse figuratively and actually built on gold.
The new Blue Train is considered the most sumptuous train on earth and the very best way to travel. In 1947 the 3 month long tour by the British Royal Family saw the purchase of 8 ivory-painted air-conditioned saloons from Britain, 3 of which were produced to Blue Train sleeping car requirements, while the remaining five were specific saloons to be used by the Royal Family and Field Marshal Jan Smuts, the South African Prime Minister. It’s little wonder these distinguished people chose the Blue Train. Falling asleep with a Karoo moon above and rising up to a fresh pot of coffee while the Blue Train goes by Cape vineyards is a sensation which is challenging to beat.
The Blue Train suites live up to their track record for elegance and splendour. It brings you to a timeless time of sophisticated living, incorporating the enchantment of take a trip by train together with the extravagance of a grand hotel. Much of the allure in the Blue Train is based on its past and it can with ease lay claim to being without doubt one of the top 3 high end trains globally. The Blue Train equals plenty of five star hotels with regards to sophistication, grace, style and comfort with decorations created by a respected interior planning company. An a la carte South African selection is only part of the Blue Train service that also incorporates butlers attending your every need along with a high-class suite. Taking only 2 days, it runs from Pretoria to Cape Town or the other way around.
With menus offering an array of local delicacies, meals on board the Blue Train is surely an encounter by itself – from Karoo lamb and ostrich fillet to Knysna oysters – alongside award-winning cultivars from the Winelands of the Western Cape. The royal blue menus with their gold twine really are a colour representation of the district through which the Blue Train guests are venturing. The Blue Train is equipped with the finest bone china in white, cut-crystal and traditional silver utensils engraved with the customary “B” insignia. Fine South African wines compliment a gourment food selection provided in a classy ambiance making dinner a superb experience on the Blue Train. This is a showcase for South African wines and following painstaking discussion with top South African wine gurus have been selected to compliment each course on the menu.
Guests are required to check-in one hour prior to departure at the Blue Train lounges in Pretoria and Cape Town. The Blue Train management team is at your service to make certain that each passenger has a unique experience during the trip. The private suite fuses the needs and desires of a modern world together with the ambiance and style of classic deluxe train travel in Africa. The suite is a daytime high-end living room. The butler will convert your private suite into a high-class bedroom during the night. The suites on the Blue Train meet their track record for elegance and splendour.
The Blue Train connects Pretoria and Cape Town once or twice a week yet today is geared fairly and squarely at tourists. Passengers are offered an intriguing journey in deluxe comfort and style that they may well reminisice over for years. The mystique, the element of luxury and history attached to certainly one of the world’s most notable trains is part of the appeal for first timers and returning passengers. The shop on board is really a treasure chest of jewels and minerals as rich as Africa itself. Special branded gifts are given to passengers on the finish of their journey. As a memento passengers receive an engraved sherry glass with the Blue Train logo. A lifetimes fantasy for many is a trip on the well-known Blue Train of South Africa.
Of all the luxury trains around the globe, the Blue Train of South Africa is one of the most well known.
