The BEST episodes of Great Continental Railway Journeys season 2

#1 - Prague to Munich

Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/24/2013

With his 1913 guidebook in hand, Michael Portillo explores the stunning art nouveau architecture of the Czech capital. In a café popular with artists of the time he discovers the dance craze of the day - the tango - and gamely gives it a go. In the spa of kings, Marienbad, now known as Marianske Lazne, Michael samples the sulphurous waters and wallows in peat and mud. At the Skoda factory in Pilsen he investigates how the machine products of peacetime gave way to the manufacture of armaments for war and test drives a state of the art passenger train locomotive made there today. Crossing the border from Bohemia to Bavaria, Michael encounters a fire breathing dragon in Furth-im-Wald and in Nuremberg he rides German railway history - made in Britain. Arriving in Munich, he finds a blue horse created at the time of his guidebook and discovers an early 20th century pioneer who laid the foundations for the city's pre-eminence in science and technology today.

#2 - Copenhagen to Oslo

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/17/2013

#3 - Madrid to Gibraltar

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/27/2013

Armed with his 1913 railway guide, Michael Portillo returns to his native Spain to discover what the intrepid tourists of the Belle Epoque experienced on their travels through the fading Spanish empire. In Madrid, he visits the scene of an assaination attempt at the royal wedding of a British princess and a Spanish king. In Cordoba, Michael dances with an unusual partner and enjoys all the fun of the feria. Heading further into Andalusia, Michael arrives in Seville, the city he has made his Spanish home. In the city's tobacco factory, he learns about a gypsy girl named Carmen. After sipping sherry in Jerez, he traces Winston Churchill's tense diplomatic mission to Algeciras on Spain's Costa del Sol and finishes with tales of British espionage on the Rock of Gibraltar.

#4 - Turin to Venice

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/3/2013

Steered by his 1913 railway guide, Michael Portillo takes the train from the former political capital of Italy, Turin, to Casanova's capital of romance, Venice. Along the way, he recreates the famous Italian Job on an historic Fiat test track and follows fashion in Milan before investigating the early 20th century British love affair with Lake Como in a seaplane. In Verona, Michael discovers the 'House of the Capulets', bought to attract Edwardian tourists to the scene of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. He then heads over the rail bridge across the lagoon to Venice, where he finds a microcosm of pre-First World War Europe in the Venice Biennale art exhibition.

#5 - Dresden to Kiel

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/10/2013

#6 - Bordeaux to Bilbao

Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/1/2013

Michael Portillo sets out to sample the delights of the Atlantic coasts of Spain and France, beginning in Bordeaux, where he uncovers a historic British connection to the region's wines. Across the border in San Sebastian, Michael learns how diplomacy brought Britain and Spain closer together and rides on a hair-raising scenic railway. Heading to Bilbao, he explores the industrial ties between France and Spain and learns to cook a traditional Basque dish.