The BEST episodes of Great Continental Railway Journeys season 3
Every episode of Great Continental Railway Journeys season 3, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Great Continental Railway Journeys season 3!
Michael Portillo travels on the great train routes of Europe, as he retraces the journeys featured in George Bradshaw's 1913 Continental Railway Guide.
#1 - Rome to Taormina
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/12/2014
Steered by his 1913 Bradshaw railway guide, Michael Portillo takes the train down the spine of Italy as he travels from Rome to Sicily. He begins by weaving among the capital city's landmarks on the back of a 1950s Vespa, before boarding the train south to Naples, where he finds out about the first railway to be built in the country, and ventures into the crater of Mount Vesuvius. He takes a detour to the island of Capri, before finishing his journey in the ancient hilltop town of Taormina.
#2 - Tula to St Petersburg
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/5/2014
Michael Portillo ventures once more on to the European rail network to retrace journeys featured in George Bradshaw's 1913 publication Continental Guide, beginning by travelling through Russia. He starts in the industrial city of Tula, before visiting Leo Tolstoy's former home of Yasnaya Polyana and learning how the author's life and works were intertwined with the railways. Michael then boards the train that runs from the Caspian Sea to Moscow, where he performs an important role in a dramatic opera at the Bolshoi Theatre, before exploring the beauty and history of St Petersburg and riding on the first railway ever built in Russia.
#3 - Warsaw to Krakow
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/19/2014
Michael Portillo uses his 1913 copy of Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide to explore Poland. He begins in the capital Warsaw, where he takes to the floor to dance to one of Chopin's polonaises with high-school students rehearsing for their leavers' ball, before discovering how the former industrial city of Lodz supplied the vast Russian empire of the early 20th century. He then heads to Poznan and rides one of the few remaining steam-powered commuter trains, visits a factory in Wroclaw that manufactures car bodies for locomotives, and ends his journey in Krakow, where he takes a tour in an iconic vehicle of the communist era.
#4 - Haifa to the Negev
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 12/3/2014
Michael Portillo uses his 1913 copy of Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide to venture beyond Europe as he travels through the Holy Land. He begins in Israel, learning about the Baha'i faith and how it spread to Britain in the Edwardian era, hearing the story of the origins of Tel Aviv, and visiting the Christian, Jewish and Muslim quarters of the capital Jerusalem. Michael then crosses the separation barrier between Jerusalem and the West Bank in the company of his Palestinian guide and meets the embroiderers of the Arab Women's Union in Bethlehem, before finishing his journey in the Negev desert.
#5 - Lyon to Marseille
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/10/2014
Michael Portillo follows in the footsteps of Edwardian travellers to trace a route recommended in his Bradshaw's guide from the heart of France to the Mediterranean coast. His journey begins in Lyon, where he learns how the city got its gastronomic reputation, and takes instruction from a leading chef on making an omelette. In Avignon, he samples a glass of the region's famous wine Chateauneuf-du-Pape, before his journey ends at the Mediterranean port of Marseille, where he joins a pilot boat as it leads a supertanker to its berth.
#6 - La Coruna to Lisbon
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/26/2014
Armed with his 1913 Bradshaw, Michael Portillo explores a very different Spain from the one he knows best and ventures across its border with Britain's oldest ally, Portugal.