MICHAEL Portillo is back and ready for more incredible rail journeys across Europe.
In the new episodes of BBC‘s Great Continental Railway Journeys, Michael explores countries across former Yugoslavia and of course, some of the incredible train routes along the way.
Returning to the screen, Michael boards the trains that lead across Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.
Michael spoke to Sun Travel about his favourite journeys and said it was the one that linked the cities of Mostar and Sarajevo.
Michael explained: “That journey came straight to my mind, it’s a railway that was quite recently rebuilt and restored using Spanish Talgo trains.
“They have short cars with one wheel set inside the other – so four wheels rather than bogies. The formation of the carriages gives it flexibility to go around bends.”
The journey from Mostar to Sarajevo descends through the Ivan Mountain, the Neretva canyon, and it’s actually considered one of the most scenic in Europe.
Michael added: “We descend 600 metres, go through 90 tunnels over more than 40 kilometres, it’s absolutely stunning.”
The train journey is cheap too, costing 14.10 BAM (£5.96).
In the show, Michael has the chance to stop off and explore some of the cities – and Sarajevo, made a big impression on Michael.
Found in the heart of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo might not be on your radar for a break yet, but with mountain and river views, it has it all.
And Michael insisted it will soon be a hit with tourists – especially as it’s so affordable. Sun Travel found a £45 hotel and place for three-course meals for £12.
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Michael said: “Sarajevo is a beautiful city set within mountains on a river.
“It’s a long, thin town built on two banks of the river, and it was the setting for the Winter Olympics in the 1980s – it’s a stunning place, a very cosmopolitan, artsy city.”
Another city 72 kilometres south is the equally incredible Mostar, Michael added: “It’s beautiful, with an extraordinary bridge, it’s flat and inverted V-shaped.
“There’s a lot of symbolism to the bridge, it was smashed apart in the war, had a great hole in it and it’s been repaired. So you have an image of a country that has been pieced back together.”
Having presented Great Continental Railway Journeys for over a decade, Michael admitted the show has been such a big part of his life and “travelling by train has been an extremely good way to do it.”
When we asked Michael what some of his favourite routes were over the years, and while there were almost too many to name, one was more memorable than the rest.
He said: “Some of the most impressive construction of railways I’ve seen has been in Switzerland – they take them to the tops of mountains and are powered by a cog.
“They also run all year and in the mountains you’re dealing with a huge amount of ice and snow. One of the railways I went on during the Swiss journey was Pilatus which has a 48 per cent maximum gradient – it’s absolutely astonishing.
“You can’t see a lot in winter if its really snowy. But, if you go on a sunny day, there’s a spectacular view. And even in the spring you’ll be surrounded by meadows.”
Michael also gave an honourable mention to another journey in Norway on the Flåm Railway that ends ends next to the biggest fjord in Norway, Aurlandsfjord.
The train has multiple stops along the way too, some of which allows you to get out and take photographs, like in front of the Kjosfossen waterfall.
British rail has also been a big part of Michael’s life and he revealed that he loved “travelling in the age of steam“.
He continued: “My family used to live in a London suburb, and twice a year we’d go up and visit my grandparents in Kirkcaldy, which is across the Firth of Forth which is one of the most spectacular bridges in Britain.
“The other way, we’d go to the Isle of Wight, nowadays it runs from Ryde to Shanklin. But back in the day it used to run as far as Ventnor.
“It used to be run by steam railway which for me was the most exciting part of all. There was a tunnel down from Boniface Downs through to Ventnor and when you went in, the entire carriage would fill with smoke.”
Great Continental Railway Journeys returns to BBC Two on Monday 10 March at 6.30PM.
This railway journey is one of the most breathtaking stretches of track in the UK.
And this railway in Budapest is entirely staffed by children.
