Great Continental Railway Journeys
Great Continental Railway Journeys is a TV show on BBC2. Michael Portillo ventures onto the European rail network. The program has been available since 2022. A total of 42 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in May 2024.
Last episode
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1:00:00Great Continental Railway Journeys
Michael Portillo travels through Holland and Belgium and ends his journey in France's Forest of Compiegne, where the WWI armistice was signed.
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1:00:00Michael Portillo makes the spectacular ascent by train to Europe's highest station.
1:00:00Passing through the Harz Mountains, Michael Portillo travels from Berlin to the Rheingau.
1:00:00Michael Portillo explores the once-great empire of Austria-Hungary.
1:00:00Armed with his 1913 guide, Michael Portillo follows the most popular Edwardian route through France, stopping at Paris and the Cote D'Azur along the way.
Series 7
Michael makes a scenic journey from Stockholm to Abisko. Michael celebrates Midsummer in Marielund, learns to decorate a Dala horse in Mora and takes an icy dip in one of the country’s 96,000 lakes.
Michael travels through Austria and the Czech Republic, exploring a dark era in history. At Prague Central Station, Michael meets a woman who, as a young girl, travelled by train to safety in London.
In Palermo, Michael takes in the art and architecture of the futurists and feasts on a Sicilian speciality - spaghetti and sardines.
1:00:00On a railway journey from the capital Palermo to Europe's largest volcano, Mount Etna, Michael Portillo explores Sicilian life under Mussolini.
Michael Portillo embarks on a rail journey through Germany. In a vast stadium, Michael hears how new rail lines were constructed to transport crowds of spectators to the Nazi Olympic Games of 1936.
1:00:00Michael Portillo goes on a rail journey through Germany, beginning in the vibrant city of Berlin, where he visits the Museum of Modern Art in Kreuzberg.
Beginning in historic Orleans, Michael follows his Bradshaw’s guide to the magnificent stained-glass windows of the Cathedral of Sainte-Croix, which tell the story of Joan of Arc.
1:00:00Michael Portillo travels from the chateaux of the Loire Valley to the heart of the Champagne region at Reims.
Michael Portillo sports a modern edition of his Bradshaw’s Continental Handbook, dated 1936. His destination lies close to his heart: the ancient kingdom of Spain and land of his father.
1:00:00Michael Portillo embarks on a scenic thousand-mile rail journey from the Swedish capital, Stockholm, to Abisko in the Arctic Circle.
1:00:00Michael Portillo travels by train through Austria and the Czech Republic, beginning in the northern Austrian city of Linz, where Adolf Hitler lived as a boy.
Series 3 1:00:00
1:00:00Michael Portillo travels down the spine of Italy from Rome to Sicily, along the way visiting Naples to find out about the country's first railway.
Series 7 1:00:00
1:00:00Armed with a 1936 edition of Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide, Michael Portillo ventures onto the European rail network in Spain.
Series 5 1:00:00
1:00:00Michael Portillo travels from the Italian Riviera to the Austrian Alps, starting in Genoa, where he learns how football was introduced to the port.
1:00:00Michael Portillo travels from the Mediterranean port of Tangier to the Berber city of Marrakech, including a trip to the most famous gin joint in the world.