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 2024. A total of 27 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in August 2024.
Last episode
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1:00:00Great Continental Railway Journeys
On a railway journey from the capital Palermo to Europe's largest volcano, Mount Etna, Michael Portillo explores Sicilian life under Mussolini.
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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.
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.
1:00:00Armed with a 1936 edition of Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide, Michael Portillo ventures onto the European rail network in Spain.
Series 6
1:00:00
1:00:00Michael Portillo takes in Georgia and Azerbaijan as he journeys through the former Russian empire. He visits a tea plantation and a museum dedicated to Joseph Stalin.
1:00:00Michael Portillo travels through Ukraine, starting in the capital of Kiev, where he encounters mummified monks and two of the world's strongest women.
Series 7 1:00:00
1:00:00Michael Portillo travels from the chateaux of the Loire Valley to the heart of the Champagne region at Reims.
Michael Portillo continues his journey from Stockholm to the Arctic Circle. On the way he decorates a Dala horse and learns how Sweden created a welfare state.
Michael Portillo embarks on a scenic thousand-mile rail journey from the Swedish capital, Stockholm, to Abisko in the northern reaches of the Arctic Circle, steered by his 1936 Bradshaw’s Guide.
Michael continues his railway journey from Sicily’s capital, Palermo, through the ancient town of Agrigento and the port of Siracusa to Europe’s largest volcano, Mount Etna.
Michael’s 1936 Bradshaw’s Continental Railways Guide brings him to the Italian 'treasure island' of Sicily, full of natural beauty and 'scenery of the greatest charm'.
Series 5 1:00:00
1:00:00Michael Portillo concludes his journey in the Netherlands, where he travels from Rotterdam to Utrecht, including a visit to the world's largest flower auction.
1:00:00Michael Portillo finds medieval knights in Tallinn, grills sausages in Helsinki and samples cloudberry liqueur while travelling in Latvia, Finland and Estonia.
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.
1:00:00Michael Portillo travels from the Swiss Alps to the shores of Lake Geneva. Along the way, he is caught in a war zone with the Red Cross and rescued from an 'avalanche'.
1:00:00Armed with his trusty 1913 Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide, Michael Portillo ventures east through Romania to the shores of the Black Sea.
Series 4 1:00:00
1:00:00Travelling from Barcelona to Majorca, Michael Portillo traces the early roots of the Spanish Civil War, which divided his family and sent his father into exile.
1:00:00Michael Portillo goes deep into the Black Forest, and he discovers how Germany's reputation for making quality goods was established.