The Blue Train Is Fit For Royalty

South Africa's Blue Train runs between Pretoria and Cape Town and is an amazing 27 hour journey through the most diverse and spectacular scenery on earth. This trip takes passengers 1,600 kilometers, around 994 miles, across astonishing landscape while pampering them with great food and spacious accommodations.

Operating since 1939, The Blue Train was so named because of it's blue locomotives, railroad cars and leather seats. In 1923 the Union Limited and the Union Express linked Johannesburg to Cape Town and is the origin of the Blue Train. Years ago the Union Castle ocean liner would dock at Cape Town and deliver passengers and mail from England. Many of these passengers would take the Blue Train to Johannesburg, South Africa's economic powerhouse that was literally and figuratively built on gold.

Today the Blue Train is the most luxurious train in the world and the best way to travel. When the British Royal Family toured South Africa in 1947 for 3 months they provided 8 ivory painted, air conditioned saloon cars from Britain. Three of these were built to Blue Train sleeping car standards, while the remaining 5 were used as special saloons for the Royal Family and Jan Smuts, field marshal and South African Prime Minister at that time. The Blue Train's distinguished passengers were lulled to sleep with a Karoo moon looking on and woke to a pot of fresh coffee, surrounded by Cape Town Vineyards as the train made it's majestic way into the mother city.

The magnificence and luxury of the suites on the Blue Train are legendary. They transport you to a world of stylish elegance while combining the romance inherent in traveling by rail with the grandeur of staying in a five star hotel. There are one, maybe two other luxurious trains in the world but none have the dramatic history of the Blue Train. Newly refurbished by a leading interior architectural design company the Blue Train rivals most five star hotels in terms of style, comfort, and elegance. Butlers attending your every want, an a la carte menu offering South African's best dishes, and the view is spectacular where ever you look. The trip between Cape Town and Pretoria takes only 2 luxury filled days.

A meal of the Blue Train is an adventure all on it's own. Menu cards are, of course, royal blue. A gold cord is attached to represent the region through which it is traveling, and honor the Johannesburg connection. The finest bone china in white is used along with cut-crystal and classic silver cutlery engraved with a "B". The menus feature a large selection of local cuisine, from Karoo lamb and ostrich fillet to Knysna oysters, accompanied by award winning wines from the Cape Wine lands. South African wines are selected to compliment each course on the menu after careful study and consultation with wine experts to showcase the food and the wine. A luxurious, lavish atmosphere with gourmet food and the finest South African wines make dining on the new Blue Train lifetime goal experience you won't soon forget.

Guests need to check in 1 hour before departure at the Blue Train lounge in Pretoria and Cape Town. The management team is eager to help make sure each guest has a memorable experience. The private suites are a combination of the needs and desires of the modern world and the romance and elegance of a luxury castle. By day your private suite can be a luxurious lounge. At night, your butler will convert is into a comfortable, welcoming bedroom. All of the suites live up to their reputation for being the most luxurious and lavish in the world.

The Blue Train still links Cape Town with Johannesburg, or rather Pretoria which is the safer administrative capital. But it's luxurious comfort and style make it a magnet for tourists. The elegant style and romantic history that make it the most famous train in the world is a great attraction for first timers. The luxurious comfort of the train, gourmet food, and world class wines make it a favorite repeat trip many. There is a boutique on the Blue Train that has a generous supply of gems and minerals as rich as Africa itself. The boutique gives passengers a sherry glass with the Blue Train logo specially engraved as a memento. Traveling on South Africa's famous Blue Train is the dream of a lifetime and will give you something to reminisce about for the rest of your life. After all, everyone should be treated like royalty at least once in their life and the Blue Train has been serving royalty since 1947.