Golden Eagle runs the most opulent long-distance private trains on earth — the Danube Express through Europe and Turkey, and the Golden Eagle and Silk Road Express across Central Asia, China and Tibet. En-suite cabins, chefs cooking onboard, every excursion and guide arranged, and suites that run to $138,000 per person. Twenty journeys, all quoted and booked by a dedicated rail specialist at no cost to you.
Begin Your Journey
Tell us which Golden Eagle journey caught your eye and a specialist will call within one business day — no pressure, no obligation.
A senior specialist will personally call you within one business day. If you'd like to talk now, call (479) 485-9000.
By appointment only. Every journey begins with a short consultation with your rail specialist — we call you, usually within hours. Or call or text us directly: (479) 485-9000. Zero spam.
Prices shown are Golden Eagle's official "from" rates per person, twin-share, in the lowest cabin grade published for that journey. European and Turkish journeys are priced by Golden Eagle in euros and displayed here converted to US dollars; Silk Road and China journeys are published in US dollars. Rates, routes, and availability are subject to change; your final quote depends on departure date, cabin grade, and availability at time of booking.
Golden Eagle does not sell train tickets. It runs whole private trains — the Danube Express in Europe and Turkey, the Golden Eagle and Silk Road Express across Central Asia and China — with your cabin, your chef, your guides, and your excursions all travelling with you for the length of the journey.
Every grade has its own bathroom and its own space, from Deluxe and Superior Deluxe on the European trains to Silver, Gold and the vast Imperial Suite on the Silk Road. You unpack once, whether the journey is six days or twenty-two.
Chefs work in the train's own kitchen cars, cooking regional menus that change as the borders do, and the bar car stays open long after dinner. Wine with lunch and dinner is part of the fare, not a line item.
Kashgar's Sunday market, the ghost harbours of the Aral Sea, Lhasa by way of the highest railway on earth. These are routes most travelers never attempt independently, run with guides, entrance fees and transfers already arranged.
Europe and Turkey aboard the Danube Express, Central Asia and China aboard the Golden Eagle and Silk Road Express. Prices are Golden Eagle's published "from" rates per person, twin-share, in the lowest cabin grade — the same figure you would pay booking direct.
Section One · The Starter Set
The six journeys most first-time Golden Eagle travelers choose, all aboard the Danube Express: festive Central Europe, the Alps by daylight, the old Paris to Istanbul crossing, Italy end to end, and Anatolia. Six days to two weeks, and every one of them a continent-crossing without a single flight.
Last Departure
Budapest → Vienna → Salzburg → Munich
Four cities, one train, and not a single luggage carousel: Budapest, Vienna, Salzburg and Munich strung together by daylight Alpine running. Evenings go to the mulled-wine stalls, and you return each night to a cabin already made up for you.
2027/28 Season
Budapest → Graz → Vienna → Cesky Krumlov → Prague → Budapest
Ring in the new year gliding between Central Europe's most romantic cities, from Prague's spires to Vienna's ballrooms and back through Budapest. Champagne aboard, a private train as your hotel, and no airport lounge anywhere in the itinerary.
Flagship
Budapest → Vienna → Innsbruck → Zurich → Lake Como → Venice
An eleven-day arc from the Danube to the Adriatic, climbing the Semmering and St Gotthard passes by daylight so the Alps unfold outside the window rather than behind you. Budapest's grandeur gives way to Zurich's precision and Lake Como's languor before the journey settles into Venice.
Most Requested
Paris → Vienna → Postojna → Belgrade → Sofia → Istanbul
Two of Europe's most storied capitals joined the way travelers crossed the continent a century ago: overnight, unhurried, with the Postojna caves and a private Vienna concert built into the week. The train runs in either direction, so you can begin on the Seine or on the Bosphorus.
Danube Express
Taormina → Ragusa → Palermo → Maratea → Verona → Venice
Sicily's baroque towns and citrus groves give way, six unhurried days later, to the canals of Venice. Pompeii's ruins and Verona's opera houses fall along the route, making this the shortest way to travel Italy's full south-to-north range.
Best Value
Istanbul → Izmir → Ephesus → Denizli → Ankara → Cappadocia
Trade the crowds of Istanbul's bazaars for a private carriage threading inland toward the stone chimneys of Cappadocia. Roman Ephesus and the mineral terraces of Pamukkale arrive along the way, and you never repack a bag.
Section Two · Deeper Into the Continent
The Danube Express beyond the obvious capitals: the Balkans, the Carpathians, the old Central European heartland, the Roman road east, and Sicily end to end. Longer routes, fewer travelers, and countries that change outside the window most mornings.
Danube Express
Venice → Sarajevo → Mostar → Belgrade → Sofia → Istanbul
Twelve days across the Balkans on a route almost nobody attempts by rail, running from Venice through Sarajevo and Mostar to Belgrade, Sofia and Istanbul. The country changes nearly every morning while your cabin stays exactly where you left it.
Shortest Europe Route
Istanbul → Veliko Tarnovo → Sinaia → Brasov → Budapest
A week between Istanbul and Budapest by way of Bulgaria's medieval hill towns and the Carpathian castles above Sinaia and Brasov. The shortest journey Golden Eagle runs in Europe, and the easiest to fold into a trip you were taking anyway.
Danube Express
Budapest → Krakow → Warsaw → Berlin → Dresden → Prague → Vienna
Seven of Central Europe's great cities in twelve days, with Krakow, Berlin, Dresden, Prague and Vienna arriving in sequence rather than as five separate trips. Heavy history handled gently, from a private train that absorbs every transfer.
Danube Express
Paris → Vienna → Belgrade → Sofia → Istanbul → Cappadocia
The Paris to Istanbul crossing carried on deep into Anatolia, finishing among the cave churches and rock chimneys of Cappadocia. Fourteen days tracing the old road east, and not one hotel change in the whole of it.
Danube Express
Venice → Bologna → Pompeii → Palermo → Agrigento → Taormina
Venice to Taormina the long way, with Bologna's tables, the excavations at Pompeii, and the Greek temples of Agrigento in between. Twelve days that treat Sicily as the destination rather than the detour.
Section Three · Central Asia & the Caucasus
The Golden Eagle and Silk Road Express across Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and the Caucasus. Silver, Gold and Imperial Suite cabins, guides and entrance fees included throughout, and a doctor travelling with the train. These are the journeys the fleet was built for.
Signature Silk Road
Tashkent → Bukhara → Khiva → Samarkand → Bishkek → Almaty
Fourteen days across five Central Asian republics, from Uzbekistan's turquoise-tiled madrasas and the stranded harbours of the Aral Sea to a Kyrgyz alpine lake. Few travelers attempt this route independently, and fewer still finish it in this much comfort.
Best Value
Baku → Khiva → Bukhara → Samarkand → Tashkent → Almaty
The headline cities of the Silk Road in nine days: Khiva's walled old town, Bukhara's trading domes, and the Registan at Samarkand, bookended by Baku and Almaty. The most affordable way aboard the Golden Eagle, and the easiest to fit inside two weeks off work.
Golden Eagle
Yerevan → Tbilisi → Baku → Khiva → Samarkand → Almaty
Sixteen days linking the Caucasus to Central Asia, beginning beneath Mount Ararat in Yerevan and ending in Almaty at the foot of the Tien Shan. Georgia's wine country and Azerbaijan's burning hillsides arrive before the Silk Road proper even begins.
22 Days
Beijing → Xi'an → Dunhuang → Kashgar → Almaty → Samarkand
Twenty-two days and two continents' worth of the old trade route, from the Terracotta Warriors and the Mogao caves to Kashgar's Sunday market and on to Samarkand. The longest journey Golden Eagle operates, and the one the fleet was built for.
Section Four · China, the Desert & Tibet
Four private-train itineraries across a country the size of a continent: the imperial cities and the Yangtze, the western desert oases, and two separate climbs onto the Tibetan plateau by way of the highest railway on earth. All aboard the Golden Eagle, with the Han Dynasty Suite available on request.
Most Requested
Xi'an → Beijing → Shanghai → Yichang → Chengdu → Guilin → Hong Kong
Terracotta Warriors to the Hong Kong skyline in twelve days, with a Yangtze cruise and a skyline-height tea service in Shanghai stitched between them. The private train turns a country the size of a continent into one continuous story instead of eight domestic flights.
Golden Eagle
Beijing → Xi'an → Dunhuang → Hotan → Kashgar → Turpan → Urumqi
China's western frontier by private train, running from Beijing out past Dunhuang's painted grottoes to the desert oases of Hotan, Kashgar and Turpan. It is the half of the country most visitors never reach, reached in one unbroken journey.
Best Value
Urumqi → Turpan → Kashgar → Dunhuang → Xining → Lhasa
Thirteen days from the edge of the Taklamakan desert to the Potala Palace, climbing onto the Tibetan plateau on the highest railway ever built. The lowest entry price in the Golden Eagle fleet, attached to one of its most remote itineraries.
Golden Eagle
Beijing → Xi'an → Chengdu → Xining → Dunhuang → Lhasa
Beijing to Lhasa by way of Xi'an's warriors, Chengdu's pandas and the Qinghai–Tibet line's high mountain pass. Thirteen days that finish in Tibet with altitude gained slowly and comfortably rather than in a two-hour flight.
Every journey is customizable — cabin grade, direction of travel, pre- and post-tour hotel nights, and private extensions tailored to you.
Booking Golden Eagle through us costs exactly what booking Golden Eagle costs. Our commission is wholesale margin paid by the rail operator, not a markup added to you — so the specialist, the planning, and the support are free.
Every figure on this page is Golden Eagle's own published "from" rate, converted to US dollars where the operator prices in euros. We do not mark journeys up, and we do not charge a planning fee.
One person who knows which cabin grade is worth the jump on which train, which direction of travel gets the better light through the Alps, and what a Silk Road visa run actually involves. That expertise is included.
A missed connection into Budapest, a visa letter that has not arrived, a dietary request the week before departure. You call one number and it gets handled — not a queue, not a chatbot, not a form.
Travel advisors are paid a commission by the rail operator out of the fare you were already going to pay. That is why the price is identical whether you book direct or book with us — the only difference is whether you have someone in your corner when something changes.
Golden Eagle sells whole journeys, not train tickets. Your cabin, your meals, your guides, your excursions and your entrance fees are inside the fare, so there is very little left to pay for once you are aboard.
Inclusions vary by journey and cabin grade. Your specialist confirms exactly what is covered, in writing, before anything is booked.
You won't be passed between agents, talked over by a call center, or asked to fill out a 40-field intake. One specialist. One conversation. One trip you'll talk about for the rest of your life.
Tell us which Golden Eagle journey caught your eye and roughly when you'd like to travel. A short form, then a 20-minute call.
An all-in price at the operator's published rate, plus a specialist's notes on cabin grade, departure date, and what each tier actually buys you onboard.
Upgrade the cabin, reverse the direction, add nights in Budapest or Almaty either side of the train. Adjust freely — we don't move on until you say yes.
Every booking, every visa letter, every little ask while you're away. A direct line to your specialist, 24/7.
Golden Eagle runs each journey once or twice a season and the whole train holds only a few dozen cabins, so a departure is either open or it is gone. Christmas Markets of Central Europe is down to its final three cabins for December 3, and New Year in Vienna next runs December 28, 2027. If you have a date in mind, ask early rather than next quarter.
Share a few details below. A senior specialist will personally call you within one business day to discuss first-pass ideas — at no cost, with zero obligation. Prefer to talk now? Call (479) 485-9000.
A senior specialist will personally call you within one business day to discuss your trip. If you'd like to talk now, call (479) 485-9000.