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 45 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in December 2024.
Last episode
1:00:00
1:00:00Great Continental Railway Journeys
Michael Portillo travels through France from Lyon down to Marseille on the Mediterranean coast, where he joins a pilot boat leading a supertanker to its berth.
Catching up on Great Continental Railway Journeys?
Don't want to miss an episode anymore? Set up a free alarm and receive an email when new episodes are available. Handy!
1:00:00Armed with a 1936 edition of Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide, Michael Portillo ventures onto the European rail network in Spain.
Series 3
1:00:00
1:00:00Michael Portillo travels through Israel and Palestine, visiting Jerusalem's Christian, Jewish and Muslim quarters and Bethlehem in the West Bank.
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.
Series 3 1:00:00
1:00:00Michael Portillo travels through Spain and Portugal, meeting people from all over the world on the pilgrims' trail to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.
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.
Series 3 1:00:00
1:00:00Michael Portillo uses his 1913 copy of Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide to explore Poland, visiting Warsaw, Lodz, Poznan, Wroclaw and Krakow along the way.
Series 5 1:00:00
1:00:00Michael Portillo finds medieval knights in Tallinn, grills sausages in Helsinki and samples cloudberry liqueur while travelling in Latvia, Finland and Estonia.
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 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.
Series 3 1:00:00
1:00:00Michael Portillo ventures on to the European rail network once again with his 1913 Bradshaw's guide, travelling through Russia from Tula to St Petersburg.
Series 5 1:00:00
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.
Series 2 1:00:00
1:00:00Michael Portillo travels from Bordeaux to Bilbao, exploring the industrial ties between France and Spain and learning how to cook a traditional Basque dish.
Series 5 1:00:00
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'.
Series 2 1:00:00
1:00:00Michael Portillo travels through Bohemia and Bavaria, test driving a state-of-the-art passenger train in Pilsen and sampling the spa waters of Marianske Lazne.
Series 5 1:00:00
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 2 1:00:00
1:00:00Michael Portillo travels through Scandinavia, crossing the bridge linking Denmark to Sweden to retrace the train journey of a revolutionary Russian passenger.
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.
Series 2 1:00:00
1:00:00Michael Portillo travels through Germany, revealing how British yachtsmen spied on the German navy in the early 20th century.
Series 4 1:00:00
1:00:00Michael Portillo goes deep into the Black Forest, and he discovers how Germany's reputation for making quality goods was established.