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 30 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in June 2024.
Last episode
1:00:00
1:00:00Great Continental Railway Journeys
Michael 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.
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1:00:00Michael Portillo travels through Scandinavia, crossing the bridge linking Denmark to Sweden to retrace the train journey of a revolutionary Russian passenger.
1:00:00Michael Portillo travels through Germany, revealing how British yachtsmen spied on the German navy in the early 20th century.
1:00:00Michael Portillo travels from Turin to Venice, recreating a scene from The Italian Job and investigating the British love affair with Lake Como in the 20th century.
1:00:00Michael Portillo travels through Spain as he once again ventures onto the European rail network, visiting Madrid, Cordoba, Seville, Algeciras and Gibraltar.
Series 1
1:00:00
1:00:00Michael Portillo travels through Holland and Belgium and ends his journey in France's Forest of Compiegne, where the WWI armistice was signed.
1:00:00Passing through the Harz Mountains, Michael Portillo travels from Berlin to the Rheingau.
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 1:00:00
1:00:00On a railway journey from the capital Palermo to Europe's largest volcano, Mount Etna, Michael Portillo explores Sicilian life under Mussolini.
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 travels from the chateaux of the Loire Valley to the heart of the Champagne region at Reims.
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 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.
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
1:00:00Michael Portillo travels from the Athens port of Piraeus, north to the city of Thessaloniki, exploring the Acropolis and sampling moussaka and baklava.
1:00:00Michael Portillo experiences first-hand Italy's 'need for speed' in a Maserati sports car, and discovers how the leaning tower of Pisa was rescued from near collapse.