This is what ultimate luxury travel looks like in 2026

This summer, a growing number of wealthy travellers are choosing trains over the usual luxury staples – private jets, yachts, villas. Recent studies have highlighted that ultra-high-net-worth travellers are increasingly investing in transformative, personalised journeys, where exclusivity itself has become the new measure of luxury. These aren’t holidays in the conventional sense. Limited cabin availability, lottery-based bookings, and price tags running into tens of thousands of pounds mean most of these journeys are entirely out of reach of the average traveller. 

Here’s where the journey is taking travellers this summer.

Southern Africa’s Grandest Train Journey

Rovos Rail’s “Pride of Africa” runs journeys across Southern Africa, connecting Pretoria, Cape Town, Victoria Falls and Dar es Salaam. The train carries just 72 passengers across 36 suites, split into Pullman, Deluxe and Royal categories.

The Royal Suite, ranging from ZAR104,000 to ZAR124,000, take up half a carriage, with a private lounge, a Victorian bath, and a dedicated host. 

With only 36 suites on the entire train, no departure carries more guests than a boutique hotel – often fewer. Formal dress is required at dinner every night, quietly filtering out anyone not used to packing for the occasion.

Private charters are also available, including an events configuration for up to 250 guests on daytime journeys. At over a week long, routes like the Southern Cross or African Trilogy are expeditions, not holidays, requiring the kind of time only a few can spare. This is a train built for travellers whose lives are already structured around journeys like this.

To learn more, click here. Images are courtesy of Rovos Rail Tours.

A Once-a-Season Route Through the Canadian Rockies

The Rocky Mountaineer‘s new “Passage to the Peaks” route connects Banff and Jasper through the heart of the Canadian Rockies. It’s available only for a limited run in the summer of 2026, making it one of the more time-sensitive additions of the season. SilverLeaf service starts at around CAD $2,969 per person across June, July and August, with an upgrade available for an additional CAD $1,130. Both service levels include glass-domed carriages designed for uninterrupted mountain views. Peak-season departures routinely sell out many months in advance, and the operator does not offer discounts through resellers.

For most people, “limited run” simply means fully booked by the time they think to look. While the route passes through some of the most photographed landscapes in North America, the experience inside the train remains closed to anyone without a booking made months ahead. 

To learn more, click here. Images are courtesy of Rocky Mountaineer.

All aboard some European goodness

The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express is not a train you just book. The carriages are approaching a century old – Lalique glass, Art Deco marquetry, brass fittings that have never needed replacing.

There is no WiFi. There are roughly 100 passengers per departure, and the people on board booked long before anyone else thought to.

It runs from London to Venice, Paris to Istanbul and points between – Vienna, Budapest, Prague – from March through to November, with departures across July and August for those still looking. Cabins start at £3,530 per person.

The Paris to Istanbul Grand Suite, which departs twice a year, runs to £17,500 and above. Summer 2026 has almost gone. For the traveller this train was built for, that is the only detail that matters.

To learn more, click here. Images are courtesy of Belmond Management Limited.

Inside Scotland’s Palace on Wheels

The Royal Scotsman runs through the Scottish Highlands aboard ten carriages styled after a country house on rails.

The en-suite, with prices ranging from £7,050 to £24,850, takes you through some of Scotland’s most remote and breathtaking views. 

The Royal Scotsman sells a temporary version of life most people will never live – a personal butler and an unlimited open bar are simply the baseline. Guests travel through remote Highland scenery, the kind most visitors only see from a car window, in a private cabin built for them. Limited capacity means a seat isn’t guaranteed even with the budget, unless booked months ahead.

To learn more, click here. Images are courtesy of Belmond Management Limited.

Japan’s Hardest Train to Book

Seven Stars in Kyushu has just 14 suites, with a total capacity of 30 guests per departure. Securing a seat traditionally meant entering a lottery run by JR Kyushu, with no guarantee of success. Prices range from £15,990 to £ 29,999, limited to 10 cabins.

For most travellers, knowing this train exists is not the same as being able to board it. Places are allocated by lottery, maintaining its exclusivity throughout.

Getting on requires either the right connections or an advisor who has them. And even then, the planning starts a year before the journey does.

To learn more, click here. Images are courtesy of Kyushu Railway.

Every trip on this list shares one thing: scarcity. A suite that took a year to book. A site the public can’t visit. A seat that isn’t for sale at any price, to almost anyone. For travellers at this level of wealth, that’s not a downside – it’s the appeal.