Just when I thought I knocked all of my train-loving bucket list dreams out of the park,
It has been a number of frenziedSteam Dreams Rail Co came along and carried me through a luxuriously vintage-style tour to the White Cliffs of Dover.
Very little could top such a day for a lover of all things retro. Steam Dreams’ Cathedrals Express is everything my Hitchcock-loving self fantasised about as a little girl.
Murder plots aside.
The steam train – now used by the company for tours and unique dining experience – is every bit the panelled, 1960s beauty you’d expect. And it plays into a the bygone age of train travel without a shred of vulgarity.
We set off with a glass of champagne in hand and hours ahead to put the world to rights.
Most day trips serve pastries with tea or coffee on your outward journey (with delightfully friendly service, to boot), but I advise leaving plenty of room for their culinary coup d’état – a four course mid-journey meal. Though the menus change on each journey, our burrata/beef fillet/champagne tart/English cheese extravaganza far exceeded typical train food standards.
With a comprehensive guide to the sights and stops along the way, we found our way to and from the English Channel in no time at all. Drawing quite a crowd at each water stop, while we were at it!
I can’t wait to see where I can steam my way to next.
