UK's 'poshest train' coming to Glasgow offering luxury trip with Christmas champagne lunch

Champagne lovers in Glasgow will be able to tuck into a stunning seven-course Christmas lunch next month while travelling at 70mph aboard one of the world’s poshest trains.

The 1930s Pullman-style Northern Belle – once part of the iconic Orient Express group – is heading to Glasgow this month and next and harks back to a bygone era of rail travel, with a red carpet even laid out for passengers while boarding.

The iconic train will then meander through the wintry countryside after setting out from Glasgow Central on Sunday, December 1, and then picking up more passengers at Edinburgh Waverley - before taking in a route including Perth, before returning to Glasgow via Dunblane, Stirling and Cumbernauld.

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And the train’s own resident musicians will entertain passengers, while an extra touch of magic is added by a conjuror who gets up to his tricks as he strolls through the carriages.

Though tickets don’t come cheap at £395, that includes champagne and wine, and the seven course meal includes freshly prepared canapés such as caviar blinis and of course, a cheese board.

Speaking about the luxury experience, a spokesperson for the Northern Belle said: “You’d be Christmas crackers to miss it, so it may still be worth checking for late cancellations.

“We like to think the Northern Belle harks back to the golden days of rail travel – an era when nothing was too good for the pampered passengers.

“We even lay a red carpet across the station platform before they board and are handed their first glass of champagne.”

The Northern Belle is regularly voted one of the world’s Top Ten trains and one of the individually hand-decorated carriages used to form part of the Royal Train. In fact it is even rumoured to contain the late Queen Mum’s favourite seat.

Actor Bill Nighy described the train as “the Grand Dame of luxury travel” when it featured on Channel 5’s The World’s most Scenic Railway Journeys.

The Northern Belle’s Christmas Special will depart from Glasgow at 11.40 am and Edinburgh at 12.55 pm with several dates planned for this month and December - you can find them here.

The train will be back in the two cities for lunch and afternoon tea journeys next July, before trips past Loch Lomond to Oban in August.

Fares start at £365. For more details and to book, you can visit www.northernbelle.co.uk .

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