Tailor Made Rail · Self-guided rail holiday

Fall of the Iron Curtain

Fall of the Iron Curtain, a rail journey with Tailor Made Rail

Travel through Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Bratislava, Budapest and Bucharest on a rail journey through history, mapping the fall of the Iron Curtain that divided eastern and western Europe until 1989.

Day by day

  1. Day 1railovernight: Berlin

    London to Berlin

    Eurostar to Brussels, ICE to Cologne, then an evening ICE train into Berlin, for a 3-night stay.

  2. Day 2overnight: Berlin

    Berlin

    Explore the city divided by the Wall from 1961 to 1989, marking the events of 9 November 1989.

  3. Day 3overnight: Berlin

    Berlin

    Further time in Berlin.

  4. Day 4overnight: Warsaw

    Berlin to Warsaw

    Free morning in Berlin before crossing the Polish border to Warsaw, arriving in the evening for a 2-night stay.

  5. Day 5overnight: Warsaw

    Warsaw

    The Warsaw Uprising Museum and the reconstructed Old Town, following the Solidarity Movement's role in the fall of Communism.

  6. Day 6railovernight: Prague

    Warsaw to Prague

    Direct train to Prague, for a 2-night stay.

  7. Day 7overnight: Prague

    Prague

    The Velvet Revolution of 1989, and the Mala Strana district where East German demonstrators took refuge at the West German embassy.

  8. Day 8railovernight: Bratislava

    Prague to Bratislava

    Train linking the Czech Republic and Slovakia (formerly united as Czechoslovakia until the 1993 split), for a 2-night stay.

  9. Day 9overnight: Bratislava

    Bratislava

    The site of the March 1988 Candle demonstration, an early step toward removing the Czechoslovak communist regime.

  10. Day 10railovernight: Budapest

    Bratislava to Budapest via the Danube bend

    Train across the plains of southern Slovakia and along the Danube into Budapest's Nyugati station, for a 2-night stay.

  11. Day 11overnight: Budapest

    Budapest

    Hungary's 1989 dismantling of its border fence with Austria, one of the first visible cracks in the Iron Curtain.

  12. Day 12railovernight: Sleeper train (Ister, Budapest–Bucharest)

    Overnight to Romania

    Board the Ister Overnight Train in the evening for the journey across the plains of eastern Hungary in a private sleeper compartment.

  13. Day 13overnight: Bucharest

    Overnight to Romania

    Wake to Transylvanian scenery and arrive in Bucharest for a 2-night stay.

  14. Day 14overnight: Bucharest

    Bucharest

    The site of the December 1989 revolution against Nicolae Ceaușescu, including Revolution Square.

  15. Day 15railovernight: Sleeper train (Bucharest–Vienna)

    Bucharest overnight to Vienna & Nuremberg

    Evening return to the station for an overnight sleeper service to Vienna.

  16. Day 16railovernight: Nuremberg

    Bucharest overnight to Vienna & Nuremberg

    Arrive in Vienna and board a train to Nuremberg, arriving at lunchtime, for an overnight stay.

  17. Day 17rail

    Nuremberg to London

    German ICE train connecting through Frankfurt to the Eurostar terminal at Brussels, then on to the UK (an alternative scenic route via the Rhine Gorge is also available).

Included

  • Standard class rail travel with seat reservations (where required)
  • 15 nights hand-picked hotel accommodation with breakfast
  • Private 2-berth sleeper accommodation between Budapest and Bucharest
  • Private 2-berth sleeper accommodation between Bucharest and Vienna
  • Comprehensive directions to your hotels
  • Easy-to-follow travel documentation
  • Despatch of tickets by email, post or collection from our London office

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