Why now? To ride the rails (for less) in super springtime.

It’s the classic train route: the eastward journey from Paris to İstanbul, skimming across Europe via some of its grandest cities to reach the edge of Asia. Its very name evokes an era of wood-panneled glamour, when train travel was at its most romantic. Today, the Venice-Simplon Orient Express (which runs London–Venice) aims to recapture this romance – for those who have pots of cash. Alternatively, you could use a rail pass to chart your own version of the famed route, using much cheaper scheduled trains. Plan your trip for May, when you’re likely to find lovely weather all along the way. Leave the springtime boulevards of Paris for pink-tinged medieval Strasbourg. Continue to beery Munich, the music halls of Vienna, art nouveau Budapest, grittier Belgrade and east-meets-west Sofia before reaching the shores of the Bosphorus in İstanbul. You might not get butler service, but the joy of watching the continent unfurl remains.

Need to know: Various types of rail pass are available; younger and older travellers are eligible for discounts.

Spring holidays to book now: the best destinations for March, April and May