Catch up TV
Series 1 - Hungary to Austria
With his 1913 guide, Michael Portillo explores the former Austro-Hungarian empire, domain of the famed Habsburg monarchs, visiting Budapest, Vienna and Salzburg.
Source: BBC 2
Most recent episodes of Great Continental Railway Journeys
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 3. Knin To Split
Michael Portillo’s railway adventure reaches the Dalmatian coastal city of Zadar, once an important Venetian trading hub and still a centre for the production of a Venetia ...
13-06-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 2. Buzet To Pag
Ably assisted by Lila, an expert labrador, Michael Portillo hunts for truffles in the Istrian countryside near the hilltop town of Buzet. His railway adventure through the Balka ...
06-06-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 1. Pula To Pazin
Michael begins a journey across the Balkan countries of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Armed with shield and sword and weighed down by a heavy helmet, he mounts a valiant d ...
30-05-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 20. Lisieux To Giverny
In the apple orchards of the Calvados region, Michael Portillo discovers how the classic digestif has been distilled since 1865 at the Pierre Huet estate. Over a selection of vi ...
04-04-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 19. Bayeux To Argentan
At the medieval town of Bayeux, Michael Portillo heads for the Bayeux Tapestry Museum to admire the striking 70-metre-long work of art commissioned to record William the Conquer ...
03-04-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 18. Rennes To Mont Saint-michel
Michael Portillo’s railway adventure reaches Rennes, capital of Brittany. At the Lycee Emile Zola, he hears how, in 1899, the school was used as a military court for the s ...
02-04-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 17. Brest To St Brieuc
Michael Portillo’s railway journey reaches the naval port of Brest, home to France’s oceanographic fleet. Aboard the pride of the fleet, the 107-metre-long Pourquoi ...
01-04-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 16. Nantes To Lorient
Michael Portillo’s rail travels take him to the north west corner of France, where he explores the beautiful and historic regions of Brittany and Normandy and learns of th ...
31-03-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 15. Zweisimmen To Lausanne
Aboard the Golden Pass Express, Michael Portillo wends his way in style down steep mountainsides from Interlaken to the Swiss Riviera.\n\nIn Lausanne, he contends with a knife-w ...
28-03-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 14. Rotkreuz To Brienz
Michael Portillo scales the Swiss Alps on one of the steepest cog railways in the world and marvels at the Pilatus Railway’s unique track design, which defies an astonishi ...
27-03-2025
BBC 2
Most popular episodes of Great Continental Railway Journeys
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 7 (shortened Versions): Episode 2
Michael continues his rail journey through Spain with his 1930s Bradshaw’s guide. At the Museo Reina Sofia, Michael hears how the bombing of a small town in the Basque reg ...
24-06-2024
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 4 - Reversions: 3. Vienna To Trieste - Part 1
27-06-2019
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 4 - Reversions: 4. Vienna To Trieste - Part 2
01-07-2019
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 3. Knin To Split
Michael Portillo’s railway adventure reaches the Dalmatian coastal city of Zadar, once an important Venetian trading hub and still a centre for the production of a Venetia ...
13-06-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 14. Rotkreuz To Brienz
Michael Portillo scales the Swiss Alps on one of the steepest cog railways in the world and marvels at the Pilatus Railway’s unique track design, which defies an astonishi ...
27-03-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 20. Lisieux To Giverny
In the apple orchards of the Calvados region, Michael Portillo discovers how the classic digestif has been distilled since 1865 at the Pierre Huet estate. Over a selection of vi ...
04-04-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 5. Mostar To Dubrovnik
Michael Portillo is on the last stretch of his railway adventure through the Balkan countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. He enjoys a helter-skelter journey on the hi ...
14-03-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 2 - Madrid To Gibraltar
Michael Portillo returns to his native Spain as he follows the railway lines travelled by the intrepid tourists of the Belle Epoque.
18-08-2014
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 7: 5. Linz To Bratislava
Michael Portillo travels by train through Austria and the Czech Republic, following his Bradshaw’s Continental Railway Guide, published in 1936. Michael’s journey ta ...
18-03-2024
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 1. Pula To Pazin
Michael begins a journey across the Balkan countries of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Armed with shield and sword and weighed down by a heavy helmet, he mounts a valiant d ...
30-05-2025
BBC 2