A rail enthusiast finds much to enjoy on this sociable journey that includes stays at hotels, singalongs and stops in cobbled cities
I’ve never heard passengers booing an announcement that a train is shortly due to arrive at its destination. Until today. Nobody cares that we’re already 40 minutes behind schedule – they don’t want to get off, and I suspect some are wishing for a signal failure or the like, so the party atmosphere can continue for a bit longer.
We’re nearing the end of a week-long rail holiday, standing in an immaculately restored bar car, with a grand piano and a very talented musician taking requests.
Moments before the train manager’s unwelcome intervention, the carriage was alive with the sounds of “Sweet Caroline”, “My Way” and “Yellow Submarine”, with even the barman joining in.
Over the course of the Harz Mountain Belle tour, this express steam locomotive has transported us 900 miles across Germany, eschewing the likes of Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt for lesser-visited destinations such as Nuremberg, Dresden and the Harz mountains, from which the tour takes its name.
The trip is organised by new player in the market, Belle Trains, whose founder, Marcus Robertson, made his name with Steam Dreams, a company specialising in UK steam train tours in historic carriages.
After leaving the company, he decided to replicate his success abroad with this new venture.
For a rail enthusiast like me, the real highlight of the trip was spending entire days with my head out of the window, listening to the roar of the DRB Class 01.10 steam locomotive.
For others it was exploring the underrated city of Dresden, or a visit to the summit of the Brocken, Germany’s tallest mountain, which was a strategic centre of listening stations and surveillance posts during the Cold War.
The train’s elaborate interiors (Photo: Belle Trains)
I was in the three-star class, priced at around £3,000, which entitled me to a seat in a restored 1960s compartment with windows that opened.
Meals weren’t included in the overall cost, but could be ordered, coming freshly cooked – and reasonably priced.
The £4,000 four-star class was in 1960s panoramic carriages, while those happy to splash out £5,600 travelled in wonderfully restored Belle Epoque-style Swiss Prestige Continental Express carriages, fitted with wood panelling, lamps and aircon – as well as the piano bar.
Nights were spent in well-located three-star hotels, including the Altora Hotel in Wernigerode, where a model railway served drinks in the bar.
The train would set off again in the late morning, allowing for a leisurely hotel breakfast, and we’d generally reach the next accommodation by the late evening.
It is a special way to see Germany’s lesser-known landscapes (Photo: Belle Trains)
During the day there were photo stops – some involving the train passing us on a platform and reversing to pick us up again – as well as sightseeing trips.
When we were “off-train”, the rails were rarely far away.
Excursion options included trips to two narrow-gauge lines in the Dresden area and the opportunity to ride around the 90 mile network of the Harz Railway.
But there were a wide range of alternatives, including castle visits, walking tours and a trip aboard a paddle steamer.
We enjoyed a whirlwind three hours in Leipzig, and I spent a lovely afternoon wandering along Nuremberg’s rivers in sunshine.
Our time in Dresden, meanwhile, coincided with an outdoor jazz and food festival, which brought a lively mood to the city’s cobbled streets and squares.
Medieval buildings on Pegnitz river bank in Old town Nuremberg (Photo: Aliaksandr Antanovich/Getty/ iStockphoto)
I also took part in an early-morning rail charter to the summit of the Brocken, which would have provided spectacular views, had the weather been on our side.
Of my 140 fellow passengers on the Harz Mountain Belle, around 60 were American, including Kimberly Coughlan. She’d travelled from Wisconsin with three family members to join the tour.
“Landing in a country that is so much older than our country has much more of a story – the buildings are so attractive.
“Travelling by steam is amazing – the sounds and smells and getting to see the run-pasts has been awesome,” she told me.
The Frauenkirche cathedral in Dresden (Photo: Nikada/Getty/iStock Unreleased)
Other passengers seemed equally thrilled. Fergus McDonald and Norman Foster, both from Dublin and in their 80s, told me on the final day: “We’ve had a fantastic time, and it was more than what we expected. There’s a tremendous mix of people who are friendly and happy to talk to one another.”
“We’re getting an awful lot of people saying they’re coming again; many are saying they’ll bring friends,” said Robertson after the trip.
The first tour has been such a success he’s already planned next year’s: a journey around the Austrian Alps with stays in Innsbruck and Salzburg.
With the trip’s compelling combination of stunning scenery and stylish surroundings plus its friendly ambiance – not to mention the draw for steam enthusiasts – it’s no surprise so many people want to return. Or simply don’t want to leave.
Getting there
The writer travelled with Eurostar. UK-Germany connections include Dusseldorf, Dortmund and Cologne, with a change in Brussels. eurostar.com
Booking it
The writer was a guest of Belle Trains. The next trip is the Alpine Belle, from Cologne to Lindau, 4-12 June 2026. From £2,995pp, including hotels and breakfasts, belletrains.co.uk
More information