RAIL RENAISSANCE

In their quest for slow travel, discerning globetrotters are checking into train-hotels to explore the route less taken,

- Praachi Raniwala

'Home for the next few days' is a caption our Instagram feeds are no strangers to. Last summer, this aforementioned 'home' looked a little different for me, a far cry from the usual suspects—no balcony overlooking snow-capped mountains or double doors opening onto a verdant garden leading to the beach. Instead, my window offered a new view every time I peeked outside. I was, after all, aboard a mobile train-hotel: Costa Verde Express by Renfe—Spain's national state-owned railway company—on a quest to explore the northern belt of the country.

From the moment the white-gloved team welcomed us aboard with champagne and cheese, I knew this experience would be a far cry from the train journeys I went on every summer in my childhood. No vendors selling Indian street food at every station here—instead, over the next six days, we not only discovered the gems and resort towns of Green Spain's Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria regions, but we did so as we dined on plated three-course, wine-paired meals, danced to local tunes and live music, and mingled with like-minded travellers from all over the world.

As a fellow guest, a Danish entrepreneur based in California, pointed out, if it weren't for Costa Verde Express, the logistics of exploring this belt of the country would have been immensely complicated. And it's exactly this kind of convenience mixed with nostalgia and comfort that have become key reasons why luxury train travel is seeing a resurgence to explore previously under-discovered regions around the world.

NOSTALGIA MEETS NEWNESS