Great Continental Railway Journeys poster

Great Continental Railway Journeys (2012)

Name: Great Continental Railway Journeys
Genre: Documentary
Rating: 8.2
Cast: Michael Portillo

Documentary

Michael Portillo travels on the great train routes of Europe, as he retraces the journeys featured in George Bradshaw's 1913 Continental Railway Guide.

IMDb rating: 8.2 (444 votes)
Episode average: 7.8 -0.4 vs IMDb
Seasons: 8
Language: EN
Type: TV series

Rating trend: this show's seasons do not settle into one shape. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well.

Browse shows by rating shape → Open in Rising Shows app → View on IMDb

Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 8 seasons indexed

Cast

Michael Portillo Self - Presenter

Seasons

Season 1 (2012)

8.30 avg 5 episodes 8.1 → 8.7

Big finale

Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	London to Monte Carlo	8.1	25
2	Hungary to Austria	8.0	24
3	Berlin to the Rhine	8.5	25
4	Switzerland	8.2	27
5	Amsterdam to Northern France	8.7	21

Season 2 (2013)

7.87 avg 6 episodes 8.3 → 7.4

Season 2 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Madrid to Gibraltar	8.3	30
2	Turin to Venice	8.1	25
3	Dresden to Kiel	7.6	26
4	Copenhagen to Oslo	8.1	29
5	Prague to Munich	7.7	22
6	Bordeaux to Bilbao	7.4	24

Season 3 (2014)

7.65 avg 6 episodes 8.3 → 7.5

Season 3 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Tula to St Petersburg	8.3	15
2	Rome to Taormina	7.2	22
3	Warsaw to Krakow	7.5	19
4	La Coruña to Lisbon	7.8	20
5	Haifa to the Negev	7.6	20
6	Lyon to Marseille	7.5	19

Season 4 (2015)

7.92 avg 6 episodes 7.8 → 7.6

Season 4 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Sofia to Istanbul	7.8	29
2	Vienna to Trieste	8.2	24
3	Pisa to Lake Garda	8.3	25
4	Athens to Thessaloniki	7.4	22
5	The Black Forest to Hannover	8.2	30
6	Barcelona to Mallorca	7.6	18

Season 5 (2016)

7.55 avg 6 episodes 7.5 → 7.6

Season 5 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Transylvania to the Black Sea	7.5	21
2	Zermatt to Geneva	7.6	18
3	Tangier to Marrakech	7.8	19
4	Genoa to the Brenner Pass	7.2	19
5	Riga to Tampere	7.6	22
6	Rotterdam to Utrecht	7.6	19

Season 7 (2020)

7.82 avg 6 episodes 7.8 → 7.7

Season 7 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Salamanca to Canfranc	7.8	16
2	Orleans to Reims	7.7	18
3	Berlin to Stuttgart	8.1	18
4	Palermo to Mt Etna	8.1	16
5	Linz to Bratislava	7.5	16
6	Stockholm to the Arctic Circle	7.7	17

Season 8 (2025)

7.77 avg 20 episodes 8.1 → 7.9 29 min avg

Season 8 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Pula to Pazin	8.1	18
2	Buzet to Pag	8.1	15
3	Knin to Split	8.1	16
4	Sarajevo	7.9	15
5	Mostar to Dubrovnik	7.9	17
6	Bergen to Flåm	7.8	16
7	Myrdal to Heddal	7.8	17
8	Larvik to Holstebro	7.8	15
9	Aarhus to Odense	7.8	14
10	Roskilde to Copenhagen	7.6	14
11	Maienfeld to the Rhine Gorge	7.8	17
12	Sedrun to Schwyz	7.8	14
13	Zurich	7.8	17
14	Rotkreuz to Brienz	7.4	14
15	Zweisimmen to Lausanne	7.5	16
16	Nantes to Lorient	7.4	13
17	Brest to St Brieuc	7.8	14
18	Rennes to Mont Saint-Michel	7.6	12
19	Bayeux to Argentan	7.6	10
20	Lisieux to Giverny	7.9	10

Season 9 (2026)

7.65 avg 14 episodes 7.7 → 7.6 29 min avg

Season 9 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Cagliari to Porto Flavia	7.7	12
2	Mandas to Laconi	7.5	9
3	Nuoro to Macomer	7.4	6
4	Ajaccio to Vizzavona	7.4	6
5	Vivario to Corte	7.6	6
6	St Pancras to Brussels	8.0	6
8	Knokke-Heist to Bruges	7.5	8
9	Brussels to La Louvière	7.7	7
10	Namur to Florenville	7.8	6
11	Sopron to Keleti	7.7	7
12	Budapest	7.7	7
13	Huvösvölgy to Kobanya	7.7	7
14	Szeged	7.8	6
15	Eger to Hortobágy	7.6	7