Luxury train travel is booming, as more and more people discover the pleasures of this cosseting form of locomotion. Train travel lets you take your time and get up close to the country you’re visiting. You’re not missing all the magnificent scenery of a place like Scotland because you’re stuck behind the wheel of a car. And it’s always lovely to unpack only once.

We’ve long recommended Belmond’s 18-cabin Royal Scotsman, which typically offered trips lasting up to four nights. So when the train unveiled its seven-day “Grand Tour of Scotland” itinerary in 2025, I knew I had to see it for myself. I hadn’t been aboard since Belmond added a spa car in 2017, which became a very chic Dior Spa six years later.

Our tour of Scotland was a perfect mixture of classic and off-the-beaten-track destinations. We boarded to a piper playing at Edinburgh’s Waverley Station and then continued to the Boat of Garten village, where we overnighted in the Cairngorms. Next up, the Glenmorangie distillery, the remote Orkney Islands, the Isle of Skye, the golf mecca of St. Andrews and other stops before a spectacular gala final dinner at Drumlanrig Castle, one of the greatest country estates in the United Kingdom. The torch-lit welcome and farewell by pipers have become indelible memories.

Upon boarding, we were immediately delighted by our well-designed wood-paneled Double Cabin, which came with a full-size bed, a writing desk and an unexpectedly spacious bath with a comfortable shower. The room’s drawback is that three sides of the bed are against walls, making it necessary for one occupant to climb over the other (or wake them) to get out. If this sounds unappealing, opt for a Twin Cabin, with two separate beds. Or splash out on one of the sumptuous Grand Suites, which comprise a wood-paneled sitting room with beautiful marquetry inlays, a peacock-blue plaid couch, an armchair by a writing table and a separate bedroom.

Ultimately, though, most passengers spend little time in their compartments. Days often begin early with some freshly baked scones or maybe a full Scottish breakfast. After a morning outing, lunch is served in the two dining cars, and later in the afternoon comes high tea — the onboard baker works miracles in the space of a busy galley kitchen. Drinks with hors d’oeuvres are taken in the bar car before dinner, and then there’s often evening entertainment. I especially enjoyed the performance of Mànran, an exceptionally talented Scottish music group with a fiddler, a bassist and a superb lead singer who had everyone dabbing tears from their cheeks.

Within a single dinner service, all 36 passengers had met one another, and an air of conviviality reigned. Everyone had so much in common, notably a love of history and travel and perhaps an appreciation of a wee drop of whisky or two. On our trip, a friendly family from Brazil occupied the four Grand Suites, a pair of Japanese astronomers delighted in pointing out the constellations to their fellow guests, and a grandmother-granddaughter pair from Boston befriended their analogue from Vancouver.

If the passengers were an international mix, the staff were almost entirely Scottish or English, which added considerable charm to the trip by making it feel distinctly local and good-humored. From the smiling housekeepers, who kept our cabin immaculate, to the attentive and cheerful bartenders and waitstaff, their intuitive hospitality gave us as much pleasure as the magnificent scenery of Scotland.

We also enjoyed the exceptionally good food by the Royal Scotsman’s executive chef. It was consistently seasonal and full of flavor. Among the starters, we especially loved the salad of West Coast crab with quail’s egg, caviar and sourdough crostini and the luscious velouté of butternut squash, truffle and Parmesan. Roast loin of Pentland lamb with potato galette, peas and minted hollandaise sauce and baked North Sea halibut with a crayfish-and-chervil beurre blanc were standout mains.

For several days, drivers of stylish Range Rover 4x4s took us on excursions, and the quality of the guides was outstanding. I expect that none of us will forget the delightful parson’s daughter who explained the history of an Orkney Islands chapel made by Italian prisoners of war during World War II. “They were such nice men [that] … eventually it was decided to allow them to build this chapel, which they did using scrap metal from shipwrecks. It never ceases to move me every time I step through the doors, because its ornateness conveys such hope and tenderness,” she told us.

Almost every day had a special event of some sort, with the favorite likely being a tasting of artisanal gins and vodkas (made with locally foraged botanicals by Dunnet Bay Distillery) held around a bonfire on the beach. Bundled up in plaid blankets in camp chairs, we listened to pipers and singers late into the night, the smell of wood smoke mixing with briny sea air.

Note: This train trip was provided to the editor on a complimentary basis.