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.