Think of those great train experiences, the classic iron-road odysseys that fill your heart with joy. Forget, for a moment, that these days the Orient Express doesn’t actually go to the orient and that the Flying Scotsman might involve a bus replacement service. Modern rail travel can still have magic. When I hear that a new high-speed line is being built to connect Warsaw with Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn, I know what I want to do. I want to go from London to the Baltic states by rail before it gets all sleek and swanky (the line is due to open in 2028). I want the whiff of Soviet times, a bit of what the Germans call Ostalgie. And having recently done London to Marrakech on the train, I know that there is no rush, and that there is extra joy to be had in well-chosen stopovers. I grab a map.
