New railway tour route to link China, six countries

A railway tour route that connects China with six countries in Asia and Europe will open in July, local media reported Monday.

The tour, which costs 32,000 yuan ($5,148) per person, will take tourists to historical and natural scenic spots in Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic, according to a report in the Metro Express.

The railway tour is the first that a Chinese travel agency has opened abroad, said Zhou Hongsheng, deputy manager of Shanghai Railway International Travel (Group) Co Ltd, which created the tour.

The first tour will begin on July 8. Tourists will first fly from Shanghai to Turkey in the afternoon and spend a night in a hotel.

They will start their train journey the next day. The train can accommodate 97 tourists, with two passengers sharing one private room.

The tourists will spend four nights on the train to ensure enough time for sightseeing in the daytime. They will spend the rest of their nights in four-star hotels, the report said.

The tour will take the tourists to the capitals of the six countries and treat them to local cuisine.

For instance, tourists will visit a mosque and a royal palace in Istanbul, the capital of Turkey. They will also enjoy the natural scenery of Mount Vitosha in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, Zhou told the Global Times.