Portugal to Singapore by train

If you are going all the way, then you will start from 🌍 Lagos. From here go to Tunes and then change for the Alfa Pendular – a high-speed train, which runs at least twice a day to and from 🌍 Lisbon, taking about 3 hours. The Inter City trains run more frequently but take a little longer, with more stops — 3½–4 hours. Even leaving very early, it is not possible to reach Madrid from the Algarve in one day. A stop in Lisbon is thus required.

To reach 🌍 Madrid from Lisbon, travel from Lisbon to Entroncamento by Portuguese InterCity train, leaving Lisbon Santa Apolonia 08:15, arriving in Entroncamento 09:23 (€6-13 for 2nd class). Then travel from Entroncamento to Badajoz in Spain by Portuguese regional train leaving Entroncamento at 10:12 & arriving in Badajoz at 14:16 (€12.30). Ultimately, reach Madrid by Spanish Intercity train (daily, except Saturdays), leaving Badajoz at 17:36 & arriving at Madrid Atocha at 22:04 (€34.10). Spend the night in the Spanish capital.

Get from Madrid Atocha to 🌍 Barcelona by AVE high-speed train using any departure you like. They run every hour or two, with a journey time of around 2h40. Except for the period from 2nd July to 1st October 2022 (possibly 2023 as well), it won't be possible to reach Paris on the same day as there are no afternoon TGV departures.

Get from Barcelona to 🌍 Paris by TGV, leaving Barcelona Sants 09:10 and arriving at Paris Gare de Lyon 15:46. To then get to Moscow there are more ways, depending on budget, timetables and political situation (as of September 2022 none of the options is available). The classic route would be the Paris-Moscow Express, which departs every Thursday (so plan accordingly) from Gare de l'Est at 18:58, and reaching 🌍 Moscow at 11:44 (or earlier, depending on Daylight Saving Time) on Saturday, with no need to get off the train. During its 3,483 km (or 2,164 miles) ride, the train stops in Berlin Hbf, Warszawa Wschodnia, Brest and Minsk, prices start at around €313. A cheaper alternative to reach 🌍 Warsaw and then Moscow might be to take a more frequent train to 🌍 Berlin via Mannheim and then change for Poland (starting at €67). From Warszawa Centralna an overnight service leaves at 19:15 every day and arrives at Moscow Belorussky at 16:58 the day after. This means an additional night somewhere, since Paris–Warsaw is only feasible if one leaves very early in the morning. The European railway network allows for several itinerary chances. Check also visa requirements, especially for what concerns Russia and Belarus. More info about timetables and prices on www.rzd.ru and www.deutschebahn.de.

Depending on the day of arrival in Moscow, spend some days in the beautiful Russian capital, and then hop on the Trans-Mongolian weekly train on Tuesday. It travels, as suggested by its name, through Mongolia, which means more bureaucratic hassle but also a unique journey. It leaves at 23:55 from Moscow Yaroslavsky, to reach 🌍 Beijing on Monday at 14:35, after 6 nights and 7622 km. It may be worth it to stop during the way to visit places otherwise incredibly remote, such as 🌍 Krasnoyarsk, 🌍 Irkutsk and Lake Baikal or 🌍 Ulaanbaatar.

From Beijing reach 🌍 Kunming South Station (昆明南站 Kunmingnanzhan) in half a day with a high-speed connection in the morning (10 hours, ¥1250 or 13 hours, ¥1147), unless you prefer a cheaper and much slower alternative (35 hours, ¥317). Spend the night.

In December 2021, a high-speed standard gauge railway was completed, which runs from Kunming to 🌍 Vientiane. Cross-border passenger trains began operating on the line in April 2023. The train departs from Kunming South Station at 08:08 and arrives in Vientiane 10.5 hours later at 18:38. The fare is RMB ¥542 for a second-class ticket or RMB ¥864 for a first-class ticket.

To get into Thailand from Vientiane, one must reach the Thanaleng terminus, 20 km east of the city and 4 km north of the border. There is a daytime train at 7:00 (10 hours, around 600 baht with connection from central Vientiane included) but the best option is probably to take the shuttle train from Thanaleng to Nong Khai and then the sleeper train to reach 🌍 Bangkok Hualamphong the following day at 6:00 sharp. A new high speed line allowing a direct connection is under construction, but will not open before 2028 at the earliest.

Going further south, to reach 🌍 Kuala Lumpur it will be necessary to ride on two trains. The first journey will be from Bangkok (departure 15:10) to Padang Besar (arrival 9:50), right on the border with Malaysia, RM112. From there, after the border formalities, it is possible to hop on the first available ETS train towards KL (6 hours, starting at RM80).

The last section of the journey is not quite hassle-free as the previous ones. To reach the final destination 🌍 Singapore, one has to take an ETS train from Kuala Lumpur Sentral at 12:14 to reach Gemas at 14:52 and there switch for a shuttle train at 15:20 heading to Johor Bahru Sentral, arriving at 19:45; total RM52. To cross from Johor Bahru into Singapore, and at this point, it would be a pity not to do so through a railway, take the shuttle from JB to Woodlands Train Checkpoint, it runs more or less hourly, journey duration is just 5 minutes across the causeway over the Johor Strait. After the customs formalities, catch a bus or taxi to Marsiling MRT station, where you can see a downtown train Singapore, and enjoy a well-deserved Sling at the Raffles (or a hearty meal in a hawker centre, if it suits you more) or go to the furthest station you can go to make it even longer, Changi Airport. To go to Changi Airport Station, take the North-South Line to City Hall, (where you can do the above as it is at downtown Singapore), then transfer to the East-West Line to Tanah Merah before hopping to the namesake branch to Changi Airport.