Great Continental Railway Journeys

Original version

BBC Four

Knowledge, arts, music and culture from the UK and the world.

BBC Four reflects arts, music and culture with an ambitious range of intellectually and culturally enriching programmes, taking an expert and in-depth approach to its subjects.

BBC Four HD

Documentaries

Factual: Travel

Michael Portillo retraces the journeys from George Bradshaw's 1913 Continental Guide.

Michael Portillo travels on the great train routes of Europe, as he retraces the journeys featured in George Bradshaw's 1913 Continental Railway Guide.

Series 7

BBC Two England

England

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

BBC Two HD

Simulcast of BBC Two Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

Michael Portillo

Alison Kreps

John Comerford

Ben Rowland

FremantleMedia UK

Great Continental Railway Journeys: Series 7: Stockholm to the Arctic Circle

Stockholm to the Arctic Circle

BBC Two - Great Continental Railway Journeys, Series 7, Stockholm to the Arctic Circle

Michael celebrates Midsummer in Marielund and learns to decorate a Dala horse in Mora.

Michael makes a scenic journey from Stockholm to Abisko. Michael celebrates Midsummer in Marielund, learns to decorate a Dala horse in Mora and takes an icy dip in one of the country’s 96,000 lakes.

Michael Portillo embarks on a scenic, thousand-mile rail journey from the Swedish capital, Stockholm, to Abisko in the northern reaches of the Arctic Circle. Steered by his 1936 edition of Bradshaw’s Continental Railway Guide, Michael boards a steam train to celebrate Midsummer in Marielund, learns to decorate a Dala horse in Mora and takes an icy dip in one of the country’s 96,000 lakes.

In Stockholm, Michael braves a precarious tour of the city from its rooftops before boarding a heritage tram to get the lowdown on 1930s Sweden from an expert. At the capital’s Royal Institute of Technology, Michael investigates the transport of the future in a near-vacuum tube. He tours Uppsala University and takes Sweden’s 1,300km Inlandsbanan railway, which was completed in 1937, to travel north to Ostersund and Kiruna.

Michael finishes deep in the Arctic Circle at a remote climate research station, where scientists are building on data recorded at the time his guidebook was published. En route, Michael learns why Sweden built the strategic inland railway on which he is travelling. He discovers how the nation created a welfare state, has lunch with traditional Sami people in Vilhelmina and checks into a chilly hotel made of ice.

Great Continental Railway Journeys: Series 7

BBC Two

Knowledge, drama, comedy and the arts for a broad adult audience.

BBC Two is a lively channel of depth and substance, carrying a range of knowledge-building programming complemented by great drama, comedy and arts.

Bradshaw's 1913 Guide in hand, Michael Portillo embarks on another rail journey.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Great Continental Railway Journeys

Series 7

Stockholm to the Arctic Circle

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC Four HD

About BBC Four