Travellers sometimes assume the Costa Verde Express is a new invention. The opposite is true: you are boarding the direct heir of Spain's very first tourist train.
Why the north got the railway nobody else has
Spain's green coast is walled off by mountains, so its 19th-century railway was built narrow — a metre-gauge line that squeezes along cliffs and river mouths where no other train in Spain can go. That accident of engineering became the country's most scenic track.
1983 and the first tourist train
The original El Transcantábrico began running that line in 1983, inventing the Spanish tourist-train category. For decades it ran in two tiers: the flagship Gran Lujo, and the much-loved 'classic'.
The rebirth
When the classic was retired, its carriages and its mission were reborn as the Costa Verde Express — same magical line, refreshed interiors, a tighter six-day itinerary between Bilbao and Santiago. The full family tree is untangled in our comparison with the Gran Lujo and our guide to Spain's luxury trains.
Palace Tours has been booking travellers onto this line across both eras — ask us anything about how today's train compares. Better yet, see the route the history built: the complete route guide.
