What to expect onboard the Indian Pacific train journey

For over 50 years, the Indian Pacific has enthralled passengers as it crossed the face of Australia, completing its 4,300-kilometre journey from Perth to Sydney across arid deserts, lush mountain ranges and salt lakes.

In 2025, Journey Beyond unveiled a new itinerary for the Indian Pacific, which includes more off-train experiences than ever before while retaining the train company’s signature onboard fine dining experience.

Writer Justin Meneguzzi was among the first to try the new route, travelling from coast to coast in a Platinum cabin. He shares the experience here.

Indian Pacific Day 1: Perth

Between the live music, glasses of Champagne, and canapes (scones, anyone?), there’s a sense of something momentous in the air at East Perth Terminal. The afternoon sun is gleaming off the Indian Pacific’s carriages.

At 6pm, I’m shown to my cabin, and the train pulls away from the platform. I unpack and there is just enough concealed wardrobe space for me to hang shirts and clothes for my 5-day journey, plus ample power outlets for charging my devices. My room functions as a lounge by day, with a moveable table and ottoman. Later this evening the staff will turn my two-seated couch into a bed. Glass of Bollinger in hand, I watch as city apartments give way to weatherboard pubs and red-brick homes, then vineyards and dusty paddocks.

We’re hurtling out into the Western Australian Outback when I sit down for my three-course dinner, consisting of Akoya pearl oysters for entree, braised lamb shanks for main, and a chocolate mousse to end on a high note. Chatting to my fellow travellers, I learn I’m the only Australian among a group of English, Suisse, Spanish and Canadian travellers.

I’m offered a nightcap to take back to my room, so with glass of Baileys in hand I return to my cabin to find my couch has been converted into a Queen-sized bed that leaves just enough room for me to squeeze around into my ensuite. At around 82.5 square feet in total once, Platinum Cabins are nearly twice the size of the Premium Twin or Gold Twin cabin, with more space in the ensuite and shower rooms, plus premium toiletries. The silk eye mask for Platinum members is a classy touch too.

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Day 2: Kalgoorlie & Cook

A gentle announcement wakes me around 6am to share we’ve arrived in Kalgoorlie, an Outback city humming with mining machinery. I can smell coffee floating down the hallway and drink orders being delivered to people’s rooms. There’s a handful of off-train excursions to choose from, and I opt for a tour of the Super Pit and Kalgoorlie township. Driven by a former miner turned tour guide, we gaze into the dusty depth of the mining Super Pit, then visit the historic town hall to learn about the many rock stars who have stopped in at Kalgoorlie to perform. The tour ends with a tour of a local woodcarver’s workshop.

I enjoy the rest of the day onboard the Indian Pacific as it crosses the South Australian border. As a Platinum carriage member, I have access to my room and the exclusive Platinum Club, a private dining space where all our meals are taken and includes a lounge area and bar. Here I can read, play board games and watch as the landscape slides past.

Lunch and dinner are both seated three-course meals in the Platinum Club, again featuring native and locally sourced ingredients like saltbush and lemon myrtle. While there are set mealtimes (based on our preferences when we first boarded), these are flexible and I can choose to eat whenever I start to feel my belly rumble.

I can sit wherever I like in the dining car, so I beeline straight to an empty window table, and I’m soon joined by new friends who want to eat with me. In front of us, there’s a curated a la carte menu to choose from, with two to three options each for entrée, main and desert, backed by a list of leading Australian wines. The highlights today are the roast pork tenderloin, octopus salad, and pistachio tart. While we’re travelling in luxury, the dress code is a laidback smart casual.

As a solo traveller, it’s great to be able to dine with my fellow guests and meet new people each evening, but if I want to dine solo with a book that is fine too.

Around midnight we arrive in Cook, and we’re invited to step off the train for a late nightcap and stargazing up at the pristine night sky.

Day 3: Adelaide and the Barossa Valley

Kangaroos and emus run past the window as I tuck into my breakfast frittata, again in the Platinum Club. After days of savanna landscape, we see water again in Port Augusta, where white boats skim along the water and wind farms slowly spin in the distance.

I spend most of the day onboard doing whatever I please until the train arrives at Long Plains. Everyone disembarks and gets on a charter bus headed to the renowned Seppeltsfield Estate in the Barossa Valley.

Executive Chef Owen Andrews meets us for a private canape and paired wine tasting session, before showing us to the Centenary Cellar, home to one of the world’s longest unbroken lines of single vintage ports, where we sample a 100-year-old glass of port.

Afterwards, we’re treated to a banquet complete with live music, towers of roasted meats and vegetables, and a fire barrelling demonstration.  

Day 4: Broken Hill

 The following morning, we arrive in Broken Hill, a sister mining city of Kalgoorlie known as the Silver City. We again have a choice of off-train experiences, which includes a town tour with a drag queen, a paint-and-sip art lesson, and a native-food experience. I choose the latter, which starts with a leisurely walk at Sculpture Hill to admire the unique monuments overlooking the town. We’re then taken to The Old Saltbush, where Chef Lee Cecchin leads an interactive dining experience where we get to taste and experiment with a dozen native ingredients, ranging from wattleseed to wallaby.

Back onboard, we have the whole afternoon free. Since there are more award-winning Australian wines on the menu than we can try during mealtime, I ask the crew for an impromptu wine tasting and they happily oblige, expertly leading me as I sip my way through the wine menu.

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Day 5: Blue Mountains

On our last day, we disembark at Lithgow and are driven by private coach to the Blue Mountains. The Indian Pacific will continue to Sydney’s Central Station, along with our luggage.

Again, there are multiple different experiences on offer, each take in the iconic mountain range through a different lens. I choose the Cultural Journey Experience and soon I meet Uncle David King, a Gundungurra Indigenous guide. On a leisurely walk through the rainforest, he teaches me about the plants and the landscape and welcomes me to his ancestor’s country with a song. It’s a beautifully paced, and heartwarming experience, that is over far too soon.

Soon after I’m chaperoned to the nearby train station, where a charter train takes me to Central Station, where my incredible journey ends.

Ready for your own great train journey? Get in touch with one of our Professional Travel Advisors and we’ll arrange your flights, hotel, activities and more with a tailored itinerary.

All images courtesy of Justin Meneguzzi

Justin travelled as a guest of Journey Beyond.