Owen Hardy
Luxury and deluxe rail travel has been my passion for most of my life. This passion has driven our company to become the Virtuoso luxury rail experts.
Rail travel has taken me hundreds of thousands of miles crossing the globe. I have enjoyed trains in Canada, Mexico, Europe, Russia (I’ve ridden across Siberia six times), India, from Cape Town to Dar es Salaam in Southern Africa, Thailand, and Japan. I have traversed the ancient Silk Road by luxury rail from Beijing, through the ‘Stans, to Moscow. We took 2 private trains, hiked the Great Wall, rode a camel in the Gobi Desert, and toured cities 2,000 years old.
The rail travel bug bit early – I was an exchange student in Germany while at Kalamazoo College and criss-crossed Europe by train. I became fluent in German — and in trains. A stint as a sailor on a historic, square-rigged tourist brigantine in the British Virgin Islands expanded my horizons. I learned first-hand what it was like to manage guests on board -- not to mention balancing Oliver Twist in the crow's nest on my days off!
I’ve never looked back. I founded our company in the corner of our apartment bedrooom — expanding to the basement of our house — in 1983. Owning a travel company like ours — specializing in luxe adventure and specifically luxury trains — has been a natural progression. While I love the excitement, glamour and culture of big cities, I’m equally at home in the wilderness – the wilder the better. And I especially love relaxing in our beautiful garden at home.
Favorite trips? This includes Japan, testing out the brand-new Cruise Train Seven Stars in Kyushu train. I’ve posted about this on our blog (blog.irtsociety.com) and have had stories appearing in several magazines, including Virtuoso Life.
On our safari in Botswana (after we took the Blue Train), we saw a family of lions – including four rambunctious cubs – devouring an elephant. Thailand’s Eastern & Oriental Express was a dream of temples, elephants, and pageantry.
We usually only do one group trip a year. We’d love for you to join us. We have hosted river cruises on the Irrawaddy River, on the Amazon, luxury train trips across Siberia, on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express from Paris to Istanbul, on the Deccan Odyssey across India. We chartered the Belmond Grand Hibernian and the Seven Stars.
So many trains! So little time! Please call or write me: ohardy@irtsociety.com to let me know your interest. And come have a mint julep with me in our garden.
Destination Specialties
- South Africa
- Russia
- China
- Ireland
- Japan
- Spain
- Peru
- Thailand
- Italy
- Hungary
- Singapore
- Chile
- Botswana
- Switzerland
- Germany
Interests
- Rail
- Food & Wine
- Culture, History & Arts
- Escorted Tours
- Adventure
Languages
- English
- German