Exciting overland adventure suggestions (with children)

[SandsofEss]

I’m looking to plan an overland adventure with my family next year, and I’m fishing for ideas.

We’ve done a lot of overland travelling, including a couple of larger journeys.

Our first was ‘From the Baltic to the Adriatic’ – Gdansk > Krakow > Zakopane > Tatry > Kosice > Vienna > Ljubljana > Trieste > Venice.

Our latest was ‘The Ottoman Odyssey’, somewhat on the tracks of the Orient Express – Vienna > Bucharest > Veliko Tarnovo > Varna > Sofia > Istanbul > Ephesus > Bodrum > Kos.

Nothing’s set in stone, but there are a few guiding principles for the next trip:

1. It’ll take approximately 2 weeks
2. It’ll use connections available in April 2024 (so not the summer timetable)
3. We’re happy to fly at the start and the end of the trip, but would prefer to stick to rails, water and roads (in that order) otherwise
4. It doesn’t have to be in Europe, though I’ve travelled India and the US extensively by rail before so wouldn’t favour those
5. Preferably including some sleeper trains and more interesting rail routes and stock
6. We’re comfortable with a fairly frenetic pace
7. The ideal journey ends somewhere relaxing

Some early thoughts I’ve had:

• A loop around the Baltics and the Nordics, including ‘closing the loop’ between Narvik & Bodo

• Exploring the western Balkans - perhaps starting in Sicily so we can do the Straits of Messina train ferry and then the boat across from Bari

Has anybody else done any other ‘Grand Journeys’ that they’d recommend?