The Man in Seat Sixty-One is a British

travel website A travel website is a website that provides travel reviews, trip fares, or a combination of both. Over 1.5 billion people book travel per year, 70% of which is done online. Categories Categories of travel websites include: ;Travelogues and blo ...

created, written and maintained by Mark Smith, a former rail industry worker. The website focuses almost exclusively on train-based travel, with occasional ferry recommendations. The site has won several awards, including "Best Travel Website" in the ''Guardian & Observer'' Travel Awards in 2008. The Man in Seat Sixty-One provides information on the best routes, fares and times for journeys from the UK to most of Europe, and for rail travel within most countries in the rest of the world, including exhaustive coverage of the

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

and

Russian Railways Russian Railways or RZD () is a Russian fully state-owned vertically integrated railway company, both managing infrastructure and operating freight and passenger train services and has a near-monopoly on long-distance train travel in Russia. ...

History

The site is a personal project run by Mark Smith, formerly a manager in the rail industry. The site is called ''Seat 61'' after his preferred seat in First Class on the

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service in Western Europe, connecting Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The service is operated by the Eurostar Group which was formed from the merger of Eurostar, ...

. He began the site as a hobby in 2001, after frustration with the difficulty he perceived in finding how to book rail tickets within Europe. In September 2007 he gave up his job working for the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...

to run the website full-time. Smith subsequently wrote a book based on the site titled ''The Man in Seat 61: A Guide To Taking The Train Through Europe''. Published by Bantam Press in 2008, the book mirrored the website in offering an "essential guide for anyone who wishes to travel to Europe and beyond by train". It sold over 10,000 copies and an updated second edition was published in 2010. This was followed by a second book in 2011, ''The Man in Seat 61: Worldwide'', covering international train travel around Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia. Smith describes these books as "now long in the tooth" and directs travellers towards his website for up to date information. In 2010, Guerrilla Films planned a TV series based on the website. A pilot episode featuring actor

Kenneth Cranham Kenneth Cranham (born 12 December 1944) is a British film, television, radio and stage actor. His most notable screen roles were in '' Oliver!'' (1968), '' Up Pompeii'' (1971), '' Hellbound: Hellraiser II'' (1988), '' Chocolat'' (1988), '' Layer ...

was released covering the journey from London to

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

by rail as far as

Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo (; ; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in Wallonia, located in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium, which in 2011 had a population of 29,706 and an area of . Waterloo lies a short distance south of Brussels, and immedia ...

. In 2013, Smith launched an appeal for donations to

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

to support children in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

in response to the Syrian civil war, encouraging anyone who his site has helped to express their gratitude via donations to the appeal. In October 2024 the appeal reached £50,000. In 2021, Smith was one of the first passengers on

Lumo In chemistry, HOMO and LUMO are types of molecular orbitals. The acronyms stand for ''highest occupied molecular orbital'' and ''lowest unoccupied molecular orbital'', respectively. HOMO and LUMO are sometimes collectively called the ''frontie ...

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...

services. In 2023, Smith was interviewed in ''Ben Elton: The Great Railway Disaster'', a

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

'' Dispatches'' documentary about rail privatisation. In 2024 he featured in an episode of

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

On Assignment ''On Assignment'' is an ITV current affairs programme, fronted by ''ITV News'' international affairs editor, Rageh Omaar. Nina Hossain has presented the programme in Rageh's absence. The programme first aired on 19 March 2014, following ''ITV N ...

filmed on the inaugural

European Sleeper European Sleeper (stylised as european sleeper) is a Belgian–Dutch cooperative which operates a thrice-weekly Open-access operator, open-access night train service between Brussels and Prague, with plans to expand to daily service in the near ...

service between

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Current

The site now receives more than one million visitors a month. Nearly all of the information compiled in the site is based on his own travels and experiences, and it includes in-depth guides on booking rail tickets within Europe, as well as information on booking rail travel to and within other areas of the world, including exhaustive coverage of the

and

. The success of the site has led to Smith being interviewed for various travel media, including

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's ''Traveller's Tree'', ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Tele ...

'', ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

''Four great rail journeys across Europe
The Sunday Times. and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. Smith opposes airline transport as part of travel, citing the increased environmental friendliness of train travel, as well as the ability to view scenery, such as the

Austrian Alps The Central Eastern Alps (), also referred to as Austrian Central Alps () or just Central Alps, comprise the Main chain of the Alps, main chain of the Eastern Alps in Austria and the adjacent regions of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy and Slov ...

, up close whilst travelling. He also prefers slow compartmentalised sleepers to high-speed trains but regularly travels in both ways, and believes they are the future of international travel. He has recommended travelling from London to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

by train and ferry (via

Holyhead Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...

) instead of flying, and has promoted SailRail tickets as a more affordable way to travel between the two cities.

Awards

* "Best Electronic Information Resource", ''

Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP, pronounced ) is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge management, knowledge managers in the United Kingdom. It was established in 20 ...

'' Knowledge & Information Management Awards 2021 * "Favourite Travel Website", ''

Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

'' Travel Awards 2012 * "Best Low Carbon Transport & Technology Initiative", '' Responsible Travel'' Responsible Travel Awards 2010 * "Best Travel Website", ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

'' & ''

Observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Fiction * ''Observer'' (novel), a 2023 science fiction novel by Robert Lanza and Nancy Kress * ''Observer'' (video game), a cyberpunk horr ...

'' Travel Awards 2008 * "14th Best Travel Website", ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

s 50 Best Travel Websites * "Best Travel Website", Oldie Travel Awards 2008 * "Top Travel Website", Wanderlust Travel Awards 2007, 2008 * "Best Personal Contribution", '' Responsible Travel'' Responsible Tourism Awards 2006

References

External links

The Man in Seat Sixty-One
{{DEFAULTSORT:Man In Seat Sixty-One British travel websites 2001 establishments in the United Kingdom