Rail Holidays in Europe and Britain
Rail suits the way our travellers like to see a country. You walk into a station rather than an airport, there is a proper window beside you, and the landscape arrives gradually instead of all at once. Nobody drives and nobody navigates.
Some of these holidays use Eurostar out of London St Pancras to reach Amsterdam, Antwerp or Normandy. Others are built around a particular line — the Inlandsbanan through Swedish Lapland, Le Train Rouge in the hills behind Carcassonne, the Gwili Railway in Carmarthenshire. Each tour page sets out how you travel and what the fare covers.
Frequently Asked Questions About Our Rail Holidays Tours
Yes, where the train is how you travel. The European city tours list return Eurostar tickets from London St Pancras in their inclusions, along with transfers at the destination. On other holidays a named railway — Le Train Rouge, the Inlandsbanan, the Gwili Railway — is included as an excursion instead, with flights or a Channel crossing getting you there. Each tour page sets out exactly what the fare covers.
No. Our holidays are hotel-based: you settle into one or two hotels and travel out by train, coach or boat during the day. Nobody sleeps on board. If a private cabin on a named luxury train is what you have in mind, we are not the right operator for that — though several of our tours ride the same scenic lines at a very different price.
The Eurostar tours are priced with return tickets from London St Pancras, and travel to St Pancras is normally your own arrangement. Other holidays on this page begin at an airport instead, and some include UK transfers. Because the starting point genuinely differs from tour to tour, ring us before you book and we will confirm where and when your particular departure begins.
On trains, generally yes — you lift your case into the overhead rack or the luggage stack at the end of the carriage, and carry it across the station concourse and between platforms. Coach drivers load the hold. A few tours list porterage at the hotel; the tour page will say. Our honest advice is one case you can lift unaided, and tell us in advance if that is difficult.
Yes. Our Open Group departures are made up largely of individuals and couples travelling together, and solo travellers are entirely usual. A single supplement applies on most tours and is shown on the tour page; a few itineraries set aside a small number of single rooms with no supplement, which go early. There is also a dedicated solo tour of the Costa Brava. Ask us what is available on the departure you are considering.
Yes — that is our Private Group arrangement, and gardening clubs, U3A branches and church groups make up a good part of our work. Some itineraries are costed on a minimum number travelling, so group size affects the price. We can also adjust the pace, swap excursions and work around what your members can manage. Tell us roughly how many of you there are and we will quote.
Where our rail journeys go
The short-hop tours run on Eurostar. Amsterdam pairs guided visits to the Rijksmuseum and the Frans Hals Museum with the Christmas markets and the Light Festival. Antwerp looks at Art Deco and Art Nouveau, including a private tour of Victor Horta's former house in Brussels. In Normandy, a tour for Monet lovers takes in Étretat, a walking tour of Rouen, and the water lily pond and Japanese bridge at Giverny.
Further afield the railway becomes the day out rather than the way in. Sweden and the Midnight Sun includes the Inlandsbanan from Gällivare down to Östersund. Carcassonne is paired with a cruise on the Canal du Midi and a journey on Le Train Rouge. There is a classic steam train in Tuscany, and the rack railway up to Vall de Núria on the solo Costa Brava tour.
Closer to home, Gardens of Wales includes the Gwili Railway alongside Aberglasney and the National Botanic Garden, and Rail & Sail combines trains, ferries and coach in the Western Highlands.
Eurostar from London St Pancras
Eurostar is the reason a European city break can feel less like an expedition. You check in at St Pancras rather than queuing at a terminal miles out of town, the tunnel itself takes about twenty minutes, and you step off in the middle of the city you came to see. Brussels is roughly two hours from London, Paris a little more, and the direct Amsterdam service takes a shade under four hours.
On our Eurostar tours the return tickets are listed in the inclusions, and transfers at the destination are arranged for you. Carriages have a seat you can settle into, a table on many services, and overhead racks and end-of-carriage stacks for luggage that you load yourself.
Passport control is done before you board, so allow time at the station. We will tell you the arrangements for your particular departure.
Scenic and heritage lines
Several of these holidays are shaped around a line worth travelling for its own sake.
- The Inlandsbanan runs up the sparsely populated spine of Sweden, a summer-only service through forest, lake country and reindeer grazing, crossing the Arctic Circle on its way south from Gällivare.
- Le Train Rouge uses open-sided carriages on a country line through the Fenouillèdes, in the limestone hills between Carcassonne and the Roussillon plain.
- The Vall de Núria rack railway climbs from Ribes de Freser into a high Pyrenean valley that has no road at all — the train and your own legs are the only ways in.
- The Gwili Railway runs steam trains on a surviving stretch of the old Carmarthen to Aberystwyth line, brought back by volunteers after closure.
These are working heritage and rural railways rather than pampered experiences, which is much of their charm. Carriage stock, timetables and refreshments vary.
Rail combined with coach and boat
Very few good itineraries are pure rail, and we do not pretend otherwise. A train gets you into the country or up a valley; a coach reaches the garden gate or the hilltop village afterwards; sometimes a boat does the job better than either.
Rail & Sail in the Western Highlands is the clearest example, mixing trains, ferries and private coach from a base on Loch Lomond. Keukenhof & Dutch Delights crosses by Eurotunnel or ferry and includes a whisperboat tour and a steam train museum. Sardinia and Corsica flies to Olbia, crosses to Bonifacio by ferry and uses the little sightseeing train there.
So check the individual tour page before you book. On some holidays listed here the railway is an excursion rather than your transport out from Britain, and if the distinction matters to you, ask us and we will be straight about it.
