Discovering Europe one train at a time
08/01/2020 · By Rashmi Guha Ray
Discover Europe one train at a time on our blog. Great Rail Journeys shares insights, tips, and tales. Join the journey and explore Europe by rail.
Read more2024 Tour code: HRJ24
About the tour
Join us on a discovery of two of Germany's most picturesque regions. We explore the characterful medieval villages and peaks of the Harz Mountains by historic narrow-gauge railway, then discover the natural beauty of the Rhine Gorge on a cruise of the loveliest section of the river, where the legendary Lorelei Rock still casts its spell.
Unforgettable Experiences
What’s included
Itinerary
We meet our Tour Manager and the rest of our group of travellers at London St Pancras where we join the Eurostar to Brussels. Travelling in spacious Standard Premier Class we enjoy a light meal at our seats. On arrival in Brussels we change trains and travel in First Class to Cologne, where we spend a night. We arrive around mid-afternoon and the rest of your day is free to explore the historic riverside city of Cologne. The city's main attraction is its impressive cathedral with twin spires. You might like to join a riverboat cruise to see the sights from the Rhine River. This evening we dine together at our central hotel.
Additional information
Hotels
Trains
Enhance your holiday
Upgrades
Reviews
4.4 / 5 · 74 reviews
keith tomlinson
Submitted 12 Oct 2023
an excellant tour from beginning to end !! train travel worked like clock work!!! no rushing about! lovely hotels beautiful scenery very well organised by our tour manager john grundy nothing to much trouble!! luggage in advance would have helped but problems with german customs prevented prevented that ! a holiday to remember!" thank you" to all at "great rail journeys" best wishes keith tomlinson and shirley knott
Collected by Trustpilot
Paul Coxon
Submitted 09 Oct 2023
Had a great experience and would recommend
Collected by Trustpilot
Andy Bennett
Submitted 08 Oct 2023
The Great Railway Journeys' tour guide - John Grundy - travelled with the tour party and provided excellent advice and guidance throughout. His input made the whole trip easy to navigate and we benefitted from his in-depth knowledge of all the sights to see on what was a wonderful trip. Top marks!
Collected by Trustpilot
D Preston
Submitted 06 Oct 2023
Weather very good and fine except when we went up the broken railway at the top very low cloud but one hour later the sun was out and had a good view 9
Collected by Trustpilot
Alex Beaujean
Submitted 27 Sep 2023
Very interesting, varied and colourful experience.
Collected by Trustpilot
Elizabeth Bowerman
Submitted 23 Sep 2023
The trip was very enjoyable especially after the glorious weather we had it made the areas look really beautiful. The first day was long with all the travelling that took place. Full marks for, the staff at the Double Tree in Hannover who stayed on and produced quiet a lovely meal quite late at night. The bonus was the next day we were quite close to our second day destinations we meant we could get up reasonably late as we were not departing the hotel until 12.30pm. Couple of issues with the German trains the train to Hannover was delayed due to problems at Dortmund however luckily for us the train was re routed via another route to overcome the problem, it did delay our arrival into Hannover a bit but the Double Tree was so welcoming to us even though we arrived gone 9pm. Second issue we were booked on train to Frankfurt 1st class but due to technical issues the first calls carriages were not in operation, fortunately most of the passengers on the train shuffled around to allow our group to find seats to sit on. Stephen the tour director was excellent he came well prepared for the trip, he was very knowledgeable and it was useful he could speak German as the Harz area was less fluent in English than the Rhine Gorge. Stephen's trade mark red coat was an easy way to spot him at meeting points, however I did feel sorry for him as the weather was so hot for the time of year and he must have felt too hot at times in it. It was a very enjoyable trip in two beautiful areas of Germany.
Collected by Trustpilot
Europe Holidays 2024