“What is a Great Rail Journeys Holiday Like?”

Travel is more than seeing the sights 

We see the getting from here to there as exciting - the essence of travel. Of course the destination is an integral part of your holiday but it is only one aspect of the Great Rail Journeys experience.

Every moment of your time away from home should be spent enjoying your holiday, which is why we make travelling by rail part of our tours. The rail journey itself is a significant part of our holidays and can offer genuine spectacle and take travellers through otherwise unseen locations. Travelling by train is hopefully a gentle experience with time to chat to your companions, immerse yourself in a book or sit back and enjoy the breathtaking scenery we pass from the comfort of your seat.

Let us take care of the arrangements 

With Great Rail Journeys you can travel to a destination that you have never visited before, safe in the knowledge that you are going to experience the very best that it has to offer. Every aspect of your holiday including travel, hotels and excursions will be booked and ready well in advance of your departure date, meaning that you can simply relax and enjoy your break. A Tour Manager meets all our groups at St Pancras and will be on hand throughout your holiday, to ensure that everything runs smoothly and answer any questions that you may have. 

What is included in a Great Rail Journeys holiday? 

Our rail tours have been carefully designed so that they include every major attraction of a destination in the package - and the price. All transport and accommodation is included in the price as well as the excursions, city tours, guided visits and meals which are specified in the itinerary. As each itinerary specifies exactly what is included, there are no 'hidden' extras.

What are the excursions like? 

The price of the holidays includes the excursions listed in the itinerary; these are designed to introduce you to all of the local highlights of the places you visit and give you an insight into the area. We try to blend a mixture of cultural, historical and social activities into our tours to give you a wide variety of experiences.

On most of our excursions, in addition to your Tour Manager, you will be accompanied by a local guide, who will share their specialist knowledge of the places being visited. Some excursions are to off-the-beaten track destinations that simply would not be stumbled upon without this local knowledge.

We try to use trains for excursions, however we sometimes utilise coaches or boats to get to places of interest. Where coaches are used, these are of high quality and we aim to keep coach journeys to a maximum of 1 to 1.5 hours between stops.

Do we have to join in? 

With Great Rail Journeys you will never feel 'herded' and you have absolute freedom in deciding which excursions you would like to do. The programme of excursions is included in the price of our holidays and is comprehensive - but not compulsory. You are free to opt in and out of excursions whenever you wish.

We do include plenty of opportunities to indulge your own interests and explore independently. Having visited the main sights in our included excursion programme, we ensure that there are free afternoons or entire days where you can pursue your own interests, return to a favourite spot for further investigation or simply relax on your own taking advantage of the facilities at your hotel.

Customer focus 

Over 90% of all our customers say that they would recommend Great Rail Journeys to a friend and thousands book another holiday with us. We attribute this to our commitment to customer satisfaction, which has been at the heart of Great Rail Journeys' policy for more than 30 years.

We aim to create a range of holidays to suit different interests and expectations and after every journey we examine our customer feedback for ways to improve our service. This may be by creating new or improved itineraries.