Holiday Add-ons

Before you leave home

Imagine being able to travel incredibly light to your destination, without having to even think about your bag... We are delighted to be able to recommend a service which collects your baggage from your home prior to your departure on one of our tours and delivers it to destination before you arrive, enabling you to enjoy a relaxed journey without carrying your suitcases!

Door to door luggage service
Great Rail Journeys is pleased to provide the GRJ Luggage Concierge Service - supported by our partner Baggage Man, a company with many years' experience transporting customers' baggage around Europe. They understand that where your holiday is concerned, nothing is more important than your baggage. They work in partnership with the world's most respected transport specialists and are delighted to offer a service tailor made for the needs of a modern traveller.

How does it work?
The Baggage Man simply take the hard work out of carrying and transporting your baggage whilst on your journey, allowing you to enjoy your trip safe in the knowledge that your bags will be waiting for you at your destination. Customers who have a one-night stop en route to their destination choose to travel with a small overnight bag and send their main bag on ahead. For cruise holidays, they pick up your luggage and deliver it directly to your cruise ship. When your holiday is at an end, leave your luggage behind and it will be safely collected and delivered to you only a few days later.

How much does it cost?
For further information about The Baggage Man service, please contact a member of the Great Rail Journeys' team on 01904 521 936.

Joining your holiday

We appreciate that many of our customers travel from a variety of places in the UK to London to join our European and Worldwide tours, some more distant than others. As our European tours generally commence at St Pancras International during the morning of the first day, it is often more convenient to make your way to London the previous day, so you are fresh and rested before joining your tour. Why not let us make it easy for you by booking rail tickets to London and an overnight hotel near St Pancras International? Most of our Worldwide holidays depart from London Heathrow - similarly, we can assist with rail travel from your home station to the airport and an airport hotel - as well as airport parking, should you choose to travel to Heathrow by car.

UK Rail Connections

Buying tickets for UK train services can be a tricky business - there are so many fares to choose from, each with different rules and restrictions. As you are connecting with an international departure, we strongly recommend that you book a fully flexible ticket to ensure that should the departure times for your holiday change, your rail ticket can allow for these changes.

We can book fully-flexible UK rail tickets from your local station to join your holiday whether this be a European holiday from St Pancras, a Worldwide holiday from Heathrow or a UK holiday. There are a number of benefits of booking your UK rail tickets with us:

• Competitive prices representing excellent value
• Fully flexible open return tickets, valid on any train
• We make seat reservations on your behalf (where available)
• First Class upgrades

For an up to date quote from your local station, please ask one of our tailor-made holiday specialists.

• We are unable to offer London Underground tickets or passes and your rail tickets will be valid to and from the nearest main London station on your route.
• We will issue tickets once payment has been received. Once issued, any changes to the tickets will be subject to a charge per ticket. Cancellation of the ticket is subject to full cancellation charge (100% of ticket cost).
• Tickets will be sent to you along with your travel documents which will be sent approximately 10-14 days prior to departure.

We must stress that we cannot accept any responsibility or liability for any late running trains and missed connections in the UK.

Exclusive Rail & Hotel Offer

To make the most of your holiday why not book our Rail & Hotel offer, exclusive to Great Rail Journeys.

Simply choose when you want to travel to London, the zone where you will depart from and which day you want to stay at the hotel.

London Hotels

Spending a night in London before your tour can make such a difference to the first day of your holiday - you can arrive in the capital in good time, relaxed and ready to join your Tour Manager the next morning. You may even want to take in a show on the West End, or dine in one of London's famous restaurants. Perhaps on your return to London, you would like to break your journey with an overnight stay before continuing home.

We are able to book a wide range of hotels in central London or, for our holidays beginning with a flight, at Heathrow, Gatwick or Manchester Airport for the night before or after your holiday.

Alternatively, if you wish to discuss your plans with a member of our team - or request a quote for your particular holiday - please contact us on 01904 521 936.

Heathrow Airport parking, hotel and airport lounge package

If you're embarking on one of our holidays departing London Heathrow, you may decide that you would prefer to drive to the airport rather than travel by train. If this is the case, you may be interested in our complete package of parking, a hotel room at a Heathrow Airport hotel and airport lounge access. The package includes:

• An overnight stay at the 4-star Sheraton Skyline Hotel, situated just minutes away from Heathrow Airport and with a regular coach service connecting you to the terminals.
• Parking in the hotel's on-site car park.
• Access to the airport lounge in either Terminals 1 or 3, with free newspapers, drinks, snacks and free Wi-Fi.

For further information and up to date prices, see our page on our airport hotel, parking and lounge package. Alternatively, if you wish to discuss the package in more detail - or enquire about similar arrangements at Manchester Airport - please contact us on 01904 521 936.

Travelling on Eurostar

Joining Eurostar at Ebbsfleet International

It's not just London that can boast direct links to the Continent. Travellers from the South of England can also connect to the Eurostar at Ebbsfleet International, which is conveniently situated close to the M25 and other major road links, and has lots of parking spaces. For travellers who wish to avoid London, departing from Ebbsfleet International can get your holiday off to a hassle-free start.

Unfortunately not all Eurostar services to and from St Pancras International stop at Ebbsfleet International. Those people travelling from Ebbsfleet may have to travel on an earlier train from the group who depart from St Pancras International and meet them in Paris or Brussels. A Rail Variation Fee per person will applicable in this instance as we have to purchase an individual ticket for you.

• By train: Southeastern call at Ebbsfleet International.
• By car: Located less than 3 miles from Junction 2 of the M25, and very close to the other major road links of the M2, M20 and A2, you will find this station easy to reach by car.
• Secure parking facilities: There is ample parking around the station complex. Pre booking is available by visiting www.eurostar.com (You will require a Eurostar booking reference to pre-book parking, call our Customer Services team to obtain your reference).

Joining Eurostar at Ashford International

This Kent station offers a handy, time-saving alternative to travelling up to London for many people departing from South or South-East England. As at Ebbsfleet, a variation fee will be levied against you. Contact our Customer Services team for more details if you would like to join your tour at Ashford.

• By train: Ashford International is served by local rail services from Kent and East Sussex provided by Southeastern and Southern Railway.
• By car: Ashford International is located less than 10 minutes from junction 10 of the M20 (A20), and is easily reached from the M25.
• Secure parking facilities: The station also offers secure parking facilities with

Extending your European holiday

Before or after your European tour, you can choose to extend your holiday; we'll happily arrange the details for you. Many of our holidays travel out via Paris, Cologne or Brussels or include a final stopover in these cities en route to London. Whether you simply want to stay for a few more days at the end of the tour or travel ahead of the main group for a few days' sightseeing, we are able to make all of the necessary arrangements including alternative trains and quality hotel accommodation.

Independent Extensions

If you would like to create a comprehensive and detailed holiday extension yourself, our holiday specialists at Great Rail Journeys - Tailor-made by Great Rail Journeys - can help you arrange everything you need from internal flights and rail travel to hotel bookings, exciting excursions, meals and visas. You set the budget, you tell us where you want to go and our Tailor-made Holiday Specialists will do the rest.

Back to Back Holidays

Occasionally, our customers like to connect two Great Rail Journeys holidays together to create an extended 'back to back' holiday. This works particularly well in the southern hemisphere, linking tours to New Zealand and Australia, for example. Our Tour Advisors can look into the practicalities involved in putting two tours together, detailing how we can marry the two tours and outlining the related costs and implications.

For more information about any of our add-ons, call a member of our team.