In some respects, Dorothy was right - there really is no place like home.

This March 8th, in honour of National Women's Day, we are celebrating the role women have played over the generations in the creation and maintenance of our railways.

What can be said about Scotland? For one, the scenery (providing it’s not so misty you can’t see the hand in front of your face) in this wild corner of the world can never just be ‘nice’ or ‘pretty’, it can only ever be breathtakingly dramatic, awe-inspiring, and slightly ominous, and you can see all of it in its disconcerting glory through its vast selection of rail journeys.

Whether you read a chapter or two each night to your children, or grandchildren, or enjoyed secretly devouring page after page by wand light, er of course I mean lamp light; the Harry Potter novels and later film franchise, are sure to have had some kind of impact on most denizens of Britain’s green and pleasant lands. With its messages of tolerance, bumbling wizards inhabiting tumbledown cottages, filled with eclectic and magically misbehaved nick-knacks, and scenic descriptions of swathey Scottish landscapes, it’s obvious to any discerning reader that good old Blighty is almost as much a leading character throughout all seven books as Harry himself.

How many of us have wanted to walk straight into the pages of our favourite books? While it might not be possible quite yet to experience the lives of the fictional heroes and heroines we’ve walked side by side through life with for a little while, and sometimes who’d want to (think of just about any character from a Stephen King novel).

Over the past decade, the choice and variety for vegetarians wanting to eat out has boomed – it’s not just stuffed peppers and goats cheese tartlets anymore! But there are some destinations that seem heaven sent for those keeping to a meat-free diet, places where local delicacies cater more to a vegie palate than any other and where it may even be the meat eaters who are in the minority! So here are 5 of the expected and the unexpected when it comes to global vegetarian hotspots.

Steam Railways were once ubiquitous throughout Europe and the arrival of the railway was an integral moment in the Industrial Revolution.

Britain is an island made for railway journeys. As a long standing emblem of Britain’s powerful industrial past the railway has endured, and despite the 1963 Beeching Report, or ‘Beeching’s Axe’ - has in the last decade entered a new renaissance.

Discover the stunning environs of Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands with one of our Tour Managers as he recounts his exciting visit to the home of Nessie.

Make the most of train holidays to Scotland - visit the Orkney Islands. Nestled between two oceans, the culture and landscape of Orkney is breath-taking.

All rail holidays in Scotland should include the Jacobite Steam Train. These days the train is most famous for its appearance as the Hogwarts Express.

Experience the beauty of Scotland in comfort on a Great Rail Journeys holiday. Visit Edinburgh and Glasgow, or perhaps the Highlands and rugged islands.