Escorted rail holidays to Europe's finest cities

“I enjoy train travel and I had never visited Budapest or Vienna and I am so glad I joined this trip. There were 26 of us of varying ages and not all couples and John, our guide travelled with us all the way from Heathrow. He was excellent. He had the relaxed outlook of someone who was very experienced. He knew the cities well and helped us to feel confident. He had prepared excellent booklets for every city with everything we needed to know; transport, exchage rates, things to do, etc. and when I wanted to go off the beaten track in Vienna, it turned out that he had prepared a booklet which included that excursion too. He was fun and interesting and very generous with his time. Hotels were good, the people in the group were lovely and trains came on time. A thoroughly good trip.

“A varied exploration of Lisbon, Porto and the Douro valley on this rail, coach and easy walking tour. Introduction to the cities by local experts and comprehensive advice on how to access the many cultural and scenic attractions on offer. Excellent visit to winery in Douro Valley with no hard sell at the end! Hotels were of a very good standard especially the Grande Hotel do Porto with an attractive and characterful classical style. Tour leader provided excellent leadership and support with daily briefing notes and nothing seemed to be too much trouble.

“The holiday is well planned and enjoyable. My only negative comment would be that we arrived at the hotel at about 6pm after a long day. It took ages for everyone to check in to the hotel. Surely, our room keys and check in forms could have been prepared for us in advance?

“Excellent tour, excellent tour manager but let down by poor hotel in Berlin. Note: this holiday requires a great deal of walking. This is well advertised but too many cohorts failed to read the brochure.

“The trip went well and I thoroughly enjoyed it but my concerns about the flight timings were ignored and that left a bitter taste. I lost my luggage, had to run for a connection, last on the flight, then had to wait 5 hrs on the return journey. There should have been direct flights. I’m aggrieved that they didn’t even offer to pay for my train fare between airport and the city as this had already been offered to another late guest, who also had to make their own travel arrangements on arrival. A small amount but it was the principal, penny-pinching and lack of goodwill. At least KLM paid for my essential purchases whilst my bag was delayed, but would not pay the train fare.