Great Rail Tours

The tradition of great rail tours stems back to the Grand Tour of pre-industrial Europe. The Grand Tour was a vital part of the education of the extremely rich, opening up the histories of Ancient Rome and Greece and allowing access to the upper echelons of continental high society. With the advent of the train the Grand Tour become available to more people and at the same time rail travel made it possible to harness vast wildernesses.

Great Rail Journeys is proud to continue the spirit of rail travel and are offering two of the world's finest great rail tours. Both tours are of truly epic proportions, spanning the width of a continent with comprehensive itineraries of excursions. As well as the luxury of journeying on some of the most comfortable trains in the world both of these tours follow in the footsteps of some of the greatest rail pioneers the world has ever known.

Advantages of Great Rail Tours

Anyone who has been on one of our great rail tours can tell you that there is much more to be seen from the window of your carriage than from 37, 000 feet above the ground. With long haul flights connecting the world's largest cities the modern traveller can almost be excused for not appreciating the gradual change in scenery, or the subtle play of the continents as they delicately shift underfoot. From the window of a train you can see the towns and villages that you travel through and appreciate the scale of the mountains that you pass.

Great rail tours take you closer to a country and offer you the luxury of time. Rather than getting flustered as noisy taxi drivers shout for your attention, or arriving at an airport and having to wait with a group of grumpy tourists as you collect your baggage a rail journey is a more relaxed way of travelling. Overall we feel a rail journey is far more civilised, a place where you can relax in your seat and watch the scenery slip by.