Escorted City Breaks & Sightseeing Holidays by Rail

“The journey started at St Pancras Railway Station meeting our excellent tour manager Rebecca White. She escorted us on our very comfortable and punctual Eurostar to Amsterdam. Rebecca left us in Amsterdam onboard our cruise ship Amadeus Star which looked after us as if we were royalty. The whole staff from Cruise Director to cabin cleaner had our enjoyment and wellbeing at the heart of their daily employment. What seemed too soon we landed at Strasbourg and back into the competent and capable hands of Rebecca for our onward journey to Zermatt. We should have experienced the Gornergrat Train up part of the Matterhorn but a cruel act of Mother Nature thwarted this excursion in the form of a landslide covering chunks of the railway line. Rebecca did not accept this as an obstacle to spoil our trip and substituted this trip with that of a cable car trip up to 15000 feet above sea level. This awesome trip was far, far better than any words that I could use to describe it and I am of the opinion that the company should consider making this a permanent part of their holiday package. This was then followed, on our last tour day with a fantastic trip on the fantastic Glacier Express which included lunch onboard the train. Whilst in Switzerland two of our party experienced a medical emergency in the night and Rebecca’s superb management skills came to the fore and she organised medical assistance which allowed the couple to rejoin the group and make their way back home with the rest of the group. Conclusion - an excellent experience which should not be missed. p.s. I forgot about Great Rail Journeys brilliant use of a company called Baggaman who collects your suitcase and take it to the cruise ship for you. It is in your cabin on your arrival. Our suitcase was returned to us the day after we arrived home. An absolute joy not to have lugged this on and off all the rail elements of our trip.

“GRJ are really well organised and the tour managers are excellent. They often have to improvise and deal with incidents and, in our experience, do so calmly and effectively. The tours can be pretty full on and can sometimes feel tiring but overall, really Good, highly recommended.

“This was a good, although tiring trip. The hotels used were good, the food good and plentiful and our guide Rick was helpful when needed. The few hiccups we had were outwith his control.

“Guide was first class, his knowledge and attention to detail beyond any I have ever met before. A team of 30 was too many, 25 plenty. I would not book a tour again unless for 25 people or less. The itinerary was good and varied. Eating in the hotel as a group is fine but as a buffet style was very uncomfortable. Either smaller tables or service at table. We were lucky with an excellent room, others were not so lucky, one room only had a small skylight.

“It was well communicated, well organised by the tour guide and met all expectations with wonderful scenery, a dose of culture and a good group of fellow travellers.

“Best holiday ever!! So relaxed and a lovely pace. No stress as our wonderful tour guide (Ed) took care of everything for us. Great tours and the people in our group were amazing. We’ll do another one before long without a shadow of doubt and our friends are so impressed that some are now looking at trips themselves. 100% recommend.

“Well organised, well led by manager. Good hotel and location.

“Beautiful Boat and Cabin, staff and food excellent. Cruise Manager could not have been better.

“We've been with GRJ now for many years. Last year with GRJ we enjoyed The Douro, this year we did The Rhine. It was absolutely brilliant, a great atmosphere on board with good organisational skills displayed by Lucy, the Cruise Director, and Andrew, the Tour Manager. The ship, officers and crew, were excellent. We had a problem at Eurostar Security in Paris coming home but Stephen, the homeward bound Tour Manager, was first class in helping to overcome the matter. Eurostar Security lost a suitcase off the conveyor belt and initially for 10 minutes did not show must interest then Stephen stepped in and as a result it was soon found, well done Stephen.