Romancing the Rhine
28/05/2020 · By Sukie Chapman
A location that is full of history is the Rhine from start to end. We offer cruises and rail tours, read more here.
Read more2024 Tour code: GER24
About the tour
Experience one of the world's finest rail adventures aboard the legendary Glacier Express before descending the valley for a luxury cruise on the spectacular Rhine. Sail into the picturesque Rhine Gorge, visiting medieval cities, charming riverside towns and much more.
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You might also like our similar tour Glacier Express and
The Romantic Rhine!
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What’s included
Itinerary
Our holiday begins this morning as we meet at London St Pancras before travelling on the Eurostar service to Paris. From here, we continue by rail to the enchanting city of Strasbourg where we spend our first night. After dinner, you can enjoy a leisurely evening roaming the town's twisting alleys and crooked half-timbered houses. Or, cosy up in one of the delightful winstubs - traditional Alsatian taverns.
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Reviews
4.4 / 5 · 47 reviews
CJB
Submitted 30/Jun
A wonderful experience that was greater than our expectations.
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Bob MacMaster
Submitted 24/Jun
My wife and I are Canadian seniors in our seventies who had a "bucket list" wish to visit and stay in Zermatt, Switzerland and to experience the majesty of the Matterhorn. We had also wanted to try a European riverboat cruise, something that was a part of the GRJ tour package that we eventually selected. It took all our retirement reserves to reach for our dream including thousands in airfare to travel from Canada to the UK. Sadly, it became a dream damaged beyond repair by GRJ. The GRJ tour, with several highlights including the Swiss Glacier Express, significantly promoted 2 nights stay in Zermatt and the cog-wheel train ride to view the Matterhorn. That sold us! But four months after we had financially committed to both the tour and airfare and 2 weeks after the final payment deadline, GRJ suddenly changed it. Interesting timing. Among the changes - we were no longer stopping at Strasburg enroute as well as a second night location and we were no longer staying in Zermatt for the 2 nights but at a hotel in a town called Brig, hours away. All this added hours more travel time to reach Zurmatt and the Gonergrat cog-wheel train and the magnificent Matterhorn. Precious experience time loss. The substitute hotel in Brig was abysmal - a tiny room with no dresser or chair, no phone, no radio or tv; a closet-sized bathroom with a 2' diameter canvas bag shower stall. The hotel's narrow stairwell lighting so poor as to be borderline dangerous. There were other matters but too many to list here. The only saving grace in all of this was our GRJ tour guide, whose professionalism, outer calm and people skills navigated all of us through this mess. All of this was thrown in her lap by a completely detached GRJ management. To her, at least, our hats are off! Lastly, we learned by strong rumour that our designation as a GRJ "S" Group stood for Standard Class Passenger Group and that our schedule had been altered to accommodate the GRJ "F" Group which stood for First Class who were given our Zermatt rooms and other original itinerary items. Perhaps GRJ "S" Class should be read Second Class? It certainly was how we felt! As to the riverboat component of the trip, although with its own challenges due to flood water conditions on the Rhine, it was a significantly better experience. Of course, the riverboat was not managed by GRJ. Small mercies!
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Alan
Submitted 16/Jun
A lovely itinerary by train through Switzerland via Basle and Davos to Zermatt with its views of the Matterhorn and trips on the Filisur, Glacier Express and Gornergrat railways on the way. An experienced tour manager accompanied us on our journey where everything was arranged for us. And that was just the start of our journey. We boarded the Amadeus Star at Strasbourg for our Rhine river Cruise to Amsterdam with stops at Speyer, Rudesheim, Koblenz, Cologne and finally Amsterdam and the train home. The ship and its staff were amazing, as was the food. We met some interesting people too. Everything pretty much ran like clockwork. That was one of the 'Greats' in Great Rail Journeys for us.
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Mike Turner
Submitted 15/Jun
Rail travel poor. Boat excellent. On day one not enough time allowed to cross Paris by coach. Arrived at train with four minutes to departure. All evening meals provided by Great Rail are three course/ no choice. Day one at Victoria Hotel Basel was the worst meal I have ever been presented with. Formal complaint to Rep (who had never seen the route before) has never been answered.. Penny-pinching also showed up on the Glacier Express where two courses of the three course lunch were withheld for GRJ group.. And I paid extra for First Class!. .Spend your money elsewhere.
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Derrick Harriett
Submitted 10/Jun
Train travel excellent and the river cruise the best time we have had cruising.
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Neil Ford
Submitted 10/Jun
Locations of this experience are amazing, but our experience was let down by an experienced guide but not experienced in the area, which led to confusion and lack of information. The local guides were excellent though.
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