Escorted Rail Tours

Variously described as “Europe’s last wilderness” and “Europe’s best kept secret,” Romania remains one of the Continent’s most rewarding yet least discovered destinations. With its forested Carpathian Mountains, medieval Saxon towns, painted monasteries and traditional villages where horses and carts still outnumber tractors, it offers a glimpse of a Europe long since vanished elsewhere.

At Ffestiniog Travel, our passion for railways is about much more than timetables and destinations – it is about history, landscape, engineering and the communities who keep these remarkable lines alive.  In 2026 we are excited to once again champion some of Europe’s finest heritage and steam railways with an inspiring collection of escorted tours designed especially for enthusiasts and curious travellers alike.

Step into a winter wonderland by train and swap airport queues and motorway stress for snow-dusted mountains, festive fun, and one of the world’s most scenic rail networks. Ffestiniog Travel’s much-loved Christmas & New Year rail tour in Switzerland returns with a carefully crafted itinerary that combines effortless travel, jaw-dropping views, and the festive spirit of Switzerland’s alpine towns. With centrally located hotels, optional guided excursions, and the freedom of a First Class Swiss Travel Pass, this tour is the perfect balance of structure and independence - ideal for both seasoned travellers and winter holiday first-timers.

General manager Maria Cook comments: “2024 is a year that marks some poignant anniversaries reflecting major historic events dating back over a Century from the start of WWI 110 years ago in 1914, the start of WWII 85 years ago in September 1939, the 80th anniversary of D-Day in June 1944 and the fall of the Berlin Wall 35 years ago in November 1989 – heralding the end of the Cold War.

Rail Tour specialist Ffestiniog Travel will mark its milestone 50th anniversary year in October with a special celebratory tour to Switzerland – the destination of its very first escorted tour in 1974 – complete with the original tour leaders!

Having spent the last 50 years travelling thousands of miles around the world by train, how do you choose your top ten rail journeys?

We welcome a second travel blog from David Grosvenor, an artist based in North Wales, who returned to travelling further afield with gusto this year by joining two of Festiniog Travel’s Small & Traditional escorted holidays. In this write-up David offers further, frank insight into our ‘away from the tourist trail’ tours when he travelled with a small group to Albania (including visits to Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia) to explore this mountainous and sparsely populated country and encountered a very warm welcome, delicious food and spectacular scenery that he struggled to find the words for!

A regular traveller with Ffestiniog Travel, David Grosvenor has shared his thoughts and photographs of our recent escorted tour to Kyrgyzstan. This Small and Traditional tour is the most remote destination in Ffestiniog Travel’s tour portfolio and certainly lives up to its ‘small and traditional’ tour status. A small group departed on this inaugural tour in July 2022 followed quickly by a second departure in the same month due to popular demand. David provides a candid account of his experience in Kyrgyzstan in this travel blog, which also serves to capture the authenticity of our Small & Traditional tour range. These escorted tours visit countries that still remain untouched by large scale tourism and discover remote areas, true nature, rich culture and wonderful history with the services of a knowledgeable local guide. David describes his words as “a personal blog written during this amazing tour.”

One of our regular and popular escorted tours explores scenic regions that surround the mighty Rhine river in Germany and is run to coincide with one of the country’s most culturally important events in the calendar year – the ‘Rhine in Flammen’ Festival. This is a very relaxing 5-day holiday, and our next visit will be based in one of Germany’s oldest cities, Bonn. In this blog, tour leader John Robson, offers an insight into this short European break and why it is worth considering joining us when we run it again in 2022!