Top 10 Holidays Accessible by Rail

This is one of our gentlest walking holidays, so arriving in a leisurely fashion by train seems very fitting. Besides the scenery – over the course of the week you meander across the timeless inland plain to the rugged and beautiful Costa Brava – the holiday’s two great features are the high-quality hotels and exceptional cuisine. Flavours of Catalonia walking holiday >

This had to feature in our Top 10 holidays by rail because, being in northern France, the Loire Valley is one of the regions that you can reach most quickly from London – you can be at your first hotel by a very respectable 4pm after a civilised 9am departure from London. For such a relatively short journey, the difference in climate is impressive: summers are much longer and warmer than they are in Britain, making it perfect for days of leisurely cycling and long picnics in the grounds of the many splendid châteaux. Châteaux of the Loire cycling holiday >

This is the walk that we always recommend to anyone looking for a holiday on which the emphasis is just as much on the hotels and the gastronomy as it is on the walking. The scenery is beautiful, as is the 3- and 4-star accommodation in which you stay, and the cuisine is truly outstanding. To really start your holiday in the style in which you mean to go on, we recommend upgrading to first class on your rail journey. To the Pont du Gard walking holiday >

As the train crosses gently undulating hills coated with fields of corn and sunflowers and dotted with honey-coloured farmhouses in the yards of which strut ducks and geese, it is hard to stop your mind from wandering to the dinners that await you. The rich regional cuisine is a real highlight of this holiday (and all our other holidays in the Dordogne), with duck, truffles and foie gras featuring widely on menus. Although the routes are relatively short to give you time to explore the places of interest en route, there are steady uphill sections each day, giving you the excuse to indulge at dinner! The Dordogne Valley cycling holiday >

Lying not far beyond where France, Switzerland and Germany converge, the Black Forest, a walker's paradise, can be easily reached by train from London. From Basel on the French-Swiss border, you travel along the Rhine Valley on a high-speed train before changing on to a local train for the last leg through increasingly Hansel-and-Gretel-like scenery. This sensation of exploring the illustrations of a fairy tale are likely to last all week, but the wonderful hospitality – and first-rate cuisine – are very real. A Walk in the Black Forest walking holiday >

The Eurostar and TGV high-speed trains may be a modern marvel, but the fairytale villages that you discover as part of this holiday in this little-known corner of eastern Switzerland are filled with an almost tangible sense of timelessness. To stroll past the sturdy stone houses decorated with intricate pastel murals of villages such as Guarda and Zuoz is to be transported back in time. Villages of the Engadine walking holiday >

Of all the walking holidays in our Top 10 holidays by rail, this route has featured in our programme the longest, and has always been a popular choice among customers wishing to travel by train. What makes it such a long-standing classic is the combination of friendly hotels, quintessential Alpine scenery of green meadows and jagged peaks, and the choice of a moderate or a challenging walking route each day, depending on how energetic you want to be. Bernese Oberland walking holiday >

The Luberon is quintessential Provence. To get yourself in the mood, why not sit back and immerse yourself in either Pagnol’s "Jean de Florette" or "Manon des Sources", both of which describe the enchanting landscapes so lyrically, as you speed through increasingly southern-feeling scenery? Our walking holiday in this enchanting region will transport you back in time. Hill-Top Villages of the Luberon walking holiday >