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Holiday Overview

Enjoy slow train journeys, through the beautiful border country between Spain and France, on some wonderful mountain railways.

Journey into the heart of the stunning Pyrenean countryside aboard some delightful railways. Wind your way up into the mountains aboard sometimes modern, sometimes historic, rolling stock, and roll across some marvels of railway engineering. Stay in a colourful, unspoilt resort on the Costa Brava beside the blue Mediterranean, and enjoy a ride on a "road train" in Roses on this perfect rail holiday.

Your Holiday Highlights
  • Fly from Regional Airports
  • 07 Nights 3* Accommodation
  • Half Board Throughout
  • Fully escorted by tour manager
  • Includes 03 Heritage Train Journeys
  • Several Optional Tours (£)
  • Other Airports Available (£) Please Call
Day 01: UK - Spain

Fly to Barcelona or Girona and transfer to the delightful Costa Brava resort of Roses, set beneath ancient fortifications on the sweeping Golf de Roses. Settle into your comfortable hotel and, depending on your arrival time, perhaps enjoy a stroll along the beach to the harbour and marina, where you'll see some gleaming leisure craft, before dinner is served.

Day 02: Included Train Journey to Nuria

Head into the beautiful Catalan Pyrenees on today’s included excursion. The highlight of the day will be the 45-minute journey aboard the privately owned, two-car Nuria Rack Railway, or Cremallera, from the hamlet of Ribes de Freser up through a steep, forested gorge to Nuria. This remote ski station and pilgrimage shrine draws pilgrims from across the globe to its imposing lakeside sanctuary. Stroll on the paths that cross the alpine meadows, taste some local produce and learn about the history of this extraordinary place, before re-boarding the train for the return journey down the valley and then back to Roses.

After a thoroughly enchanting day, enjoy dinner at the hotel and, as on each evening, rest and relax in the lounge or perhaps stroll into town, where you'll find a selection of bars and cafes, as well as plenty of nightlife for the energetic and young at heart.

Day 03: Travel aboard the Yellow Train to the commune of Mont-Louis

Today's train journey aboard the historic Yellow Train, or Petit Train Jaune, takes us on a meandering trail through the sun-kissed French Pyrenees. We'll begin our journey in the beautiful, UNESCO-listed town of Villefranche-de-Conflent and travel through some stunning scenery and across soaring bridges and viaducts – each one an engineering marvel – towards France's highest station, at Bolquere-Eyne. Continuing through a spectacular mountainous landscape, we'll reach the Pyrenean commune of Mont-Louis, with its great citadel and city walls. Take in the beautiful surroundings, and perhaps enjoy lunch (payable locally), before we make our way back to Roses by coach at the end of a thoroughly absorbing day.

On fine days, don’t miss the sunset from the beach – Roses is the only Costa Brava resort to face west, which means that some evenings can be truly spectacular.

Day 04: Ride the Roses Express to the Cap de Creus Natural Park

This morning you're free to explore the pleasant surroundings of your holiday base. Roses has been settled since the days of the Ancient Greeks, but is now a colourful, typically Catalan resort, with a host of bars, restaurants, cafes and other diversions to enjoy. Don’t miss the included ride on the tractor-hauled, tourist road train, the Roses Express, which winds its way at an anything but express pace – into the wooded hills of the Cap de Creus Natural Park above the resort. Expect some wonderful views along the coastline.

Other sites to see in and around the resort include the ruins of the 16th-century citadel walls and Trinitat Castle, and some fascinating ancient dolmen burial sites. Roses still functions as a working fishing port, and so seafood is the most popular fare here, and those preferring food to sightseeing will enjoy tasting the local speciality, suquet de peix – a fish and potato stew served with a flourish in most of the town's many restaurants.

Day 05: Cross the border into France & Travel on the Red Train

Our final included excursion takes us back into France, today. The highlight will be your journey aboard the 100-year-old Train du pays Cathare et du Fenouilledes, more often simply called the Red Train. Travel through the spectacular scenery of castle-dotted Cathar Country from Rivesaltes, near historic Perpignan, to the Pyrenean village of Axat. On fine days, you'll ride in open-air summer wagons across viaducts and through tunnels, and past the vineyard-clad lower slopes of the Eastern Pyrenees. After time to savour your wonderful surroundings for the last time, return to Roses to enjoy a final evening and dinner at your hotel.

Day 6: Fly Spain - UK

Bid farewell to your Catalan hosts, and transfer back to the airport to check in for your flight home, at the end of a wonderful few days of train journeys.