Ffestiniog Travel

Keep in touch with developments at Ffestiniog Travel

Kyrgyzstan – Mountains, Lakes & Nomads – July

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.”

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10 of the Best Rail Journeys from 50 Years of Train Travel!

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

As part of rail tour operator Ffestiniog Travel's 50th anniversary celebrations, its founder Alan Heywood was invited to do just that. Since leading his very first tour to Switzerland in 1974, Alan has escorted hundreds of rail travellers around the globe – and continues to do so at the age of 83! In 2024 he will once again return to Switzerland and lead tours to Romania, Georgia, Armenia and Slovenia!

With so many rail journeys to choose from, he has managed to select his top 10 personal favourites and briefly explains why:

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Indian Hill Railways 2017

Ffestiniog Travel actively encourages its customers to offer feedback on the tours and holidays they have taken with us and the more elaborate the better! So again we welcome another customer blog to these pages and one that captures the essence of our annual pilgrimage to India, combining journeys on the wonderful Hill Station Railways with visiting some of the Sub-Continent’s notable landmarks. This travel blog by Dave Firth chronicles his experience of our 2016 India Tour in which he describes the practical elements of the holiday, the interesting stops along the way and of course the railway journeys themselves!

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Harz Railway

Ffestiniog Travel tour leader John Robson has penned another blog to share his experience and expertise of navigating the comprehensive Harz Railway network that weaves its way through Germany’s beautiful Harz Mountains. Ffestiniog Travel have been running escorted and arranging tailored rail holidays to the Harzer-Schmalspurbahnen (HSB) for over 30 years and the popularity of this destination shows no sign of waning. It appeals both to the rail enthusiast and partners in equal measure due to the abundance of steam-hauled locos and the scenic charms of the region. In this blog John offers some insights into how you can make the best of your time on this wonderful and extensive railway playground.

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Albanian Odyssey – May 2022

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!

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FT Traveller Captures Germany’s Heritage Railways

Ffestiniog Travel once again invites you to enjoy yet another wonderful photo review of one of our recent escorted rail tours by blogger Vince Chadwick. If you enjoyed Vince’s review of his previous Ffestiniog Travel tour to Ireland you will not be disappointed by his bird’s eye view and informed commentary of our Narrow Gauge Steam in Eastern Germany tour in July 2016.

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A Rail Tour of Ireland in Pictures

Never is the well-used phrase ‘a picture paints a thousand words’ so pertinent than when parading your holiday snaps, and as a tour operator Ffestiniog Travel actively welcomes its customers to share their visual experiences of our rail tours with us. Keen photo blogger Vince Chadwick recently returned from our 15-day Irish Circular escorted tour and has captured his experience in captioned images that offer a real taste of the ‘Emerald Isle’.

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When Pushing the Boundaries Takes You on Unusual Train Journeys

When we invited travel writer Tom Chesshyre (author of six travel books) on a section of our Pushing the Boundaries escorted tour to Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania in 2014, we anticipated coverage in the travel press but hadn’t expected his experience to inspire and form part of his new book about unusual train journeys.  Here Tom takes an extract from his book and writes an observational blog about his trip with Ffestiniog Travel.

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Indian Hill Railways - another account

A rail tour of India's remarkable Hill Station railways offers both the enthusiast and general train tourist a wonderful opportunity to experience a piece of India and railway history. To cover the Shimla, Darjeeling and Nilgiri Hill Railways in the timeframe of a regular holiday - in this case 3-weeks - requires a lot of travelling, as Ffestiniog Travel guest David Peel, found out. But the sightseeing content and railway experiences certainly made it a worthwhile odyssey. David shares his thoughts of Ffestiniog Travel's 2017 Indian Hill Railways tour in this unedited, candid account!

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Bonn and Rhine in Flames 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!

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The Far West of Ireland – A Tour Leader’s Experience of the Emerald Isle by Train!

This blog by Ffestiniog Travel tour leader, John Robson, brings to life one of our popular tours, a circular rail journey around Ireland, which he led in 2018 – a recollection from the viewpoint of a tour leader! Let John’s words and memories transport you on a written journey through the ‘Emerald Isle’!

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Steaming Through Snowdonia is Poetry in Motion and one man wants everyone to experience it!

The marvel of human invention is never more wondrous than when it harmoniously blends with nature and when technology enables you to view the beauty of this landscape at first hand it is a marriage made in heaven. Gordon Rushton describes how a Welsh national park, two preserved railways and a special steam train are the perfect paradigm of nature, man and machine working together.

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Harz Mountains

The Harz Mountains in Germany is a beautiful area to visit but what makes it even more appealing as a rail holiday destination is its narrow gauge railway which travels through stunning landscapes. Harz expert Dan May never tires of steaming through the Harz Mountains and in this blog he shares his experience of leading a tour to the region.

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Eastern Orient Express

As one couple embark on an extensive tailor made rail holiday to South East Asia they decide to take us with them by writing about their journey…

Ffestiniog Travel’s Tailor Made rail holidays can often prove challenging for our travel consultants as they try to fulfil the dream journeys of customers. One couple, Robert and Christina Woodroffe recently embarked on a mammoth 67day rail holiday through Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Borneo and are keen to share their experience with us by publishing their travelogue style blog. Here’s their first instalment – a luxurious start on the Eastern & Orient Express.

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Singapore

In part 2 of Robert and Christina Woodroffe’s travelogue of their 3-month tailor made Ffestiniog Travel tour of South East Asia and Australasia they arrive in Singapore and share some interesting facts and thoughts on this small, pristine country while enjoying its hospitality!

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New Zealand to Australia

As Christina and Robert Woodroffe continue their 67-day tailor made tour they embark on a cruise from New Zealand to Australia, which they arranged independently, but if their experience appeals to you Ffestiniog Travel can plan and organise everything for you. Here is the first instalment featuring their Celebrity Solstice cruise highlights as they embark from Auckland and experience amazing places along the New Zealand coastline.

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A Sea View of New Zealand

As our ‘tailor made’ travellers, the Woodroffes, continue their journey down NZ’s east coast they visit Wellington before encountering the beauty of the South Island coastline and even manage a heritage rail ride up a steep gorge with some interesting viaducts en route.

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Summer & Christmas in Sydney – Even better when the cricket is on!

The best time to visit Australia is over Christmas and New Year AND it helps that the Ashes are in full swing too! So our tailor made tour bloggers, the Woodroffe’s, timed it perfectly to experience both! Here they share their experience of a warm Christmas and discovering the sights and fabulous flavours of Sydney.

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Forget Bondi and discover the real Sydney Seaside and be blown away!

For a truly unforgettable Sydney beach experience forget Bondi and head to Bundeena! – Ffestiniog Travel’s long-distance tourists, the Woodroffes, give a rather poetic account of their experience of Sydney’s seaside secret!

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Rainforest and a Railway = a Perfect Day

As it was the rainy season in Queensland, Australia, FT travellers The Woodroffes considered giving Cairns a miss, but are so grateful they didn't when they realised the town was the gateway to a phenomenal Rainforest journey!

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Why Choose Ffestiniog Travel?

  • UK's first rail tour operator to run an overseas escorted rail holiday in 1974
  • Created for people who love rail holidays and exploring the world’s heritage railways
  • Dedicated rail holiday specialist - great destinations, sightseeing and unparalleled railway content
  • Train ticket supplier for worldwide rail operators - we can plan and arrange your rail journey to anywhere
  • Knowledge of the world’s rail routes makes us leading specialists in escorted and Tailor Made rail holidays
  • Over 60% of our existing rail tour travellers return to holiday with us year after year
  • Committed to supporting rail travel and heritage railways around the world
  • Our profits support the continued preservation of the famous Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways
  • Small, dedicated rail holiday travel team offering an award-winning personal service

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