European trains are comfy, clean, speedy and green. So for your next holiday abroad, forget flights and leave the car in the garage.
Take the Treyn…
Treyn Holidays offer a collection of great value, escorted rail holidays with everything from short breaks to a longer-haul ten-day tour across Europe on offer.
Look forward to their eight-day Tyrol in Springtime trip which runs in March and April 2010. 
This train tour travels to Innsbruck, Salzburg and Remagen, taking in stunning scenery and charming Tyrolean towns and villages along the way.
One of the company’s most popular train tours last year – to the Dordogne and Lot – will definitely be riding the rails again in 2010. This terrific five-night tour whizzes you by train to the scenic heart of the Dordogne, where you stay in comfortable and delightful three-star hotel accommodation.
Also on the Treyn Holidays’ timetable for 2010 will be trips centred around the beautiful lakes and mountains of Austria, Italy and France. And there will also be several tours offering the chance to take in the world-famous Oberammergau Passion play in Bavaria, Germany. The five-hour epic play (first performed by residents of the village in 1634) takes place as the result of a vow made by villagers that if God spared them from bubonic plague, they would perform a passion play every 10 years.
Full steam ahead…
It’s not just train enthusiasts who’d enjoy a steam-train trip with Railtrail. The company has leisurely steam excursions that allow passengers to explore wonderful scenery on beautiful old steam trains
, often taking secondary lines that take you off the beaten tourist tracks. The beautiful Harz Mountains and the stunning Ore Mountains of Saxony feature in several short breaks in the New Year.
Steam breaks in Sweden, and the Swiss Mountains – which includes an amazing journey over the Bruenig Pass – are also available in spring through to summer. The more adventurous can go further by booking the spectacular steam tours through California and Australia. Railtrail also offers a good range of regular train holidays throughout Europe.
Five reasons to travel abroad by train
1. You don’t have to check in two hours before departure. Start your journey with Eurostar and check-in is half an hour before your train leaves.
2. Many holiday airlines charge for baggage, which is also weight restricted. Travel by train and you are allowed two standard suitcases and one piece of hand luggage, with no weight restrictions.
3. Most trains arrive and depart from city centres. Not only is it more convenient, but it also saves on transport fares from out-of-town airport locations.
4. Travelling by train is less restricted. They generally offer more leg room than airlines and you can walk around and stretch your legs and amble down to the bar for a coffee, drink or snack.
5. Holidaying by train is a great way to take in stunning scenery and to see more of the countries you are travelling to or through – and it’s much easier to take in beautiful mountain, lake, forest and countryside views when you’re not 35,000 feet up.
Get advice from The Co-operative Travel to find out where is best to go at what time of year.