Ffestiniog Travel

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

Once again Ffestiniog Travel is delighted to feature more travel tales from guest bloggers Robert and Christina Woodroffe, on whose behalf we have arranged transport and accommodation, as they continue their worldwide wanderings. They have returned to Ethiopia and in this blog share their experience of its capital Addis Ababa and its interesting history.

Here is a taste of what you can expect from Ffestiniog Travel’s brand new ‘Great Little Trains of India’ tour departing January 2015. Seasoned traveller Bob Cable, who has lead several rail tours to India, shares some of his memorable moments as tour leader to the Sub-Continent.

Ffestiniog Travel is very proud of its Welsh roots and maintains a close connection to the country and works closely with its sister companies, the Ffestiniog Railway and Welsh Highland Railways. A percentage of profits from all our rail holidays support the continued preservation of these two heritage railways. As part of our escorted tour portfolio we visit Wales every year taking a group of tourists on a ‘Grand’ Welsh tour and many rail enthusiasts join our ‘Connoisseur’ tours looking behind the scenes of some of the little railway gems of Wales.

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.

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’.

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.

Ffestiniog Travel is always delighted to receive feedback from customers about their rail journeys and holidays, so when we received a picture postcard style slide show from one couple we felt impelled to share their travels and memories as a photo blog.

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!

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!

The Telegraph described Uzbekistan as the “most fascinating country you’ve never been to” with only an estimated 1,000 Britons visiting each year. Ffestiniog Travel has been running an annual escorted tour to the country since 2017 and the destination is gaining interest among a growing number of tourists as red tape surrounding the former Soviet Union country eases. The country has so much to offer, some of the most beautiful cities in Central Asia and an interesting history along the famous Silk Road. This blog has been written by Ian Handley, a Ffestiniog Traveller, who joined one our Uzbekistan tours. He was drawn to the railway element we included in the tour itinerary and shares his experience of the train and transport systems of the country.

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’!