Vacations By Rail — Local services in Chicago

Not impressed. We booked the Glacier Express, Rhine and Moselle Cruise, September 2024.

The company was not forthright in how much we would be expected to haul our luggage. The first day from St. Pancras station to Switzerland is brutal. Starting at 5 a.m., we walked more than two miles on an off trains and through several city blocks in Paris, to catch a chartered shuttle bus to another station -- a chartered bus for which we waited for for 45 minutes outside. Thank goodness it was not raining. Furthermore, as originally stated in their brochure, we did not stay in Chur to catch the Glacier Express. Instead we stayed in Davos -- where again the shuttle to the hotel was not ready and we ended up taking a public bus. That added I am guessing more than two hour's travel time to an already exhausting day -- only to have to travel BACK to Chur to catch the Glacier express the following day. Also that night not one liquid was served gratis at the included dinner which was sometime around 8:30 at night.

If you do book this trip, be aware that you need to be able to lift your luggage at least three feet off the ground to get it through the security conveyor at St. Pancras. Also, be ready to walk your luggage up the stairs on trains to the upper level where sometimes your seats are reserved, and realize that some stations might only have escalators for going up, but that you will be expected to get your luggage down MULTIPLE flights of stairs in the the train stations. Our guide was fantastic, but the logistics of the travel were ridiculous. The River Cruise portion was more relaxing -- but the included excursions were absolutely lame. Basically just walking tours. They never once got us to see some of the lovely gardens, estates, castles, or fortresses which are everywhere. Fortunately, members of our group caught on quickly and just struck out on our own when the boat docked. The cruise also really catered to the British passengers, which I get -- but c'mon no cream for our coffee? Meanwhile, at every meal there is a pitcher of milk for the Brits to have with their tea?!?! And ya'll can just forget about getting coffee WITH dessert. Best to just skip back to your room and make it in your Nespresso machine and bring it into the dining room. I might add that the British passengers have the option to use a service called Baggage Man, which is not available to the US travelers.

We picked this trip because it got us to London, a chance to take the Eurostar to Paris, and then to Switzerland (esp. the Matterhorn and Glacier Express) as well as several stops in Germany. It was why we took a chance, on an unknown company. But lesson learned for everyone in our group. Never again -- if we personally don't know someone who has used a tour group and my travel advisor doesn't know much about a company -- I won't use them for a trip longer...

We booked the Grand Train Tour of Switzerland independent tour through Vacations by Rail. While the trip itself was lovely, the value provided by VBR was completely lacking. We met several other travelers on our journey following the same itinerary, and they all had much better experiences with their travel companies than we had with VBR.

First of all, it took them a full week to confirm my trip after I paid the entire package amount. I had my flights on hold for a week, and they literally only provided (verbal) confirmation 2 hours before my fare lock was due to expire. I did not receive my actual travel documents until 5 weeks later, a week before we were due to depart. The travel documents were minimal and lacking in information- several times I had to consult the VBR website to get additional information.

If you are traveling through Switzerland by train, do yourself a favor and download the SBB app. It has all the train schedules, the platform each train departs from, the time between connections, and anything else you might want to know. It was my constant companion during this trip, without it I would have had no idea what to do.

I paid quite a bit extra to “upgrade” to 4 star hotels. If this was the upgrade, I would hate to see the standard accommodations. In each hotel we were booked into the very lowest class of room, and the hotels were mostly older and in need of refreshing. In our second to last hotel, I paid extra (in addition to what I had already paid VBR) to upgrade the room, because the room VBR had booked for us was a tiny box with barely a queen bed. The hotels, while mostly disappointing, were all very close to the train stations, which we did appreciate.

Overall, I think I could have booked this trip myself for about 50% less than what I paid VBR. I think I could have hired an experienced travel agent to create a fabulous, 5-star experience for the amount that I actually paid. Switzerland is gorgeous, the trains are a fun and easy way to travel, and I highly recommend this itinerary, I would just recommend you consider booking it through a different agency. Vacations by Rail simply did not provide the experience I would have expected for the price that we paid. Eric, our VBR agent, was helpful and responsive, and did his best to work with us to make adjustments to our itinerary that would work with our flights. I don’t have any complaints about...

We’ve been traveling with Great Rail Journeys – now Vacations by Rail in the US – for over 10 years. We traveled all around the world – from Scotland to Ireland to Switzerland, to Norway and to India, eight trips total (COVID gave us a pause). Now we’ve booked the next trip to the Netherlands in April and can’t wait. What differentiates this company from others and why we’ve chosen them after very detailed research? Few important points: They have very competitive, if not the best, prices. They have trips to virtually any part of the Globe and easy selection of the best timing. They have the most knowledgeable Tour Directors: meticulous, professional, very supportive and friendly. Finally – they have outstanding Customer Support. In particular, I want to thank personally Senior Rail Specialist Bridget Allen, who has been with us for 7 years. She advised and helped us in every way possible, and, honestly, we were sometimes “capricious” customers, asking to change a destination and the timing quite a few times (because of our family circumstances). Not a single time Bridget complained about additional work we’ve given her; on the contrary, every time she made immediate adjustments to our trips. I haven’t seen many travel agents being so supportive, although we’ve been with other agencies before VBR.

These are the reasons we’re planning to continue travels with VBR, and that’s why we strongly recommend this company to anyone who wants to see the world with the best quality of service. I was traveling with Vacation by Rail (previously Great Rail Journeys) since 2012. Their tours are affordable and, by and large, escorted by the best guides I've met (and I've been around the globe many times). We had 6 trips to Europe (including unbelievable Norway in 2020) and have 3 more scheduled for 2022 (Austria) and 2023 (Ireland and Italy). Service online, as well as on a trip, was nothing but exceptional. Even when we wanted to change a trip to 2023 to Ireland, the customer service representative Bridget Allen was most helpful, as she was on our 4 previous vacations. It's a real pleasure to work with such people. Thank you...