Escorted tours company Leger Holidays is offering rail travel and flights on selected European tours for the first time.
Customers can take the Eurostar and connect to Europe’s high-speed rail ,or fly from London or regional airports instead of travelling by coach.
Customers choosing the rail option can tailor their holiday to include pre or post journey nights in London, staying at hotels located near St. Pancras International Station.
Each of the 32 tours featured in the new Rail Holidays & River Cruises brochure has a travel options reference box, with icons depicting the outbound and inbound transport choices available – rail, air or coach – and icons indicating the type of experience, including rail excursion, coach excursion, guided walking tour, rail connection, and river cruise.
All holidays are accompanied by a tour manager or drivers.
A total of 22 tours offer rail travel from the UK or train trips such as a ride on the Mont Blanc Express, the Red Train of the Pyrenees or the Glacier Express.
In addition, there are five new festive rail holidays featuring travel by rail or air, taking in destinations including Girona, Bucharest and Bern.
The collection of rail holidays travelling by rail costs from £1,145pp for a seven-day ‘Italian Riviera of Flowers’ tour, including return Eurostar to Lille, return TGV from Lille to Nice, six nights half-board accommodation, and coach transfers for excursions as detailed in the itinerary.
There are five new rail holidays travelling by air, from £1,849pp for an eleven-day ‘Fairytale Castles and Railways of Transylvania’ tour including return flights between London and Bucharest, one checked piece of luggage, airport transfers, 10 nights half-board accommodation with two lunches, and coach transfers for excursions.
Leger Holidays has also introduced new flexible travel options to its collection of river cruises, including travel by rail and air on selected holidays.
The new brochure features six cruises on Europe’s most popular rivers – the Rhine, Danube and Seine – and a new five-day UK cruise on the Thames on board the award-winning African Queen.
There are also four new festive cruises, all on the Rhine, priced from £619pp with coach travel, or from £965pp with travel by train.
Head of Retail Sales Ashley Dellow said: “Agents know Leger Holidays has a huge selection of tours with something to suit everyone, and now they can also offer a choice of transportation – we’re not just coach travel!
“Agents shouldn’t worry, however, that we are moving away from coach transportation synonymous with our brand, air and rail have been added as options to give the customer more choice – Leger Shearings Group is still the UK’s leading escorted coach tours company.”