Train tours?

There are some downsides to using traIns for guided tours. You would need to get a group from train stations to hotels. Meals between locations would be challenging. I'm sure there are more.

I was leary of bus time before taking my first RS tour, but I've found it's not a downside at all. The bus is only half full, so you can spread out comfortably, and there are stops every 1.5 to 2 hours. The guide uses part of the bus time to impart information about the next stop, or the area in general.

Since most trains in Europe are public transportation functions, it's less likely you'll
find a tour that uses trains. It also invites the question of getting between train
station and accommodation if there is a group of people - more chance of losing
people, pickpockets, etc, than if everyone is on the same bus going right to/from
the hotel and to/from sightseeing.

But, you can use trains to go between cities and then arrange day tours on your
own, if you're willing to do the work.

I found a company called Great Rail Journeys:
https://www.greatrail.com/us/destinations/europe/

There are some luxury rail tours, including this one in Scotland:
https://www.seat61.com/royal-scotsman-cruise-train.htm

There are some non-luxury ones in Ireland, as well. They uses buses to travel from the train stations, of course.
https://railtoursireland.com

There are RS tours that use trains for some portions of the itinerary. The Best of Spain Tour takes the train from Barcelona to Madrid. The Best of England tour takes the train from York to London. Family Europe tour takes the Eurostar from London to Paris. Several other smaller train trips are included in some tours, such as getting to Cinque Terre on some of the Italy tours when they stay in towns outside the 5, and in Switzerland. Other tours also use boats/ferries.

If you're concerned about bus time, know that the time on the bus is not all at once and will be broken up at least every two hours for rest stops (required for the drivers) or visits to interesting spots along the way. I have done five RS tours and only one day did I feel like the bus time was way too long, and that was due to an unexpected extra hour detour due to construction.

If you don’t like a lot of bus time, consider the RS Prague/Budapest tour. It only has one day on a bus and two great cities!

The Brittanic Explorer is the most recent high end train in the UK. If you can afford it they have some interesting itineraries, with good looking days out.

In Scotland there is the Royal Scotsman, very luxury and swish.

For worldwide touring by train I've used Ffestiniog Travel from Wales. Very curated, small group tours. But they will also put together a bespoke tour, and have a considerable catalogue of hotels round the world which they have used on their tours. Almost all are individual, not chain hotels. Kind of a, possibly, better version of what RS does for hotels on his tours.
Carefully chosen for, in general, proximity to stations, without sacrificing quality.

Globus offers a few rail journeys:

Globus Rail Journeys

We did the Best of Barcelona & Madrid. The RS tour used the high speed train between the two cities. We have also done the Best of Tuscany which relied on bus transportation. As others have noted the bus travel includes breaks and the fact that there are plenty of empty seats makes it comfortable.

k.wallaceknight, I've always wondered the same thing. The train stations are in town centers so getting to hotels is no big deal. With small groups and early purchase snagging 24 seats in one car is not hard. Its not about meals I dont think. Heck, box lunch on that Prague to Budapest train. Vienna to Budapest? The train is a natural. Taking the train, Prague to Budapest might save 250 to 300kg of carbon.

And sometimes the RS tours use tour buses in the cities; or am i wrong?. What about public transportation?

How it works is simple...

The tour company books a group set of seats when they purchase the tickets. (This is done months ahead of time.) The tickets are supplied by the tour company and you don't have to think about it.

When you arrive at the train station, a bus meets you to drive you to the hotel unless it's nearby. Since many of these tours also include bellman service, the tour company will arrange for conveyance of your bags should you not be bussed to the hotel.

If it's a true budget tour company then things might be different. It wil be spelled out in the tour information.

And sometimes the RS tours use tour buses in the cities; or am i
wrong?. What about public transportation?

Mr. E on the 5 tours I have taken with RS, the tour bus was used to move the group from one tour stop to the next or to get to a day trip stop. Never a city tour, we always used public transport on every tour if it was offered - metro, train, tram, funicular, ferry, vaporetto. Perhaps a recent tour participant can weigh in on the use of the Prague-Budapest bus usage, but I'm pretty sure that tour day includes several stops along the way and opportunity for the guide to offer lessons/information to tour members that would be difficult to do on a train.

”Perhaps a recent tour participant can weigh in on the use of the Prague-Budapest bus usage, but I'm pretty sure that tour day includes several stops along the way and opportunity for the guide to offer lessons/information to tour members that would be difficult to do on a train.”

I took this tour in May. We used public transportation within the two cities although mostly walked. The day we took the bus to Budapest, we took public transportation in Prague to arrive at the location away from the center where the bus was parked. Usually the tour bus ride includes a stop at someplace of interest or maybe a winery lunch. But this 1-day of bus time was a long day of just riding the bus with just a bathroom stop, and later a stop at an Auto Grill type place to pick out some cafeteria type food for lunch. Taking the train, instead, would have been nice.

It is an excellent tour! I thoroughly enjoyed the city days!

Most Americans have never been on a train and it took me 5 years of travel before I finally got on one in Italy in 1985. Learning, experiencing on a RS tour would be amazing.

Thank you so much everyone! Such great information all around, I really appreciate the insights and the resources! I've done solo travel through Europe via train and really love (usually, at least) the time I spend on the trains. Also I am naturally antsy so when I read "6 hours bus" I do assume it's more or less nonstop the way a flight is and I'll not get to move around, so knowing that the buses stop for breaks is very helpful.
Cheers, all!

Mr E the bus driver (who really is part of the tour group) is the same for the whole trip on most RS tours.
We have had a quick City drive by tour on the bus when on a tour. We did take the train last year for our Barcelona/Madrid tour & for the short lived London/Paris tour.
If one would like to do a train tour you could train to a city then do local guides once there. We did that for a Tuscany self guided tour on trains then got a local guide or local one day tour once in the towns.
You do stop often while on the buses on RS tours. We have done 8. The buses can get you closer to your hotel. We actually had a bus to get to the train station in Barcelona & then in Madrid. So even on a train type tour you did take a bus.
When we did our own self guided train tours of Tuscany we did have to take a bus to get into the city center. Think it is pretty hard to do train only.

SA, thank you. Much appreciated.

k.wallaceknight,

If you have any interest in Canada, there are several companies / lines that offer very scenic rail tours that overnight in various locations. Do a google search and you'll probably get more info than you ever thought about.