Tours Including Train Transport?

Some do. Barcelona to Madrid is by train. Getting to the Cinque Terre is by train although not a long one. York to London on the Best of England.

There are probably some others I missed.

Coaches are used over trains because they leave when the group needs to not the other way around. They can also go places a train can't.

Thanks for the quick response, Frank.

Drew,

In addition to the info that Frank II posted, using the trains is a good opportunity to learn how to travel by train. Especially in Italy, there are a few potentially expensive caveats to be aware of when using trains or other public transit, so it's good to get a bit of a tutorial from the expert guides.

Do you mean Rick Steves tours?

Yes, I mean any of the tours listed on his website.

As Frank II mentioned, some of the RS tours will use trains in some cases, while others will exclusively use the tour Bus. I haven't taken all the tours so don't know which ones use trains. Your best source of information would be to contact the RS tour office.

Which tour are you considering? Is using trains a concern for you?

Years ago a RS Turkey tour used an overnight train between Istanbul and Ankara. The current tour uses a bus. Not clear why there was a change. Not the most comfortable but for one night it was a nice experience.

Bus for tour companies are far more convenient and easier logistic wise.

Rocket, the Istanbul-Ankara night train was discontinued during construction on the line and not reinstated, since that route is now served by faster daytime trains taking only 4.25 hours. Our tour uses the coach.

Rick Steves' Tours also take the train as a group between Helsinki and St. Petersburg on the Baltics tour. The Family Europe route departing London takes the Eurostar to Paris. We also take short, scenic train rides on the South England and the Greece tours. While the Cinque Terre train connections are not specified in the online tour itineraries, most of the longer rides are.