Rail holidays: the best tour operators Great Rail Journeys (01904 521 936; greatrail.com) has been selling holidays by train for 30 years and has 230 escorted tours to more than 40 countries, with themes ranging from "Steam Trains and Tulips of Holland" to "Tracks of the Deep South" (Nashville, Memphis and New Orleans). Those added for 2013 include a 13-day rail-and-cruise journey to Burma (from £4,475) and a nine-day trip, "the Avenue of the Volcanoes," through Ecuador (from £2,085). North America is among the most popular destinations. The USA Coast to Coast in Winter 2012/13 tour costs from £2,958 per person sharing for 20 days, including flight from London to New York and San Francisco to London, 15 nights" hotel accommodation, three overnight train journeys in a two-berth roomette (meals included), city tours, an excursion on the Durango and Silverton Railroad and a visit to the Grand Canyon. Golden Eagle Luxury Trains (0161 928 9410; gwtravel.co.uk) organises journeys on private trains in Russia and its former republics as well as Mongolia and China. It operates the only fully en suite private train in Russia (the Golden Eagle), on which it arranges trips along the route of the Trans-Siberian and along the Silk Road through Central Asia. A 15-day trip eastbound on the Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express costs from £9,695, including one night in Moscow, 12 nights aboard the Golden Eagle with breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks, one night in Vladivostok, and tours and activities. Flights are not included. Holidays By Rail (0800 033 7960; holidaysbyrail.com) organises everything from short city breaks to grand touring holidays in Europe, North America and other parts of the world. It has more than a dozen trips wholly or partly on steam trains. One in Colorado includes the famed cog railway to the 4,300-metre (14,107 ft) Pikes Peak and the Durango & Silverton Narrow-Gauge Railway from the Animas River Canyon to the San Juan Mountains. From £1,125 per person sharing (departing on July 19 2013), including seven nights" accommodation, sightseeing excursions, 12 meals, and transport by motor coach. Flights not included. Planet Rail (01347 811810; planetrail.co.uk), a family business based in York, organises first-class railway holidays in Europe (and on the Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express). Most of its holidays are tailor-made. Its most popular off-the-peg trips are one to Venice (six nights, including four in a hotel, from £1,025) and a "Grand Tour" of Italy (11 nights from £1,495 per person low season, including three nights each in Rome, Florence and Venice). Railbookers (020 3327 0761; railbookers.com) has some off-the-peg intineraries on its website combining destinations with scenic journeys, but it specialises in tailormade breaks, with train travel in first or second class. As well as short breaks in Europe, it sells holidays on private trains in Africa, India and North America. A seven-night "Basque Explorer" trip to San Sebastian and Bilbao via Bordeaux costs from £889 per person sharing. Titan Travel (0800 988 5823; titantravel.co.uk) has more than 300 escorted holidays and travels to all seven continents. It has nearly 20 that are at least partly by rail, to destinations including Italy, North America, Australia, India, Singapore and New Zealand. One of the most popular is an 11-day Rocky Mountain Railtour through western Canada: from £2,595 per person sharing, including flights. The Ghan train in Australia Trainbreaks.com (trainbreaks.com; 0844 409 9551) is a trading name of Delpech Travel Promotions, which sells hotels breaks with transport on Eurostar. Check the website for latest offers. Travelsphere (0844 567 8830; travelsphere.co.uk), which sells escorted holidays in more than 70 countries, has 20 or so with travel wholly or partly by rail in Britain, the Continent and further afield. A nine-day trip to the Harz Mountains and Berlin by Eurostar and steam train costs from £759, including eight nights" b&b, six dinners and the services of a tour manager. Treyn Holidays (01904 734 939; railholidays.com) is the budget arm of the Great Rail Journeys group (see above), selling trips to several European countries by Eurostar and TGV. It has tours for 2013 from about £300 (eg, Harrogate, York and Bronte Country by train, coach and steam railway). The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (0845 217 0799/ 020 3117 1300; orient-express.com) is possibly the most famous (and certainly in its latest incarnation the most illogically hyphenated) train in the world. It's a vehicle for special occasions, from birthdays to honeymoons. From April 2013, in addition to Venice, Paris and central Europe it will be travelling for the first time to Stockholm, via an overnight stop in Copenhagen: six days/five nights from £3,800 per person sharing.