If you’ve been on a rail holiday in the last 15 years it’s possible that I designed it. When it’s realistic to travel again, would you like to come with me on the next one?
If you’d like to join my mailing list, I promise I won’t bombard you with marketing, but I will send you details of the holidays when they are ready. Please leave your email address on this website or simply email me on railholidaymaker@gmail.com
Mrs C and our daughter, Clare, are making bespoke masks at the moment. They call themselves ‘The Two Masketeers’. Here’s mine. Looking at the design, do you think I’m a little bit typecast in our house?
Whilst they are tailor-making facemasks I’m planning bespoke rail holidays. Although things are a little tricky right now, when the time is right I’ll be releasing a small selection of unique, limited-edition rail tours for 2021.
Have you ever considered a holiday by train? How would you like your next one (or maybe your first one!) to be designed and delivered by a rail holiday expert, someone who has travelled the tracks, visited the hotels and timed out the excursions? My tours have never been put together from a desk in an office; I’ve spent most of this century travelling, searching for the next rail adventures. Maybe you’d like to come with me on the next one?
A bit about my background. I’m Rob Carroll. I spent eight years “on the rails”, creating unique holidays for the world’s two largest rail holiday companies, then over four years running a smaller version, completely redesigning their product range. I’ve been in travel since 1994 and am now director of the fabulous Airedale Tours, as well as sitting on the board of the Association of Group Travel Organisers. Airedale has been organising group holidays since 1986, our holidays are financially protected through our ABTOT bond and any holidays involving flights are protected by our ATOL license.
Here’s just a little taste of past tours. There was a holiday to a small castle in Scotland, steaming through the Highlands on the Jacobite and enjoying the hospitality of a great host and chef who had worked in Michelin-starred kitchens. There was a grand tour of Wales from coast to coast, climbing to the peak of the highest mountain and ticking off every great railway. We’ve done Land’s End and John O’Groats on the same tour and crossed the island of Ireland by train from Derry-Londonderry in the north to Kerry in the southwest.
In Europe there have been adventures in the Alps of Austria and Switzerland, Germany uncovered from its beautiful Baltic islands to the Black Forest, and central and eastern Europe explored from the plains of Poland to the Dalmatian coast. Scandinavia is awe-inspiring by rail, searching for steam in Sweden and crossing the Arctic Circle by train on a grand tour of Norway. Even on my own holidays I tend to sneak in a bit of work. Here we are at Latour de Carol, a frontier station in the Pyrenees. Our surname is Carroll, so I told the kids I was taking them to our station. I think they forgave me and I returned home with a unique tour crossing through the heart of the Pyrenees rather than touching its edges from a distance like all the other tours out there.
I’ve crossed the USA and Southeast Asia by train too. My favourite worldwide tour remains a musical rail adventure of Deep South USA, visiting Nashville, Tupelo, Memphis and New Orleans, the homes of Country Music, the Blues, Rock n Roll and Jazz. Here’s a slightly embarrassed younger me before my hair turned silver, enjoying Graceland. Oh, and we even stayed at the Choo Choo Hotel in Chattanooga!
We’ll be able to travel soon. When we can, why not choo-choose come with me?! Sorry for the awful joke, but if you like the sound of the holidays, please leave your details on my website or email me at railholidaymaker@gmail.com
Thanks for reading. Stay safe and well, and I hope to hear from you!
Rob