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Immersive experiences with Trafalgar

International Traveller
Leading the pack since 1947, Trafalgar is setting the bar for guided holidays.

With a range that spans more than 300 holidays across all seven continents – and a promise to take you not just to the icons, but to the lesser-known destinations off the regular tourist trail –  you’ll find ‘pinch-me’ moments on every Trafalgar itinerary.

Armenia cave towns
Uncover the ancient cave towns of Armenia.

Get to know

Creating unforgettable experiences isn’t all Trafalgar is passionate about. Through its JoinTrafalgar initiatives, powered by the decade-old TreadRight Foundation, Trafalgar is working to preserve the communities and places to which it travels, and the wildlife that inhabit them, so future generations can enjoy them.

Trafalgar
Trafalgar’s Be My Guest program offers a taste of produce direct from the source.

This enduring goal, and knowing that the best way to truly connect with a culture is through the locals themselves – in their homes and local businesses – inspired Trafalgar to introduce Be My Guest experiences into each itinerary. These experiences will see you sample olive oil fresh from a family grove on the hillsides of Tuscany, tasting produce and wine direct from the source and meeting the characters who bring each ryokan, farm or castle stay to life.

Trafalgar memories

Georgia and Armenia uncovered: Explore ancient cave towns such as Tbilisi and Uplistsikhe, meeting local families in their homes, businesses and farms; experience traditional Armenian cooking and farming traditions; and immerse yourself in the rich multicultural legacies of both destinations.

Trafalgar Uplistsikhe
Meet local families in their homes in Uplistsikhe.

Colombia rediscovered: Visit Tayrona National Park and meet the patriarch of one of Colombia’s most influential families, the Davilas, for dinner, sharing tales of their ancestry and their role as Colombia’s champions of sustainable farming; travel with a leading anthropologist to meet members of a local Indigenous mountain tribe; and sit down with societal elites such as the Barranquilla Carnival Queen.

Trafalgar
Sit down with societal elites in Colombia.

Highlights of Austria, Slovenia and Croatia: Sample traditional Croatian cuisine cooked under a clay bell in host Jakov and wife Keti’s family-run restaurant in rural Hvar. Set on a vineyard, far from the tourist buzz of Hvar town, Jakov uses the traditional ‘Peka’ bell inside two fire-fuelled ovens to cook a feast of the freshest local lamb, chicken, veal and octopus with vegetables.

 

For more information and to book visit Trafalgar.

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These are officially the 5 best train journeys in the world right now

    Emily Murphy Emily Murphy
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    Travel + Leisure just crowned the world’s best trains for 2026, and the results might reroute your next holiday.

    Forget the airport security queue. Forget the middle seat. Forget the bloke in 14C who reclines the second the seatbelt sign turns off. Travel + Leisure just dropped its 2026 World’s Best Awards, and the train category is basically a love letter to slow, scenic, ridiculously plush travel – voted on by roughly 661,000 readers who have very strong opinions about onboard spas and pisco sours. Here’s who made the cut.

    1. Andean Explorer, a Belmond Train – 96.84

    Peru takes the crown, with the Andean Explorer, South America’s first luxury overnight train, running a three-day, two-night route between Arequipa and Cusco that has zero direct competition on the continent – which might explain why it’s clearing 96 points.

    Launched in 2017, the train threads through the Peruvian highlands with stops at Lake Titicaca, all while passengers tuck into signature Andean cuisine, get treatments in an onboard spa carriage, and take in scenery that will blow you away. This isn’t a quick transfer – it’s an immersive, multi-day journey for people who want the trip to be the destination.

    2. Hiram Bingham, a Belmond Train – 96.46

    Peru pulls off the rare feat of taking out the top two spots. Named after the American explorer credited with bringing Machu Picchu to international attention in 1911, the Hiram Bingham is the glossy, dark-wood, live-band, welcome-cocktail version of getting to Machu Picchu. Think traditional dancers on the platform, a five-course dinner on the way there, and a bar carriage full of live music and pisco sours on the way back. It’s shorter and livelier than the Andean Explorer, more group celebration than private hideaway – but it delivers one of the most theatrical arrivals in world travel.

    3. Royal Canadian Pacific – 90.93

    The Royal Canadian Pacific runs vintage rail carriages out of Calgary through the Canadian Rockies, and unlike everything else here, you can’t just book it off a website – it operates mostly through private charters and limited special departures, with no standing public timetable. That scarcity is basically the point: this is old-money rail travel, heavy on restored heritage carriages and light on crowds.

    4. Rocky Mountaineer – 90.80

    The people’s champion of luxury rail, the Rocky Mountaineer, runs daytime routes with glass-domed carriages through British Columbia, Alberta, and down into Colorado and Utah, turning the Canadian and American Rockies into a rolling widescreen movie. It’s more accessible than most trains on this list – no overnight cabins, no need for a private charter – which is probably exactly why so many readers have actually ridden it and voted accordingly.

    5. Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, a Belmond Train – 90.78

    The name that started the whole luxury train fantasy. The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (VSOE)’s 1920s-vintage Art Deco carriages – navy-and-gold livery, polished wood, white roof – have been the definitive symbol of golden-age rail travel since 1883, running routes between Paris, Venice and other storied European cities. It might land at number five on points, but in terms of pure name recognition, it’s still the train every other train on this list is being measured against.