The art of the perfect holiday
11/05/2018 · By Sukie Chapman
Holidays based around art are not a new thing, however, travelling across nations and visiting galleries via rail may be the way of the future.
Read more2025 Tour code: FCS25
About the tour
Based in the attractive coastal town of Roses, we explore the rugged Costa Brava and experience the region's cultural and gastronomic highlights.
Cruise around the Cap de Creus peninsula to the fishing village of Cadaqués, savouring local flavours with lunch at a vineyard. Explore Barcelona, which showcases the fantastic architecture of Antoni Gaudí, including the Sagrada Família.
Visit the ancient town of Besalú and uncover the surreal world of artist Salvador Dalí on a visit to his museum in Figueres. Finally, journey aboard the Little Red Train into France's Pyrenean foothills.
Unforgettable experiences
What’s included
Itinerary
We meet at London St Pancras International and board the Eurostar to Paris in Standard Premier Class. In the French capital, we take our seats in First Class carriages for a journey through the heart of France to the Spanish town of Figueres. Here, we transfer by coach to our hotel which overlooks Canyelles Petites beach in the delightful town of Roses.
Located in the north-eastern area of the Costa Brava, a wild and rocky stretch of the Spanish coastline, we are not far from the centre of Roses, allowing you to enjoy the best of both worlds - the peace and quiet of our secluded location and the town's attractions when you choose. On arrival this evening, we sit down to a three-course dinner.
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Reviews
4.4 / 5 · 121 reviews
customer
Submitted 28/Oct
An excellent holiday - superb hotel, lovely location and really interesting excursions. Our tour guide was marvellous. What a wonderful time, and thoroughly enjoyed by the whole group.
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WILLIAM RICHMOND
Submitted 25/Oct
Nice hotel and lovely resort however slightly too far from main shopping area
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Anne Marie Bowen
Submitted 21/Oct
A wonderful tour. Food and accommodation hotel was first class. Interesting day trips; with plenty of free time to enjoy Roses and surrounding areas.
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S Fiddler
Submitted 20/Oct
Excellent hotel, with super position overlooking the bay. The staff and food were very good; with extra large first courses. Trips out were good, but couldn’t understand why early starts when most trips were finished by 2.00 p.m, apart from the Barcelona one. The vineyard tour was exceptional, with a very congenial host - Jose. Personally, the Red Train journey, although picturesque was spoiled by the fact Axat was ‘closed’. There was only one pizza restaurant open, which seated about 12 and owing to the fact two trains pulled into Axat, getting a seat was nigh on impossible. The station buffet bar staff were overwhelmed with the amount of tourists descending on the area. There was a 15 minute delay for a simple cheese and ham panini, with some being served undercooked. The only downside of the whole holiday was a 1 1/2 hour delay in Paris, no fault of GRJ. Would certainly recommend this trip.
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K Bridger
Submitted 20/Oct
I thoroughly enjoyed our trip there this past October. The hotel we stayed in was top notch, outstanding cuisine and charming service. I went on most of the planned excursions but also explored the coastline and beaches on foot. Best day of the trip was the train journey through the Pyrenees and a close second was a day we organised for ourselves in Girona. I would have love to have seen more of Barcelona but a few hours there was more frustrating and tiring than pleasant. We travelled with a tremendous group of people and an enthusiastic tour organiser.
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Poolie Bob
Submitted 16/Oct
A very well organised tour expertly led by our Tour Manager Rob Clark. The hotel in Roses was excellent and the view was breath-taking (see photo). With all breakfasts and evening meal included, we were offered a good choice for each course and the desserts were to die for (not literally). (See photo - not of a lemon). Although the hotel is not in the main part of Roses, there is a local bus service every hour but that stopped at the end of September and on our tour, we had two free days and the second free day was in October. If you wanted to spend another day in Roses, then there was a 3km walk along the coastal path in both directions. Fortunately, our Tour Manager arranged an extra, optional trip for those who were interested and that was to Girona (one of his favourite places). This was well worth the extra cost and would recommend to anyone. Our tour of Barcelona was a bit of a let down as the coach trip there and back was over 2 hours each way and we really were only shown the Basilica of Sagrada Familia which is still being built. The enthusiastic local guide explained every facet of this building (see photo) but perhaps a tad too detailed as this reduced the free time that we had. We loved visiting Besalu, Figures and the Dali Museum, the Mediterranean cruise to Cadaques (ok, short boat ride but it was on the Med), Girona and the Little Red Train. Overall, this was a fascinating tour set at just the right pace and I would certainly recommend this to anyone but perhaps better if it were in the main season. Well done Great Rail Journeys and Rob our Tour Manager.
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