Byway

Fantastic experience: We loved our vacation trip to Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. The hotels recommended by Byway were lovely and close to the train stations. All of reservations at the hotels and trains were perfect. We also used the WhatsApp support while we were traveling to ask questions and Byway always helped us and responded promptly. We would travel with Byway again in the future

Fantastic experience: A great way to fly less - Byway were very good, designed a great holiday (we set out to vist Cordoba and Madrid)based on our quite vague ideas, including suggesting good places to break the journey (Nimes and Avignon). They organised well timed trains and booked interesting hotels, almost all within walking distance of the station. The interrail pass worked well and Byway offered an upgrade for a reasonable cost to premier class on the trains and it was well worth it! Good in holiday support with What's App contact who responded within an hour.

Fantastic experience: The before and during our trip help and details couldn't have got any better. The team is polite, patient, knowledgeable and understandable. Therefore the trip was a great success and I would definitely recommend Byway if you want a holiday with a difference.

Fantastic experience: We absolutely loved our trip of Italy. (October 2024), Turin, Naples, Rome, Bologna,Lake Como before stopping off overnight in Paris on our way back to London. Byway was fantastic from the moment we enquired, to changing the itinerary to answering any questions on the way. The WhatsApp group gives you peace of mind during your travels should you need to reach out, which we did with a quick response. All the staff are a credit to Byway. The team did an amazing job of picking the hotels we stayed in. My only down side was the overnight sleeper train from Turin to Naples. This was one hour late leaving and made up the time arriving in time which is great, but came at a cost of a very bumping ride. This of course is out of Byway control, but for people to just consider overnight trains. From now on, it's not My way, it's Byway and have already recommended to family,friends and work colleagues.

Fantastic experience: Byway organised our no-flight holiday to Málaga expertly. I would highly recommend them

Fantastic experience: They planned a fantastic trip across Scotland and London! We will definitely be using them again!

Fantastic experience: I have recently returned from a trip organised by Byway Travel. Their service was excellent, the trip planning and instructions comprehensive. As a solo female traveller I was reassured to have the support of the team.

Positive experience: We thoroughly enjoyed the changing landscape and differing cultures as we crossed Europe by train to and from a week on the stunning Italian coast. Byways were at hand to help with unavoidable travel disruption which was really reassuring. Holidaying without flying was far more exciting!

Fantastic experience: My wife and I booked our honeymoon with Byway and had the most wonderful time. Part of our trip changed dramatically due to a cancelled sleeper train (caused by flooding in Central Europe), but Byway's support quickly resolved this issue on the fly! They booked us a hotel for that night and easily rerouted us to our destination city. In fact, the new itinerary gave us bonus time in Switzerland with an absolutely gorgeous trip through the alps. I can't recommend Byway enough! They make every single part of the journey easy to manage. We've been telling anyone who will listen about booking with them, and we will absolutely be doing so again in the future.

Fantastic experience: Fantastic company! We just travelled across Europe from London to Croatia and back via Italy by train. Though there were a few issues like cancelled trains the Byways team were immediately contactable and resolved all these situations in record time. The customer service was amazing! I would recommend them to anyone wanting to organise a train holiday with the security of a reliable agent in support; they are spot on in their organisation, information, their communication.

Fantastic experience: I cannot recommend Byway highly enough. Our bespoke trip travelling across Europe from London to Istanbul was perfectly planned and anticipated with great excitement. However, due to severe weather across central and eastern Europe in particular Austria, Hungary and Romania (the Danube was 3 metres higher than danger level), our first sleeper train from Stuttgart to Budapest was cancelled. Our Whatsapp support team was immediately on hand and managed to get us to Munich. we stayed initially for 2 nights but the weather conditions were so uncertain that we stayed for a 3rd night. Byway went above and beyond to re route our trip and we were given several options. We decided to stay in Germany and spent 2 days in Cologne and 2 days in Brussels before returning home. Although it was not the holiday we had planned, we had a fantastic experience thanks to our support team at Byway. All the staff at Byway are amazing and we look forward very much to booking again. If you read the background into this company, it is a new company with vision, drive and enthusiasm and we wish them all the success they deserve in the future.

Positive experience: Fantastic experience with Byways travel, highly recommended. We did London to Andalusia stopping off at a variety of places including Nimes, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Cordoba, Granada, Girona and Paris over the course of 2 weeks. Perfect for a first intertailing experience.

Fantastic experience: Just back from an excellent holiday to France and Spain. Train from Newcastle - all hassle free. From initial contact with Byway all went so smoothly. Booked easily, hotels chosen, train tickets and seats sorted, then sat back and watched the world go by. All trains on time, only issue we had on the return journey was the train was delayed. No problem. This was sorted within 8 minutes with a simple WhatsApp message, unreal... In all. Such a hassle free holiday. All hotels within walking distance of the station, but all hotels were of excellent quality. Can't wait to browse, choose and book the next one. Date of experience: 04 September 2024

Fantastic experience: An excellent travel company that I recently used for the first time and will use again.

Fantastic experience: I did not end up booking my trip with Byway. My review is for customer service and response time to questions. They are top notch communicators and very helpful. The only reason I did not book was due to me taking a different direction with my trip. I would think that based on this great customer service any trip booked through them should go off without a hitch. Obviously traveling by rail can have service disruptions and strikes which are beyond their control. Shout out to Oliwia and Holly for the great communication.

Fantastic experience: We are a couple aged 80+ and have just returned from a splendid 14 night holiday by rail in Spain and Portugal. All the arrangements were superb, as was the quick response they made to any query we raised. I recommend their holidays very highly.

Fantastic experience: My friend and I have just returned from a trip to France, Italy, Switzerland and back to Paris, and London. The service from Byways was second-to-none, and the personal contact from each member of the team was prompt and friendly. They were on hand immediately to help with train times (and sometimes involving crazy last-minute changes of platforms! All done with quiet, calm efficiency.) I think it is a measure of a company when certain things do not go to plan and how they react. This happened when I was suddenly hospitalised in Switzerland and my departure was delayed. I must particularly praise Jay who not only showed interest in my care, but helped me navigate changes to my itinerary and set me back "on track" home to Blighty.(excuse pun) So thank you, Jay, and thank you, Byways. I shall be back!!

Negative experience: Just had a trip to Prague, via Brussels, Aachen, Cologne, Nurnberg, Schwandorf, Prague. I found the itinerary not very good, had to change stations, platforms (sometimes no lift, thus very difficult with our luggage).

Fantastic experience: Friendly helpful staff.

Fantastic experience: We used Byway for a break in Ghent and Bruges using Eurostar. The hotels they had proposed were fine and the proposed journey timings worked. We would use Byway again.

Fantastic experience: Friendly, helpful and efficient. Having a Whatsapp hotline made it stress free and with no flights we had the most relaxing holiday for a long time.

Fantastic experience: We've just booked our first holiday with Byway. We used their Concierge service to build a customised trip to Split. The service is very impressive, excellent advice and very prompt responses. I recommend them very highly.

Fantastic experience: This was the first time we've risked travelling abroad over the Christmas period but it was our 3rd holiday with Byway and we felt certain we could rely on them. Our faith was well founded. The standard of the trip they put together was excellent as always - the hotels were brilliant and the travel arrangements were planned to perfection. Their suggestions for activities in each destination are always super helpful, too. When, at moments notice, an unscheduled Eurostar strike threw a spanner in the works, their support over WhatsApp had everything rearranged within half an hour and our trip was back on track in a way that worked for us. We came to this company to help save the planet but now we keep coming back because the holidays are just so enjoyable.

Fantastic experience: Absolutely fantastic service, spent two weeks travelling around France and Spain by train with the support from these guys it was a dream made our honeymoon stressfree and very relaxing, would reccomend

Fantastic experience: We have just returned from a train tour of Italy organised for us by Byway Travel ( hereafter refered to as Byway) This was our first ever interrail holiday and it did not disappoint. Out original objective was to have a city break to Florence and while researching options we stumbled across Byway, we are extemely happy that we did. The trip included an Italian sleeper train from Turin to Naples , three night stays in Naples, Amalfi, Florence, over night stays in Paris Milan and Chambery. What a trip! The communication from Byway once we had booked the trip was exemplary – unbekown to us a landfall had occurred on the mainline from Paris to Turin however the Byway team had rerouted and booked all the necessay train for us before we were aware of the problem. Byway provided us with a comprehensive “Journey Guide” this included train times, seat bookings, hotel information – including maps from the train staion to the hotels. The guide also contained a list of places to visit in each destination which enabled us to choose what to do depending on weather, and of course personal choice. These instructions were so detailed and helpful. Byways were always on hand to offer perfect solutions, on our outward leg one train was delayed which resulted in us mising a connection, I contacted Byway on the “WhatsApp” group they provided and very quickly they came up with a timetable which enabled us to get back on track. Later in the trip a rockfall caused a road closure preventing us from reaching Amalfi by the original route, again Byway were excellent in their response. The Byway choice of hotels were very central and ideal for exploring the cities and the sights. All of the hotels allocated were superb, but special mention must go out to the Hotel Marina Riviera in Amalfi and the Hotel Berchielli in Florence, these two four star hotels were luxuirious. A special shout out must go to Izzy and Becca of Byway, who it appeares never sleep, any questions we had while on the trip were answered very quickly by one of these two ladies ensuring we had a stress free holiday. We would highly recommend Byway Travel and look forward to traveling with them next year.

Fantastic experience: I booked a 6-day trip with Byway for the Scottish highlands in late September. From the start all my questions were promptly addressed, and the itinerary provided was incredibly well organized, showing each step of my journey with precise schedules, directions and suggestions for my down time. This high level of service continued via Whatsapp throughout my trip, and I was immensely grateful for the quick and friendly support when I encountered the inevitable snags. (Huge thanks to Izzy and also Ellie!) Even for my relatively short trip, Byway had constructed a thoughtful itinerary featuring memorable locations in Scotland and unique accommodations, while also allowing time to make my connections and to simply relax and enjoy the sights from the train: I saw otherworldly landscapes, bothies and remote manors, lochs and wild pools, all manner of Scottish skies and even lone stags (twice!). Beautiful. Would not hesitate to book another journey with Byway.

Fantastic experience: Byway were a fantastic choice for our Europe tour by train, a first class service from the initial planning stages to personal support during our trip when we needed advice. Highly recommend

Fantastic experience: Great company - they organised a trip to Croatia for me with fabulous hotels, great suggestions for destinations and really well thought out timings. We never had to panic about catching trains or finding hotels - everything was really clear and done with lots of sensible time between transport. We also found the Whatsapp support worked really well - both for small questions and when one ticket didn't work. They were always prompt, accurate, helpful and solved the problems. No one had to "ask their manager". We would definitely use them again.

Fantastic experience: Just returned from my first trip with Byway to Scotland level of customer service was brilliant and felt well supported . All the connections between bus , train, ferry where well organised so we had enough time but not too much time would definitely recommend

Fantastic experience: Byway have fantastic destinations, the hotels are all excellent choices. Very helpful and competent should you need help. Looking forward to our next adventure.

Fantastic experience: An unforgettable holiday! We had an amazing journey through the south of Spain, with trains that gave us lots of time to enjoy some beautiful locations and with some great hotel choices. More importantly the Byway team helped us through the issues and questions that we, as train journey newbies, inevitably had.

Fantastic experience: Had a wonderful time. Thank you Izzy and James. I wont hesitate to recommend them.

Fantastic experience: Just had a fabulous Alsace adventure with Byway..so professional from start to finish. Very personal experience with your own travel guru and support throughout the trip. Well positioned hotels and lots of info on your itinerary for things to experience on your travels. I would definitely recommend and look to book again on another adventure! Thank you!

Fantastic experience: Well planned excellent service, booking hotel accommodation in Rome, travel by sleeper to Sicily and three lots of accommodation and onward train travel in Sicily. All went according to plan, but we had the reassurance that we could have got hold of Byway via a WhatsApp group should we have needed help.

Fantastic experience: Best holiday ever!! My family and I have just returned from our second holiday organised by Byway. We didn't think it could get any better than our first one in the Yorkshire Dales last year, but this one to the Loire Valley in France was truly incredible. The Byway team organised a 7-day cycle tour itinerary, making sure that our stays and routes took us through some utterly stunning towns and scenery. The accommodation selected for us was of an incredibly high standard and the team had clearly gone to great lengths to research places that would fit the needs of our group. Everything went so smoothly and we loved having our daily itineraries, train tickets, etc. in the Travel Plans app - all so easy to access. We were also really reassured to have Byway on hand when our return journey on the Eurostar was disrupted. They were always incredibly responsive in our Whatsapp group. THANK YOU BYWAY! We can't wait for our next holiday with you.

Fantastic experience: So far so good. Just booked a trip to tour Italy for a pre-50th treat!! Communication, excellent, friendly service and accommodating.....can't wait till next year, really excited but service from Byway up to yet has been fab!

Fantastic experience: We have just returned from two lovely weeks in Spain, organised by Byways. Excellent organisation and inspired choices of hotels for us - all were ideal locations and of a high standard.

Fantastic experience: We've just completed a 4 week, 10 stop slow travel tour of Italy with some France and Switzerland at each end. The tailored design, support, expertise and sheer joy of exploring came through from the whole ByWay Team. They made it so easy for us (as a busy working family of four) to focus on the fun and love of exploring, by taking away the admin hassle, and injecting so much insight and experience that made it such a special trip. Memories for a lifetime, quality accommodation, superb pace and rhythm to our travels plus some hidden gems of locations and things to do. The Whatsapp group while on the move was really impressive as was the support in the run up to going away. Seriously impressed and we will be using ByWay again. Thank you, thank you!

Fantastic experience: I’m glad I booked my holiday through Byway. Me and my sister had an amazing trip to Scotland. We were away for 10 days. The whole booking process was smooth and easy. Everything was planned perfectly including train tickets, buses, hotel bookings and etc. All the information we needed were provided and handy plus the WhatsApp group that was created solely for us just in case we needed them. The itinerary was spot on. The places we visited in Scotland were top places and now we are in love with the country. Can’t wait to book another holiday soon. The whole team were helpful specially Tash who managed the whole thing for us. Thank you so much. You guys are doing the brilliant job. I’ll see you soon. Jullie and Shila Tamang

Fantastic experience: The customer service at Byway is world class. From the moment I contacted them they were proactive and really helpful. The trip itself - a slow journey to Sweden from the UK - was well planned and a joy to take. Byway have a great support team on Whatsapp who were really helpful when a few of my trains we cancelled in Germany last minute. I'd highly recommend them and am already planning my 2nd and 3rd trips with Byway.

Fantastic experience: We had a most relaxing and stress free holiday with Byway starting with help extending our already booked holiday in Sardinia . Nothing was too much trouble and the accommodation was excellent in both quality and location for each part of our journey. It is also very reassuring for older travellers such as ourselves to know that the WhatsApp group is there should we encounter any problems. We hope to use Byways again and thank everyone for their help

Negative experience: I phoned to book a train holiday in the UK and the agent said he would email me with options but I received nothing. I waited over a week and phoned again and another agent confirmed he could see my request and that nothing was done. He confirmed the original agent was working and he would ask the original agent to get back to me the same day or latest the next day. Another 2 weeks have gone by. I've reached out to other agencies in the meantime but I was keen to use Byway because of their ethos and amazing reviews. Sadly I can't trust they will be contactable after I've paid them if they're so uninterested in my business before I've paid them.

Fantastic experience: Guardian angels for the holidaying innocent. Want a holiday that dreams are made of but lack confidence or don't know where or how to start? Then Byways are for you. This group of people take great care to listen to your dream and then set about turning it into reality without being harmful to the world's ecology. Once you've agreed it's what you want they set to work behind the scenes to make it happen! Keeping you informed along the way booking trains and accommodation well in advance using their experience to ensure success. When the great day comes and you set off you will have in your possession all the tickets, travel passes and hotel booking sheets in a pack plus electronic copies to provide backup. As well as travelling companions via a bespoke WhatsApp group which we found invaluable when we had a couple of glitches causing mild panic and within minutes one of our angels had responded and solved the problem, allowing us to proceed with that day's travel. The pack also includes step by step instructions on how to find your hotel from the railway station with alternative modes of transport. We found this most helpful especially the buses where the stops are shown as the bus progresses along the route. Throughout our holiday we felt confident and excited by each day's revelations as we progressed through the itinerary. We genuinely felt we were dealing with friends who were watching our backs. This is a company that is totally committed to providing excellent customer support and I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending them to you, my fellow traveller.

Fantastic experience: Byway were fantastic! They tailored our holiday to our budget and priority, and through WhatsApp were with us every step of the way. On our return journey, Paris Gare Du Nord had completely shut-down, no trains. While everyone was upset and panicking, ByWay were with us contacting EuroStar, SNCF and hotels. They managed to book a last-minute hotel room, which luckily we didnt need as we managed to get the last train home - and they covered the cost!! ByWay were very honest about what they knew and didnt know about areas of interest. We usually organise our own holidays, so it was strange to put our trust in someone else. However ByWay totally earned that trust and more some. I would definitely recommend them and use them again!

Fantastic experience: Byway have great talent for selecting amazing getaways. Highly recommend!

Fantastic experience: Amazing service! The team at Byway helped me and my partner on our Scotland adventure this summer. They’re incredibly attentive, flexible, and just really wonderful to work with. They will create a trip itinerary for you based on your prefences and handle all the bookings. All we had to do was tell them what we wanted to do and see and they helped us figure out the rest. Cat and team are knowledgeable and know the best spots to check out and best way get around. Especially now with changing travel rules their service was an immense help to us. Highly recommend them!! Will definitely be booking more trips with them in the future!

Fantastic experience: Coming out of COVID lockdown we were really nervous planning our first trip and I have to say, planning it with Byway was the best decision. They had many options of adventures we could select from and we decided to go with the Scottish Isles option. Byway curated the trip exactly to our needs and were very flexible with our requests. What we loved the most was that they were there whenever we needed help with any suggestions of things to do. We'd highly recommend Byway travel to anyone!

Fantastic experience: We had an absolutely fantastic time on our first ByWay holiday up to the Scottish highlands and Islands. ByWay were very helpful in both planning the trip for us and whilst we were away. They created a personalised journey plan to what we wanted and even managed to make it happen with just a couple of weeks before the dates we wanted to go! The team are very friendly and professional, booking everything very quickly and giving assistance whilst you're away by suggesting things to do, places to eat and helping with any questions you have! Would definitely recommend ByWay to anyone after a holiday

Fantastic experience: Great week away in Cornwall on our first Byway. Everything ran smoothly from the trains to the inspiration. We saw most of the area and were sent daily tips to get the best out of the trip. Was a great way to travel without the stress.