The flight-free coach holidays that are actually fun

From Italy to Ireland, these coach trips are a convenient way to explore Europe, say Sarah Marshall

Explore Europe via road (Alamy/PA)

Forget cramped flights and airport stress – it is time to rediscover the joy of travel with a coach holiday.

Offering a comfortable and convenient way to explore iconic European destinations, coach tours are making a comeback.

With spacious seating, ample luggage space, and numerous pick-up points across the UK, they provide a stress-free alternative to flying.

Here are some top coach tour options for your next getaway.

Dordogne, France

Château de Beynac (Just Go Holidays/PA)

Indulgence is at the heart of a new tour covering the most popular region of the Dordogne. Travel on the Truffadou Train, once used to transport Martel market’s famous truffles, and enjoy a wine tasting and picnic lunch on the family-run Domaine du Siorac vineyard in Bergerac. Based at the Auberge de la Petite Reine in the heart of the Périgord Noir region, there are multiple opportunities to sample local food and drink during nightly four-course dinners – with a free bar from 6pm-10pm included in the price of the holiday.

In between meals, sightseeing excursions include trips to picturesque towns and villages such as Rocamadour, Martel and Bergerac. Stop at the medieval Chateau de Beynac, an impressively well-preserved castle on a limestone cliff. Famed for its 600 cave paintings estimated to be up to 20,000 years old, the Lascaux cave complex is another highlight of the tour. End with stops in Bordeaux and Saint-Émilion to stock up on fine wines to take home.

Just Go Holidays (justgoholidays.com) offers a nine-day Journey through the Dordogne tour from £1,399pp (two sharing), including half-board accommodation, ferry crossing and coach transfers from various pick up points in the UK. Various departures from between May and September.

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Italy

The Grand Canal in Venice (Alamy/PA)

Enjoy a ‘Thelma and Louise’ road trip on a larger scale in the company of a coach filled with women – even down to the tour leader and driver. Part of a new female-only portfolio of trips offered by Insight Vacations, a tour of Europe’s Bel Paese covers many of the country’s highlights with a feminine touch throughout.

Visit an Umbrian winery run by the matriarchs of a family who pioneered modern Italian oenology and are champions of sustainability. Learn about the art of loom-weaving from a women-owned-and-run weaving association, and join local artist and environmentalist Allison Zurfluh on a Prosecco-fuelled boat ride around Venice.

Insight Vacations (insightvacations.com) offers a 16-day Country Roads of Italy, a Women-Only Tour tour from £5,378pp (two sharing), including coach transfers, B&B accommodation and some meals. Flights extra. Departs on various dates from May to October.

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Yorkshire Dales

The Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway (Alamy/PA)

Nothing evokes the nostalgia of travel quite like a train journey. Connecting peaceful valleys, rolling hills and enticingly vast moors, two key rail track experiences form the crux of a new break through the Yorkshire Dales.

Chug through tunnels and viaducts in a vintage carriage while admiring the beauty of the English countryside. Pulled by a steam locomotive, the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway runs for four miles, while the Settle-Carlisle Railway travels through the iconic Ribblehead Viaduct. The trip also explores the city of York, including a visit to the National Railway Museum.

Just Go Holidays (justgoholidays.com) offers a five-day trip York, Yorkshire Steam Train and Settle to Carlisle Railway trip from £389pp (two sharing), including half-board accommodation, train journeys and coach travel from various pick up points. Various departures.

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Ireland

Mullaghmore and Classiebawn Castle (Alamy/PA)

Discover Ireland’s equivalent of the Lake District on a trip to County Cavan and County Fermanagh. Start in Enniskillen, a town set between the upper and lower Lough Erne, and explore shops selling traditional goods in the Buttermarket.

Fans of English literature will appreciate destinations which inspired one of Ireland’s greatest sons, the poet and writer WB Yeats. The fishing village of Mullaghmore is memorable for its views of the North Atlantic and Ben Bulben Mountain. In Sligo, the red brick Victorian Yeats memorial building has a library and a photographic collection of Yeats and his family. End in Dublin where the famous artist – awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923 – was born.

Leger Holidays (leger.co.uk) offers a six-day Ireland’s Ancient East & Lakelands tour from £1,199pp (two sharing), including half-board accommodation and coach transfers. Various departures.

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