The trip was wonderful for both my husband and I! We were on this trip/tour October 2024. After landing in Portland ME we were able to get a shuttle from the Airport to our Hotel. All went smoothly. We chose to come in a day early since we were flying in from So Cal and wanted the extra time to get settled. SIT (Special Interest Tours) made the extra day reservation at the hotel for us. We spent a great day in Portland, ME on our own...enjoyed it thoroughly! We met up with the group and the guides at 4:00p,m that first afternoon for a harbor cruise and a dinner. Both were great. We also met Molly and Rachel who were to be our tour guides for the remainder of the our time on the tour. Day 2 of Tour - WE were up and had breakfast at the Hyatt Hotel in Portland. Breakfast was good and a hot meal so that was great! We boarded our Coach Bus and met our driver, Lem, who was wonderful and made the entire tour that much more enjoyable. He was a gem!! We absolutely loved him. The Seashore Trolley Museum and Trolley Rider were wonderful! The shop tour was awesome and we learned so much and enjoyed thoroughly!! We then went to Kennebunkport, ME for lunch and walked around the town and did some shopping. We ate lunch at a local pub and enjoyed our shopping time and also the time we got spend with our fellow tour group members getting to know them. The Winnipesaukee Scenic Railway Turkey Dinner Train was enjoyable, although I did not expect to eat on paper plates with plastic utensils. The food was good and once again we were able to sit with tour group members and got to know them better. The tour narrator from the Turkey Company/Train Company talked a lot and did give us information about the lake and the houses around the lake that we saw on the tour, but there were times I wished he would just be quiet and let us enjoy the view and the conversations we were having amongst ourselves. He did like to name drop and try to impress us with how expensive all these lake houses were. That was when the information he was giving us became annoying. All in all a good day packed with lots of good things that we enjoyed. Day 3 This was our first day waking up at the Hotel Lake Opechee Inn & Spa. It was an early day and we were given breakfast in the lobby. This breakfast was pathetic! My husband is type 2 diabetic and basically all he could eat was yogurt and a hard boiled egg. Thank goodness we brough a good supply of Keto granola bars. This was the same breakfast all three days we were there. So disappointing especially when compared to the breakfasts offered to us at the other 2 hotels we stayed in. Perhaps for future tours you can find a different hotel. One that is more up to date and offers a better breakfast.. The rooms were nice but the entire facility seemed very dated. Also every time we entered our room at the end of each day in New Hampshire it smelled of gas (propane) we were told by the hotel attendant that the room always smelled this way and she smelled nothing out of the ordinary. We slept with the windows open to get rid of the smell. Since apparently they did not believe it was a problem. The Conway Scenic Railway trip was great as was our ride on the Conway Scenic First Class Gertrude Emma Parlour Car. The photo Runby was a wonderful experience! So nice to have our own car and have the Runby done just for us. We did get some time on our own to enjoy shops and a local craft show. The shop and roundhouse tours were very good and my husband really enjoyed them. The Mountaineer to Crawford Notch/Fabyan Station Dome car had great views and the box lunches we were given were good but the Dome car was very crowded and uncomfortable. There was a shortage of bathrooms at the station and on the train. Perhaps planning your bathroom stops on the entire tour needs some work. The steakhouse at the hotel was over booked and dinner was very late. We were finally seated with 4 others from our tour group but it felt as if we were inconveniencing the restaurant host who was seating us. Pretty bad when the hotel attendant takes over and finds you a table because the restaurant host can't be bothered. This really was a disappointing hotel over all Day 4 This was one of the best days on the tour!! We absolutely loved the Cog RR and Mt. Washington! The gentlemen on the trains were so informative and told us so much amazing information about the train! The weather was cold, cloudy and rainy but we loved every minute! It had great gift shops!! Also the museums and videos they presented were awesome! We learned so much!! The Cafe Lafayette Dinner Train was perfect!! I was looking forward to this and was NOT disappointed!! The food, service, and atmosphere were amazing! Thank you for such a wonderful experience!! Day 5 The Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway Museum and train ride were both great! Another wonder train ride, shop visit and lunch in an outdoor pavilion made the day awesome! Having a chance to eat lunch outdoors where the weather was perfect meant so much! Knowing that we had this train all to ourselves for the day made us feel so special and spoiled! Thank you. The Runby once again was fun and we got so many pictures! The Railway Village Museum and Lobster Bake were so disappointed! There was barely anything to da and the shop was nothing more than a thrift shop with some RR T-shirts! The lobster bake was awful! Not enough room to eat, nutcrackers to crack lobster shells (really??), such a mess ! This showed me I never want to do a lobster back again. The hotel we went to in Camden ME was amazing!! When I walked into our room at 16 Bayview Hotel I truly felt spoiled and pampered!! What I wished the SI Tours would have planned was to skip The Railway Village Museum and Lobster Bake and let us spend that time in Camden ME and enjoy that town and its shops and restaurants and most importantly the wonderful room they gave me. Day 6 We had a wonderful day in Acadia Park. We ate lunch a pub and did some shopping and enjoyed ourselves. We then walked to our Oli's Trolley where an very knowledgeable tour guide/trolley driver gave us a wonderful tour of the park with a few stops along the way where we could get out and enjoy the outdoors and views. But this tour was made uncomfortable for me - at the beginning of the tour, at the first stop, Rachel came to me and asked me to put my mask on. I had developed a cough the day before, but always covered my face. I understand asking those of us coughing to put on a mask, but I was the only one she asked. When the group returned to the trolley I started to take note of 4 or 5 other people coughing, sneezing and blowing their noses. They were not asked to put on their masks. I felt embarrassed and singled out and felt as if everyone was looking at me. I felt very uncomfortable! It really put a damper on things and changed my entire mood for the remainder of time I was on the tour. I felt this was unnecessary but not wanting to create a scene I complied. Not happy about that! We returned to the hotel in Camden and had dinner at a local Pub. Day 7 We left the Bayview hotel - The hotel had a wonderful breakfast for us. We went to see the Belfast and Moosehead RR and its shops. There was an issue with the bathrooms at this venue as well. Please do a better job next time when planning for bathroom stops especially when you are dealing with senior citizens. This was a nice railroad tour, but because of mismanagement of the schedule our lunch was cut short and some of our tour group didn't get a chance to finish their lunches. Not a good thing! Don't know who didn't plan well the tour guides, tour company or RR. We were hoping for more in the Gift Shops. The selection was lacking. The Main Narrow Gauge Railroad was a nice afterthought. That's what it felt like. It was short and it was overlooking the bay that we took a cruise on the first night. Everything that was told to us on this RR ride we had heard the first night on the ocean cruise. The Dinner at SCALES was fabulous! A wonderful way to end the trip. Wonderful food. I did notice that the tour guides did not eat with the tour group. They were always at a separate table. This was very noticeable at SCALES where they were not seated with us but sat at the bar instead. I thought this was rude and felt like they didn't want to eat with us...didn't know why! I thought they would want to get to know us by eating and breaking bread with us. Oh well I guess not. I think they missed something by distancing themselves from us. For Special Interest Tours - Plan Bathroom Facilities better Get rid of The Railway Village Museum and Lobster Bake - let your next tour group enjoy Camden ME and that wonderful Bayview hotel!! Trust your people to know if they should wear masks.

Lots of train information and up-close experiences with the trains and the people who maintain them. The two guides were great. Very well organized and very caring about the participants.

We had a great time on the '2024 Majestic Switzerland by Rail' Tour. Besides the excellent rail tour itself and our fantastic guides Sven and Julie, we meant some really good friends with whom we hope to develop lasting connections. Great food and fun meals with these friends. The hotel accommodations were top-notch and were mostly close to the train stations; we even got our original room upon returning to Zurich. John and Mary Jo