Norwich-based specialty travel company Holidays by Rail has confirmed it will offer 30 rail-cruise holidays for the 2011/12 travel season.

Travellers may select from a variety of destinations ranging from river cruises along the French and Dutch waterways to larger ship voyages to the sun-drenched Mediterranean islands and Alaska’s Inside Passage.

An assortment of fall and winter 2011 departures are available to colourful destinations including the Greek and Ionian Islands as well as seasonal extravaganzas like a four-day minibreak to Christmas Markets in Liege, Aachen, Valkenburg and Bruges.

In addition to spectacular holidays throughout Europe, Canada and the United States, 2012 rail-cruise itineraries celebrate special events like Amsterdam’s Floriade Festival, one of the world’s finest horticultural exhibitions taking place once every decade, and the illuminating annual celebration of the Riesling grape harvests in the Rhine and Moselle valleys.

“With such an assortment of destinations and themes, there is a rail-cruise holiday to match every taste and travel budget,” said Eric Hutchins, general manager of Holidays by Rail.