Undiscovered Italy
23/08/2019 · By Katie Shaw
Uncover undiscovered Italy on a remarkable holiday with Great Rail Journeys. Embrace the charm and culture with the experts – secure your place with us now.
Read more2024 Tour code: IEG24
About the tour
Join us on a magnificent discovery tour of six of Italy's great historic cities, encountering a wealth of artistic and cultural treasures on guided tours of the monumental sites of Ancient Rome, the breathtaking Vatican City and Sistine Chapel, and the dazzling gems of Renaissance Florence. We visit the lovely Tuscan city of Lucca, Pisa's iconic tower, and complete our grand tour in enchanting Venice, where we are captivated by unique light, ornate palaces and serene beauty.
Unforgettable Experiences
What’s included
Itinerary
Our holiday starts when we meet our Tour Manager and fellow travellers at London St Pancras and board the Eurostar to Paris. Travelling in style in spacious Standard Premier Class we are served a light meal at our seats. From the French capital, we continue by First Class rail to Chambéry. After a short break, we board a comfortable coach for a beautiful journey through the Alps. Enroute, we enjoy stops to absorb the incredible views of towering, alpine peaks, before arriving in Turin where we spend the night. We have our first dinner together in this dignified Italian city.
Some departures dates will have a different itinerary on this day due to Italian engineering works - click here to see affected dates
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Reviews
4.2 / 5 · 50 reviews
Bill Warrick
Submitted 01 Nov 2023
Comprehensive tour covering most of the main sites. Upset we did not visit the Colosseum or the Forum ( Forum was included in the itinerary ). Tour manager ill prepared and appeared unable to cope, continually complaining about Great Rail. The Vatican tour was arranged for a day when the Pope always has an audience in the mornings, hence our tour was rushed and no time to spend in Vatican City after the arranged tour. Why did this happen? Staying in Venice would have been a better option, rather than travelling back and forth to Murano.
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Paul Darlington
Submitted 31 Oct 2023
There were things outside anyone's control e.g. the heatwave and enormous crowds which lessened the enjoyment of the holiday ,this was particularly the case in Rome.However Florence was outstandingly beautiful .We very much enjoyed staying on Murano which offered the best of both worlds i.e. easy access to Venice but away from the crowds.The private boat trips to and from Venice were very enjoyable.The standard of the hotels was good however some of the evening meals ,included in the holiday cost, were quite poor.The tour manager ,Stella ,coped very well with all emergencies.
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Robert
Submitted 26 Oct 2023
Florence and Venice hotels great, Rome was poor, well past its best. Guided tour of Vatican was terrible, just one mad rush, no time to view anything and too many people, great rail need to change the Vatican tour day away from a Wednesday when the pope gives his address. Also guided tours were generally poor, we never even walked round the Colosseum let alone go in! Group meals were also of a generally low standard, particularly in Florence and Venice, definitely worth avoiding if you are expecting quality meals in nice surroundings. Great rail need to up their game, standards are definitely dropping. Tour manager was also a last minute stand in and it showed.
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Dear Mr Johnston
Submitted 26 Oct 2023
Very disappointed, not what we expected, poor in every aspect.
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T Wylie
Submitted 20 Oct 2023
The quality of the hotels (all 4*) in Turin, Rome and Chambéry was very good, each being situated close to the main railway stations, which saved considerable hassle at the beginning and end of our stays. The Turin hotel was within an easy walk of the delightful historical centre of the city. The rooftop bar in Rome was a particularly nice touch, hosting a couple of lovely evenings with the group watching the sunset over nearby St Peter’s Basilica. Breakfasts were good at each, especially Turin. The hotel in Venice was outstanding, more than justifying its 4* status. It had a lovely waterfront bar and, being on Murano, was nicely insulated from the main hustle and bustle of the city whilst only being a 20 minute boat ride away on the frequent vaporetti which operate from right in front of the hotel. Breakfast was truly outstanding, with serve yourself Prosecco included ??. The hotel in Florence, which is inexplicably rated 4*, was in reality a glorified B&B. To be fair, the breakfast was good. However, there was no bar or restaurant, so no space to socialise, whilst the city was a 20 minute walk away for those wanting an evening meal or drink. Facilities were sparse, indeed one couple in our group endured three nights on a mattress placed directly on the floor. Four stars but no bars? Really?? GRJ penny pinching more like. The standard and overall experience of GRJ catered meals varied hugely over the fortnight. The restaurant in Turin was a pleasantly short walk from the hotel. The meal was a traditional set menu with no choice, so not everyone enjoyed it to the full. One very small glass of wine was the drink offering. Curiously, there was no printed menu, so no one knew for sure what it was they did or didn’t enjoy on the night. In Rome, the delightful restaurant was directly opposite our hotel, offering an excellent menu choice of high quality. The meal in Florence was again a set menu, but there was huge variety on offer and the food and wine just kept coming. Lovely restaurant but required a fleet of taxis from the hotel to get there. The meal in Venice was particularly disappointing, with no wine included and poor quality food. The water taxi there and back was the highlight of the evening. The meal in Chambéry was good, although the trademark half a glass of wine each for our farewell dinner tells you everything you need to know about GRJ’s attitude to cost cutting at every turn. The guided tours of Rome, Pisa, Florence and Venice were all relaxing, enjoyable and hugely informative excursions, each being led by friendly, engaging tour guides. By contrast, our tour of the Vatican was horrendously overcrowded, despite starting at 8.15am, and not helped by a bossy, incomprehensible and largely disinterested tour guide. The fact that half our party came home with COVID was doubtless a souvenir of our being crammed like sardines with thousands of others into the Sistine Chapel. The standard and overall experience of train travel over the fortnight varied greatly. Standard Premier service on Eurostar and First Class on the French TGV trains were a delight, although the experience on Italian trains was mixed to say the least. On some local services we were stood together in cattle class as a group of 25 by the doors at the end of the carriage, so overcrowded were they. More annoying though was on the intercity services where we walked down the platform past numerous empty first class carriages to get to our standard class seats, which had no leg or arm room whatsoever. More GRJ penny pinching. Overall, this was a hugely enjoyable holiday, shared with a friendly, sociable group and, in no small part, facilitated by the heroic efforts of our truly excellent Tour Manager, Kay Burtenshaw (for whom at least 5*/5). GRJ do however on occasion spoil the ship for a ha'pworth of tar, by inappropriately cutting costs on what is after all marketed as a luxury holiday.
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PAUL LILES
Submitted 16 Oct 2023
The hotel in Florence was not up to standard, at best it was Travel Lodge/Premier Inn standard not a 4 star hotel as expected,. There was no area to meet up and relax, no restaurant, no bar, the reception area was very minimalistic and at least one of the rooms had no bed just a mattress on the floor!! Our room had no wardrobe just a rail on the wall, no tea/coffee making facilities, basic shower area and overall was small when compared with the rooms provided at other locations. The hotel was located a good 15 minutes walk from the nearest square where you could have a drink & meal and relax. We saw hardly any of our group during the 3 day stay in Florence apart from the guided tour and group meal in a restaurant that was so far away it required our tour manager to order taxis to get us there and back. Overall the group meals were not of a standard expected other than the one in Chambery which was excellent. When you consider that 25% of our holiday was spent at an inferior hotel as described above I'm sure you will understand our disappointment and hence the reason for giving a 2 star rating. In conclusion we will be seeking a substantial refund on the cost of the holiday. Paul & Sue Liles
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