Italian Holidays by Rail

“A very well run holiday experience. Train and hotel bookings were excellent and the tour party of about 26 people were blessed with an outstanding tour guide.

“It was a well organised and enjoyable trip

“The hotels and travelling logistics was excellent and well planned. Communication prior to the holiday was good. The cities we visited and day excursions were well organised. Our tour guide was excellent always at hand to answer questions of iron out little snags. If any negative the organised evening meals were of poor quality, but overall it was a five star holiday.

“We had a wonderful time. The itinerary was extremely interesting with plenty of sightseeing and historic sites to visit. We highly recommend this tour

“Excellent holiday in every way except for the substitution of a coach journey for what should have been a rail journey (due to circumstances beyond your control) but no option to reschedule.

“The overall trip and experience was fantastic. Saw loads of amazing of things and places. Two points I would like to raise. Porterage of suitcases was very noticeable by its absence and lifts are not high on Italy's priority at railway stations on the whole. (I presume this had been part of our payment to you). Also the set meals were at best average only. To the extent that when 'bigged up' as being deficient in both quality and quantity. For example, the final meal in Monopoli where the choice was between seafood or meat as a main constituent, those who selected meat only saw two or three slices of dried cured local ham as part of a starter. Then saw no further meat in their meal whatsoever.

“Really lovely holiday.Well organised and good value for money. Would highly recommend.

“I have 'done' the Simply Lake Garda before and was looking forward to repeating the experience with my sister who had never been to Italy. Unfortunately the beginning of the holiday was marred by the luggage service which never arrived to collect my suitcase, despite emails, phone calls and the offer of Google map and mobile number. The second disappointment was the downgrade by GRJ on EuroStar to Standard class, so no food or drinks on either journey, unless you struggled through several long, swaying carriages to collect them and then stagger back with hot paper cups and a bag of food. One member of the group grazed an elbow. I have made very many journeys with GRJ over the last 17 years and I have always felt that it is a cut above all other similar travel groups in every respect. Having a drink and some lovely food on Eurostar has always been one of the great experiences and a relaxing and enjoyable start to a holiday. Now you have to pay extra for an upgrade and I am sad that it seems to have been felt necessary to cut down on what could be a superb - even unique - experience to save a few pounds. The visit to Venice included long sea journeys round the industrial areas instead of short journeys across the Grand Canal, These, and an over-long talk where we only saw St Marks and one other square, cut down drastically on personal sight-seeing opportunities and meant that there was little time and no space to sit down to eat even a snack before embarking on a gondola ride (which was superb). Those were the downsides, but our tour manager was marvellous, and did his very best to ensure that, despite the poor weather as the week went on, we would make the most of every opportunity. The visit to Isola del Garda was wonderful and our guide, the very best. It was sad that the journey to Turin had to be by coach due to a major landslip, and a train strike on the last day meant another coach journey from Chambery, but Great Rail and our Tour manager had all that organised and got us to our destinations as soon as possible. I am very glad the GRJ have limited their guest number to maximum 25, As always on Great Rail Journeys everyone is very friendly and we all had a lot of fun. The hotels were great and the food superb. I am sorry not to be able to give 5 stars, as I have always done for GRJ and I hope that my comments will be read and considered.

“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.