Great Continental Railway Journeys Season 4

“Well organised, attentive tour manager, well spaced varied and interesting programme and good hotels

“I very much enjoy the holiday but my enjoyment was spoiled by the fact that two people who clearly were unsuited to a holiday which involved changing trains and with a 700 metre walk over cobbles to get between the nearest coach pickup point had apparently been told that they would have no problem with this holiday. It also involved our rep. and another passenger taking their luggage for them.

“The Enchanting Emerald Isle trip was very good. We enjoyed the places visited, but would like to have had more time in Dublin. The guided tours (Jameson, Kilmainham Gaol, Titanic Experience and Glen Keen Farm) were excellent, except for the guide picked up in Dublin--she was knowledgeable, but did nothing at the Book of Kells. The Royal Marine Hotel had excellent service, great rooms, and very accommodating personnel as did the Innisfallen. The Oriel left a lot to be desired. The Ardilaun was okay. The bus driver, Dan, was excellent!!! I understand the amount of people for the trip was doubled at the last minute, which wasn't fair for us or the tour manager. Excellent help in setting up the trip and answering our questions from Great Rail Journeys. Thank you.

“The holiday overall was fine, as we had done this trip before, two years ago. The Villa Balbi is a very good hotel with excellent facilities and staff. The journey home was not something I would recommend to anyone. It was something that you, Great Rail, could not control; the total cancellation of our train from Sestri Levanti to Milan. We ended up in a coach, driven by someone who in my opinion, was dangerous, and had no knowledge of Milan and the location of our train station at all. We did, eventually, arrive at Mulhouse, after a couple of quick train changes, although rather later than was planned. The following day, when arriving in Paris we thought nothing else could go wrong. On getting ready to get on our Euro Star train we had a last minute alteration to all our tickets as the train had been changed, which meant that we were seated randomly in three different carriages, which spoilt the final journey home. Once again this was out of the control of Great Rail. Let me add that our tour manager, Rosie Sharp, was excellent in calmly dealing with all of the problems we encountered, and also, we were very lucky to have a gentleman on our trip who spoke fluent Italian. This was our thirteenth journey with Great Rail. I have never been superstitious before.?

“Enjoyed the whole holiday especially the steam train and the trip to the top of the hill although the electric railway was a bit noisy and uncomfortable .The hotel was good with very good food. The coach driver was one of the best ever, a mine of information and an expert in motor bike racing. I wish I could have seen a Manx cat but I didn’t have enough time.