We are back home safely now.  After arriving at St Pancras yesterday at about twenty to five, we got good connections for Ely and then into Kings Lynn arriving there just after seven.  The car was still there and started first time, although somebody had very kindly scraped my rear bumper.

Still,  I suppose it could have happened any time so I won’t let it spoil my memories of our holiday.

When we first found out that there were forty of us on the trip, it felt too large, especially for guided tours.  However it did mean that there was a good mix of people and they were all sociable and good company.  Train seats were arranged so that we were rarely sitting with the same people – which could have been a bonus if there had been anybody we hadn’t got on with.

The tour guide was excellent.  He is a freelance tour guide and until recently had been leading tours in places like Bangladesh.  This was his first time on the Tuscany and Venice tour and he did a wonderful job of using our free time to explore where we were headed.  Not speaking Italian didn’t seem to worry him or affect how he manage the tour.  When he’s not guiding tours, he’s a freelance TV cameraman, mostly at the moment working on Eastenders!  The guided tours at Florence, Pisa and Lucca were given by local guides, so he didn’t need to be an expert on any of the history or architecture of the places we visited.

Train travel is relatively stress free, especially with a guide, but getting luggage on and off (especially for so many people at a time) was quite an effort. I would pack less if I did the same again. Lots of time for relaxing, reading and dozing means we arrived home quite relaxed, even though we had been on five trains on the last day.

Having to be ready at a fixed time for excursions or onward travel (sometimes quite early) was not ideal for us on holiday, but a good discipline.

The places we liked and would definitely go back to are Venice and Lucca. Pisa only needs enough time to go into the Baptistry. Florence felt overcrowded most of the time (as did a few areas in Venice), so unless there was something specific that we wanted to see, for example an exhibition, we may not go back.

So finally, I would recommend this type of holiday?  In a word, for anyone who has not been to the places on the tour, yes.  I would consider a group holiday again, as it was fun and we were all experiencing new things together, with lots of support around if needed (especially from the tour guide).  Would I do a train holiday again?  Yes.  This was the first holiday I’ve had since I was about 17 when I was not driving – and that made it very relaxing.   We’ll definitely return to the area again, but not in a group.  Whether we use the train or air travel to get there would depend on flexibility and availability, but I’d be more inclined to use the trains rather than hire a car, either way.

Now … where shall we go next year?