Hi Paul,
I posted a long reply but it seems to have disappeared! 😞
I had a wonderful time on this trip thank you - I'll definitely be joining another soon!
My highlights were experiencing a gondola ride in Venice and seeing St Peter's Basilica in Rome in real life!
My favourite place on the trip was actually Siena, which I was surprised about, as I was thinking of it just as a stop-off on the way to Rome. However, it was absolutely stunning, all cobbled streets and little shops selling local spices, wine and cheese....yum!
Another highlight which wasn't part of the itinerary was our trip up to Montecatini Alto. On days 3-5 we stayed in Montecatini Terme, just outside of Florence. which was a really beautiful little town. One night our Tour Manager, Mohammed, suggested we take the Funicular up into the hills to Montecatini Alto. A group of us went just as the sun was setting, and the views were stunning. Mohammed managed to get us into a little restaurant called Casa Gala and the food was absolutely delicious, we all had a lovely evening.
Another memory is our final night in Rome. We went out for the optional farewell dinner, in a little square with lots of lovely little restaurants. After dinner there were musicians playing in the square, and two of our group, Colin and Merle showed us their dancing skills - it was a great end to the trip!
I chose to go on the optional trip to Pisa, which I would definitely recommend. Our Local Guide even managed to get us free tickets into the Cathedral (not guaranteed but we got lucky!) which was amazing to see. Everyone always mentions the tower (which was pretty impressive) but there's also the Baptistery, the Cathedral and the cemetery there which are all worth seeing.
Accommodation-wise, we stayed in 3 different hotels. Nights 1-2 were Hotel Salus in Lido di Jeslo. This was just outside of Venice, and while some customers said they would have preferred to be in the centre, this was really nice as it was on the beach which was nice to walk along in the evenings, and there were lots of nice shops and cafes to explore. The dinner on the first night was a little unusual, although there was lots of fresh salad which was great. The second night the meal was very good. Breakfast was also good, continental with lots of choice of fresh fruit, eggs and bacon, toast and pastries etc. The rooms were a good size and I had a balcony where I could just see the sea, so that was nice to sit out on after dinner.
The second hotel was everyone's favourite in Montecatini Terme. There was a nice terrace to sit outside on and the bar had very reasonably priced drinks - which many of us appreciated! The hotel was also within easy walking distance of nice shops and restaurants - we went to a lovely pizza place on the first night and as mentioned headed up to Montecatini Alto on night 2.
Our third hotel in Rome, Hotel Pinewood was not the best, as it was a bit tired and was not close to shops or restaurants. I have fed this back to our holiday team and they have confirmed this hotel will no longer be used for our trips, which is good. We only ate breakfast at the hotel, which was continental and similar to the other hotels.
Our Tour Manager, Mohammed, our drive and our local guides were all fantastic. Mohammed went above and beyond all week, was friendly, funny and very knowledgeable, he also joined us for our non-included evening meals which was really nice.
The group of people I was with were absolutely brilliant. Special mentions to Kath and Elaine who were my buddies for the week, Merle who's stories were hilarious, Colin who quite frankly is the most interesting person I think I've ever met, my new Canadian friends Pam and Chris and to Nigel, for his education in folk music and crime thrillers set in Venice, and particularly for being so kind as to actually buy me the book we discussed whilst we were in Siena - it meant a lot! If anyone from the group is reading this, I haven't forgotten about emailing the photos - they will be with you soon 🙂 Thanks to everyone for making my first solo trip a real pleasure.
I'm sure there's more I could say and happy to answer any questions 🙂
I will be posting photos from the trip over on our Facebook page - www.facebook.com/justyouholidays
I'll definitely be joining another trip in the future - the question is, where next?! 🙂
Many thanks,
Vickie
