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The information on this page is based solely on product reviews written by customers of Great Rail Journeys via Trustpilot.
Brand: Great Rail Journeys
This was a relaxed holiday in a green area of France, where the heat was bearable. The hotel pool and air -conditioning helped. The hotel was friendly and comfortable and the view from my bedroom was breathtaking. The excursions were very interesting and not so long that we could not return to the hotel in time to relax before dinner.. Great rail never fail to provide a tour manager who looks after all the details.
Firstly our Eurostar was cancelled and we therefore had to catch the 7.00am from St Pancras. When we arrived in Paris we were told our next train was cancelled also, we then had to take a different train from a different station, and as I had a torn calf muscle which happened the previous evening, I nearly missed that train also,except our tour guide managed to delay it from leaving without me. At that time I could only hobble with my large suitcase and backpack. I can't remember where we got off the train but it was 5 hours away by coach. When we finally arrived at our hotel we were told that they only served breakfast, so our tour took us to a pre arranged restaurant 5 to 8 minutes away walking, unfortunately I was still hobbling and now in great pain. The rest of the holiday went as planned except we had to change going to the market in Sarlat to Friday rather than Saturday, because somewhere in the planning they forgot to notice that the Tour de France was coming to our district and some of the roads were closed. I must say that the tour manager dealt with all the problems very professionally. Fortunately the return journey had less problems!
We had a wonderful holiday, which was excellent value for what we paid. A charming family owned hotel, a super pool and bar area with lovely helpful staff. Great Rail Journeys coped excellently to the weather based rail problems. Includes a two hour coach transfer both ways One of the best Tour managers we have had, which made the most of the tours, two out of the 3 tour days left plenty of time to relax at the pool in the afternoon, the main restaurant used in my opinion was average, the second restaurant was superb. As I have said excellent value tour. Would be happy to go again for a quick inexpensive break and certainly proves the benefit of using Great Rail Journeys in smoothing out travel hiccups
Great and two days off to do your own thing - a really good time.
Hotel Roches: Breakfast just ok.No evening dining at hotel sent to café in the town. Room lacking fridge facilities and felt cramped. Room was clean and the staff friendly. Our tour guide Sean did an exceptionally good job keeping everyone informed under some difficult situations with train time changes. Excursions were very good and well organised to this lovely part of France. Would like to visit again
The hotel was brilliant. The staff very friendly and helpful. The scenery, beautiful. Our tour manager was very knowledgeable
Absolutely stunning! Our hotel & village were beautiful. Highly recommend but be aware of the very long journey times and unreliability of eurostar.
Fantastic trip that fulfilled all my expectations
Wonderful scenery combined with history and charm. Plenty of variety when it comes to things to do and the locals are really friendly and helpful.
Extremely long journey to Sarlat. Train trip on the truffle express a waste of time, Hotel adequate - male receptionist most odd and rude. Given omelette two nights running and should have been three nights but tour manager managed a change. Extremely tiresome getting home with Eurostar delayed by an hour and no air conditioning.
The holiday itself, ie the Tour Manager was excellent, very efficient and interacted extremely well with us. The hotel was good and the staff very helpful. The meals were also good. The coach driver was very good and friendly. However the journey is extremely long & tiresome, especially having to travel across Paris. For this reason only I would not book this type of holiday again.
Really well organised trip by train and coach and very scenic. Judy Mahon our tour manager was excellent in every way. All the organised outings were outstanding to beautiful scenic parts of France. We enjoyed it so much we have our next Great Rail journey planned
Although titled Great Rail journeys, the majority of travel is spent on a coach, from the destination station of Angouleme to resort Hotel in Sarlat, and all day excursions are via coach travel. Only 3 days out of 5 include tour visits to the region, and a Steam train experience turned out to be a diesel train. As a single traveller the 50% supplement, means you are subsidising the cost of couples, as the only bonus you get, is a Hotel room to yourself. Le Renoir Hotel in.Sarlat is very basic and dated, in a good location, with a nice pool.
On day 1 travelling from UK on 0801 hrs Eurostar, we did not get to destination in the Dordogne until around 1900 hrs that evening. Once checked into hotel we had to hurry as our meal at the local restaurant was imminent. It was set menu and unfortunately the main course was pork, which my wife does not eat, and there was no alternative. The hotel was basic but clean and had all the room facilities but yet cramped. Separate toilet, very low to sit on, your knees hit the door and when stood up my nose hit the door handle. No ventilation in the bathroom so had to leave the door wide open to the bedroom. The Tour Manager was really good, so no complaints. Overall the holiday experience was mediocre, Taking into account having to walk to a restaurant each evening, 2 of which was on our free days. Then the long journey home , 2 trains and 2 coaches once again. If the full itinerary had been highlighted before we initially booked, then I would have passed on it. The full detailed itinerary was not apparent until we had paid the balance in full
This holiday did not start well, although not the fault of GRJ. The Eurostar was delayed by over 2 hours, which meant when we arrived in Paris the coach was no longer available to take us to the other station and we had missed our onward connection. However, Deborah somehow managed to get all 36 of us into taxis for an adventurous journey across Paris. When we arrived at Montparnasse station GRJ head office had contacted Deborah to say we could change our tickets to the next available train. We managed to board by the skin of our teeth but the air conditioning in our carriage did not work and the temperature by this time was 34 degrees! Suffice to say we were all very happy to get on the air conditioned coach to take us to our destination. We were greeted very warmly at the hotel and quickly given our keys. We were delighted to find the rooms were also air conditioned as the temperature was due to stay in the mid-30s for the rest of the week. The room was clean, tidy and had everything you could need. The tiny separate toilet was different to the UK, but we adapted! Rooms were cleaned each day and towels replaced. The hotel was very welcoming and the pool was an added bonus which several of our party really enjoyed. Trips and Restaurants: On the first day we travelled to La Roque-Gageac for a river trip, which was delightful and then on to Chateau des Milandes where we not only visited the chateau but were treated to a bird of prey display. Our visit to Sarlat coincided with market day, which was very interesting, selling lots of local produce, but the real treat came when the stalls disappeared and the medieval architecture was revealed. We cannot comment on the Rocamadour trip as we decided not to go. The evening meals included in the trip were very good, 3 courses plus coffee and wine or beer to drink. Three were taken in the same restaurant a short walk from the hotel and the menus were different each evening. The fourth was taken at a neighbouring hotel, out in the gardens, which made for a very pleasant evening. The highlight of the trip was the actual area of the Dordogne, which was fascinating to view. We would like to thank Deborah for her organisational skills, in times of great difficulty, and her expertise at keeping 36 people together. We would have no hesitation in recommending this trip.
Too large a group. An hour plus on coach between the Paris stations. Two and a half hours on coach followed the rail journet to the hotel. On the plus side..... Good company a d comfortable hotel.
The location is truly beautiful as is the hotel where the staff are excellent with great service and genuine friendship. The reason for four stars was the fact the we missed tea/coffee facilities in the room and having to walk out for the ( very late) evening meals. Another disappointment was the length of coach journeys. However our excursions were wonderful brilliantly managed by Brigitte.
Excellent. We felt we could have done with more background information on the area especially prehistoric remains.
Very long journey for a short holiday. No on seemed to be prepared for the 2 1/2 - e hour coach journey. Description of journey should be clearer. Other aspects of holiday were above 3 star. Hotel was average. Staff good. Breakfast excellent but aspects such some in rooms where they needed to climb stairs with cases is unacceptable. Rooms adequate but fittings such as shower average quality.no drawers so unable to unpack. Had to plug in kettle on floor. Rooms very bare with no pictures on walls. Tour guide was excellent and made the holiday very enjoyable. Food at 2 of the organised dinners was exceptionally poor. Coach and driver excellent.
Effectivley this was a four day holiday with two days travelling. The four days had two free days. One would have been enought. The hotel had no restaurent so we had to walk for 20 minutes to the one alloted. then up four flights of stairs to the group room. The visits arranged were good as was the tour manager. No a holiday for the over sixties.
