Explore Yorkshire by Rail

C Martin

I really enjoyed this tour. The destinations very interesting in this lovely county. Slightly long coach journey on one day , although I am not sure how this could be avoided. The hotel was extremely good. Very comfortable, excellent food and very helpful staff.

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elaine kuwahara

Very enjoyable break, hotel was comfortable and spacious and food good. Itinary interesting and varied, although the day in Whitby was rushed and the museum/ art gallery was closed on Monday as were some other places so the schedule should be changed with another day. It was good to have a free day and our guide Ken Owen was very competent and kind and kept us all organised. It was good value for money and I would do more trips by train.

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Ian Falconer

For me, not a product, an excellent short break. 3 dozen of us in our group: I think we gelled well together. Ken was a genial & helpful Tour Manager and Neil a knowledgeable and entertaining Coach Driver. The steam train ride on the North Yorks Moors Railway back from Whitby to Pickering was most enjoyable and the diesel hauled train on the Keighley & Worth Valley took us to the loco works at Haworth for a fascinating guided tour, as we also had when we went later to the "Rail Story" at Ingrow, where there were beautifully restored carriages. We had plenty of time to visit the fascinating Brontë museum in the Parsonage. I used the time at Whitby on the Monday to go on the open top bus. On the free day I experienced the Turkish Bath in Harrogate, which I found surprisingly relaxing, and took the bus to Ripon to look at the Cathedral, with St Wilfrid's original crypt, the oldest in England. The Crowne Plaza, where we stayed in Harrogate, has comfortable rooms. The buffet breakfast had a good variety of options. The 3 course evening meal, different each day & with choices, was always well cooked, with generous portions. The hotel staff in general and the restaurant staff in particular were friendly, efficient and helpful. I wouldn't have gone had the cost not been reduced from the original, and there was no single supplement - now I'm a widower I don't even consider holidays with this surcharge. Glad I went - so much packed into 4 days without getting worn out, and some great folk to talk to with all sorts of different backgrounds and experiences.

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Christine Matthews

Wish there was more train travel, only had 2 short train journeys on the trip. Disappointed with Whitby, the open-top bus ride was cancelled, so went on a later one which meant we couldn't look around the Abbey, we had to be back to catch a train. Also, some museums were closed on a Monday. Just an idea, swop the itinerary around to accommodate this.

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customer

We had been on the Norwich Holiday with Rail Discoveries earlier this year and thoroughly enjoyed it and had great expectations this time. We travelled to Harrogate by train in keeping with the spirit of the holiday and took a taxi to the hotel (it was raining), Hotel reception was excellent and our room was good on the 9th floor with a great view and three operating lifts. Later we were “summoned” by our guide Alistair, to a “most important meeting” which turned out to be a summary of the information which we had already received about timings for the next four days. What we had appreciated most about the Norfolk trip was the very laid back approach by our guide then, David, who controlled us all with the lightest of hands and in the most friendly way. Alistair, although he did all the right things, such as phoning us beforehand, seemed to sacrifice empathy for efficiency. The hotel provided a magnificent buffet breakfast, but fell rather short on dinner.. The scenery of the Yorkshire Moors and Countryside was exquisite and all the visits and excursions made were as advertised or better, which even all the rain of the first three days couldn’t dampen. It was unfortunate that the commentary given by the volunteer local guides was totally drowned out by the clatter of the diesel train substituted at one point for steam. I fully appreciate the amount of time given for self exploration (we took ourselves to Knaresborough which even the rain couldn’t spoil) but a full day seems excessive. In Norwich we had a local guide giving us a really interesting and instructive tour taking just a morning and leaving plenty of exploration time afterwards. Something similar here would have been more appropriate. We absolutely loved the holiday and the whole experience. Just a few of the things I mention above took a little of the edge off and should be easily avoidable and are the reason I award only four stars instead of five.

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Mrs M

This was a great trip. Hotel & hotel meals were very good. Excursions were interesting with a free day to do as we please. Tracy our tour manager was excellent.

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