Today the mere mention of rail travel in Europe people automatically think of France's TGV but what a lot of people do not know is that Europe's high speed rail network is extended to the north of Germany and as far south into both Italy and Spain.
Not only is train more environmentally than flying anywhere but you also get glimpses of beautiful scenery while whisking past at 300km per hour.
What a lot of people are now doing is take the overnight train from London to Venice via Paris and then travel on the train from Venice, Florence and Rome.
Why not spoil yourself with the fantastic array of boutique hotels and you will find normally a chain of hotels that would be in every city that you're travelling to train on.
The best thing when using the same chain is that they usually will have the same booking system.
When arriving into Venice railway station at 9.
30 am we were greeted to the view of the magical Grand Canal.
Jump on a vaporetto (water taxi) and sit wide-eyed as you pass through the zigzag of the fairytale waterways.
The waterways remain busy with gondolas and water taxi's dropping off and picking up tourists from destinations along the way.
But the scenery it is just so beautiful with Mansions with window boxes spilling over with flowers of brilliant colour.
To make the most of your visit to Venice I would recommend hiring a guide who will not only give you more of the background of the neighborhood he will take you off the beaten track to see the real Venice.
On validating our train pass from Venice to Florence a word of warning though you will need to write the day of travel on your ticket before you board, fail to do could get a fine.
The 2-hour trip is a comfortable one as you recline in your seat to watch a flurry of blue and green scenery mixed in with the golden wheat fields.
In fact I could get used to this lifestyle while I sip on the complimentary glass of prosecco and light snack.
One of the biggest advantages of train travel is that you are delivered to the centre of town and usually only a short taxi ride to where you will be laying your head for the night.
Florence is very walk able and within the hour long stroll we sauntered through the sculpture dotted Piazza Della Signoria pas the impressive Duomo Cathedral and over the city's most famous bridge, the pastel coloured Ponte Vecchio.
Another day we were in Florence we tried to tackle on of the world's greatest repositories of Renaissance art the Uffizi.
For me personally it was over whelming, there was just too much to see with way too many people there to see the same things.
In hindsight I much would prefer to see the Bargello museum of sculpture, which I admired some of Michelangelo and Donatello works.
The following day we grabbed a picnic lunch and headed off to explore the Boboli Gardens and sat back and just admired the scenery and did absolutely nothing.
Heading now to Rome taking the 1.
5 hour trip from Florence to Rome is an easy ride as we are now what we term veteran travelers on the train.
When we disembark from the train I really can't stop smiling dotted around the ancient city are some of the most spectacular and most important historical ruins in the world, which Rome proudly displays to all.
With much history to see its easy to forget Rome has a modern side as we stumble across it along the banks of the River Tiber, we then find a row of pop up bars which we are drawn to with other arty types of people and we sit there with a wine in hand drinking all of the atmosphere, and pinch myself as I can't believe that I am in one of the oldest cities in the world.
Not only is train more environmentally than flying anywhere but you also get glimpses of beautiful scenery while whisking past at 300km per hour.
What a lot of people are now doing is take the overnight train from London to Venice via Paris and then travel on the train from Venice, Florence and Rome.
Why not spoil yourself with the fantastic array of boutique hotels and you will find normally a chain of hotels that would be in every city that you're travelling to train on.
The best thing when using the same chain is that they usually will have the same booking system.
When arriving into Venice railway station at 9.
30 am we were greeted to the view of the magical Grand Canal.
Jump on a vaporetto (water taxi) and sit wide-eyed as you pass through the zigzag of the fairytale waterways.
The waterways remain busy with gondolas and water taxi's dropping off and picking up tourists from destinations along the way.
But the scenery it is just so beautiful with Mansions with window boxes spilling over with flowers of brilliant colour.
To make the most of your visit to Venice I would recommend hiring a guide who will not only give you more of the background of the neighborhood he will take you off the beaten track to see the real Venice.
On validating our train pass from Venice to Florence a word of warning though you will need to write the day of travel on your ticket before you board, fail to do could get a fine.
The 2-hour trip is a comfortable one as you recline in your seat to watch a flurry of blue and green scenery mixed in with the golden wheat fields.
In fact I could get used to this lifestyle while I sip on the complimentary glass of prosecco and light snack.
One of the biggest advantages of train travel is that you are delivered to the centre of town and usually only a short taxi ride to where you will be laying your head for the night.
Florence is very walk able and within the hour long stroll we sauntered through the sculpture dotted Piazza Della Signoria pas the impressive Duomo Cathedral and over the city's most famous bridge, the pastel coloured Ponte Vecchio.
Another day we were in Florence we tried to tackle on of the world's greatest repositories of Renaissance art the Uffizi.
For me personally it was over whelming, there was just too much to see with way too many people there to see the same things.
In hindsight I much would prefer to see the Bargello museum of sculpture, which I admired some of Michelangelo and Donatello works.
The following day we grabbed a picnic lunch and headed off to explore the Boboli Gardens and sat back and just admired the scenery and did absolutely nothing.
Heading now to Rome taking the 1.
5 hour trip from Florence to Rome is an easy ride as we are now what we term veteran travelers on the train.
When we disembark from the train I really can't stop smiling dotted around the ancient city are some of the most spectacular and most important historical ruins in the world, which Rome proudly displays to all.
With much history to see its easy to forget Rome has a modern side as we stumble across it along the banks of the River Tiber, we then find a row of pop up bars which we are drawn to with other arty types of people and we sit there with a wine in hand drinking all of the atmosphere, and pinch myself as I can't believe that I am in one of the oldest cities in the world.