It is humiliating, but not surprising, that the the German Railways site offers a better guide to British trains than the British one does. This morning I discovered another chic trick there. You can get personalised PDF timetables for the routes and days that interest you. Want a list of all the direct trains between Florence and Lucca on Friday 20th? It’s ready in minutes. This is doubly pleasing because most rail timetable sites show you a very limited range of journeys to choose between, which isn’t always informative.
In a wholly unrelated development, Easyjet will start flying from Stansted to Ljubljana on May 1st. So I don’t even need to hire a car. I’m now two buses and a train ride away from one of the most beautiful rivers in Europe, and it shouldn’t cost more than about £50 if I’m careful.