Guided Group Tour & Trip Reviews

From my first phone call to Audley I got the wonderful Katie who is a specialist for Malaysia, we wanted to visit Borneo for our 29th wedding Anniversary, tying in a stopover in KL which we visited as part of our Honeymoon.

Katie took her time to get know us and our personalities which enabled her to plan & recommend one of the best trip that we have done.

In KL, Katie chose the hotel Ruma and arranged the best room with a view of the Petronas Towers which did not exist when we visited KL on honeymoon. She recommended the Banyan Tree Horizon Restaurant for our Anniversary dinner which had exceptional views of the city.

We had a fab street food tour with Bala who went above and beyond taking us on the Metro to show us where to get the metro the next day for our own planned visit for the Batu Caves, and giving us use of his KL equivalent of the Oyster card to use on the train. His historical knowledge of KL is exceptional and you will not be bored with him as your guide.

We done KL, along with 3 different areas of Borneo (Sepilok Lodge located next to the orangutan sanctuary and not far from the rainforest discovery centre, Sukau Rain Forest Lodge along the Kinabatangan River & The Borneo Rainforest in Danum Valley) finishing off on stunning Gaya Island.

Katie was very good in grounding our expectation in sightings of wildlife as "wildlife are just that, wild" and nothing can be guaranteed. But we did actually see "Borneo's Big 5" & all in the wild not just in the Sanctuaries. The highlight being a large herd of elephants crossing the River, our guide Jafa who has guided on the river for 10 years only sees this happen 2 or 3 times a year, along with seeing wild Orangutan at Danum Valley.

Farah our guide in Danum Valley was exceptional also and her love of the Rainforest was contagious.

Finishing off at Gaya Island Resort we where truly spoilt our room was exceptional and time take to decorate a welcoming with a Happy Anniversary message, we enjoyed the spa with a lovely massage, snorkelled the coral garden and kayaked among the mangroves.

We had the most wonderful Anniversary Meal on our actual anniversary in the Fisherman's Cove Restaurant. The staff could not do enough to ensure our celebrations where as memorable as the rest of the Holiday.

Make the phone call, have the chat, listen to the advice, go with the recommendation you will not be disappointed.

I am still buzzing whenever I talk about Borneo.

This was our first booking with Audley and it will not be our last.

Our experience was great, especially for my first time abroad in a long while. We had a tour director named Neil who seemed very knowledgable about the locations and local eateries, pubs, etc. in addition to good activities, museums, must-sees, and free experiences locally in London/Dublin. Our itinerary was packed and he made everything go smoothly! Our hotel rooms were very nice and clean, breakfast was included with every stay, and we even had some included and local dinners as a group. He gave us ample time to explore on our own and gave us all the tools we needed to take on the city and get the most out of our short stay. For group travel in a class/school environment, I recommend EF (ask for Neil!).

The people! I felt as if the trip was designed to give us the best experience, see the “touristy” things but also see a slice of life of the people that live there. Every person working strived to make sure we were enjoying every aspect of the trip.

Intrepid South Korea Real Food Adventure

This tour may be right for those who are interested in food in quality and quantity. The whole destinations are designed to reach excellent and authentic foods of various regions in South Korea, which are very interesting.

I enjoy good food but not much food. The 17 March 2023 tour often offers three meals a day and each of those meals are rich and plentiful, which may be fit a Korean king. They feature all unusual and authentic feats including live octopus; Kim chi is served at every meal.

The tour director, the size of the small group, the people, the driver and guides were the best. The only reason for the 4 stars are two points. First we travel to experience the food and culture of the country. The planned meals were very average, the meals tasted ok but were not close to what was represented, ground veal used for veal dish for example. Wines were all very young and average but maybe we care too much about our wines. The other critic was Rome in one day was laughable and left us struggling to recovery physically for the next few days of the tour.

Tour guide was helpful and very knowledgeable; the bus driver was funny and so personable. Most of the trip was interesting.

The Globus tour director and all the other special guides for specific locations were excellent. They were interesting, knowledgeable, and prompt. Our tour director made sure we had all the information we needed to fully enjoy this trip. The pace was quite hectic, but he kept us organized and on time. He and the tour guides answered all questions and had a plethora of interesting information. They know the best places for photo ops, eating and souvenir hunting. The cities and all the sights we see on the tour were wonderful! Just be prepared to be up early and to spend a fair amount of time traveling from city to city.

Bad bus driver to Stonehenge, 1hr. late and at least and hr. late getting, just kept circling and finally let us off on the side of a street. Not anywhere near Victoria Station

Your hotel locations are far outside the center of town causing the need for taxi cabs anywhere you want to go. Would you like to reimburse me for the 200 euros I spent on taxis?

Avalon Waterways cannot be trusted! We had a horrible experience with the company recently on a trip to Egypt, the Nile River along with Cairo, on what we’re supposed to be their riverboat, MS Farah. After we had paid for the trip in full we were sent an email saying the boat “is unavailable and you will now be sailing instead on the MS Movenpick Hamees. There was nothing we could do because of a disclaimer saying they could change the boat at any time. The boat we ended up traveling on, was in horrible shape, old and run down. We had traveled with Avalon previously, on one of their beautiful newer boats, which is why we decided to use them again. Also, the trip was supposed to be adult only and ended up having many families with babies and children on board. This was a completely different experience than we expected. To add insult to injury while we were going down the Nile, the boat we were supposed to be on floated by us, MS Farah. Our whole Avalon group of 28 passengers were irate. Please heed my warning.

The trip was definitely a 5 star. Our guide, Isil, was so knowledgeable and everything went smoothly until the last night when we were to be picked up at the hotel at 2am and Intrepid the emergency contact person never called back after the first call was answered and never answered the phone so we had to get a taxi at our expense and stress and frustration. I have not received an answer from Intrepid as to this event either.

Intrepid is such an amazing company - whether you're going with friends or solo they make the whole process of booking your trip so easy. The local guides are so incredible taking all the stress out of a trip and allowing you to completely immerse yourself in the local culture. Cannot stop recommending them to all my friends and family.

Our Premium Turkey tour was just AMAZING with our best guide, Isil who was knowledgeable, funny, kind, resourceful & calm & effective (all at the same time). The hotels were great & quiet & the one bus & driver was perfect!

We had cooler weather than expected but had a great time & Isil always gave us options & connection alternatives if some wanted to skip something!

Most of our small group wanted to do optional things too & we normally ate together whether included or not as Isil seemed to find the BEST restaurants!

The fascinating background & history shared by Isil & our group was icing on the cake!!

Any personal needs were immediately resolved for us individually no matter what arose!

The local guide Yo was brilliant & became one of the group. He made sure everyone was catered for & as a local gave us a great inside to the culture of the people. He even accompanied us on our free days & made sure we were aware of how to get back to our hotel if we went off by ourselves. The cleanliness & friendliness of the Japanese people was mindblowing & of course we were there for the blossoms. Absolutely wonderful.

I usually prefer to travel independently so keep this in mind when reading my review. We are thoroughly pampered in term of accommodation, food, transportation, which is reflected in the tour price (compare with other Cuba tour offered by intrepid). Simply saying, we are tourists more than travelers. Having said that, you would go home richer than when you come. If possible, learn the language a bit before you leave, roam on your own during free times, go line up to get ice cream at coppelia.. it will supplement and enrich your experience.