Small Group Tour & Trip Reviews

Tour itself was excellent but when the going got tough, Intrepid was nowhere to be found. We encountered a visa issue (mistake made by Vietnam Immigration) enroute on our way to meet up with our tour group and not only did Intrepid not respond in a timely fashion but when they did respond they chose to remind us of our cancellation policy instead of actually assisting us. It was all about covering their bases rather than helping us; their motivations were very apparent. Our family (2 adults, two kids) spent 24 hours in the Vancouver airport trying to solicit help from anyone we could think of. We got nothing from Intrepid, not even sympathy. Only 2 out of 4 of us ended up flying to Vietnam to join the tour and then on Day 2 Intrepid had the gall to offer us the assistance we needed 4.5 days before (which was much too late). As a result of their disorganization and inability to provide support in an emergency, only half of us were able to go on our family tour of Vietnam and the two of us that did go had a veil of sadness over our trip that we were unable to get over. A very disappointing family vacation overall. Buyer beware; should you encounter any obstacles, you will be on your own.

We've taken over 10 group tours using Cosmos and Gate1. This trip last month, 9000 was not very good.
-During booking, incorrect information was given about airport-hotel transfers
-The whispers (listening devices) didn't work from the get-go, so no whispers were used during the 13 day trip.
- Porters are no longer hired to bring your luggage to and from your room. (Very elderly had to handle their own luggage. Our friends had to help many of them.)
-A few days into the trip one couple left. At the end of the trip we found out they had covid. Cosmos did not let us know; a few people weren't feeling well and two of our friends then tested positive.
-One hotel was awful and not even up to "budget" standards
-Many of the stops had castles, churches... but were not included, so be sure to count that in when pricing.
 don't plan to use Cosmos ever again. Gate1 is the best in my opinion. When my husband's passport was stolen, they assigned someone to go with him to the embassy, translate, etc...It was above and beyond what we expected 


So I’ve known about Intrepid for a while. I traveled with Contiki last year and loved it. Tried Intrepid this year because I liked the trip they were offering and thought both companies were about the same. Huge mistake. Intrepid is such a scam. They put you in the nastiest accommodation possible so they can gain large profits from you. The pictures of the hotels online were clearly taken decades ago because none of them were up to standard. Our hotel in Casablanca literally smelled of mildew and the towels in the bathroom were dirty. In our hotel room in Fes, we had a cockroach and a mouse. There have been bugs flying around in all our hotel lobbies. With how frequently Intrepid holds these trips, I know they know for sure that these hotels are awful, yet they keep people there. Barely anything was included in the trip so how and why did they make us pay $1100 for these rooms?? Where did the rest of the money go?? Especially in a country as affordable as Morocco?? This is borderline unethical. I will never book a trip with Intrepid ever again. If this is what their Classic package is like, I wonder what conditions they have the Basix travelers living under.

Booked for July and gave them $12,000. They talked us into early arrival and then come back to us a two months later saying we can't offer. We have to keep our airlines a day early and now need to find transfer and hotel on our own. Would cancel but would lose $2,000 trip insurance. They talked us into us to arrive early and now cancelling and saying you are on your own. Can't imagine what else will go wrong.

Just finished up our South Dakota tour. It was great. Saw a ton of great sites like Mount Rushmore, crazy horse, badlands, devils tower. Beth our guide was great and very knowledgeable. Being the first trip out during COVID-19 I was a little worried but they went above and beyond to put us at ease. Clean bus everyday, spacing out of guests, keeping the same seats everyday and provided masks for everyone. I can not say enough about our trip. We took our two children ages 13 and 14 and they really learned so much. I will definitely try another Collette tour again!

I would highly recommend this company and some trips to Scandinavia and Baltic. The countries are amazing, the service and our guide Ausra Paukste was really the best ever. If you wish to visit this region consider Cosmos company.

This was my first Europe trip with my twin sister and we absolutely loved it! Our tour guide, Simona, was excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed our trip. We decided to balance independent travel with the tour (we arrived early in the morning on the first day in Rome to explore the highlights not included on the itinerary and spent an additional two days on our own in Paris at the end of the tour). We also booked flights on our own, though Globus' options to add on flights with airport transfer is pretty convenient. I'm glad we added on travel on our own because this tour is just that, a highlights tour! We got to see a lot in a short period of time, but, there's no way you can see it all. I still feel like I could've spent longer in Paris. I definitely wanted to see more of Florence. In Paris, we went on our own to explore the Louvre and Musee D'Orsay. We didn't have time for Montmartre.

The organization of the entire tour was great and having both Simona and local guides was great-- there's nothing like learning about a city through the eyes of the locals. I appreciated that Globus allows you to upgrade, add additional nights in their hotels at the end, and also, let's you add on optional excursions. Everything was a great price. I did research on my own and it was truly a great value. I thought the hotels were very nice and the included breakfasts were absolutely delicious! We added on quite a few excursions: the Florentine Dinner, Mount Pilatus, Dinner Party and Illumination Drive, and Excursion to the Palace of Versailles. I felt the Florentine Dinner, Mount Pilatus, and the Palace of Versailles were absolute musts. As I mentioned, the tour is fast-paced and you are moving around a lot! It requires early wake-up, but there's time to sleep on the bus. It's convenient that Globus and the bus driver takes care of moving your bags around, as you are moving from city-to-city, another bonus of using a tour company.

I booked with G Adventures over a year prior to the tour. The primary reason was the 100% guaranteed departures and 24 hour communication. 1 week before I was to leave for Africa, G Adventures cancels my tour. THEY CANCEL! Their contract provides for them to refund. They never mention a refund-they offer a voucher. Now I have now paid for 3 African tours, 2 flights to and from Africa, 2 intra Africa flights, and hotels and short tours within Africa. I ask for a refund, they take a very long time to tell me to write to a special email account. I write again-a month later, they say no, despite my costs, my reduced work salary, despite that they are a green company. What they are is a company of thieves who do not hold up to the image they present. They don't respond quickly to communication, and they don't care if you need your money for food. THIEVES AND Unethical!!!

I booked the Real Affordable Peru Trip with OAT and payed in advance. OAT had to cancel the trip due to the Corona Virus. When I called them, they offered to reschedule the trip or give me a full refund - since they cancelled - not me. I elected to receive the full refund. Three weeks late they sent me an email stating "upper management" had decided not to give any refunds - all the cancelled trips were being rescheduled instead. I called stating I had already been promised a refund and they said that was no longer an option. I filled complaints with the better business bureau, VISA, and the Massachusetts Attorney Generals Office. OAT called me back and said they would now refund my money in 4-6 days. Called back 10 days later and they said they would refund the money as soon as I dropped my complaint with VISA. Since they have lied to me over the past several months, I am sticking with my claims and still fighting for my refund. I would recommend you check out other online reviews, including the BBB.

I am so fully disheartened and disgusted by the handling of G Adventures with this crisis. We paid over 7,000 for our honeymoon tour in Morocco. It was fully paid for. Days before we are scheduled to leave G Adventures CANCELLED our tour. Which was a relief with everything going on. But they refused to refund our money instead offering a credit that is only good to 12/31/2020. I wont be able to afford taking off from work... if I even have any... whenever this pandemic lifts. Under the contract we signed it states in a situation where the tour is cancelled the customer may ask for a refund or credit. They are getting around this by calling all their tours "suspended". This is dishonest and lacking integrity.

I had been so exciting for this tour because of their image of being a progressive and positive company. Yet their true colors show in times of crisis. I understand they are hurting now critically, but so is everyone one of their customers!! If they had did the honest thing and refunded me I would of most likely become a repeat customer. Not now and I will not be quiet.

On top of all that your think keeping all our money they would at least care for their employees. Nope. You can read other reviews on here to find out that they laid them off with no benefits or sick leave. They are only concerned about money and their bottom line.

The tour guide, Bharat Kinger, was great. However, Globus was sloppy and unprofessional in the way that it managed the itinerary for this tour. Even though I fully paid for the tour and Globus made all the arrangements, the hotel for my first night in India charged me for 1 night's stay, due to Globus' error. Globus claims it's not sure what happened and has refused to reimburse me. Of the 11 people on the tour, apparently I was the only one that Globus failed to send the travel packet containing additional information about the trip. Additionally, Globus arranged visits to vendors who clearly inflated their prices and used hard sell tactics because the majority were Americans. Globus is sleazy and unprofessional. Use them at your own peril!

Amazing experience. The hike is no doubt incredibly tough but the views, people and biscuits make the effort well worth it. Highly recommend if you enjoy getting off the beaten path, quite literally there was no path at some points.

Travelling alone I was nervous about the trip but I had nothing to worry about and had the best time. Evans as guide and Ernest as our driver could not have been nicer. The food was delicious and I met some amazing people. I couldn't recommend highly enough!

An amazing trip through this beautifully stunning and diverse country! Perfect balance between wildlife, culture and relaxation on the beach in the end! Andry, the tour guide, was so well organized and always concerned about us! Can only recommend this trip!!

The country of Madagascar is amazing! The landscape and lemurs are fantastic but what really made the trip for me was the Malagasy people. So happy, helpful and friendly. As others have mentioned - Just Go. You will not regret it!