Cosmos

First time ever to Spain and Portugal. Overall it's an enjoyable trip. We purchase all the trip options otherwise I do not believe we could see that much. Some excursions that are not on the trip options were just waste of time, like the 2 hours city tour of Spain. It was just on the bus with a local tour guide telling you this is what and this is that. You will be better off take a hop on and hop off bus and will be able to see more. Another one is the visit to the Royal Palace. I remembered clearly that we were only taken from the hotel to the Palace ground and were told to get into the palace ourself and we have to make our way back to the hotel if we wanted to go inside. Many of the guests just took some pictures outside and go back to the hotel with the bus without even going inside. You call that a tour?

Great tour director and local tour guides. Beautiful cities!

Scandinavian tour covered Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Venue was very thorough, we covered a lot of sites in the two weeks. Hotels were clean and comfortable. Food was excellent. Tour guide was knowledgeable, helpful, and very nice. Bus was new. Driver was excellent. We liked having time to do our own exploring.

Enjoyed the tour and sites. Have been on other escorted tours, and this was enjoyable because of the amount of time available to visit the locals on our own, too.

Tour leader was fantastic! Bus was very cramped....absolutely no leg room. NO Audio headsets---a deal breaker for us. One of the hotels had hairballs in the bathroom, dirty, no working elevators- totally unacceptable.

We had the best weather and so many interesting places to visit. Well organized but rushed at times.
Some optional excursions should have been included in trip. Most hotels were nice except for 2 which were too small and no air conditioning. Tour guide was organized but seemed at times not happy with her job and on one occasion stopped explaining history because she said the tour group was being loud- we were not. I would recommend this tour but perhaps prefer a different guide.

Especially liked the Normandy Beaches....something every American must see. Also, learning about the vast geographical differences in a relatively small country, compared to the U.S. The chateaux were amazing, the food was great, the guide was wonderful,I am running out of superlatives! The history is interesting to me as seeing where things are that I learned about in school makes it easier to grasp. Did not see everything, of course, would need years, but it was a superlative overview.

Had a great time and we had a great tour guide.

The trip was excellent! Would love to do it all over again, with one exception: the visit to Florence, Italy should be a TWO night stay. It would give you more time to explore the city. We got there in the afternoon and early in the morning we were on our way to Pisa. I felt like we were rushed. I did not care for the visit to the leather shop. That was a waste of time when we could have been touring the city. Other than that, love it!!!
One more thing I would like to bring up is the luggage situation. Your brochure states that you are allowed one suitcase and a personal item per person. That's what we did. But when we got there, there were people with more luggage than the allowed, which made it a hassle when trying to bring all those suitcases up to the hotel rooms in the very small elevators (lifts). It was an inconvenience. I believe if you say this is what is allowed per person, everybody should follow those instructions. Thank you very much, Evelyn O'Bryan.

Expectations were fairly high and they were still exceeded. We considered this the best trip we have ever taken and my wife and I have zero complaints.

Loved every minute. Had the best tour guide (Joost) He was very knowledgeable, friendly and cared about our experience. The coach was nice and our driver the absolute best (Giorgio). Wished it could have lasted longer. I've traveled with Cosmos before and I would definitely use them again. Highly recommend.

We had an amazing time on this tour. I loved this tour and the trains made for a very comfortable way to see this beautiful country. Early September was a good time to go with mostly good weather, a little warm still in some of the hotels, some of which do not have air conditioning but do have windows that open. If you want to see more snow, go in the spring. This tour is busy and active but has time to enjoy on your also, particularly in Luzern and Zermatt.

The tour group met in Zurich starting with an evening meeting for orientation and general information followed by dinner. Then we were up early for breakfast - our guide Flo always left word with the hotels for a wake up call but we usually were up before that. Our first train ride was a short hop to Luzern. There we had on our own from late morning on. A lake boat tour was optional. Our hotel was in the town center. Some people felt the hotel was sub-par but we felt that it was a good compromise for cost and convenience although the rooms were small, they were standard for European lodgings and quite adequate for one night. This hotel was probably the most modest of our accommodations. Some of the others were much fancier and roomier. All the hotels supplied a Swiss breakfast of cereals, meats, cheeses, yogurts, pastries, breads, sometimes eggs, always juices and coffees/teas.

Our hotels were mostly within walking distance from the train stations: exceptions were Zurich and St Moritz where a bus or shuttle vans were provided. Taxis were provided a couple of places for the few on the tour with mobility issues. Lausanne is a very steep town and the hotel was a short walk up a very steep grade but very close to the metro - free tickets provided by the hotel. Our Zermatt hotel was also on a bit of a steep slope but very picturesque and 2 minutes walk to the center of the action. In St Moritz we used shuttle vans up and down the hill to the hotel although a few people chose to walk it.

The trains were very comfortable, first class seating usually with seating configured for groups of 4 across a table on one side, groups of 2 across a table on the other side. We had full cars reserved for our group of 36 on the long stretches but we did have a few short connecting trains in which we shared with non-reserved passengers. It all worked quite well and our guide provided info ahead of time so we were prepared for slightly different environments. The trains had restrooms; the excursion trains (Golden Pass, Glacier Express and Bernina Express) had food and beverages available; otherwise we were welcome to bring food and drinks to enjoy onboard, which we did some days, purchasing sandwiches and or salads at the train stations or markets near our accommodations as pointed out by our guide.

The day in Zermatt included the ride up the Gonnergrat cog-rail up the steep valley to the top of the mountains across from the Matterhorn for exceptional viewing. It helped that our day began cloudless. There was lots of time on our own for hiking or for taking a cable car up a different valley. Zermatt has a lot to offer and one day is hardly enough.

The Glacier Express took us into St Moritz with a 7.5 hour long train; this is a well advertised excursion train that in my opinion was good but certainly no more so than the beautiful Golden Pass or Bernina Express and the long day did wear on some people. We were very glad that our tour included three of Switzerland's best excursion trains because this way we had a better chance for good weather for viewing the spectacular scenery.

Our other travel days were broken up a bit with time in a town or the possibility of an optional tour - we enjoyed the optional cog-rail and luncheon up Harder-Kulm in Interlaken, in full view of Jungfrau and the Monk's Head... clouds obscured some other mountain tops. The pricing was a bit high but we went to see the Alps so we were happy for the chance to be in such a special location. We also enjoyed the optional tour to the Chillon Castle, including the ride to it on the lovely restored steamboat on Lake Geneva.

Overall, we were very pleased with this tour and especially well taken care of by our excellent guide. She used the Quiet Vox radio-transmitter/ear-piece receivers system to give us instructions and keep us on our path-forward during train transfers. The hotels were good, the Swiss trains are exceptional and the itinerary was a very good mix of time to see the country and time to experience the culture.

I didn't give it 5 stars because there were a few compromises to save money: the few dinners provided were set meals with no choice of menu; we stayed in Lausanne, which was nice, instead of the more expensive Montreux which, though more costly would have eliminated some backtracking and some very tight-timed (3 minute!), nervous, train transfers.

Cosmos was easy to work with and the best part was the system they used for our luggage handling: a "FedEx" style hub and spoke system which picked up our luggage each morning, took it all to Zurich where it was then distributed to our new destination. It always arrived in a timely manner and it made the trip so very easy - just grab your day pack and camera to go enjoy the day of amazing vistas, culture and history. Definitely recommended!

We had an amazing time on this tour. I loved this tour and the trains made for a very comfortable way to see this beautiful country. Early September was a good time to go with mostly good weather, a little warm still in some of the hotels, some of which do not have air conditioning but do have windows that open. If you want to see more snow, go in the spring. This tour is busy and active but has time to enjoy on your also, particularly in Luzern and Zermatt.

The tour group met in Zurich starting with an evening meeting for orientation and general information followed by dinner. Then we were up early for breakfast - our guide Flo always left word with the hotels for a wake up call but we usually were up before that. Our first train ride was a short hop to Luzern. There we had on our own from late morning on. A lake boat tour was optional. Our hotel was in the town center. Some people felt the hotel was sub-par but we felt that it was a good compromise for cost and convenience although the rooms were small, they were standard for European lodgings and quite adequate for one night. This hotel was probably the most modest of our accommodations. Some of the others were much fancier and roomier. All the hotels supplied a Swiss breakfast of cereals, meats, cheeses, yogurts, pastries, breads, sometimes eggs, always juices and coffees/teas.

Our hotels were mostly within walking distance from the train stations: exceptions were Zurich and St Moritz where a bus or shuttle vans were provided. Taxis were provided a couple of places for the few on the tour with mobility issues. Lausanne is a very steep town and the hotel was a short walk up a very steep grade but very close to the metro - free tickets provided by the hotel. Our Zermatt hotel was also on a bit of a steep slope but very picturesque and 2 minutes walk to the center of the action. In St Moritz we used shuttle vans up and down the hill to the hotel although a few people chose to walk it.

The trains were very comfortable, first class seating usually with seating configured for groups of 4 across a table on one side, groups of 2 across a table on the other side. We had full cars reserved for our group of 36 on the long stretches but we did have a few short connecting trains in which we shared with non-reserved passengers. It all worked quite well and our guide provided info ahead of time so we were prepared for slightly different environments. The trains had restrooms; the excursion trains (Golden Pass, Glacier Express and Bernina Express) had food and beverages available; otherwise we were welcome to bring food and drinks to enjoy onboard, which we did some days, purchasing sandwiches and or salads at the train stations or markets near our accommodations as pointed out by our guide.

The day in Zermatt included the ride up the Gonnergrat cog-rail up the steep valley to the top of the mountains across from the Matterhorn for exceptional viewing. It helped that our day began cloudless. There was lots of time on our own for hiking or for taking a cable car up a different valley. Zermatt has a lot to offer and one day is hardly enough.

The Glacier Express took us into St Moritz with a 7.5 hour long train; this is a well advertised excursion train that in my opinion was good but certainly no more so than the beautiful Golden Pass or Bernina Express and the long day did wear on some people. We were very glad that our tour included three of Switzerland's best excursion trains because this way we had a better chance for good weather for viewing the spectacular scenery.

Our other travel days were broken up a bit with time in a town or the possibility of an optional tour - we enjoyed the optional cog-rail and luncheon up Harder-Kulm in Interlaken, in full view of Jungfrau and the Monk's Head... clouds obscured some other mountain tops. The pricing was a bit high but we went to see the Alps so we were happy for the chance to be in such a special location. We also enjoyed the optional tour to the Chillon Castle, including the ride to it on the lovely restored steamboat on Lake Geneva.

Overall, we were very pleased with this tour and especially well taken care of by our excellent guide. She used the Quiet Vox radio-transmitter/ear-piece receivers system to give us instructions and keep us on our path-forward during train transfers. The hotels were good, the Swiss trains are exceptional and the itinerary was a very good mix of time to see the country and time to experience the culture.

I didn't give it 5 stars because there were a few compromises to save money: the few dinners provided were set meals with no choice of menu; we stayed in Lausanne, which was nice, instead of the more expensive Montreux which, though more costly would have eliminated some backtracking and some very tight-timed (3 minute!), nervous, train transfers.

Cosmos was easy to work with and the best part was the system they used for our luggage handling: a "FedEx" style hub and spoke system which picked up our luggage each morning, took it all to Zurich where it was then distributed to our new destination. It always arrived in a timely manner and it made the trip so very easy - just grab your day pack and camera to go enjoy the day of amazing vistas, culture and history. Definitely recommended!

really good

This was our first trip to Europe. Please note the 5 stars are for value and how much we enjoyed the tour, not for the hotels we stayed in [although the hotel in Vienna was very nice] - but we knew that going in.
Our travelling companions were great and our tour guide Zophia [sp? - she was from Budapest] was fantastic. She did everything she could to meet needs/requests, and herded our group of cats with good cheer.
The tour itself goes very quickly, with Prague still being a blur after the jet lag of overseas travel. My wife now insists that we arrive a day early on our next trip, which is a pretty good tip.
All the cities we toured were beautiful in their own way. The local tours and tour guides were very informative. Be ready to walk. The bus rides were a pleasant way to see the countryside, and Zophia imparted much local knowledge along the way. I would highly recommend this tour for those who want a taste of these cities.