AAT Kings vs APT

Compare the travel styles, pricing, destinations and popularity of AAT Kings and APT.

The Low Down

AAT Kings AAT Kings have partnered with Global Journeys since our inception, and as a result we have an in-depth understanding of all their trips, through both Australia and New Zealand. Our team have journeyed with them on 9 tours through New Zealand, Tasmania, South Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland. That close relationship also means we can deliver fantastic savings throughout the year.

AAT King's core multi-day coach tours cater mainly for those over 55+, whilst their short breaks in the Northern Territory tend to attract a more diverse range of ages. All coaches are first class, and AAT Kings pride themselves on their tour guides - many of which have been with them for decades!
APT Initially providing coach touring around Australia and NZ to the local market, APT have grown exponentially over the last decade to now offer trips around the world, and are well known for their European river cruises. Over the last few years APT have introduced small ship expeditions that cruise the waters through Asia, Europe, Canada and off the coast of Kimberley. Catering primarily for the retired market, their trips aren't cheap, but in APT's case - you get what you pay for.

Look out for their great Fly Free offers, and Earlybird Savings. The team here at Global Journeys have travelled multiple times by coach, cruise & river with APT, and we definitely recommend them as a quality, consistent, reliable Operator, and our past client reviews back that up.

Stats

No. of Trips
85
No. of Departures
3,266
Avg. Trip Length
9 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$542
Accommodation
3.5 - 4 Star
Budget
Affordable & Premium
Trip Styles Coach ToursShort BreaksCity Breaks
Regions Explored AustraliaNew Zealand
No. of Trips
420
No. of Departures
2,690
Avg. Trip Length
15 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$799
Accommodation
4 - 5 Star
Budget
Premium & Luxury

In Their Own Words We asked the travel companies themselves why you should travel with them

AAT Kings
Choosing AAT Kings for your Australia or New Zealand holiday guarantees you’ll benefit from the insider secrets, off-the-beaten-path destinations and authentic interactions with local characters that only 100 years of experience can provide. With over a hundred years’ experience in sharing Australia with our guests, AAT Kings holds exclusive access to some truly unique locations, secret trails and roads less travelled that add so much value to the overall travel experience.

At AAT Kings, our on-road staff are best in class. Our Travel Directors, Driver Guides and Drivers are hand-picked for their passion, experience, and enthusiasm for the spectacular countries we live in. There is truly no one better to share with you the best destinations across Australia and New Zealand. We have been perfecting our itineraries and products for over 100 years, so the benefits gained from travelling with us are unrivalled. With over 150 expertly crafted holiday itineraries to choose from, we offer something for everyone.
APT
APT is an Australian family-owned company whose essence began in Melbourne in the 1920s. More than 90 years on, APT offers life-enriching trips to every continent, and through the company’s vast industry experience, meticulous planning and unquestionable passion it's earned a place among the world’s most well-regarded travel companies.

From boutique river cruising to small-group 4WD adventures; traditional coach touring with a decadent twist; epic rail journeys to small-ship expeditions; classic ocean cruising to safaris of discovery by both land and air – there’s little APT are unwilling to consider in pursuit of creating the finest holiday experience for its valued guests.

Timeless luxury, exclusive experiences, life enriching moments and true personalisation. APT offers all-inclusive holidays so everything is taken care of. We invite you to join us; you won’t be disappointed.

Recent Reviews

Great Trip   0 , WA, Australia, Feb 2024
Enjoyed the trip. The planning with Georgie was easy. Our travel director and driver were excellent - the commentary gave so much detail about the history of Tasmania and the trip allowed enough time to explore the places we stopped in. I always felt very safe with our driver at the wheel even over the steepest, winding roads. My only complaint was ...read more that not enough spaces were allowed on the night animal spotting tour so most of us missed out.
South island 101   0 , New Zealand, Jan 2024
Maisie from Global Journeys made this trip possible in a very short time as I couldn't finalise things with the Operator quickly. This tour is great if you want a quick glance at all top spots of South island so that you can plan an extensive trip later to spots you liked.
Wonderful Tour   0 , QLD, Australia, Jan 2024
Very pleased with Hannah's service from wo to go organising the trip. The coach tour with AAT Kings was very enjoyable and value for money. The Tour Director and Driver were amazing and so helpful and knowledgeable. Accommodation was excellent although we were a bit disappointed in Launceston as the service wasn't quite up to Hobart's standard. Highlights ...read more of the trip were: Russell Falls, Strahan and Gordon River Cruise, Cradle Mountain, cable car at Cataract Gorge, lunch at Joseph Chromy winery, Bicheno, views at Freycinet National Park and of course the Cruise and lunch at Wineglass Bay and Port Arthur. There were too many highlights to mention as Tassie has so much beautiful scenery and photo opportunities.
The perfect getaway.     0 , NSW, Australia, Jan 2024
I enjoyed this trip so much. It was so easy as always dealing with Global Journeys. I have been on a few trips through them now and will certainly use them again. I always feel in good hands with Georgie. The trip was well paced, amazing places visited, the scenery stunning. The Trans Alpine train and Milford Sound cruise were my highlights. Great group ...read more of like minded people, good weather. If you are considering visiting NZ South Island just go! You won't regret it.
New Zealand Coach Tour   2 , AZ, United States, Nov 2023
Global Journeys handled our every need and question! This trip was one of the best I've experienced. AAT Kings provided an excellent tour guide, and I couldn't believe the skills of the bus drivers. Accommodations were perfect. I had a few suggestions for AAT Kings for future journeys: providing more information on the terrain on specific excursions; ...read more perhaps offering headphones for the hard of hearing; and providing name tags to ease getting acquainted with our fellow travelers.
Terrific Tassie Trip     1 , QLD , Australia, Nov 2023
Our AAT Kings Perfect Tasmania tour was exactly that, perfect. Our very experienced bus driver Tom and Tour Director Dave were both fantastic with a wealth of knowledge about Tassie. The meals and accommodation were also amazing. We thoroughly enjoyed everything including the history which was very interesting. Our Bruny Island added extra on the ...read more last day was also a wonderful experience.
20 day Essence of New Zealand   0 , WA, Australia, Dec 2023
We loved our holiday from start to finish. Our tour Guide (Saul ) and Bus driver (Andrew ) were excellent and went above and beyond to keep us happy, informed and entertained throughout our trip. Most of the hotels were lovely and of a high standard and the meals provided were more than satisfactory. I loved nearly all of the included tours and only ...read more once did we make a bad choice - not that anything was wrong with the tour itself, it just didn't suit us - my error in choice only. I would definitely recommend APT and would travel with them again in the future. Global journeys were great at organising all this for us and I would definitely use them again to help me plan a holiday.
Always the best!   0 , SA, Australia, Nov 2023
Georgie and the team at Global Journeys once again delivered on everything we asked of them during the booking of our New Zealand adventure. We cannot thank them enough for answering all our silly questions and ensuring that we had the best time possible. We will always choose Global Journeys as our travel agent for tours.
15 Day Magnificent Europe river cruise   1 , VIC, Australia, Nov 2023
Would definitely book again through Global Journeys. The river cruise was good but not quite what we thought it would be. Most day trips were only 2 - 3 hours in length. Fellow passengers were enjoyable company and the entertainment, Tori & Dave, were excellent. Maybe we are too young to be going on river cruises!!
Magnificent Europe   1 , NSW, Australia, Oct 2023
The cruise itself was excellent, but wish that we had been informed that it was the rainy season. At least 3 day tours were spoiled by constant rain. The fellow travellers were great company, mostly from Australia, like us. The cabins were a little small. Had we known that you could upsize, we would have done so, but we were not told beforehand. The ...read more food was excellent, staff excellent and cruise director excellent.

The main drawback was the lengthy flight home. We left Wednesday 8th November 11 am, endured 3 lengthy unpleasant flights with Singapore Airlines to arrive in Sydney 10th November 10 am. We had upgraded to Premium economy, but there was very little difference between this and Economy. The Singapore staff were unpleasant and at times very rude. The plane was old and in need of repair/upgrade. The seats were uncomfortable and worn. There was water leakage from above on occasion. The food was not good quality. On the middle trip home of 13 hours, Joy fell asleep and missed 2 meals. When she awoke and asked for a cup of tea, having not drunk anything in 10 hours, she was told NO!!!!!!!!! When Joy later got up to go to toilet, she was told to sit down, even though 2 other people were lined up at toilet. On 2 of the flights we were in the same seats, which were opposite a large double cupboard, which was constantly being opened and slammed shut by the staff as they shuffled paraphernalia backwards and forwards with constant noise and disturbance. We would never travel with Singapore Airlines again.

APT tour was excellent. Overall rating on Tour was excellent. Overall rating on flights was TERRIBLE.
Wonderful time     1 , NSW, Australia, Oct 2023
The APT river cruise was fantastic. Went in Autumn and the scenery was incredible with lots of beautiful colours. The staff on the ship were great. Would recommend it.
APT Europe River Cruise Promised So Much     0 , VIC, Australia, Oct 2023
We completed this same itinerary seven years ago with Viking at the same time period in mid October. There were obvious differences between the operators. Viking cruisers were predominantly from the USA whereas this cruise was mostly from Australia and to a lesser degree the UK. The Scandinavian design of Vikings ship was much preferred to that of both ...read more of the APT ships. This cruise was impacted by low water which we were aware could be a problem. As a result we were placed on a Travelmarvel ship after a two hour bus ride from our starting port of Budapest.

Unfortunately for many guests the planned activities for Budapest did not happen. APT did arrange for guests to travel by coach to have a lunch cruise the next day (6 hours of road travel) The staff on Travelmarvel tried very hard but it was obvious more training is needed. The food and wine advertised in APT’s brochures emphasises fine wine and food. The wine was far from fine and food was bland. Viking also excelled in this area. Passengers had no other wine option made available to guests. One house white and one house red and a sparkling. When off ship we purchased wine. APT’s advertising promotes that passengers will not need to spend any more dollars once you are aboard. Viking’s offering in this area was far superior!

We did approach a senior staff member about these issues and were told we should expect better when we changed ships. APT had ample time to upgrade wine and food menus prior to commencing the cruise .
The wine offerings continued to fall short on quality though you could purchase from a short list of wine around the 30euro mark.
Staff on the Amastella were more proficient and the cabin were meticulously cleaned. Viking was also rated highly in this aspect.
The off ship excursions were very good on both cruises. We have traveled on 3 Viking river cruises and have experienced high quality cruises. We cannot say this about our most recent APT experience.

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