Home > Compare Tour & Adventure Operators > Back-Roads vs Bunnik Tours
Back-Roads vs Bunnik Tours
Compare the travel styles, pricing, destinations and popularity of Back-Roads and Bunnik Tours.The Low Down
As their name suggests Back-Roads itineraries focus on regional tours off the beaten track. Catering for small groups (maximum of 18) they travel through Europe & the UK. While our team at Global Journeys haven't experienced any of their trips first hand, our clients that have chosen to discover Europe with Back-Roads have provided glowing reviews on their return. With an eclectic range of trips to choose from - including canal cruises, this small group operator is well worth considering. 
A family business based in Adelaide, Bunnik made a name for themselves in small group touring through Egypt, and now travel to all corners of the globe. All of their trips include return flights to and from Australia, so take this into account when comparing prices with other small group Operators. Bunnik tours have been specifically designed for 'the not too young and not too old' with group sizes set to a maximum of 20, and in Africa even smaller groups of 12. Bunnik trips are currently only offered to Australian residents. Stats
No. of Trips
45
No. of Departures
653
Avg. Trip Length
9 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$521
Accommodation
Boutique
Budget
Premium
Trip Styles Small Group Tours
No. of Trips
100
No. of Departures
607
Avg. Trip Length
18 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$586
Accommodation
Boutique
Budget
Premium
Trip Styles Small Group Tours
In Their Own Words We asked the travel companies themselves why you should travel with them
At Back-Roads we have over 30 years’ experience in creating small group tours that focus on forming experiences that immerse our passengers in some of the most incredible destinations in the world. Our dedicated mini-coaches enable us to travel the back roads, avoiding motorways and taking you to the heart of our destinations. We pride ourselves on delivering truly unique travel experiences through expert local knowledge, carefully curated cultural experiences and hand-picked boutique accommodation.
Our tours appeal to those looking for a more relaxing style of travel, and who enjoy culture, good food, meeting like-minded people and exploring destinations in depth. We welcome first-time travellers, but also find that many of our passengers have travelled with us before!
Bunnik Tours is a family business with a focus on crafting itineraries that really get to the heart of all that a destination has to offer through a balance of organised sightseeing, special local experiences and time for independent exploration. We know that some of the best experiences are when you wander away from the group and make your own discoveries.
In creating our small group tours, we are driven by two guiding principles. First, everything we do is about your experience, which is why we only run tours with a maximum of 20 people – that’s less time waiting, more time exploring. Second, when done properly, tourism can be an incredible force for good that generates economic and social benefits in the places we visit.
Recent Reviews
4.7
We had a wonderful time on this trip. It included beautiful coastal places, tours through ancient historic sites, excellent accommodation and meals. We enjoyed every activity; the tour leader was very skilled and helpful and group was relaxed and friendly. The transport was comfortable with a great driver. We fell in love with Greece! We would definitely ...read more recommend this tour with Back Roads.
A step back in time discovering historic Villages in the Cotswolds 1 Susan, NSW, Australia, Sep 2023
This small group tour was enjoyable from the start to the end. The historic Cotswold's villages and the surrounding countryside were stunning. We had regular stops and time to see the individual villages, learn of their history and the movies made in those villages. The two nights in Bath enabled us to enjoy the ingenuity of the Romans dating back 2,000 ...read more years as well as learn about the events of the regency era. I highly recommend this 5 day tour.
Tour covers great mix of locations across northern Italy with some unique accommodation along the way. Highlights included the time in Lucca (pretty much everyone of our tour would go back there again), watching the truffle hunt near Alba, and cooking lesson in Tuscany. Full tour and major tourist areas were very busy in Italy this September so some ...read more itinerary changes as a result. Probably less ‘back roads’ than other tours I’ve been on, with visits to Florence and Pisa standard ‘in, tour/highlights’, out’.
What a fabulous 13 days! We covered so much of Ireland from top to bottom. What a great bunch of people to travel with from the tour leader, driver and fellow passengers. We learnt so much of the Irish History & Culture and many on board were able to connect with their ancestral heritage. Accomodation and meals provided were excellent. Would highly ...read more recommend Back Roads Tours.
What a way to discover Portugal. We had a small group tour with an incredible guide. A mix of nationalities who all got on extremely well. Only the finest hotel accommodations and first class food -- even the meal we cooked ourselves in our Cooking and Nature hotel. This was our second Backroads tour and we look forward to experiencing many mor ...read moree.
Loved the itinerary and Kinga was an amazing guide. Loved the hotels location after Munich with some amazing views and of the track locations. The coach was disappointing prior to the overheating. Definitely not luxury standard. Was a Mercedes but modified to have extra rows of seats that were not overly comfortable - made very small leg room and made ...read more you sit twisted and uncomfortable for entire trip. Lucky we could sit on our own. Driver didn’t really engage with guests until breakdown when he needed our assistance/patience. Kinga made the trip with knowledge, humour and personality!
4.6
Global Journeys were very efficient and kept the paperwork up to date all the way to embarkation. Itinerary: (Not sure if this is Bunnik's area). A visit to Tokyo tower could be included. The paragraph describing Hiroshima - Sat 30 March - was out of chronological order. This caused people to use their free day Friday 29 March to make their own way ...read more to the Bamboo forest because it was not noticed further down the itinerary Saturday 30 March.
Tips: Take lots of socks in case it is raining when you have to take shoes off and on. Take slip on shoes. Pack an umbrella. Use Google Interpreter to help with language.
One trip highlight was seeing Mt Fuji because we struck very cold, wet, cloudy weather. Our group thought we would miss out but the weather cleared and there it was . Beautiful. Loved the Alps and ryokan. Blossoms were not out in Tokyo but were in Hiroshima and Osaka. Thought we were going to be unlucky but we saw some beautiful blooms. Also the castles and temples were lovely. Japanese people so polite and friendly. Thanks to our guide a lost shoulder bag and all contents was located and sent on to hotel in a day or two. Cities clean, quiet and orderly. Food interesting! Amazing toilets! Our tour was fast paced and the guide was excellent. 18 people in group, all well travelled and fun. We certainly had a great trip.
Tips: Take lots of socks in case it is raining when you have to take shoes off and on. Take slip on shoes. Pack an umbrella. Use Google Interpreter to help with language.
One trip highlight was seeing Mt Fuji because we struck very cold, wet, cloudy weather. Our group thought we would miss out but the weather cleared and there it was . Beautiful. Loved the Alps and ryokan. Blossoms were not out in Tokyo but were in Hiroshima and Osaka. Thought we were going to be unlucky but we saw some beautiful blooms. Also the castles and temples were lovely. Japanese people so polite and friendly. Thanks to our guide a lost shoulder bag and all contents was located and sent on to hotel in a day or two. Cities clean, quiet and orderly. Food interesting! Amazing toilets! Our tour was fast paced and the guide was excellent. 18 people in group, all well travelled and fun. We certainly had a great trip.
I had a fabulous time on the small group Bunnik tour of Tasmania. We were lucky to have had only 10 people! Our wonderful guide Kerry was so informative and always available for assistance/suggestions of where to eat etc. Tom Bunnik who also travelling with us was equally helpful and added his unique sense of humour! I was travelling on my own but didn’t f ...read moreeel lonely… thank you! Thank you to Hannah who was very efficient at all times answering my emails quickly and on the phone queries just as efficiently.
We had a great time exploring Tasmania with Bunnik. The guide and driver, Paul and Kerry, were fantastic. Kind, funny, and professional. We had amazing weather in February and saw many beautiful places. Having a 20-person group with a full-sized coach was awesome. The coach itself was also very roomy and comfortable--lots of leg room, USB chargers, ...read more etc. We'd happily travel with Bunnik again!
A great adventure for in depth ancient history buffs of Jordan and Egypt.
The tour guides were locals, confident, experienced, very knowledgeable, friendly, helpful and well organised, always conscious of our safety and well being. They told us what pitfalls to be aware of when shopping and touring. However, often, there was information overload, ...read more leaving insufficient time for exploring, which was quite disappointing, especially, for many, this was a bucket list destination.
The tour in Jordan was enjoyable with its varied activities. However, that in Egypt was heavily concentrated on rushing to visit as many tombs as possible, so we soon became “tombed”out. A more leisurely pace with time to enjoy some of the beautiful hotels on the Nile and an exploration of modern Egypt would have created a more enjoyable experience.
The accommodation was a mixture of very modern exclusive hotels, some bygone ones in the process of being renovated and one unwelcoming, very basic, old Wadi Rum “glamp”. Thank goodness for the lovely, modern Movenpick cruise boat which softened the blow, with its wonderful crew and experienced chefs!
The variety of foods was an experience, a mixture of delicious to wanting, as in Wadi Rum where you couldn’t even have toast! Often, dishes were comparatively very salty and heavily spiced, just how the locals like it?
The Bunnik tour was pricey for such inconsistent accommodation and food options but we felt very safe, well looked after and happy to be with a small group of lovely easy going Aussie fellow travellers. You will have fun, if you are willing to go with the flow.
To stay well, don’t eat the salad, even in five star hotels, or use ice and always use bottled water, even for brushing your teeth! This was made easy with Bunnik providing an endless supply of complimentary bottled, water!
Lastly, I must commend Global Journeys and Bunnik for their professional and dedicated staff, who are always happy to answer our questions and concerns.
The tour guides were locals, confident, experienced, very knowledgeable, friendly, helpful and well organised, always conscious of our safety and well being. They told us what pitfalls to be aware of when shopping and touring. However, often, there was information overload, ...read more leaving insufficient time for exploring, which was quite disappointing, especially, for many, this was a bucket list destination.
The tour in Jordan was enjoyable with its varied activities. However, that in Egypt was heavily concentrated on rushing to visit as many tombs as possible, so we soon became “tombed”out. A more leisurely pace with time to enjoy some of the beautiful hotels on the Nile and an exploration of modern Egypt would have created a more enjoyable experience.
The accommodation was a mixture of very modern exclusive hotels, some bygone ones in the process of being renovated and one unwelcoming, very basic, old Wadi Rum “glamp”. Thank goodness for the lovely, modern Movenpick cruise boat which softened the blow, with its wonderful crew and experienced chefs!
The variety of foods was an experience, a mixture of delicious to wanting, as in Wadi Rum where you couldn’t even have toast! Often, dishes were comparatively very salty and heavily spiced, just how the locals like it?
The Bunnik tour was pricey for such inconsistent accommodation and food options but we felt very safe, well looked after and happy to be with a small group of lovely easy going Aussie fellow travellers. You will have fun, if you are willing to go with the flow.
To stay well, don’t eat the salad, even in five star hotels, or use ice and always use bottled water, even for brushing your teeth! This was made easy with Bunnik providing an endless supply of complimentary bottled, water!
Lastly, I must commend Global Journeys and Bunnik for their professional and dedicated staff, who are always happy to answer our questions and concerns.
Georgie Walpole was an efficient and courteous agent to work with. Overall, we enjoyed the trip to northern Japan. Nature and Japan did not disappoint. The tour itinerary was not always to our liking - too many shrine and brewery visits, when other more interesting sites were possible to see. Insufficient time in Tokyo and Sapporo. Insufficient time ...read more allowed between connecting international flights. A lot of unnecessary stress and a very near miss of our connection from Tokyo to Singapore.
It was a lovely trip. Accommodation was beautiful, I felt like I was a queen. The food was wonderful. I have only criticism about the first and last meals together were not good. The coach driver talked non stop telling stuff about his girl etc that wasn’t interesting. The coach broke down a few ones and had to be replaced. The guides Kate and Michelle ...read more did a wonderful job and were quick at handling any issues. The best place was the seals and kolas on kangaroo island. I would recommend this tour to others. I made new friends and had a lovely time.
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