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Cosmos vs Costsaver
Compare the travel styles, pricing, destinations and popularity of Cosmos and Costsaver.The Low Down
A lot of our clients aren't too fussed about their accommodation (as long as it's clean and comfortable) and are more interested in the destination. Over 1,200 past client reviews with an average 4.5 out 5 star rating, is impressive. Why? Great value and interesting itineraries. Part of the Globus Family, there are further great discounts to be had.Accommodation is 3 to 3/12 star, but a lot of our clients are pleasantly surprised at the quality. Hotels are often located out of the city centre, so prepare your trip budget to allow for transfers or taxis if you want to explore the cities on your own. Allow extra funds for some meals and excursions not included in more premium inclusive itineraries. Like our past clients, we feel very comfortable recommending Cosmos.
CostSaver is Trafalgar's affordable range of coach tours. Comparable to Cosmos in price and quality, their focus has always been on Europe and the UK, but have more recently launched a range of new itineraries in the US, Canada and South America. If you are looking for an affordable touring option, then CostSaver is a great option, and if you've travelled with any of its sister brands like AAT Kings, Trafalgar or Insight Vacations further savings are available.The price for that affordability - while all the must-see sights are included, there are lot of optional excursions which can add up quickly if you choose to do them all. If that's likely, perhaps a more inclusive Operator like Trafalgar or Insight is best. However if you like the freedom to explore on your own, and are after a relaxing and hassle-free holiday, then Costsaver is a great option.
Stats
No. of Trips
179
No. of Departures
4,188
Avg. Trip Length
14 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$265
Accommodation
3 - 3.5 Star
Budget
Affordable
Trip Styles
Coach Tours
No. of Trips
86
No. of Departures
2,071
Avg. Trip Length
12 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$211
Accommodation
3 - 4 Star
Budget
Affordable
Trip Styles
Coach Tours
In Their Own Words We asked the travel companies themselves why you should travel with them
At Cosmos, we like to think of ourselves as experts in ‘thrillology’ – the art of bringing you an experience, time and time again. With over 50 years of ‘wow’ under our belts and no sign of slowing down, we know how to curate value touring holidays that you’ll never forget; creating the experiences you’ve always dreamed of and showing you the ones, you never thought of. Our job is to take care of the planning and logistics, so that all you have to focus on is living your dreams!
We know lasting travel memories don’t have to cost the earth. Our value tours cover all the essentials, while providing you the building blocks to tailor your dream holiday. We plan and include all the essentials – your quality transport, accommodation, sightseeing, many meals and the very best Travel Directors, leaving you the time to tailor your trip your way.
As an active founder and supporter of the TreadRight Foundation, you’ll travel confidently knowing we support the protection and conservation of the places we visit. We tread far, but always tread lightly. Having won the 5 star gold award for highest travel satisfaction, from the independent review provider FEEFO, you can be assured you’ll get an unbeatable holiday at an unbeatable price. Value is in our blood, and thanks to our Ready To Go Rate, you’ll be confident that when you book, the price you see is the best it’ll be. Travel the world without a hassle in the world.
Recent Reviews
4.4
Ireland & Scotland 1
Highlights of Ireland & Scotland
Terry & Alison, Kevin & Julie, NSW, Australia, Oct 2025
Again Global Journeys and Grace thank you for all travel assistance. Trip was amazing what beautiful countries to explore & through Cosmos a breeze. Loved every minute. Put on your bucket list. Will definitely recommend trip to everyone
Thanks 😀
Thanks 😀
Starting with Global Journeys, Hannah was great and kept me informed every step of the way. Japan - meeting our tour guide Akiko, she was great, the tour was fantastic, a nice small tour group. Hotels were great too.
One Of Our Best Cosmos Trips Ever 0
Eastern US & Canada Grand Vacation
Janne & Michael, NSW, Australia, Oct 2025
This was our 8th Cosmos trip and would have to say it was up there with the best, from our tour guide Jason (Cap as affectionately known) and driver Andrew to the overall tour itself. It was an amazing time of the year to go, departing on the 6th October as we got to experience the magnificent change in colours of the trees, from green to red, orange read more and yellow The locations were great, the hotels excellent and all inclusions and optional extras made the most of our time. The local guides used by Cosmos for places like New York, Boston, and Quebec were incredibly knowledgeable and provided us with a heads up to the cities we were visiting.
Along with beautiful scenery, this tour provided time in modern cities and history locations. Due to the Government lockdown during our stay, we were unable to visit the Smithsonian museums in DC, however Cosmos stepped up and organised tickets for our group to visit he National Holocaust Museum, and the following day, extended our time at Arlington, taking the trolley bus further into the cemetery and watching the changing of the guards, which occurs, every hour of the day, 365 days a year and an honor have the time to witness this. Cosmos do it so well, with excellent value for money, professional staff and well thought out itineraries, its hard to consider other options. And as always, Tracy Standing managed our booking flawlessly and made the experience easy.
Along with beautiful scenery, this tour provided time in modern cities and history locations. Due to the Government lockdown during our stay, we were unable to visit the Smithsonian museums in DC, however Cosmos stepped up and organised tickets for our group to visit he National Holocaust Museum, and the following day, extended our time at Arlington, taking the trolley bus further into the cemetery and watching the changing of the guards, which occurs, every hour of the day, 365 days a year and an honor have the time to witness this. Cosmos do it so well, with excellent value for money, professional staff and well thought out itineraries, its hard to consider other options. And as always, Tracy Standing managed our booking flawlessly and made the experience easy.
Had a wonderful 8 days touring Ireland with an amazing guide, Carmel, and a bus driver, Tico, who weave a bus through beautiful winding roads. We learned so much and laughed even more.
Italian Lakes 0
The Magic of the Italian Lakes
Terry & Alison, Kevin & Julie, NSW, Australia, Oct 2025
Global Journeys were excellent with our arrangements. Yes we would travel with Cosmos again definitely. We had a wonderful time exploring the Italian lakes region. Personally the best & easiest way to explore foreign countries.
The tour was very enjoyable and allowed us to cover many places and distance, ad to see a lot that we couldn't do on our own in terms of time. The tour director and drive were fabulous, helpful and knowledgable. The organisation by Tracy before we went was also fabulous.
My only concerns, which were given to Cosmos were as follows - 1. The group read more was too big which made transit, waiting and movement long. Plus you don't really get to know anyone well. Need to know numbers upfront before booking of how large the tour can get. 2. The age group was mostly a lot older than us. This means additional activities can be skewed to different age groups and makes it hard to form friendships. Again just good to know before we book. 3. The accommodation a few places wasn't great - mainly too old and poor location. I would prefer to pay a little extra to be located in town, especially as female travellers. Thanks.
GJ: Thanks for your feedback Lisa and Olivia. We list on every trip page - under Trip Overview - the maximum group size. The actually number of travellers on each trip will vary right up until departure. Cosmos trips are open age, so the make up on each departure will vary too - some destinations or trip styles lend to themselves to older travellers, others to families and on many trips there is a good mix of ages travelling together. Cosmos won't provide you (or us) with a run down of everyone's age before departure - it's the nature of group touring. Finally, Cosmos arel listed as "affordable" tours, so sometimes acccommodation may be ouside the city centre, and in your case not up to your expectations. Again we list budget and accommodation levels for every trip - under Trip Overview.
Globus (sister brand to Cosmos) is a more premium touring brand, with more inclusions and a higher level of accommodation, however the trips are more expensive as a result. I hope that provides you with some context and helps you select a more suitable trip next time you book with us! We hope!
My only concerns, which were given to Cosmos were as follows - 1. The group read more was too big which made transit, waiting and movement long. Plus you don't really get to know anyone well. Need to know numbers upfront before booking of how large the tour can get. 2. The age group was mostly a lot older than us. This means additional activities can be skewed to different age groups and makes it hard to form friendships. Again just good to know before we book. 3. The accommodation a few places wasn't great - mainly too old and poor location. I would prefer to pay a little extra to be located in town, especially as female travellers. Thanks.
GJ: Thanks for your feedback Lisa and Olivia. We list on every trip page - under Trip Overview - the maximum group size. The actually number of travellers on each trip will vary right up until departure. Cosmos trips are open age, so the make up on each departure will vary too - some destinations or trip styles lend to themselves to older travellers, others to families and on many trips there is a good mix of ages travelling together. Cosmos won't provide you (or us) with a run down of everyone's age before departure - it's the nature of group touring. Finally, Cosmos arel listed as "affordable" tours, so sometimes acccommodation may be ouside the city centre, and in your case not up to your expectations. Again we list budget and accommodation levels for every trip - under Trip Overview.
Globus (sister brand to Cosmos) is a more premium touring brand, with more inclusions and a higher level of accommodation, however the trips are more expensive as a result. I hope that provides you with some context and helps you select a more suitable trip next time you book with us! We hope!
4.4
The guide Cameron was a legend, he looked after us all. Only critisism is of the tour design, I think you really need two nights in Florence and as with Germany, to be able to capture more. We just sped through those places. Otherwise it was great!
Thanks so much Global Journeys for helping me organise this trip. It exceeded our expectations and was a fantastic experience. We loved it.
Wonderful trip through the Canadian Rockies - sunshine and great weather. Loved the spectacular scenery and included options. Tour organisation from overall tour delivery company was average, with some less than ideal accommodation locations for ease of exploring, and major difficulty in completing payment for optional excursions - although TD and read more driver compensated for some of that making the best of the circumstances.
It's the first time I have travelled with Costsaver. Overall the tour was very good and the tour guide and driver did a good job. We visited some amazing places my top picks was Monument Valley and Yellowstone. I would consider travelling with them again.
We are very glad that we booked this toor with Costsaver! The trip was very well organised! Both our tour director and driver were excellent! We were in good company with our fellow travellers. We have seen many spectacular National Parks on the tour.
Really enjoyed the introduction tour of scandinavia! John was great travel director and Marcin was a great driver! Great use of local tour guides especially Adi who has a fun personality suited once you get to Stockholm. Wish you could stay in Copenhagen and Stockholm longer to make this tour a 14-15 day instead because they were fairly large cities. read more If you are doing this tour, I would recommend to try arriving 2 days earlier to explore a-bit more of Copenhagen and stay another day or 2 in Stockholm. Norway was at the right amount and the Flam rail and cruise through the Nærøyfjord is a must for future tourist.
Now we also experienced a very hot summer (which was very rare according to locals) but wish some of the hotels had fans or vented cooling. Other than that, the hotels in Copenhagen, Bergen & Stockholm were great! Thanks again Costsaver for a great experience!
Now we also experienced a very hot summer (which was very rare according to locals) but wish some of the hotels had fans or vented cooling. Other than that, the hotels in Copenhagen, Bergen & Stockholm were great! Thanks again Costsaver for a great experience!
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19 Days Vancouver to Vancouver
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