Home >
Compare Tour & Adventure Operators
> Cosmos vs Trafalgar
Cosmos vs Trafalgar
Compare the travel styles, pricing, destinations and popularity of Cosmos and Trafalgar.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.
Over 250 coach tours around the world, and one of our clients most popular Operators, Trafalgar is part of the Travel Corporation, which includes under its umbrella the sister brands of Insight Vacations, AAT Kings, Uniworld, Contiki & Costsaver. With a worldwide presence along eith local operations in Australasia for many years, you'll enjoy the company of many nationalities aboard your coach, including those from Downunder. Sitting between Insight and Costsaver, Trafalgar pride themselves in touring innovation, introducing 'Insider Experiences' (where you get to know and dine with the locals) and travel styles to suit those that prefer smaller groups or those that prefer a more leisurely itinerary.Look out for Trafalgar's Early-payment savings where you can enjoy significant savings on your trip as well as further savings if you are a past passenger on any of the aforementioned sister brands.
Stats
No. of Trips
185
No. of Departures
1,707
Avg. Trip Length
14 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$438
Accommodation
3 - 3.5 Star
Budget
Affordable
Trip Styles
Coach Tours
No. of Trips
348
No. of Departures
8,273
Avg. Trip Length
11 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$559
Accommodation
4 Star
Budget
Premium
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 are the world’s leading and most awarded travel brand spanning all 7 continents of the globe. From the iconic to the unexpected our guests connect to the real depth of the places we go. They will break bread with the locals at our exclusive Be My Guest experiences and unlock local secrets of our Travel Directors and Local Specialists. Everything is taken care of, so they travel with true ease and get the real thing without worrying about a thing.
We consider how we can positively impact the communities we engage with. Through our JoinTrafalgar initiatives powered by TreadRight, guests don’t just leave footprints on the ground, but leave a lasting legacy for the betterment of locals and the future of their communities.
It’s 72 years of destination experience and feedback from over 5 million happy guests that fuels our innovation to continually delivery simply the best holidays.
Recent Reviews
4.5
I really enjoyed this tour and what made it great was 2 nights in each city. I also loved that it was not a jam packed itinerary each day so there was plenty of free time to explore. The tour director was very knowledgeable and the hotels very comfortable. The first hotel in Toronto was perfectly located and had all the amenities except for a laundry read more which was a little disappointing as I had already travelled prior to joining the tour. I would have liked breakfast included but thats a small thing. I would travel with Cosmos again.
Alaska and Canada 0
Western Canada by Rail with Alaska Cruise
Julie and Mindy, QLD, Australia, Jul 2026
Great trip - thanks Kayla. Little disappointed wirh Air Canada business class, very squeezy, but everything including coach, tour guide, Rocky Mountaineer, Holland America were all great. Hotels fine, free time good, Cosmos 3 stars.
An Epic Tour ! 0
Canadian Masterpiece with Rocky Mountaineer & Alaska Cruise
Sherilyn, NSW, Australia, Jul 2026
This tour " Canadian Masterpiece with Rocky Mountaineer and Alaskan Cruise" with Cosmos through Global Journeys was truly wonderful . The itinerary was perfect and well paced and the tour director was fantastic. Every destination was full of stunning scenery whether it was from the Rocky mountaineer train , from the coach, on a gondola or chairlift, read more in the resort towns, from a look out , from a boat or a cruise ship , from a raft or from a helicopter and even from an ice explorer on a glacier and from a suspension bridge! This scenery included snow capped picturesque mountains, magnificent glaciers, beautiful mirrored lakes, rivers, and bays, lush forests and waterfalls, spectacular gardens, beautiful valleys, sunsets and ocean as well as exciting wildlife such as bears, eagles, otters, seals, sea lions, elk, deer and whales. An epic trip ! Thank you.
Western Canada. Calgary Stampede. Inside passage and Alaska cruise 0
Western Canada with Inside Passage, Calgary Stampede & Alaska Cruise
Pamela, VIC, Australia, Jul 2026
Absolutely loved the Calgary Stampede. Tour was great and the Holland America cruise was wonderful as was everything else. Had a wonderful time.
Daniel Wilson enriched the experience of this phenomenal Canadian Maritimes tour 0
Canadian Maritimes Adventure
Melina and Kevin, BC, Canada, Jun 2026
Entire trip was filled with highlights. I have no negative comments. All the places we stayed were great. Director and driver were top notch. Best experience and fab memories of this tour will be embedded in our hearts forever. It was a special surprise for hubby's milestone bday..and it exceeded my expectations. Learned a lot but a good balance of read more everything (talking and quiet time and jokes and great video clips/games). Daniel is a pro!
We had Kayla looking after us for this booking and received all communication in a timely manner, this tour was great and our Cosmos Tour Guide Lisa was outstanding. Unfortunately we were unable to visit Lao Valley due to recent floods in the area, our accommodations and optional excursions were great value. Highly recommend this tour.
4.6
The trip is organised around drivers hours, coach drop off and parking. None of which help my experience of seeing Europe. The "sell" to buy optional experiences takes place at the slowest part of the trip when you drive all day to spend an hour of time at a location, and you realise that you spent all this money and won't see anything.
The travel read more director made a great sell, and he was great and everybody's best friend. He was just like my buddy that sells cars. A slick positive guy that everybody likes. I don't know what his kickback is on the sell, but he pulled in an additional $100 thousand on the options for the bus. If you opt out of the optional experiences, they drop you off at a random spot and need to find your way to a meeting spot. I bought the options.
The places we go are the places the bus is allowed, not really the highlights. The best parts of the trip were when I took off to do my own thing. The logistics can be difficult and that was what I thought we were paying the travel director for, not going to places where the bus can go and people stay together so they don't get lost.
The local specialists should show highlights and let us see what is there instead of holding us back and together so we don't get lost, explaining in great detail one piece of art, or a room. Because of this detail, I did not get to see all of the castle, palace, Vatican Museum, roman Colosseum, etc. Let us see all of the highlights.
Another example was, there is a path through the Roman ruins, but we don't go there to see them, instead we walk the other direction to walk in a dirty back alley, slowly so we can get picked up by the bus. I could have walked through the ruins and been back in time to catch the bus at the pace they move if I had been given an option.
I am there to see Europe, not find a convenient place for them to pick me up. The hotels are good, but away from the things you want to see when you have time in the evening. I would recommend this trip to people that want to sit on busses, get out for an hour to buy souvenirs, shop, eat and drink, and you can now say you have been there. It is not for people that actively want to see Europe. This is the 5th month long trip I have taken, and the one I saw the least and cost 3 times as much as the other trips.
The travel read more director made a great sell, and he was great and everybody's best friend. He was just like my buddy that sells cars. A slick positive guy that everybody likes. I don't know what his kickback is on the sell, but he pulled in an additional $100 thousand on the options for the bus. If you opt out of the optional experiences, they drop you off at a random spot and need to find your way to a meeting spot. I bought the options.
The places we go are the places the bus is allowed, not really the highlights. The best parts of the trip were when I took off to do my own thing. The logistics can be difficult and that was what I thought we were paying the travel director for, not going to places where the bus can go and people stay together so they don't get lost.
The local specialists should show highlights and let us see what is there instead of holding us back and together so we don't get lost, explaining in great detail one piece of art, or a room. Because of this detail, I did not get to see all of the castle, palace, Vatican Museum, roman Colosseum, etc. Let us see all of the highlights.
Another example was, there is a path through the Roman ruins, but we don't go there to see them, instead we walk the other direction to walk in a dirty back alley, slowly so we can get picked up by the bus. I could have walked through the ruins and been back in time to catch the bus at the pace they move if I had been given an option.
I am there to see Europe, not find a convenient place for them to pick me up. The hotels are good, but away from the things you want to see when you have time in the evening. I would recommend this trip to people that want to sit on busses, get out for an hour to buy souvenirs, shop, eat and drink, and you can now say you have been there. It is not for people that actively want to see Europe. This is the 5th month long trip I have taken, and the one I saw the least and cost 3 times as much as the other trips.
We travelled as an extended family of 13 and, overall, really enjoyed the tour. Days 3 and 4 involved very long hours on a bus, which made for some uncomfortable days. A few of the hotels were located away from main attractions. During our free time we often had to catch taxis to get where we wanted to go, which added extra cost and reduced the convenience. read more
A few of the included dinners at the hotels were also a little unusual, with combinations such as a pizza slice and tempura and other bits and bobs that didn't feel very authentic or particularly appealing. The included lunches - such as the sushi making and the Hida beef lunch were you cooked your own beef on individual burners - were AMAZING! We loved the tour overall. It was well organised, we saw some wonderful places, and it was a great way to experience Japan. PS Japan is extremely hot and humid in July!
A few of the included dinners at the hotels were also a little unusual, with combinations such as a pizza slice and tempura and other bits and bobs that didn't feel very authentic or particularly appealing. The included lunches - such as the sushi making and the Hida beef lunch were you cooked your own beef on individual burners - were AMAZING! We loved the tour overall. It was well organised, we saw some wonderful places, and it was a great way to experience Japan. PS Japan is extremely hot and humid in July!
We loved this Trafalgar Trip of France. The Tour Director made sure everyone was happy, he sorted any problems and answered all of our questions. He had great knowledge about all the places we visited. The Coach Driver did an exceptional job manoeuvring the bus through some very tight streets. Both were very always polite, knowledgeable and helpful. read more
Grace from Global Journeys arranged our booking, she answered all our questions and rearranged things for us when we made changes to our trip or wanted add on with no fuss. Our trip went smoothly thanks to the professionalism of all involved.
Grace from Global Journeys arranged our booking, she answered all our questions and rearranged things for us when we made changes to our trip or wanted add on with no fuss. Our trip went smoothly thanks to the professionalism of all involved.
Very informative tour around Portugal 0
Best of Portugal
Fredrick and Liesl, WA , Australia, Jun 2026
Enjoyed the 10 day tour around some interesting cities in Portugal. Our tour director Rui had tremendous knowledge of the places we visited and all the local guides too were well informed. Rui was kind and treated us to the many flavours of Portugal, more than any other tour director had done and this was our 7 th tour with Trafalgar. All the hotel read more accommodation was 4 star, with wonderful selections of breakfast. Only one hotel hadn’t done a clean of the bathtub which was disgusting. Although our Australian contact Hannah, did a great job, and although she advised the Trafalgar team, in plenty of time prior to departure of my change of dietary needs, I was embarrassed at the welcome dinner when I was counted as a special diet.
It was such a great trip. Thanks to the excellent service from the tour director (Craig Hill) and the coach driver (George). Appreciated the stories and insights provided by the local guides. As well, enjoyed the friendly and fun travel companions on the coach bus. Overall, a memorable trip with laughter, memories and great company!
Beautiful Norway, a magical paradise. 0
Scenic Scandinavia and its Fjords
Faye and Dianne, WA, Australia, Jun 2026
Thank you so much Tracey for all your help in sending us off, worry free for a beautiful holiday with Trafalgar. We did the Scenic Scandinavia and its Fjords. We spent most of our time in Norway which has the most amazing scenery. Our mode of travel included bus train and boat. Our tour director David was a wealth of information on any subject or read more enquiry about this beautiful country. Nothing about this tour could disappoint.
Popular Trips
19 Days Vancouver to Vancouver
Operator: Cosmos
From
9,376pp
Save
535pp
