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Luxury Gold vs Trafalgar
Compare the travel styles, pricing, destinations and popularity of Luxury Gold and Trafalgar.The Low Down
Luxury Gold (a luxury brand brought to you by Insight Vacations) endeavours to elevate travel beyond the ordinary, bringing you the best escorted experience for the best value. Staying in some of the finest hotels, chosen for their prime location, ambience, and level of luxury, and enjoying meals and wine at some of the best restaurants the destination has to offer. Insight have recently expanded their range of luxury vacations to include trips through South America, Africa, and Asia - where you can expect the ultimate in luxury and refinement.With smaller groups (average of 30 but no more than 40 guests - and Asia & South Africa with only 24), relaxed start days, VIP door to door transfers (if you're an Aussie within 50km of an airport) , Luxury Gold offers a seamless stress-free travel experience. If you've travelled with any of its sister brands like AAT Kings, Trafalgar, Insight, Inspiring Journeys or Uniworld further savings are available.
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
36
No. of Departures
294
Avg. Trip Length
13 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$1,197
Accommodation
4.5 - 5 Star
Budget
Premium & Luxury
No. of Trips
338
No. of Departures
7,740
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
Indulge your passions on a luxurious small group journey, offering the perfect blend of guided and independent exploration. Choose from our worldwide collection of immersive luxury journeys.
How do we define “Luxury”? It’s exceptional dining experiences, including Michelin star restaurants and cooking classes. It’s staying in luxury hotels in central or scenic locations. Luxury is feeling like a VIP accessing iconic sites after hours and meeting remarkable people. It’s having the service of a Travelling Concierge accompanying you along the way with incredible commitment to service. When you travel with us, we ensure your experience is elevated, elegant and impeccable.
We put our heart into everything we do and are proud to be leaders in luxury travel. I invite you to relax and enjoy the charm of different cultures as we take care of every detail. Speak with Global Journeys today to start your holiday planning. We look forward to taking you on a journey beyond the ordinary.
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
Global Journeys was great! Luxury Gold Tour could be improved 0
Majestic Japan
George T, NSW, Australia, Mar 2026
The communication and attention to detail from Tracey at Golobal Journeys was excellent. If you are expecting the usual European Luxury Gold standard from this tour you will be disappointed. Some hotels were good, but the others were average. While a double bed was clearly requested, most hotels provided 2 single beds. Many people were looking forward read more to the Bullet Train Rides, but this was a huge disappintment, as we were booked in Economy Class with 3 across seating.
We had to draw lots to see who got the worst seats. While First Class was available for a small extra charge, Luxury Gold thaught this Economy Class Cabin was the way to "Travel in Style". Our guide stated that she had previously requested that First Class seats be provided, but this request has been ignored. We have previously travelled with Luxury Gold in fast trains in Europe and it was always in the highest available class cabin.
Don't expect the usual 40 seat coach with extra leg room. These coaches were poor quality with cramped seats with very little leg room. They even had jump seats in each row (Not used).
There are 3 nights in Sendai where your normal bags are not available. You are expected to carry an overnight bag on the Train. They could very easily send the bags seperately as done previously, but this is another place where they cut corners. The type of people who book Luxury Gold Tours are not Backpackers. They need the comfort of having all their luggage when it is a 3 night stay.
This tour is a Black Mark for Luxury Gold, and is a great disappointment compared to the wonderful tours we have previously done with Luxury Gold.
We had to draw lots to see who got the worst seats. While First Class was available for a small extra charge, Luxury Gold thaught this Economy Class Cabin was the way to "Travel in Style". Our guide stated that she had previously requested that First Class seats be provided, but this request has been ignored. We have previously travelled with Luxury Gold in fast trains in Europe and it was always in the highest available class cabin.
Don't expect the usual 40 seat coach with extra leg room. These coaches were poor quality with cramped seats with very little leg room. They even had jump seats in each row (Not used).
There are 3 nights in Sendai where your normal bags are not available. You are expected to carry an overnight bag on the Train. They could very easily send the bags seperately as done previously, but this is another place where they cut corners. The type of people who book Luxury Gold Tours are not Backpackers. They need the comfort of having all their luggage when it is a 3 night stay.
This tour is a Black Mark for Luxury Gold, and is a great disappointment compared to the wonderful tours we have previously done with Luxury Gold.
Excellent Trip with efficient Tour Director 1
Ultimate France
George and Chithralekha, NSW, Australia, May 2025
Beautiful little Villages South of France. Much nicer than visiting large cities. A nice full length coach with only 40 seats provided ample space for the 22 participants. The fast train travelling up to 320 kph was a nice inclusion. Excellent hotels included. Krista our Tour Director was excellent.
Spain and Portugal with Luxury Gold 3
Spain & Portugal in Style
Jenny & David, QLD, Australia, Sep 2022
This was a great tour with excellent hotels and tour guides. The coach was comfortable with plenty of room - maximum 40 passengers - but with Luxury Gold the maximum number is 18 and minimum is 10.
Australians need to be aware that we were asked for an extra 400 euros at the end of the trip - 250 euros for our tour manager and 150 euros for the read more driver. Apparently Americans are given vouchers for these gratuities and the Canadians were given an itemised account which included gratuities. However I am not aware of how much they paid for their trip compared to Australians.
Note: The option to prepay Tour Director & Driver gratuities prior to departure is an option. Please ask us to include this in your quote if you wish - or they can be organised after you have paid your trip deposit.
Australians need to be aware that we were asked for an extra 400 euros at the end of the trip - 250 euros for our tour manager and 150 euros for the read more driver. Apparently Americans are given vouchers for these gratuities and the Canadians were given an itemised account which included gratuities. However I am not aware of how much they paid for their trip compared to Australians.
Note: The option to prepay Tour Director & Driver gratuities prior to departure is an option. Please ask us to include this in your quote if you wish - or they can be organised after you have paid your trip deposit.
We enjoyed all the highlights and had personal experiences with the sites. The food was great. Really enjoyed the villages we visited.
Great itinerary for a trip to Egypt, hits the main sites. Thrilled with the addition of Esna’s temple, which is being cleaned/restored and has amazing colors! Great pace with a 7-day cruise, allowing a break mid-day for a late lunch on the River Tosca. I never felt rushed to get through a site/temple. Again, our Egyptologist guide, Wael, was a wealth read more of information - we couldn’t have asked for a better guide!
Our itinerary was just busy enough with enough time to explore on your own if you wanted to or rest if you wanted to. I especially liked exploring Belfast and Giants Causeway, Dublin, Killarney, Ring of Kerry, Galway, and Ashford Castle. I loved hearing about the rich and sometimes complicated history of the areas.
4.6
Some of the hotels were certainly not as good as we thought they should be. There were several extra excursions and this were done during the day. I think they should be at night and use the day to show the people around. We were also dropped off at the city centre and given 2-3 to shop when we should have been taken to see sights. It was disappointing.
Good geographic coverage but some disappointments. 0
Best of France
Sandra, VIC, Australia, May 2026
This is a whirlwind tour, designed to allow you to get around France in 2 weeks. The guide was not the best. The hotels were good but not always well located. The included dinners served i edible rubber chicken, with the exception of the wonderful farewell dinner in Paris. This tour has many optional tours that are costly. If this is Trafalgur's new read more business model I will in future prefer Globus which offers more inclusions and a transparent offering.
Absolutely no complaints with our fabulous Trafalgar 14-day tour of Ireland. Staying two nights at each accommodation stop provided added comfort to what was still a busy schedule. Grace at Global Journeys her expertly made our bookings, was always readily available, and I recommend this travel company.
Hannah was perfect, help everywhere, nothing was any trouble. 10 out of 10 I would recommend her to any other traveller.
It was a good trip, just one thing, in Rome we ended up walking over 12 km kms, that really was a couple of kms too far, especially in the heat. Also, the male local guide made us walk back to the bus from the collaseum in a read more hurry, in the heat, and we were not allowed to stop for 2 minutes. Not a nice man and waisted too much time on boring stuff so we missed out on a close look down stairs at the Colosseum.
It was a good trip, just one thing, in Rome we ended up walking over 12 km kms, that really was a couple of kms too far, especially in the heat. Also, the male local guide made us walk back to the bus from the collaseum in a read more hurry, in the heat, and we were not allowed to stop for 2 minutes. Not a nice man and waisted too much time on boring stuff so we missed out on a close look down stairs at the Colosseum.
We booked our Highlights of Turkey Tour, and Best of Greece Cruise through Grace from the instant week made the initial enquiry through to questions we had on a Cruise, Grace was professional always replied within a few hours, and she always checked in that we understood the answers etc. to our questions.
We have travelled with Trafalgar before read more and was the main reason for booking the Highlights of Turkey tour and it did not let us down, our tour director Tolga was amazing and so was the tour, sometimes very fast paced with early mornings and late nights but that's all part of travel. Highlights for us was Cappadocia it was like being on a different planet truly amazing. Gallipoli was also a highlight to see Anzac Cove and be able to walk along the beach a wonderful and sobering experience.
We have travelled with Trafalgar before read more and was the main reason for booking the Highlights of Turkey tour and it did not let us down, our tour director Tolga was amazing and so was the tour, sometimes very fast paced with early mornings and late nights but that's all part of travel. Highlights for us was Cappadocia it was like being on a different planet truly amazing. Gallipoli was also a highlight to see Anzac Cove and be able to walk along the beach a wonderful and sobering experience.
Wow what an experience. It was so easy to find a tour and book with Tracey through the Global Journey's website. We chose the Best of Turkey with Trafalgar Tours because of the itinerary. It seemed to cover most of eastern Turkey with a couple of 2 night stays here and there to slow the pace. Then the war happened.... Tracey was great in helping to read more find solutions to the air travel that we had booked and so glad we went. Our Tour Director Daghan was one of the best.....not only the extensive history but myths, local knowledge and recommendations. Would definitely book with Global Journeys and Trafalgar again.
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