Albatross Tour Reviews

Again, thank you to Yvonne (Global Journeys) for her expertise in putting together our holiday. Albatross (3rd time travellers with them) pieced together a great guided holiday. However after an excellent week of superb accommodation and top quality meals we believe that Albatross let our small group down badly. Apparently this particular escorted holiday ...read more has changed recently and our last day of travel proved to be disastrous for many in our group. After our coach delivering us to the Station in France we were left to board the Eurostar for the journey to London. Huge crowds, trying to transport heavy luggage through the Rail Station, and then nowhere to store luggage made the trip a nightmare. I and many fellow travellers in the group felt very let down. We had people in our group unable to handle luggage etc and these travellers had to rely on fellow travellers. Albatross I believe have lost future sales following the "last day" debacle. A shame given the holiday on the days prior had been so wonderful. Cannot understand why the itinerary has changed and if they keep this current itinerary, they need to book travellers into 1st class section on the Eurostar and possibly employ an extra guide for that day to assist. Our tour guide himself was excellent and I believe he too would have been disappointed with the final travel day.

Thoroughly enjoyed our Christmas spent in Wilderswill in Switzerland. The Swiss Rail Pass included in our Albatross holiday proved to be a great way of getting about and exploring the nearby snow capped Alps. Cannot thank Yvonne (Global Journeys) enough for the smooth way in which she handled our booking.

Our trip to Spain And Portugal was 18 days of pure delight. Our tour director John Made sure everything ran smoothly and that we were in need of NOTHING ! The competent driving of our coach driver Jose Antonio , the beautiful landscapes and historical sights we visited together with the sunshine and laughter of our fellow travellers made this tour very ...read more enjoyable. Thank You Global Journeys for your prompt and professional handling of all our travel documents and to Albatross Tours for compiling a wonderful tour package.

The hotels were good but we found that their menus didn't always suit our Australian diet. One hotel in particular was not up to standard as regards breakfast. No dinner was scheduled at this hotel. Global Journeys part in the booking process was good. The trip was very inclusive and you cannot judge your fellow travellers, as Albatross has no control ...read more of bookings, it's hit and miss. Our boat trip in Porto was very ordinary the lunch was poor quality and was present on the table for sometime before we had lunch especially as it was a very warm day. Albatross should look at extending their trip to Barcelona most of the fellow travellers either went before or after and we went afterwards and found Barcelona a very worthy inclusion in Spain.

This was a great holiday. The itinerary included many interesting features. There was fantastic scenery, as well as delicious 'foodie' experiences. The group of 28 travellers interacted very well and we all had a lot of fun. Most of the accommodation was of an excellent standard, particularly the Regina Palace in Stresa and the Grand Hotel at Lake Garda. ...read more Unfortunately, our group missed out on staying at the San Luca Palace in the 'old town' of Luca. The alternative accommodation at the Best Western was a huge disappointment, particularly in terms of the 'isolated' location. Compared with the other places, it was well below standard. Although we knew in advance that this hotel was the 'replacement', it certainly was not a good choice by Albatross. This is the second time I have booked a tour through Global Journeys and, again, I was extremely satisfied with all aspect of the booking process.

Excellent tour covering magnificent alpine country. Very difficult to surpass the beautiful landscapes and scenery we experienced during this tour. Lots of walking in historic villages to absorb the wonderful atmosphere, combined with character-filled accommodation and gourmet dinners. Unfortunately all lunch stops coincided with shop closures in ...read more the towns for their lunch breaks so no chance for any shopping in the lovely European villages.

We had train rides that were unbelievable, hotels that were for the 'Rich and Famous', the food was top notch restaurant class, a great tour guide named Reinhard, of which nothing was any trouble, a fabulous tour itinerary with something special every day. Thank you Global Journeys and a big thank you to Albatross Tours, this is our third trip with ...read more you and they just keep getting better.

Staying 3 nights at each venue means that the tour seems far more relaxed. There are no optional excursions offered, so no extra costs. The tour itinerary has already included what are considered as worthwhile activities and there was a good balance between organised activities and free time. Accommodation was always in a great location and the smaller ...read more sized tour group was an advantage. A very enjoyable trip.

This being my 30th organized tour I can say that I was thoroughly impressed by Albatross. Maritza the Tour Manager was delightful and exceedingly well organized. The tour was well paced and the amount of time spent at places worked well; this being an aspect that I have criticized on many tours. The hotels were all of a high standard, had character ...read more and were conveniently sited. The meals that were included were most enjoyable. The tour cost also covered one drink plus tea or coffee with the dinners that were part of the tour. I certainly hope to travel with Albatross again in the near future. Albatross do not have optional excursions.

Enjoyed Albatross 'La Grande France'. Tour was a bit tiring, on the go all the time with not much free time and getting to hotel late afternoon and spending too much time at lunch stops and some excursions. We did see a lot of different things which was interesting. Our tour guide was knowledgable and young. Hotels were good but a couple weren't in ...read more good locations, not near to towns so were a bit isolated, I see Albatross have changed some of these now so would be better. Would highly recommend Albatross tours and also Georgie at Global Journeys, had some very good savings from them.

We enjoyed our first tour through France and Northern Italy. The pace was busy however that said we definitely would not have visited so many amazing places if done independently. Our Tour Manager for France was an excellent, highly informative girl from the UK and we were very impressed with her knowledge of each destination and her organisation skills, ...read more she also went above and beyond for one injured passenger. The lunchtime breaks and independent excursion times were definitely not long enough considering the time we spent getting to them, one excursion was to the Villandry Gardens, my trip highlight, after driving for quite some time, the majority of people on the bus only wanted 1 hr at this most beautiful garden. I was quite gutted to be robbed of the extra time we were supposed to spend there.

The hotels in France were quite good except for our Salat hotel which was substandard and well outside the old town, we were shuttled back and forth. The northern Italy part of the trip was fabulous also, our hotels were good again except for the Best Western substandard hotel with a shuttle service back and forth again whilst visiting Lucca old town. Lake Garda was a highlight and having a few nights there, bliss. Our Tour Manager was funny and experienced, she kept us entertained whilst driving to our excursions. The meals on tour were great for both tours and again seeing hidden gems that you wouldn't normally visit memorable and definitely worth it. The main thing that we both learnt from our tour was to go and explore each town or place visited and get the whole experience. We would go with Albatross again based on the fabulous villages and sights we saw not just the normal "visited" highlights that every visitor sees and the longer stays offered in various towns.

The Albatross Italian Grande Tour is exactly as stated - "Grande". Great hotels used, beautiful towns stayed in. The tour guide was wonderful, extremely knowledgeable and helpful. The itinerary was very good, some days were busy, but there were days that you could relax and take it easy. There are lots & lots of positives about the tour, our only negative ...read more was probably not staying near Amalfi, but staying in Naples, which can be quite a busy city. But overall we had a wonderful time and would not hesitate to book with Albatross or Global Journeys again.

What a great trip. Croatia is a beautiful country and so interesting. Albatross - 'Croatia & the Adriatic' was very well put together, so good to have 2, 3 and 4 night stops. All the hotels were excellent and in very good locations. Our tour guide Darren was excellent, so knowledgeable, caring and friendly, all the local guides were good too. Had quite ...read more a bit of free time to do as we pleased. Had 21 on our tour. Also everything included, tipping etc. and extra tours. Would highly recommend this tour to others and have travelled with Albatross on 4 trips. Georgie at Global Journeys was fantastic with our booking of our tour, so friendly, efficient and easy to book with. I have recommended both Albatross & Global Journeys to others and have already got a booking for them. Well done.

Our third trip with Albatross and again we were very happy with the organisation of the trip and everyone on our bus got on very well.

Staying at only 4 hotels was great. Good tour group. Disappointed with the tour director, very disorganised. The lakes area was magic.

Early June was flooded out in Paris and surrounds, including the Loire Valley. Road closures unfortunately meant that we didn't get to see the chateaux we were looking forward to. We also missed out on river trips etc. Overall, France proved to be more interesting than Italy with more variety of places to visit. The hotels varied in their comfort, ...read more some very good, some not so good. The coach in France was better than the one in Italy in that it had fewer seats and more leg room. We feel that the brochure led us to expect more of this holiday than we experienced - everything seemed overstated. This would make us hesitate to use Albatross in the future. We nevertheless had a good time with good companions. The actual booking and communication by Global Journeys went without a hitch.

We were on the first ever tour of this name and some things did not go to plan - like the bus was too long and wide for some of the country roads we went on - but that said the sights we saw were just amazing and it was the poor bus driver that had to navigate the roads not us. And for that we were truly thankful. The inclusions were fist class and ...read more the pace turned out to be full on but what an amazing tour. 14 days of action and some of the sights that you would not think much about prior to the tour turned out to be the very best of all. A great tour and one I'd recommend.

The Italian Grande was a once in a lifetime experience. Our tour guide Antonia was absolutely wonderful. Her extensive knowledge of all aspects of Italy from customs to food, language, ancient and modern history, politics and everything in between, plus her sense of humour made her commentary on our bus outings a delight to listen to. The tour was well ...read more paced with plenty of free time to explore on our own. The included tours of picturesque countryside and historic towns and cities were comprehensive and informative. We certainly improved our fitness with the walking tours and our own exploration of the places we visited. The included meals were excellent. The hospitality of our hosts particularly in the Tuscany region where we were treated to amazing feasts featuring local produce and wines were a gastronomic highlight not easily forgotten.

Christmas in the Austrian lakes area is a completely different experience from here in Australia. Although there was no snow (which is becoming the norm), the Christmas markets, the cold weather, just the way the locals celebrate Christmas, made it a very enjoyable time. A tip though, take plenty of layers of clothes as once inside all their buildings ...read more the overheating kicks in and light summer clothes are a must!

Would definitely recommend Albatross Tours for this wonderful Christmas break in Switzerland. We found it very easy to navigate and enjoy the countryside using the Swiss Rail system and pass. The accommodation was wonderful and very friendly and the special Christmas dinner a highlight of the stay in this charming chalet. We met a great bunch of people ...read more from all over Australia and really enjoyed reminiscing about our days outing every evening over dinner. Michelle from Global Journeys were extremely helpful in booking our trip and have just booked through Global Journeys to join Albatross again for another adventure in September this year.