Back-Roads Touring Reviews

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.

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!

Wonderful time! Well done Backroads. Pamela, our guide, was so friendly, professional, helpful, a font of knowledge - we learnt so much about Spain. Would love to travel with her again. She managed the tour really well & had a great sense of humour. Our group were all Australians & everyone pretty easy going. Bus driver Sav was a nice person & a safe ...read more driver throughout the trip. Almost all the hotels were great picks at authentic memorable places. Convento Aracena Hotel was lovely as was the Castle at Estremoz hotel. The only hotel that we found difficult was Las Casas de la Juderia in Seville. Excellent location & historical but we found it complicated as it was a labyrinth of walkways, underground in some parts, to get to our room right at the rear. Toilet/shower were tiny. We kept getting lost trying to find our room. The first group evening meal on meeting in Madrid needs to be reviewed. Tour itinerary was well thought out with a mix of guided tours & free time to explore. Our first small group tour & I'm sure it won't be our last.

Overall the tour anticlockwise around Ireland from Dublin was worthwhile. I enjoyed learning about the history, especially in Belfast. The Derry tour was shortened because we linked late with the local guide. The scenery down the west coast was nice, especially Galway, Derry and the Dingle peninsula.

Things deteriorated a bit from there. We didn't ...read more see the vaunted "lakes of Killarney", which was a disappointment. The last couple of days felt like they were being padded out and everyone was winding down. I think it would be much better to finish the tour after breakfast in Dublin instead of Kilkenny. The current arrangement and communications around timing of drop off in Dublin are varied and imprecise, and can mess up travel arrangements for people flying out of Dublin. Global Journeys information did not coincide with what actually transpired when we got to Kilkenny. I had to book a bus from Kilkenny to Dublin Airport. The tour guide was nicely understated for a Irish person :-). ie she didn't talk too much but told us what she felt we needed to know.

The Iberian Inspiration trip was well worth the wait post Covid. Commencing in Madrid and finishing in Lisbon 12 days later, it certainly gave us a excellent overview of southern Spain and a touch of Portugal. Our tour leader, Elaine, was fantastic. Nothing phased her. She is a UK citizen that has lived in Spain for about 19 years. Her knowledge of ...read more the country and her grasp on both the Spanish and Portuguese language was to be admired. Our group was fairly diverse from the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. It gelled together very well adding to the sense of fun on the road. Hotels were all very central to the old parts of cities and towns which again enhanced the experience. This was a trip 3 years in the making, thanks Hannah for you support getting us there.

Great guide Liza and Mohammed as driver made a very good trip. Tour perhaps more suitable for experienced guests as there was a lot of free time, which whilst appreciated by seasoned travellers, may be a little daunting for other’s needing more guidance and advice. Included meals could be improved. Some discrepancies in itineraries with guests caused ...read more some discontent, but was handled by Liza very competently.

This trip to me was classic Backroads Touring - visiting a mix of smaller places particularly in Italy with great experiences which you wouldn’t think to do yourself or couldn’t do with a larger group, and a mix of iconic railway journeys with lake and mountain vistas in Switzerland. We had a very small group with a great tour guide who got to know ...read more our group’s interests and with the driver, was able to make minor itinerary adjustments to make the tour even more special.

Highlights in Italy included visits to a small Grana Padano cheese factory (and sampling), a boat trip in Lake Iseo and hike to the church at the top of Monte Isola, and a cooking lesson and wine tasting in the Franciacorta region. In Switzerland, highlights were the trips on the Bernina and Glacier Express train trips, the bus trip over the Sustenpass and the cogwheel train trip above Brienz. A great way to experience these parts of Europe - with some unique moments along the way.

I would highly recommend this tour. Even though the name of the tour is Corners of Cornwall, it visits other counties such as Somerset, Devon, Dorset and Wiltshire giving you an overview of each. The famous Wells and Salisbury Cathedrals were highlights. Small group tours are ideal for making new friends, experiencing the country lanes and individual ...read more cultures as well as staying in unique hotels. The standard of the hotels was high, ranging from a historic country hotel in Darmoor to beautiful and stylish hotels overlooking the coastline.

The included meals were excellent; particularly at the Dartmoor Hotel. Not forgetting the opportunity to dine at Rick Stein’s restaurant in Padstow. As a Doc Martin fan I enjoyed visiting Port Isaac and eating the fresh seafood available at most of the coastal towns. Our Tour Guide and Driver were both very professional and entertaining. This tour was my third with Back-Roads and I have already decided on the fourth.

The tour was well organized. The tour guide went above and beyond to accommodate everyone on the tour. I would book a Back-Roads tour again.

This was a well planned small group tour by Backroads to the beautiful countryside of Kent. Neil (tour guide) and Steve (bus driver) were excellent in their professionalism and we both enjoyed a relaxed and hassle free trip. The itinerary was well planned, but would have preferred a little more time a Hever Castle. The hotel stays were in great locations ...read more with close proximity to restaurants and services. Thank you to Georgie for your efforts in taking care of flights and liaising with Backroads. Would definitely travel with Backroads again.

Highly recommend Back-Roads for their organisation and choice of itinerary. Really enjoyed this trip and would highly recommend it. It was a small group tour which are well worth the extra $. Fantastic hotels and guides.

The highlight of the trip for our group was Armistice Day, our tour guide Steve was amazing he organised for us to lay a wreath at the Hooge Crater cemetery, 11am service. That night we attended Menin Gate to watch the Last Post, for me this was one of the most touching experiences I have witnessed, again Steve made sure we were positioned perfectly ...read more to view the ceremony. Steve’s patience and thoughtfulness made this trip a pleasure, we had great accommodation and exceptional food for the whole journey. Steve’s knowledge regarding WWI was extensive.

Trip certainly covered highlights of the areas (Monet’s Garden, Normandy Beaches, Mont St Michel and chateaus in the Loire Valley) as well as introducing us to local specialties (cider, calvados, galettes and crepes). Local accommodation added to overall feel of the trip. Days were leisurely and could have fitted more in on some days. A couple of lunchtime ...read more picnics coordinated by guide and driver really added to overall experience.

11 days of driving through Spain and Portugal, visiting World Heritage sites on an almost daily basis. Wonderful organisation, careful driving and a truly professional guide made this a trip to remember.

Loved our week in southern Italy wandering the back streets, driving into the hills and catching local ferries along the coast. Good friendly group of 11 from four different countries. Great guide and mother hen Elda.

This is the second Back-Roads trip we have taken. The decision to try them again was very much based on the great experience we had with Back Roads in Ireland. This trip seemed a little chaotic compared to the Irish trip. Something happened to our originally designated tour leader and a replacement was made at short notice who could only be with us ...read more for 8 days then another Tour Leader joined us for the last 2 days. Both tour leaders were very good with the latter one being exceptional.

However, despite this bit of chaos, the trip was great. The various towns we visited, wineries we sampled and hotels we stayed in were all first class. Our group consisted of 15 other travellers, a bus driver, a tour leader and a trainee tour leader. All accommodation was centrally located and unique, something we would struggle to organise on our own or would not happen if we were part of a large bus tour group.

Overall it was a great trip, we saw a part of Spain that is not that highly over run with tourists and very unique. It was also great fun with a good group of like minded fellow travellers. Back-Roads are still very much on my preferred options list.