Cosmos Tours

Grand Tour of Britain & Ireland Reviews

20 Grand Tour of Britain & Ireland reviews from past travellers that booked with Global Journeys.
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AVG. RATING 4.10 / 5
20 Reviews
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Grand Tour of Britain and Ireland 4 , IL, United States, Jul 2019
We thoroughly enjoyed this tour with Cosmos. Our tour guide (Andrew) and coach driver (Steve) worked extremely well together. The sights we saw were nothing short of fantastic, but Andrew added so much more with his commentary and stories along the way! We did all but one optional excursion, and they were all excellent. These optional excursions added ...read more so much more to our trip!

Probably the only complaint we had was not being able to spend enough time in some of the larger cities, but I guess that comes with the territory as we needed to be on the road to our next destination. I would not recommend staying at the London Novotel West. Our room had no air whatsoever (i.e. it was broken), it had a broken mini-fridge, and the room had an overall dirty feel to it. To be honest, we couldn't wait to leave our room at that hotel each morning. Aside from that one hotel, the others on our journey were perfectly fine.
A Great Way to see the Historic sites, Cities and Beautiful Countryside of UK and Ireland 1 , S.A., Australia, Jul 2019
Be prepared for a whirlwind tour in comfort. The Cosmos coach was roomy with good legroom. Every day seats were allocated in rotation, so everybody had a chance to sit up front, middle and rear of the coach. About every 2 hours or less the coach stopped for a comfort and coffee stop, often in a place of interest or scenic beauty. The pace was fast with ...read more early morning starts the norm. There were only a couple of 2 night stops and they were appreciated after packing and unpacking everyday. The group of 44 on the bus were mainly Caucasian, English speaking Australians, Canadians and Americans, friendly enough but never really gelled as a group, but it was argument and dispute free.

A little disappointing was that many of the stops where there was an attraction, that no admission tickets were included , the tour was well priced but personally we would have preferred to pay just a little extra and have these entrance fees included. If we had no interest in the attraction on offer, apart from the usual woollen and souvenir/cafe shops, time was wasted while those who chose to see the attraction were away. Be sure to take a good book to while away the waits.
Awesome tour 3 , WA, Australia, May 2019
Had a fabulous time on my 18 day trip around UK and Ireland seeing so many interesting places that were on my bucket list. Would not have been possible without our wonderful and knowledgeable guide Gordon. Big thank you for making sure we weren't left behind anywhere!

As with Gordon our trip wouldn't have been as awesome without the amazing driving ...read more skills of Georgie, I am in awe!! And you did this whilst looking truly immaculate every day. And finally our tour group was such an interesting mix of nationalities, personalities, age, etc who blended so well to help make awesome and lifelong memories. Thanks to you all.
Grand tour of England, Ireland and Scotland 14 , TAS, Australia, Aug 2018
Overall the tour was amazing, well organised, great guide with great knowledge, bus driver very competent with routes felt safe at all times. Cosmos staff at hotels and on excursions were great very informative and organised. Hotels during the tour were mainly good had one that was very poor, meals supplied were reasonable we all enjoyed breakfast in ...read more all hotels. Enjoyed the optional excursions, they were well organised and well worth doing as we did every one, it added to the cultural experience and was well explained by our guide at the beginning of the tour. We thoroughly enjoyed our experience and would look at another Cosmos tour in the not to distant future. A big thankyou to Juliet Scott for handling the booking and any queries we had. Was an amazing experience that will remain with us for the rest of our lives.
British Ireland Bus Tour 3 , QLD, Australia, Jul 2018
Great trip to get a quick look at some places in England and Ireland. Some places I would have liked to stay longer, but it has given me a taste of what England and Ireland has to offer.
Worry free holiday 3 , NSW, Australia, Jun 2018
This is a holiday with everything taken care of. The destination, hotels, toilet breaks, luggage, etc. are well organised. Booking with Global Journeys was smooth and on time. Due to the distance covered, it was a bit tiring.
Wonderful trip through Great Britain 3 , VIC, Australia, Jul 2017
We had a wonderful time with an excellent guide and a very good bus driver. A small group namely only 18 people on a large coach so had plenty of room to spread out and it also made for quick stops for viewing sights or photographing sites.
Great trip - highly recommended 4 , SA, Australia, Jun 2017
Wonderful trip lead by a fabulous guide! Highlights were the Scottish Highlands, west coast of Ireland, Lakes District and Edinburgh. I got my fill of history, architecture and fabulous views.
Tour guide and coach driver both great, small coach 1 , Australia, Aug 2014
Coach not one that was supposed to be for our tour. Small and lacking comfort. Hotel at Craiglynne needs total revamp. Staff not available from 9pm to 7am. Didn't appreciate outlook from room of internal enclosure to netting with dead bird hanging from netting! Unable to find way of having hot water in shower. No sign explaining reason for switch which ...read more would have saved discomfort. No answer to phone calls at 6.30am and no-one on duty to explain! Only one non-speaking person setting up for breakfast. Great seats for Military Tattoo at Edinburgh. Not enough time at some venues. Tour guide and coach driver both great. Karl wealth of information.
Would recommend Global Journeys to friends 2 , Australia, Jun 2014
Well planned. Can see you have a lot of experience in the touring industry. Would recommend you to friends. The meals provided could improved by including more vegetables.
Happy with the tour for the price I paid 3 , Australia, Sep 2013
Accommodation in some areas was too far from the 'city' without the option of being dropped off to look around, the additional extras - evening excursions took precedence over any options given to those who chose to not participate every excursion. That being said the excursions offered were adequate and quite varied, we loved the Murphys bar outing ...read more and the guinness factory. A meet and greet would have been a good idea or name badges, as after close to 2 weeks we still could not address some people by name! Again the end of the tour was such a rush job that we could not say goodbye to new friends as they were swept off to yet another excursion. A mention at our last dinner would have been nice to exchange names and numbers etc. Tour guide (Dominic) knew his stuff however digressed too often about unimportant things, he was often too engrossed with trivial things that the introduction to specific areas was rushed and not adequate direction given. Food provided and lack of internet in some hotels was not acceptable in this day and age. I feel the tour encompassed so much which is great, however certain aspects were not to my satisfaction as the main focus was for the purchasing of trinkets and things not seeing the actual town and attractions. Too many stops in the designated tourist areas, the lakes district was totally disappointing, I saw nothing except a brief look out the window and the tourist shops. I wanted to see the area not buy trinkets. As for the 3 hour stop in St Andrews it was far too long at the sacrifice of a chance to see more of the other stops that day. I am happy with the tour for the price I paid just think a couple of things should have been different.
Great that we spent a lot of the time off the highway 0 , Australia, Sep 2013
This was a great tour. The tour director John was so informative and David the bus driver was excellent. Some of the hotels were a bit disappointing (too far out or even too hot in one place) but overall good. It was great that we spent a lot of the time off the highway, so was able to enjoy the country lanes.
Well organised tour, quite poor accommodation 2 , AU, Sep 2013
The tour was well organized, and our tour guide was very good. So was the driver but the accommodation was quite poor. Every room we had, had something wrong with it, so Cosmos you have to improve a fair bit on that.
Tour stopped for too long at insignificant places 2 , Australia, Jun 2013
The tour guide was inexperienced, although helpful, but after just completing a Trafalgar tour it was evident he was not in the same league as our first guide. The tour stopped for too long at insignificant places for lunch (mainly little places with just shops to look at, and did not spend enough time in more interesting places). Two hours in these ...read more places for lunch was way too long. The driver was not as helpful as the driver on the European Tour we also took and at times was rude to some of the passengers when it came to their carry on luggage. The rooms at all but a few of the hotels were very small and old. I would not travel with Cosmos again as a result of my experience with them.
Went to many magnificent places 1 , Australia, Jun 2013
From the outset let me say that all our bookings, both flights and tours, were expertly handled by the very competent, pleasant and enthusiastic Yvonne who made everything flow like clockwork. Our actual tour of the UK and Ireland was well organized and professional, the only exceptions to me, were a couple of the hotels that we stayed in were not up ...read more to scratch and the perennial one on tours of having too many stopovers at shopping outlets, but outside of that we had a great bunch of people, went to many magnificent places and most of all it was even paced and relaxing. The reason why you travel.
Loved the whole experience, it's the only way to travel 2 , Australia, Sep 2012
Excellent, no way could we have seen and experienced so much in such a short time, trying to navigate, roads, finding hotels, organising meals, trying to read to find out historical information, getting directions. And just wondering whats worth seeing. On a tour you have great company, so there is always someone to talk to other than you partner so ...read more you don't get bored or frustrated with each other. I must mention our tour guide and driver knew their stuff so well that made life so easy for us. Doing it in a high coach we were able to see over the million hedges. Right through the UK, they love hedges, so if you were touring in a car you would have been totally robbed of the amazing views we had in the high coach. Some other tour companies did not have such high coaches and would have missed out. Of the 12 or so hotels there was only one that was shabby and that was mainly in the hallways the room was not too bad, when you travel in UK things are often very English and sometimes very old and historical, and of course maintained to the decor the hotel was built in which I think is nice, if I wanted Ikea style modern I would have gone to elsewhere. We loved the whole experience, it's the only way to travel. Thanks Yvonne, well organised.
We enjoyed every single moment of the tour 0 , Australia, Aug 2012
Brian and I had the most wonderful time on our tour. We found that everywhere we visited people went out of their way to help us. We enjoyed every single moment of the tour. We certainly visited some very interesting destinations. Our tour director, Roseanne Forster was amazing. She made our touring so interesting. She is so knowledgable about the ...read more history of the United Kingdom and Ireland. We were so very lucky to have had her as our tour director. We were a small group of 21 and all of us really got to know each other really well and had some fun times. Congratulations to Global Journeys and thank you so much four our touring experience!
Will remain in our memory banks for many years 0 , Australia, Sep 2011
Another great Cosmos Tour, one which will remain in our memory banks for many years. The sights of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland were such a treat to see, the couple that we were really taken back by were the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula and The Cliffs of Moher in Ireland as the scenery was so fantastic. That is not to say that the ...read more UK was out of it , not by the least. We had a wonderful time as we toured through England Wales and Scotland, seeing castles and church's built 100's of years ago and looking for the monster known as Nessie at Loch Ness, not to forget a trip to the home of golf at St Andrews, what a thrill it was to walk upon that hallowed ground.
Content, driver & director were very good 0 , Australia, Aug 2011
Overall very satisfied, with the exception of the 1st hotel Legacy Hotel in Plymouth. Tour content, driver & director were very good.
Hotels were pretty good throughout the tour 2 , Australia, May 2011
The tour was great. It was as per the brochure and the Tour Director was quite knowledgeable re history of the areas. The hotels were pretty good all over the tour. From our perspective 16 days was long enough to get an overall picture of the history and countryside. If there was a downside it would be too many souvenir shops - stopping sometimes at ...read more 3 a day was too much. (Of course these were also for comfort stops but 15 mins not 45 would have been sufficient). The only letdown on the whole trip was the last motel in London at Kensington Close - the worst hotel and most totally disorganised hotel on the trip - unfortunately everyone will remember this one because it was the last. Any suggestions back to Cosmos - change the Kensington Close to Novotel London West or find a better hotel. Also thanks very much to Yvonne for her great organisation of this trip for us.
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