Baltic States and Scandinavia 6
Juli & Lyn, NSW, Australia, Oct 2018
The trip was OK as I expected. Perhaps staying an extra day in Berlin would be perfect. We didn't have much time to explore this vibrant city at all. The rest of the Baltic States are amazing to explore. Thank you for organising such as nice trip.
Italian Showcase tour October 2018 2
Iris, QLD, Australia, Oct 2018
Our long awaited tour of Italy started out being very disappointing but quickly turned into a wonderful experience. The accommodation in Tuscanny - The Toscana Ambassador hotel was quite dreadful. Rooms were of a good size but our bed had a dreadful 'squeaking noise' that woke my husband up whenever I moved or got up. We had a fridge that didn't work, read more we kept getting a smell of cigarette smoke in the entrance way of the room and outside in the hallway all we could smell was sewerage. The breakfast and included dinners were almost inedible (cold scrambled eggs every morning) no flavour in the dinners. Some of the staff were bordering on being rude, we had to ask for salt and pepper or other condiments and were given a very nasty look as if we were putting them out. I have read other comments from travellers on the same tour that share the same views on this so I am at a loss as to why Cosmos continues to use this hotel.
Moving on, the remainder of our tour was brilliant. We had 43 travellers on the tour and everybody got on really well, it was a great group of people. Our tour guide Francesco and Driver Nino were fabulous, really friendly, helpful and courteous, if it hadn't been for them I think the tour would not have been as much fun. All other accommodation was great, meals were very good and tour guides excellent. A real shame it got off to a bad start but after waiting more than 10 years to visit Italy we were determined not to let our experiences at the Toscana spoil our trip.
We loved our Cosmos Greece tour including the 4 night cruise. Marieke was our tour guide and nothing was too hard for her to make everybody's trip perfect. She went over and beyond expectations to make this trip memorable. The 4 night cruise was a great way to experience the islands and all the other places we visited were incredible.
We enjoyed our 19 Day Ultimate South America Tour. The highlights of the tour were certainly Iguassu Falls and Machu Picchu. We were fortunate that the weather cleared for our afternoon visit to the Brazilian Side of the falls. Unfortunately the weather was not in our favour the day when we visited the Argentinian Side of the falls but our spirits were read more not dampened and we put on our rain ponchos and proceeded to explore. The gods were also with us when we explored Machu Picchu. Wow! this was certainly a big tick for the bucket list.
The tour manager did a great job of organising our group of 34 people with airport check in and baggage collection. The local guides were very knowledgeable and passionate about their local area. In general the hotels were good. We particularly liked the resort at Iguassu Falls and the hotel at Machu Picchu. All included excursions were very good and the included meals were mostly good. Our flight from Lima to Cusco was delayed about 3 hours due to weather so rather than miss out on the markets scheduled for that afternoon the guide rearranged the following day to make sure that we didn't miss out on anything.
We found drink prices in Brazil and Argentina quite reasonable but they are a bit more expensive in Peru. It is a good idea to check prices before ordering drinks. We only did one optional excursion to Petropolis in Rio de Janeiro. We had booked the Bird Park Excursion but this was cancelled due to weather conditions. We tended to do our own exploring in the cities. It is possible to walk to the base of Sugarloaf Mountain from the hotel but we chose to share a taxi with a couple of other guests (taxis are quite reasonable in Brazil and Argentina but avoid taxis in Santiago). As we are over 60 we were able to purchase senior tickets for the cable car.
If you want to see the main highlights of South America without a big price tag then this Cosmos Tour is for you. Thank you to Georgie for organising this tour for us and for making sure that we received our travel documents 3 weeks prior to departure. I particularly like the checklist that Global Journeys use. However, I do think that Cosmos need to change the meeting time for the 1st day of the tour as 2pm in the afternoon is too early in the day. I also think the tour manager needs to email all guests a week out to confirm meeting time.
Excellent tour highly recommend this tour.Tour director was excellent and very knowledgeable.Well worth the money. Hotels were of a good standard and very clean only one poor meal in the hotels.The new hotel on tour was very good, great position right on the lake Hotel Lumin.
I thoroughly enjoyed this tour and would recommend it to anyone wanting to get a general overview of the UK. It was a fast pace but we still had plenty of free time to enjoy individual places and thanks to our wonderful tour guide Julieanne, I feel we were able to see the best of each of the towns we visited. The accommodation was great, all except read more the hotel in Cardiff which was rather dated. Madeline Lewis from Global Journeys handled my booking and it all went very smoothly, the documents arriving in plenty of time. Cosmos, the tour operator, was very efficient and highly organised and the added excursions were very well done... especially the dinner and theatre night in London... was truly the highlight of my trip.
This was an excellent way to see Ancient Greece. Lambros the tour director was an abundance of knowledge. Dimitri the coach driver was beyond excellent. We were always informed of what to expect each day. Very satisfied.
Our tour guide Sharon and driver Tim were the perfect hosts, a mixture of professionalism and fun. The tour went like clockwork from Brisbane airport back to Brisbane airport. The hotels were exceptional value for money, clean and comfortable. The only minor criticism was the guide on our optional tour of Mont Tremblant and the Laurentian. She was more read more like a strict teacher escorting a group of children than a tour guide. This did not distract from the beauty of the area and the tour was well worth the money. Going via LAX was a bit daunting but this is beyond Cosmos's control. It was an experience and we survived. An extra day in Quebec city would have been a bonus. We are going on the British Isles in depth next year with Cosmos this is a indication of how we feel about Cosmos tours.
In September 2018, my daughter & I took the 12 day "Journey Through Japan" Cosmos tour. Our lovely Japanese guide, Aki, was the best and just so welcoming with her knowledge and gentle sense of humour, and our coach driver was very polite and helpful. Our accommodation was excellent especially in Tokyo and as to be expected in Japan, our hotel rooms read more weren't huge. The daily buffet breakfasts of both Japanese and Western options were a great way to start each day.
The tour pace, sightseeing and excursions were very good with even a Shinkansen (bullet train) journey included. It was a fantastic way to experience Japan for the first time and we will definitely be returning! Special thanks to Georgie who handles our international bookings so efficiently - all of my trips have gone off so smoothly with Global Journeys!
Fabulous 15 day coach tour of Germany, Poland, Prague, Budapest
3
Central Europe
Colm & Michelle, QLD, Australia, Sep 2018
This was an amazing tour; the driver, Salvatore, and the Tour Director, Osman (Ossie) were absolutely wonderful. SO much fun with everyone on the coach and so many historic places visited. Definitely recommend and will book with you again. Had an absolute full on incredible ball - learning so many historical facts, seeing so many awesome sights and read more such fun on the trip especially at the folk dinners.
Wonderful trip through the Canadian Rockies
10
The Canadian Rockies
Daniela & Victor, QLD, Australia, Sep 2018
The trip was wonderful. Our guide Vedrana was excellent, very knowledgeable and went beyond her duties to make sure everything ran smoothly. We were very happy with the location of our hotels right in the heart of all the action. The hotels were very clean and all had beautiful comfortable beds and thick towels. We have travelled with more expensive read more tours and found this trip was much better. Value and hotel location. The coach was brand new and the driver excellent. Would recommend this tour. Georgie did an excellent job with our booking. No hassles, will book with Global Journeys again.
Excellent trip which includes a lot of the highlights of South America. We had an excellent Tour Director and top quality local guides. The accommodation was very comfortable and breakfast was included. I would recommend this tour for active people as there is a lot of travel (6 internal flights) and a lot of walking, it was actually quite exhausting. read more At Machu Picchu a second guide is provided for people who do not want to walk around which I thought was very good and they didn't miss out on too much. Highly recommend booking airport transfers through Cosmos as Rio is very dodgy, plus the Cosmos transfer rep assists you with checking into the hotel and when you leave stays with you at the airport until you go through security. This is most helpful as the language is a barrier if you don't speak Portuguese or Spanish.
This was an action packed tour that really did cover the highlights of South America in 19 days. The tour director was amazing! He negotiated 33 participants through 7 internal flights. We had daily typed updates on meeting times, and details on what to watch out for. Expect early morning starts but also some free mornings so that a more leisurely read more start to the day is possible. I did this tour at the end of September and early October and the weather was just right.
Carefully think about the offer of optional and additional side tours. I would not recommend you pre-book these. There is a lot to see and digest already. No good to have booked a dinner when you are feeling unwell or too tired to enjoy the tour. I rated accommodation a bit lower as the Puna hotel was quite ordinary and outside walking distance to restaurants and shops. The tour was well thought out, covered 80% of city highlights and I would recommend it to my family and friends.
The highlights of the trip were Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu and the Uros Floating Islands on Lake Titicaca. It's amazing how the families live on these floating islands of reeds.
Cosmos didn't fail us with this itinerary - all the places we wanted to visit plus more. The hotels were, on the whole, okay. The tour director and driver were excellent (2 of the best). Highlights were New Orleans, visit to Graceland and Grand Ole Opry. It was unfortunate that the tour only had one night in Memphis so we didn't get to experience a read more lot. We really enjoyed the stay in Savannah - what a beautiful city - so much to see and do. Optional excursions were a bit overpriced for what was included, especially the Natchez river cruise and dinner in New Orleans. Our booking experience with Global Journeys was excellent and highly recommend Hannah; we will definitely be back for future travel needs.
This was the first time we did a tour with Cosmos. Knowing that Cosmos offers budget tours, we did not expect much. But we found that Cosmos exceeded our expectation. The accommodation was very good as most of the hotels are four stars and close to the tourist attractions. We did not mind at all that breakfast was not included most of the time, in fact, read more it gave us freedom to choose our breakfast, such as beignets from Café du Monde. Delicious!!
We also found that the inclusive 2-day trolley ride and the 2-hour private ride in Savannah was excellent. This was beyond our expectation. The 2-hour private ride gave us ideas of what to see & do the following day. The Tour Director, Kristine, was very fun & knowledgeable. She made the tour a memorable experience! She managed to get 'Elvis Presley' on board! Bravo Kris!! You did an amazing job and are one of the best tour directors we have toured with. This tour is highly recommended to be included in your bucket list!! Highlights of the tour: New Orleans & Savannah! They are so beautiful!
12 day Highlights of Germany with Cosmos 3
Rod & Wendy , NSW, Australia, Sep 2018
Probably got what we paid for (budget) and what we expected with a coach with 42 other people. We all got along and there were no late starters getting on the coach each time which made life easy. Tour was mostly rushed with a lot of driving hours sitting on the coach. Guide was a nice person but gave too much information at once e.g. what we are eating read more tonight and it's morning, who cares?!! But overall a glimpse of the country and good value. Probably suited to people with limited mobility on a budget.
Relaxing visit to the Lakes District, lovely weather, lovely boat trip to Bellagio. Easy paced trip with an excellent tour guide.
A China Experience Tour
2
Essential China
Charles & Rosalind, New Zealand, Sep 2018
Thanks Cosmos for making our holiday a great and authentic China experience. We appreciate the fact that the tour guide went to a lot of trouble to make sure everyone was happy and satisfied. We loved all the great attractions and cultural experiences and were impressed at how Cosmos gave much more than expected. We loved the food and thought it much read more healthier than Western diets today. We also were impressed at the way China is tackling pollution, the very good roads, the quality of the new buildings and the advances in education. Too many great highlights to mention but the Terracotta Warriors and the Great Wall were among the best.
This is a quick tour of seven countries. Fast paced, need to be organised and willing to be on the move. It's a great trip to get an idea of Europe. Loved every minute of it. I would then look at a more extensive tour like the one I took - Prague, Vienna & Budapest . This one is a slower paced tour - loved this one too. Both tours had very informative read more tour managers. Local tour guides were very knowledgeable as well.
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