Costsaver Reviews
The 289 Costsaver reviews listed below are from past clients of Global Journeys that have travelled with Costsaver. Each review has been individually verified by our team.
The 289 Costsaver reviews listed below are from past clients of Global Journeys that have travelled with Costsaver. Each review has been individually verified by our team.
Great tour leader handled the group of 52 amazingly 5
Iberian Explorer
Shirley & Leonard Rheuben, Australia, Oct 2013
Booking through Global Journeys worked for us. With 2 different tours handled by them (river cruise & coach tour). All worked & docs delivered on time! This Trafalgar Costsaver trip was a full coach load of 52! Amazingly this wasn't a problem because of our great tour leader Maria Therese Martin. She is passionate about her country, Spain.
I traveled to Europe with my husband in October 2013 and thought the European Accent Tour was the best option tour for ourselves after we did research on what we wanted to see and how much time we had to do it. This was a condensed tour that ticked all our boxes and all the locations we wanted to see. It is fast paced but we were expecting that so that read more was an easy adjustment, and we loved every moment of our tour. Our tour was led by Debra who I would recommend to anyone who would listen, she is a lovely lady who knows every aspect of the places we visited. She was helpful and she had the whole tour and other guests organised in advance of everything we did. Any speed bumps that may have occurred were not made public to us until after the fact and the special touches she added for all of her guests were terrific. In particular the little phrase pads she gave us for each country we visited were such a welcome touch, not to mentioned used very often. The highlight of this trip for the both of us was our fellow travelers (most of whom were Australian like us) and we would recommend upgrading to the additional day/night excursions as we saw things that we wouldn't have been able to other wise. The best of these add ons was our optional day trip to Burano Island in Venice, we had the most delicious lunch and it was so lovely seeing the little colourful village. We would recommend both Global Journey's in booking our holiday, Trafalgar for looking after us and for Debra for all her knowledge and kindness.
I stumbled upon Global Journeys' website and from start to finish Hannah at Global Journeys was great! I had a few questions with organising tours (a wish list which didn't pan out due to dates) but ended up doing the main Trafalgar tour. Thanks Hannah for your time and patience and for the info I requested been pretty much sent straight away. Hannah, read more I've got your email so next time I'm travelling I am gonna bombard you with all my queries, you shouldn't have been so good at your job :). The booking process was straight forward and travel documents were issued when Hannah advised so everything ran smoothly from the time I contacted Hannah until the time I received all the documents I needed. Thanks!
The Tour was great (seen some new sites and revisited the best of the cities I'd seen before on very similar Contiki tour), great value for money, with an excellent range of activities (we were blessed with the weather gods on a number of occasions which added to overall atmosphere of the tour which is rare at the time of year I travelled in - it is usually fog or low cloud in some areas). Recommendation - do the Seine Cruise at Night it is great but stay on the top deck for the best views. If the weather is great, Eagle's Nest is a great visit as is the Lucerne lake and mountain tour and do the Athens dinner even if just for the food. A great way to travel via coach with a great range of stops between sites for the all important tourist road side stop. However, though you do get over the ferry trips pretty quickly) and I recommend the 3 day cruise option (even if just for the genuine Turkish rugs in Ephesus (the prices appear high but a lot less than in Aus (but read quality!!!) and you get to walk on the rugs barefoot and please avoid the bazaar near the port - you won't have money for the rest of the trip as I found out :) The food was great on the optional dinners particularly in Athens and in Rome as well as onboard the 3 day cruise. Breakfast is of course standard in all the hotels but by halfway an Austrian/German breakfast is really something to look forward to. Again the hotel dinners are pretty good especially in Austria and Germany. A must do is the cruise and lunch at Burano (one of the islands of Venice), I have had some great lunches but seriously this was right up there. A great little restaurant on a great little island. If I was back in Venice, this I would go to revisit just for lunch and to walk it off, especially near sunset. On the option as you come back in from Burano in October you get a sunset over the island of Venice - it's pretty good. Accommodation for the best part of the tour was very good, though the Apoge in Paris is a let down and doesn't actually kick of the tour really well - having said this the accommodation thereafter improves greatly. Though Wifi in the hotels is ok just not really up to Skype home standard so pack the mobile with an international sim which I did and found it more effective.
Let downs: Amsterdam only 1 night which really only means approx 4 to 5 hours to see the city and even less if you take the last night of tour cruise and dinner (though this is great for obvious reasons). Madrid for me wasn't as interesting as I expected but I was spoilt by Barcelona on this and last time so I guess that cancels out. The showers on the ferries - you will just have to see to believe trust me on this one (though this could be a positive depending on your sense of humour). Venice and Rome, wish for more time, a full day to explore is really needed but this tour sadly doesn't give enough time but again is subjective to each person. There are quite a few optional tours really worth doing and some that can be passed by for more time to sleep in or just to explore the city you're in. Check them all out and make the call, you can add to them whilst on tour if you change your mind.
Final Recommendation - A great tour to see a very wide expanse of Europe with a fair amount of time to see the major cities to give you the information to come back and see in more detail what cities impressed the most. Days on the coach can be long (which is why I recommended WIFI on the coach to Trafalgar to pass the time only so many onboard quizzes) particulary Madrid to Barcelona effectively west to east coast. Some very great tour options, seriously do the 3 day island cruise it is worth it... and the food is pretty good in places ( the dinner in Austria is very unique, it's very hard to explain in that it is unexpected but it works but is also completely eclectic in its nature including the bathrooms.... Enough said :) You gotta see it... seriously. If you can do the tour it is worth living out of a suitcase for 4 weeks and also bring heaps of smalls (laundry is very limited due to transit times).
The Tour was great (seen some new sites and revisited the best of the cities I'd seen before on very similar Contiki tour), great value for money, with an excellent range of activities (we were blessed with the weather gods on a number of occasions which added to overall atmosphere of the tour which is rare at the time of year I travelled in - it is usually fog or low cloud in some areas). Recommendation - do the Seine Cruise at Night it is great but stay on the top deck for the best views. If the weather is great, Eagle's Nest is a great visit as is the Lucerne lake and mountain tour and do the Athens dinner even if just for the food. A great way to travel via coach with a great range of stops between sites for the all important tourist road side stop. However, though you do get over the ferry trips pretty quickly) and I recommend the 3 day cruise option (even if just for the genuine Turkish rugs in Ephesus (the prices appear high but a lot less than in Aus (but read quality!!!) and you get to walk on the rugs barefoot and please avoid the bazaar near the port - you won't have money for the rest of the trip as I found out :) The food was great on the optional dinners particularly in Athens and in Rome as well as onboard the 3 day cruise. Breakfast is of course standard in all the hotels but by halfway an Austrian/German breakfast is really something to look forward to. Again the hotel dinners are pretty good especially in Austria and Germany. A must do is the cruise and lunch at Burano (one of the islands of Venice), I have had some great lunches but seriously this was right up there. A great little restaurant on a great little island. If I was back in Venice, this I would go to revisit just for lunch and to walk it off, especially near sunset. On the option as you come back in from Burano in October you get a sunset over the island of Venice - it's pretty good. Accommodation for the best part of the tour was very good, though the Apoge in Paris is a let down and doesn't actually kick of the tour really well - having said this the accommodation thereafter improves greatly. Though Wifi in the hotels is ok just not really up to Skype home standard so pack the mobile with an international sim which I did and found it more effective.
Let downs: Amsterdam only 1 night which really only means approx 4 to 5 hours to see the city and even less if you take the last night of tour cruise and dinner (though this is great for obvious reasons). Madrid for me wasn't as interesting as I expected but I was spoilt by Barcelona on this and last time so I guess that cancels out. The showers on the ferries - you will just have to see to believe trust me on this one (though this could be a positive depending on your sense of humour). Venice and Rome, wish for more time, a full day to explore is really needed but this tour sadly doesn't give enough time but again is subjective to each person. There are quite a few optional tours really worth doing and some that can be passed by for more time to sleep in or just to explore the city you're in. Check them all out and make the call, you can add to them whilst on tour if you change your mind.
Final Recommendation - A great tour to see a very wide expanse of Europe with a fair amount of time to see the major cities to give you the information to come back and see in more detail what cities impressed the most. Days on the coach can be long (which is why I recommended WIFI on the coach to Trafalgar to pass the time only so many onboard quizzes) particulary Madrid to Barcelona effectively west to east coast. Some very great tour options, seriously do the 3 day island cruise it is worth it... and the food is pretty good in places ( the dinner in Austria is very unique, it's very hard to explain in that it is unexpected but it works but is also completely eclectic in its nature including the bathrooms.... Enough said :) You gotta see it... seriously. If you can do the tour it is worth living out of a suitcase for 4 weeks and also bring heaps of smalls (laundry is very limited due to transit times).
Surprised how professional everything was organised 3
London to Rome Highlights
Helene Stokes, Australia, Sep 2013
We have just come back from our travels and our tour from London to Rome was definitely a highlight. I was surprised as the tour was a 'CostSaver' how professional everything was organised, hotels were lovely and our tour guide, Brek was fantastic!! I have already suggested this kind of tour to friends. Every aspect delighted us from the ease of bags read more always at our hotel room, the interesting information but not over-excessive by the guide/s and the long distances we travelled that never seemed too long and showed us the lovely countryside on the way. e took our teenage daughters so it was a great sneek peek at some of Europe. Yvonne at Global Journeys always answered my questions straight away and found out any further information as required. We have some wonderful memories. Thank you!
Had a fantastic time on this tour. Met people from all over the world who were also on the tour and are now new friends. The destinations were great and the local tour guides were very informative. Most of the hotels were great and even the ones that were a little bit smaller were OK because of their location. Overall it was amazing trip and thanks read more to Michelle from Global Journeys for organizing it all for me.
Had a great time Roberto our tour guide and bus driver Marchello were excellent made everyone feel at ease we had quite a few laughs along the way which made the tour all the more enjoyable as well. Being our first time to Italy we loved the whole experience of it, history, food, wine and the people were very friendly we would recommend it to anyone.
My Husband and I absolutely loved our tour! We had so much fun and saw so many more things than we expected. We picked to do this tour as we were on our honeymoon and we wanted something that was a lot nicer than the cheaper tours that stay in hostels and this was amazing. All hotels bar one was beautiful. Better than we expected. The hotel in Florence read more was terrible We didn't even have a real bed to sleep on it was a mattress on a blank of wood which was on a box smaller than the mattress. Other than that we loved it. We expected to have a pretty relaxed tour being on our honeymoon but this was very fast paced. We had 6:15am wakes most days and had very busy days. We agreed at the end of the tour that we are glad it was like that as we got to see SO MUCH and enjoyed all of it. We did need a holiday after to just chill out as we were so exhausted but still loved the whole tour.
Tour was good overall. Bottled water on the coach was great. Simon and Ivan were fantastic, would like to tour with them again. Had an issue on the first day which has been discussed with our Tour Consultant privately.
I really enjoyed the experience. It was nice not to have worry about connections with trains or juggling maps or worry about finding suitable accommodation, the tour director was really good and we enjoyed the optional excursions.
We absolutely loved Greece! We had a great tour director Nikos who was great in helping us out and taking us to the best places in both Athens, Mykonos and Santorini, although the others on the tour seemed to be a bit lack lustre when it came to doing anything extra. Would definitely book again with Global Journeys as it was much cheaper than the quotes read more we received from other travel agents.
It was the best experience I have ever had in my life, I am still living on the memories I have formed from my trip. I wake up every morning still thinking I am in Santorini, still dreaming about my trip. Best beaches I have ever been and swam in, never have I seen such beauty. It made me want to live there. It was very hard to leave Greece, it has such an amazing vibe.
Excellent value for the money 3
Britain and Ireland Explorer
Phil, Robyn & Alison Laird, Australia, Aug 2013
We really enjoyed our tour of the UK and Ireland. The pace was very good and the stops and attractions we visited were well chosen. Overall the tour was excellent value for the money we paid and the service we received from Georgie at Global Journeys was timely, efficient and most courteous.
The most amazing, fun & eye opening 18 days I ever spent 2
European Cavalcade
Carmelo Michienzi, Australia, Jul 2013
I did a Trafalgar tour about 20 years ago, and though it was good I was by the end very stressed and tired from the early mornings, late nights and constant moving from place to place. Even though I was much more prepared, I wasn't to sure of how this tour would turn out. I just new it would be at least good anyway. My friend that I was touring with read more was all excited because it was her first European group tour. I was much more reserved about it. It turned out to be the most amazing, fun & eye opening 18 days I have ever spent. Went to so many wonderful places and had so many beautiful experiences filled with laughter, friendship, excellent food & lots of bear & wine. Yes I was tired at the end, but it was a happy tired. The worst part of the tour was the drive back from Paris to London as it marked the end of the Magical Mystery Tour. I will definitely do a Trafalgar tour again. Mmm where would I like to go next year...
Booking online made me a bit apprehensive but Georgie Walpole has just been wonderful in assisting me and my friend process this trip. Last minute, my friend needed a document sent to the French Embassy in the Philippines for her visa application and Georgie never hesitated to directly send the document via email. Thanks again Georgie. The tour was read more wonderful and exciting. Our tour director, Gerry (Gerald) Baines was such a jolly guy - he had a lot of knowledge, not only of the places we went to (10 yrs experience), but even the history of people from those places. I even teased him 'Mr. Knowledge Overload'. Gerry was very accommodating, knew everyone's name and always concerned for our safety and enjoyment. He always had tips of what to eat, what to see, where to buy souvenirs on each destination we went to. He marked out the tour progress on our maps when we moved from one city to the next, and was very diligent in setting departure times. In our group, there were 50 tourists, and would you believe about 80% Aussies. There were 9 people from South Africa, 2 guys from NZ, 1 Canadian and my friend Evelyn from the Philippines. Everyone was friendly so we got along fine. The swapping of seats was our daily chore as we had to remember where we sat last. As each one moved to the front-most seat, there was an introduction session, telling everyone who we were and sharing funny or embarrassing stories. The bus was comfortable and clean, but somehow the lights inside the bus were not turned on when we go through tunnels (a lot of them going to Paris). The hotels we stayed in were really nice except the one in Lucerne, Switzerland. The rooms were so tiny and didn't have air-conditioning. Everyone was complaining about the heat. We tried to leave the windows open but there was too much noise outside. Being a first-timer in Europe, it was a mystery as to what I would see at each stop.
Even while on the road, I tried not to sleep as there were so much beautiful scenery to see(wish we could have stopped at some), and Gerry was doing his information update. Sunflowers were in bloom and filled the fields which was a sight to see. The castles in Germany were a marvel, so many of them. And who would go to Germany and not have a sausage? It was a nice train and cable car ride to see the snow-capped (only a few as it was summer) from Stanserhornbahn, Switzerland. In Innsbruck, Austria my friend and I were fortunate to catch a concert in the townhall, caught the last 2 songs for the night. It would have been wonderful to see more of Rome, but as the summer heat was getting intense, I personally preferred to be indoors. The Pantheon provided that bit of shade. We passed by the area of Genoa and it was just a wonder to see how they built highways on concrete stilts between mountains. The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (Duomo) in Florence, Italy is my favourite site. My jaw dropped when I saw this structure, it's so beautiful. Paris of course was the highlight of this tour as it was my birthday when we went up the second level of the Eiffel Tower. Gerry was so thoughtful and offered me a drink at the cafe near our hotel for my birthday and we were able to chat a bit. Also that night, while most of our tour mates went to watch a show at the Moulin Rouge, a family also from Sydney invited us to join them for dinner. We didn't join all the optional tours but we were able to venture out on our own, discovering more things. Wish we could fit everything during this tour. Overall it was an enjoyable experience. I'm already planning on a second tour to further explore Europe, probably in 2015 and this time I'll bring a better camera!
Even while on the road, I tried not to sleep as there were so much beautiful scenery to see(wish we could have stopped at some), and Gerry was doing his information update. Sunflowers were in bloom and filled the fields which was a sight to see. The castles in Germany were a marvel, so many of them. And who would go to Germany and not have a sausage? It was a nice train and cable car ride to see the snow-capped (only a few as it was summer) from Stanserhornbahn, Switzerland. In Innsbruck, Austria my friend and I were fortunate to catch a concert in the townhall, caught the last 2 songs for the night. It would have been wonderful to see more of Rome, but as the summer heat was getting intense, I personally preferred to be indoors. The Pantheon provided that bit of shade. We passed by the area of Genoa and it was just a wonder to see how they built highways on concrete stilts between mountains. The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (Duomo) in Florence, Italy is my favourite site. My jaw dropped when I saw this structure, it's so beautiful. Paris of course was the highlight of this tour as it was my birthday when we went up the second level of the Eiffel Tower. Gerry was so thoughtful and offered me a drink at the cafe near our hotel for my birthday and we were able to chat a bit. Also that night, while most of our tour mates went to watch a show at the Moulin Rouge, a family also from Sydney invited us to join them for dinner. We didn't join all the optional tours but we were able to venture out on our own, discovering more things. Wish we could fit everything during this tour. Overall it was an enjoyable experience. I'm already planning on a second tour to further explore Europe, probably in 2015 and this time I'll bring a better camera!
At first we thought the tour coach was not very comfortable and a bit squashy. The first tour guide Juan Carlos was difficult to understand mainly because the PA was not very good from where we were about half way down. Also listening to everything in the 3 languages was tedious but I guess that's the way it is. Once we got to Pompeii and had a new read more tour guide everything was good. The accommodation was fantastic and the meals lovely especially in Amalfi they were quite gourmet. The guide for Capri, Marco, was also very entertaining and we had a lovely day at the Blue Grotto and Capri. We liked having free time in Amalfi to do our own thing and the small bus trips to and from Amalfi were excellent with time to stop and take photos too. Overall we enjoyed our holiday with Costsaver tours and would recommend them to others. So thank you Georgie for all your help.
All the cities were beautiful and the tour was pace was great 2
Jewels of Italy
Kaye Dyson, Australia, Jul 2013
The tour director, Chris, was excellent. His knowledge of Italy was never ending. He was also a lot of fun and organised everything smoothly. The coach was comfortable and we made friends with lots of people on board. All the cities were beautiful and the tour was paced to our liking. Our main disappointment was that the hotels were so far out of each read more city it made it difficult to go into town by ourselves. By the time we added on the optional tours it made the holiday a lot more expensive. The standard of the hotels was good.
Once on the tour everything went like clockwork 5
Britain and Ireland Explorer
Maria Canning, Australia, Jul 2013
Booking the tour over the internet was a little scary. However the emails I sent to Yvonne regarding my concerns, no matter how trivial, were always answered. Now about the tour experience. On arrival in London our bags were the last to come off the plane. By the time we got through customs most of the crowd had departed. Standing at the information read more stand was the Representative from Trafalgar tours, she knew we had to arrive so was still there waiting. She put us on our transfer bus, explained how another Rep would be at the hotel between certain times to explain what time we would depart on the coach and gave us the name of the Tour Guide. Once on the tour everything went like clockwork. The only negative would be if we didn't go on the 'optional tour or dinner' there wasn't a lot to do. For example we stayed at Airth which was a long way out of town. And again we decided not to do the 'Cardiff Castle Tour' but we couldn't stay at the hotel we had to wander around the city of Cardiff for two hours before continuing on for the afternoon tour. If we were to travel again by coach we wouldn't hesitate to tour with Trafalgar.
Loved every minute of the tour & made lots of new friends 4
Highlights of Spain, Morocco and Portugal
Carol Smith, Australia, Jul 2013
The tour was great and our tour director - Jason Simpson - was fantastic. Visited lots of great places, the highlight being the Medina at Fes. Loved every minute of the tour & made lots of new friends.
A good tour showing the the highlights of Europe 4
Mahta Naziri, Australia, Jul 2013
Overall it was a good tour showing the the highlights of Europe. The extra excursions was a bit expensive , many of them due to the cost of unlimited drinks for dinner. The cost of drink should have been paid separately by the users or at least only one drink to be included and any extra should be covered by the individuals themselves, which would have read more been fairer. Instead some had to pay for the cost of unlimited drink of others. The seating in the coach was not good for us. We were allocated seats behind seat a young and very noisy group, and the coach was full so we could not move.
I went with my teenage kids and they loved it as well 2
Jewels of Italy
Michelle Hewitt, Australia, Jul 2013
Danilo our tour director was awesome. I have never met anyone who cared so much about everyone's needs as he did. He made the trip so much better. The itinerary was really good except the time in Florence at the leather store - that was a waste of time and should be scrapped from the tour. Everyone else thought so too. Besides this, it was well thought read more out and executed. I went with my teenage kids and they loved it as well. I would travel with Trafalgar again.
