Britain & Ireland Discovery Reviews

It was really a well organised trip, right from the very beginning with Global Journeys and Georgie, right through the getting them to organise all the flights and accommodation before and after… it all made it work so well! The bus driver Alf and the tour director Dave, really cared about all of the great bunch on the tour. We were various ages and ...read more all got along really well!! The tour director thought about what we were seeing and extra touches that made it memorable! They really looked after those of us who had ability problems during the trip always!!! Going above and beyond!!!

The accommodation was clean and some were family run and a touch of nostalgia, made it all perfect!! We had many organised meals, we found that such a help because the trip was jam packed with so much to see and do, it was very welcomed!! The one thing I would ad for the tour director is that I’m sure there would always be some who would welcome to be told about any Aurora sightings, no matter what time of the night!!!! So as not to miss this spectacular sight!!! The trip was a 22 day through England, Scotland ( magnificent Scottish highlands and Orkney Islands) Northern Ireland , beautiful Ireland, Wales, and back to England… all so magnificent!!! We really loved the trip and are very glad we chose Insight and Global Journeys…thanks to all involved!!

Great trip. Well organized by Georgie and Global Journeys. Insight ran a very good tour and Jim the Director was very good. Made the trip. Alf the driver was fantastic. Real gentlemen and a very good driver. We will be booking with Global and Insight again - Europe next trip!

This was our second tour with Insight Vacations. We booked both our tours through Global Journeys and would highly recommend them. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole tour, but for us the highlight was definitely the Edinburgh Tattoo, the reason we chose this tour. The accommodation was excellent as were the optional extras.

Hannah organised everything for us from the flights, tour and accommodation. We were kept well informed about a few changes and we didn’t need to worry about anything. The tour with Insight Vacations was exactly as described and we had an amazing tour guide, Dave, who was very knowledgeable about all the places we visited. Our bus driver, Jim, was also ...read more very good. I would definitely recommend this tour with Insight and booking through Global Journeys.

This was an amazing tour full of interesting history, beautiful scenery, great group of travel companions and an excellent Tour Director. Highly recommended!!!

This was an excellent tour which was very well organised by our tour director Dave Neal. In early August, it included the Edinburgh Tattoo. If going at that time, also be aware that the Fringe Festival is on too. So Edinburgh was very crowded, but also lots to do & see. Most of the accommodation on the tour was very good, but a few were average. We ...read more had seen a lot of UK on our own, prior to this tour, but found new experiences in the places we revisited with the tour.

Out interesting journey began with booking out trip through Global Journeys last year. It was all very easy and efficient arranging this trip online. Emails were answered promptly and requests for different flight times easily accommodated. It was lovely having a trip booked early just for the anticipation.

We were very fortunate in our trip's tour ...read more director and driver and weather. Ben Scott is only about 32 but appears to love his job and he was very good at it. He attended to all our needs and kept us every well organised. He went down the coach and spoke to every passenger individually to see if we had any concerns or complaints everyday. Marcel the driver was an excellent driver and had a happy and humorous personality.

The trip itself was as anticipated. We had the opportunity to see a great many towns and cities in Great Britain. I especially enjoyed Ireland. Ben entertained us with the history of the places we visited. The included tours of distilleries, crystal factories, castles, famous houses and interesting towns and cities were all wonderful as was the scenery.

The hotels were all of good to excellent quality. We always had a full hot breakfast and the starting times for each day were all reasonable. The included evening meals were also good. There were a few negatives. We found the optional dinners were far too expensive for what you got. We cancelled all dinners after the first one and arranged our own dinner for a quarter of the price. Those who went on these dinners also said they were not good value for money.

I would have liked a few optional extras that included dancing at local venues in Ireland. We were left too long in some towns. Everyone just wanted to get to our hotel room at a good hour before we were picked up. This really happened only on the first and last day when we were all tired.

Other than those few complaints, the trip was a wonderful experience and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend both Global Journeys and Insight Vacations to my family and friends.

Make sure you're well rested before you commence this tour as it's pretty full on. Twenty-two days of sightseeing, often with 3 sensational events per day. The tour was well organised and I loved the seat rotation on the coach, as this meant we shared the best seats at the front of the bus.

The history and scenery of this region was extremely moving ...read more including the tragedy at Culloden Moor, the 5000 yr old Skara Brae village and standing stones at Ring of Brodgar will leave you speechless. The unique Gaelic culture of music, dancing and storytelling was the highlight of my trip and you won't need your warm pj's as all the hotel rooms are well heated all year round.

As I used my Travel Money Card 90% of the time, I didn't need to withdraw local cash in Ireland or Scotland. Just make sure your card has the pay wave, Wi Fi symbol on it and you can touch on and off for London trains and purchases etc.. (However, you may need a little cash for tips.)

What an awesome trip. The trip was all we hoped for and it exceeded our expectations. Booking through Global Journeys with Georgie was very smooth and friendly. While the tour was fairly long at 22 days, there was plenty of free time and we can't speak highly enough of our tour guide Matt and coach drivers Mark and Sean.

To appeal to a broad interest ...read more group, there will always be some things that don't rate highly with individuals but for us, those less interesting things were still worth seeing, so no complaints overall. The group size was good at 32 and all got on well. Highlights included Orkney Islands, Ring of Kerry, Portsmouth harbour cruise and many more. Probably allowing more time in Wales and Cornwall would be our only suggestion.

We recently returned from our Britain and Ireland Discovery tour. It is the ideal trip if you are looking to get an introduction to touring Britain and Ireland with a view to return at a later date for more in-depth investigation. Booking the holiday with Global Journeys was stress free and we would definitely use their services again.

Our tour ...read more director and main bus driver were good and we would certainly consider booking another trip with Insight tours. The highlight of our trip was visiting the Orkney Islands and we were very lucky with the weather conditions on this particular day - the sun shone most of the day? In relation to the pace of the trip it can be broken into 2 parts - the first half of the trip is very busy but once you reach Ireland the pace does calm down but overall the pace of the trip is manageable given the amount of places you get to visit. One further comment is that we would prefer that any gratuities are included in the overall cost of the trip.

We had a super time on our trip. Insight Vacations were great, a massive thank you to Howard our tour director and Alf our driver. Thank you to Georgie at Global Journeys for organising our holiday once again. The accommodation was excellent and so was the food. We enjoyed the special treats that we received from Howard along the way.

I loved the ...read more quaint little towns which made our lunch stops really special and plenty of time to check out the shops. Another highlight was the amazing scenery and the castles too. Travelling in May was good except I would suggest to pack extra warm clothes. We even had snow in Scotland. We look forward to our next trip.

The first section of the tour is very busy but eases up once in Ireland. We had expected quite a bit of motorway driving so it was a pleasant surprise to find that the Tour Director & Driver did as much on 'country roads' as practical, and even in parts when passing other vehicles was 'tight'. Scenery was great. The weather was well behaved. Tour Director ...read more and Driver were excellent and worked well as a team. Some people didn't do any of the optionals and I think they missed out on some good opportunities for seeing, learning more about the countries we were in and meeting some locals. A few of the hotels were BA's (best available) but that is part of the experience :)

Great trip with an excellent itinerary. So many highlights particularly in Scotland and Ireland. Accommodation was fine but some dinners were only average.

Highlights were the Edinburgh Tattoo, Orkney, optional shows in Edinburgh, Killarney, Dublin and Cardiff.
An excellent tour manager who shared his extensive knowledge of local culture, history, geography, nature etc.
A great bunch of fellow passengers.

We loved our trip. Our tour director John looked after us extremely well , enthralling us with stories and songs of all the places we visited. Our global journeys consultant Madeline made booking seamless. We would not hesitate to recommend both Global Journeys and Insight. in fact we have already booked another holiday.

This tour had been recommended by a friend and so glad we took the advice. The inclusion of the Orkney Islands is a big plus. After doing 3 previous bus tours with 6.30 - 7am starts this one was a breeze with later starts. Our tour guide - Parri was brilliant as was the driver Simon. They made this an even more memorable trip. Some hotels in the smaller ...read more towns were a bit average but all adds to the adventure. Would definitely recommend this tour.

Our trip began perfectly; temperature in London was in the high20's on our arrival & the weather remained perfect for the whole tour - even though we had a wet coldish day in the Orkneys, it was still perfect. Our guide Mark was excellent, knowledgeable & such a "people person" going beyond to make sure all guests were happy. The destinations gave a ...read more areal taste of the UK & we now have plenty of options for return visits. Accomodation was excellent, clean & comfortable & although some were a little less opulent they were the top hotels in areas where there are just you & the sheep. Our two coach drivers, King Arthur & Grant were both excellent & helpful. We felt completely safe the whole journey.This was our first Insight tour & it definitely won't be our last - we had the time of our lives.

What a trip! 22 days of amazing sights, castles, cathedrals, and some of the best scenery you can find outside of New Zealand. From the efficient work completed by Leanne from Global Journeys to the inspiring guidemanship from David at Insight Vacations, this holiday was without fault. Some of the personal highlights were visiting a 5000 year old village ...read more in the Orkney Islands, to a presentation by a modern day Curling player, to a visit to Stonehenge - it really was a journey both through countries and histories across 5000 miles and 5000 years. If I was asked to find fault, I was a little underwhelmed by the accommodation at times, but then so much of it is hundreds of years older than what I am used to in New Zealand. The accommodation was all clean, with good rooms, delicious breakfasts and dinners, and the service was always of a high quality. As far as excursions, we were visiting something new every morning and every afternoon, and the occasional evening too! I handled the pace fine, and I have Multiple Sclerosis and walk with a cane. We travelled a long way by bus but never for more than a two hour stint, then we would stop for 15 minutes to 3 hours and take a break. Do this. Stop thinking about it and do this. You will not be disappointed.

A great trip. Nigel was a very good and caring Tour Director. A couple of the hotels were out of town or too far from the shops but I couldn't fault any of the hotels. Booking with Global Journeys was faultless. Shall be back for next years holiday.

Luxury, history, scenery, great companions and importantly, a no worries vacation. Our trip had it all. Can't believe we fitted so much in and covered a diverse and spectacular selection of what the U.K. has to offer. Our Tour Director and Coach Driver were excellent at their jobs and keep us informed and safe at all times.