Insight Vacations Reviews
The 608 Insight Vacations reviews listed below are from past clients of Global Journeys that have travelled with Insight Vacations. Each review has been individually verified by our team.
The 608 Insight Vacations reviews listed below are from past clients of Global Journeys that have travelled with Insight Vacations. Each review has been individually verified by our team.
Really enjoyed our tour and had many wonderful experiences 2
Best of Spain & Portugal
Greg McGrath, Australia, Jun 2014
We really enjoyed our tour of Spain and Portugal and had many wonderful experiences. Toni, the tour guide, was fantastic and gave us great insights into these two amazing countries. Our tour consultant, Georgie, was most helpful in helping us to organise our trip with to ensure that everything went smoothly.
Enjoyed the tour and would consider going on another 2
Italian Escapade
Kathryn Harwood, Australia, Jun 2014
The coach was very comfortable and roomy. The driver's maneuvering skills was excellent. The guide was always helpful and informative with enjoyable stories to accompany the info. The accommodation was well positioned and the food excellent. The final hotel was not up to standard with my rooms air-conditioning not working and when I complained and they read more moved me to another room its air-conditioning also didn't work but by that time I was too tired to complain and move again. In general I enjoyed the tour and would consider going on another Insight tour.
Country Roads of France is the best tour we have taken. Starting if Paris, travelling south there was a good mixture of different sights to see and the wine experiences and dinning around experiences were excellent. A mixture of food, culture and historical sites. From Monet garden to Van ogh to the pilgrims on the trail to Rocamador and the Papal read more castle in Avignon. A big thank you to Yvonne who encouraged us to travel on a guarantee departure tour for our early bird booking it was the best time to travel through all these amazing places.
Overall value for money it was a good tour 6
Sicily in Depth
Olga Brainard-Smith, Australia, May 2014
I think overall value for money it was a good tour. However, the one night stands should be eliminated if possible, as everyone was exhausted. The hotels were OK, but not in center of old villages. One in Taormina was outside the town, and although a Hilton, it was terrible. The guides were good. Although the tour operator told us there was no way read more to adjust the air con in the coach, he didn't tell us that you could adjust the overhead device, to close it. Result was I got a cold, and could not go out the day we had a half day free. Otherwise, everyone was professional and hard working.
Great Tour Director with lots of information and a good group of people on this tour. We've now seen a lot of the U.K. Great!
We went on Country Roads of France in May 2014. We had an amazing time on this tour. Our tour guide Laurent was fantastic. Laurent made France come alive with his wonderful insight into French people and their culture.There was 10 Americans, 2 Canadians and 26 Australians on the tour in a 40 seater coach. The accommodation was of a very high quality read more and always in the centre of the cities we visited. The tour travels into the country of France and avoids a lot of the motorways. France is a diverse and interesting country with lots of spectacular scenery and history. We felt that there was a new surprise every day. We took most of the optional excursions. These do add an additional cost onto the tour but we had great fun on these, especially the ones which included evening meals. We experienced things that we probably would never had done if we were on our own. We met some wonderful people on the tour which really added to the experience. We would highly recommend this tour.
A great mix of National Parks, cities and open spaces 8
America's Magnificent National Parks
Diane Oliver, Australia, May 2014
I thought that this tour provided a great mix of National Parks, cities and open spaces/areas such as Montana and Wyoming. Coach travel was as advertised with extra leg room, wifi, water, a clean coach each morning with seat rotation well organised. The pace was sometimes 'tight' with arrival at accommodation late in the afternoon with then an early read more dinner, so little time was available to see some of the wonderful National park lodges in more depth, as usually the next morning it was an early start straight after breakfast with bags having to be ready before this. I realise that this made it possible for the tour to cover all of its advertised activities, however some could have been 'left out' or shortened - for example the time spent in Sedona, and some other small places for a lunch break could have been curtailed, but realise that the driver needs regulated breaks etc. Not sure what the answer to this is. The tour guide was outstanding with a complete knowledge of all the areas visited and kept all the tour on time. He displayed sensational skills in dealing with some difficult people who could have affected the smooth running of the holiday.I would definitely consider an Insight tour in the future and would book through Global Journeys . You provided excellent service and demonstrated fine organisational skills. I found dealing with one consultant particularly helpful as the response time between my enquiries and any other issues was wonderful.
We did enjoy our tour of Switzerland. We gained a lot of information of the country through our tour guide, Sara. The scenery was spectacular, snow covered mountains. Wherever you go, coach touring is not as relaxing as river cruising, but you certainly see the country.
Had everything that was advertised and good value overall 7
Best of Spain & Portugal
Robyn Ryan, Australia, Apr 2014
Our recent tour of Spain & Portugal proved to be everything that was advertised and good value overall. The local knowledge, organizing ability and dedication to detail by the Tour Director meant we had the opportunity and the information to enjoy as many historical, cultural and entertaining experiences as possible along the way which made our tour read more a very pleasant experience. The optional excursions are an extra cost and sometimes mean a late night, or touring part of a rest day, but we think they are worth the extra effort. As each region of Spain is different in landscape and culture and Portugal is quite different again every day was a new adventure. There were a couple of long drives but the comfort of the coach, including wi-fi, and the ability of the driver to provide a smooth ride, adequate stops and keep to the timetable helped those days to pass ASAP. Hotels were sometimes quite fancy othertimes less grand but almost always central and near a supermarket.
Tour director was knowledgeable, organised and adaptable 1
Italian Escapade
Julianne & Roy Thompson, Australia, Oct 2013
We thoroughly enjoyed our Italian Escapade. The tour director Sharon was fantastic - knowledgeable, organised and adaptable. It was our first visit to Italy and we feel we have a really comprehensive snapshot of mainland Italy. The tour was exactly as described in the brochures and on the website. It was a pity that some participants weren't aware of read more some of the physical demands as this did lead to some delays. Sharon managed these issues with diplomacy. Yvonne from Global Journeys was very helpful and professional when we were booking our tour. I would definitely consider both Global Journeys and Insight when travelling in the future.
Excellent tour 2
Les Gilham, Australia, Sep 2013
The tour was excellent, and our tour guide and driver were both superb. We had a few issues - in two hotels the bags were not delivered to our rooms until about 2 hours after arrival - most frustrating especially as we were to go out for dinner and could not change from our day clothes. On one occasion the coach broke down and delayed us by about 2 read more hours which cut into our time later in the day. The hotel rooms were all large, comfortable and well furnished, and the hotels were all of an excellent class. The various day trips/tours were all most enjoyable, and the meals all up to a high standard. We were disappointed in Global Journeys which incorrectly quoted our extra day as including breakfast, and when it was discovered this was incorrect only offered partial recompense for the extra cost of breakfast. However all other aspects of our Global Journeys 'experience' were satisfactory.
Overall it was a good well planned tour 3
Normandy, Brittany & The Loire Valley
Florence Hooi Sim Tan, Australia, Sep 2013
Overall it was a good well planned tour. Shortfall only in the accommodation as some hotels we stayed didn't provide basic necessities. Tour pace was excellent, not too hectic and gave quite free time on your own. Food was very nice too, maybe because it's in France. Suitable for those who love countryside and more relaxed travelling.
Great tour will enjoy doing it again in the future. Trouble free travel on a modern coach with huge windows for viewing. Wifi onboard available, comfortable seating and excellent leg space. Guides were friendly and informative as well as active in creating a positive environment while on the coach or walking tours.
An excellent tour of Italy. It was nicely paced and Jackie, the tour director was brilliant. We did all the side trips bar one and thought they added greatly to the holiday.
Nothing I would have changed, except maybe more free time 3
Grand Italy & Sicily
Lucia McKay, Australia, Sep 2013
Thoroughly enjoyed the tour. Couldn't have asked for a better tour guide, driver and a wonderful group of fellow travellers as well. The extra legroom in the coach was excellent. There wouldn't be anything I would have changed with the tour, except maybe more free time to do more shopping. Never have enough time for shopping. I would recommend Global read more Journeys and Insight Vacations to anyone looking for a coach tour.
Enjoyed the tour tremendously 3
Kee Tan, Australia, Sep 2013
Excellent tour. An extra day in Moscow would have been wonderful. Tour pace is dependable on the number of excursions joined. As I joined all the excursions I find that I do not have time to do some shopping on my own especially in Moscow. As for accommodation all hotels were excellent except for the hotel in St Petersburg which was good. Overall excellent. read more I did enjoyed the tour tremendously.
An excellent initiation to organized coach tours 4
Italian Elegance
Sue & Peter Haley, Australia, Aug 2013
Italian Elegance Tour was an excellent initiation to organized coach tours. Plenty of variation in places visited and daily activities. Quality of hotels were generally far superior than what we were expecting. Our tour guide Karen Gower was extremely knowledgeable on 'all things' Italian and had the perfect personality for the job. Her organizational read more skills were excellent and she managed to make it all look so easy! Only criticism would be only one choice of meal on offer for the included dinners and some of the optional tours were a bit over priced.
Absolutely loved Morocco 3
Treasures of Spain, Portugal & Morocco
Anthony & Rosina Barker, Australia, Aug 2013
We really enjoyed seeing places we last saw 44 years ago (Spain) and visiting Portugal and Morocco for the first time. The comfort of the coach lived up to Insight's publicity and we appreciated having companionable fellow-passengers and a tour guide who combined efficiency with informality. The only reason for rating the accommodation only 'pretty read more good' is that the hotels in Morocco had rooms that didn't match the splendour of their foyers and were poorly serviced (we had to be very assertive in demonstrating a toilet didn't flush and it was essential to have a new room.) In recommending the tour I'd also have to warn others there were some very long days on the coach: I guess both these reservations were almost predictable and I should add that, apart from the quibbles about accommodation, we absolutely loved Morocco.
I was, disappointed with the Insight tour of Spain on a couple of counts. One was that the hotels they used. Whilst being described as 'centrally located', with the exception of the one in Valencia, were the edge of each city, (at least 10-15 minutes by taxi or more, for instance Barcelona Melia was 20 minutes from Place Catalyuna by taxi on a Sunday read more afternoon) making it very difficult or even impossible to look around the city by yourself in some (very limited) free time. They were lovely hotels, but inaccessible for tourists to find their own way around a city in the limited time. I would have preferred a lesser hotel, but more accessible to the city we were in, as I came home thinking, I hadn't really seen Spain, I had seen 'buildings', as I had not been able to get the flavour of the places we stayed in. I also feel very strongly about the lunch stops. I am appalled that a tour of the standard we were on, stopped (with two exceptions Peniscola and Toledo), at truck stops for lunch! Food was awful, typical of what you usually associate with a truck stop, not even a decent freshly made sandwich and of course no opportunity to explore the area there either. The facilities at the truck stops were basic but clean but a decent cup of coffee and a nice sandwich would have been much appreciated and time to look around a local town was what I would have expected for a tour of this standard. The tour was described as being 'leisurely' which was completely incorrect, fast paced would have been nearer the mark. It was full on from early morning, till late at night, as most nights there were either included dinners or optional dinners. With the hotels being so far removed from the city there was little or nothing in the area near the hotels to eat, so consequently we felt the only option was to take the optional dinners, which of course added to the cost of the holiday, rather than eat in an expensive hotel restaurant.
Very happy with the tour 2
Treasures of Spain, Portugal & Morocco
Richard Jenkins, Australia, Aug 2013
Very happy with the tour, a very good introduction to the countries visited and the culture and history of the locations, all enhanced by the personal insights of the guides and the tour director (Brit who lives in Portugal). There is room for improvement with the additional optional meals offered. The bus was very comfortable and the windows were cleaned read more daily (good for photos). Most hotels had pools and their locations were good for shops. We look forward to going on another Insight tour in the future.
