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.
Overall a good tour with a knowledgeable guide 3
Spectacular Scandinavia & its Fjords
Stan McCallum, Australia, May 2013
Excellent with only 21 people on the tour...40 seater coach...Not being notified of a change of itinerary was of concern. Had this not been picked up and queried prior to departure we would not have been advised until Oslo. This amendment to the advertised tour should have been flagged immediately the problem was evident. Overall a good tour with a read more knowledgeable guide who had been doing this tour for many years and was beginning to be robotic in his presentation. Driver was excellent.
Felt very comfortable with the whole experience 4
Glories of Greece
Patricia Ainge, Australia, May 2013
This was our second tour with Insight and was as good as the first one. The tour guide, Joanna was lovely and very knowledgeable about the sites we visited. Her enthusiasm certainly enhanced the tour. We made some friends on both tours and felt very comfortable with the whole experience. We will certainly go on an organised tour again and use Global read more Journeys as our preferred travel agency. Thank you Georgie.
Not disappointed with any of the places visited or hotels 4
Britain & Ireland Discovery
Ian Berry, Australia, May 2013
Tour Director was professional, knowledgeable,and approachable. We were not disappointed with the locales visited or the hotels stayed at. The dining experience was okay, but became a bit repetitive, and would like to see some variation. We did all but one of the optional tours, and mostly enjoyed them. The Irish cabaret in Dublin was let down by the read more atrocious seating, where we were jammed in like sardines. Only those close to the front had a good view, and we only saw bits and pieces from the waist up. The Scottish dinner and cabaret in Edinburgh is an example of how it could be done much better, ie individual tables.
Fantastic tour. Best tour director ever!
Did not appreciate the itinerary changes for optional excursions 6
Country Roads of France
David Roberts, Australia, Apr 2013
Compared to other Insight Country Roads Tours that we have taken, we hardly ever went on anything other than a highway/expressway and appeared to spend too much time selling their option excursions and changing the itinerary to accommodate these excursions. For instance, we spent our second day out of Paris (3rd day of the tour) entirely as a free day read more in Dijon ( a nice city but hardly requires a full day to walk around the old centre of town), when by the itinerary, we were supposed to go on a drive to a country village and wine tasting. These activities had been squashed into the afternoon of the day before resulting in traveling long distances on the expressway and getting into our accommodation late, about 6:30 or later. The next day those taking the optional excursion filled in their day nicely. They need to take a look at our other tour with Albatross, which indeed did travel on Country Roads.
Thankyou Insight Vacations 3
Easy Pace Budapest, Vienna & Prague
Franciscus and Sonia Kuilboer, Australia, Apr 2013
Great tour with plenty of own time to explore, quality accommodation and a fantastic tour Guide (Beatta) and terrific driver (Tamas).
Tour was very good, best part was Portugal 2
Amazing Spain & Portugal
Anthony & Laura Ryall, Australia, Apr 2013
Apart from some bad weather the tour was very good. Best part was Portugal. Tour should be extended 2 days to enjoy Salamanca for 2 nights. Accommodation was superb throughout. Our guide was good but at times could have provided more information. Lots of silent periods in the coach when we compared with a subsequent Trafalgar Tour. Arrived late at some read more destinations - suspect lunch breaks could have been shorter to prevent that - say 40 minutes not 1 hour.
Our first organised tour and it exceeded our expectations 1
Wonders of Turkey
Patricia Ainge, Australia, Apr 2013
This was our first organised tour and it exceeded our expectations. Our tour guide, Dahan was great, his general knowledge of his country and his particular knowledge of every site we visited was amazing. The tour was busy but it had to be to see everything, the people were lovely, the hotels excellent and the food very good. We will visit Turkey again read more on the strength of this tour, we were so impressed with the land and the people. Thank you Insight, Global Journeys and especially Georgie for organising everything for us. (Ed: Review based on slightly different itinerary. Trip name and itinerary updated this season)
Totally amazed how well organised the tour was 1
Grand Italy & Sicily
Lynette Torrisi, Australia, Apr 2013
This was my first overseas tour - 16 Day Grand Tour of Italy & Sicily. I was totally amazed how well organised the tour was and how everything ran so smoothly. The Insight tour coach was so very comfortable and as we were told, extra leg room was fantastic. Our Tour Guide, Chris, was so helpful in every way and very informative. Our coach driver Michele read more was an amazing driver - considering traffic in Italy can be very tight. Special mention to Georgie who was so helpful in every way organising our amazing trip, all professionally organised. I would highly recommend Global Journeys to organise your travel and I definitely would travel with Insight Vacations again.
Another great Insight tour (our third) 2
Eastern Capitals & Dalmatian Riviera
George Crank, Australia, Apr 2013
Interesting countries visited and lots of variety. An interesting feature of this trip was that for the first three days we were accompanied by John Boulding, CEO of Insight and by Brett Tolman, CEO of the Travel Corporation, of which we were told Insight is one of 15 companies. These men particitated in all our activities and shared meals with us, read more they questioned us on all our opinions of the tour. It was surprising to find that such serior executives really wanted to find out how their business operated at the consumer level.
Insight were extraordinary in every way 4
Treasures of Spain, Portugal & Morocco
Julie Kurkcu, Australia, Dec 2012
This was the first coach tour company that we had been on as we normally do it on our own. We have high expectations of the quality of our vacations which are twice a year. Insight were extraordinary in every way - service, comfort, organization, and the accommodation were all top notch. The knowledge of our talented Tour Guide and Coach Driver whom read more we always felt safe with. They also accommodated for our boys 12 and 13 years of age, one of their best trips they said. Daniel our Tour Guide always made sure they felt included. We had 32 on our trip, Max is 40 people anyway so loads of leg room, and our personal belongs on the coach were always safe as the driver is with the coach the whole time, if not its locked up. So good - we finished this tour on Jan 9th this year (2013) and already booked next one to Turkey in September. So confident I'm taking the boys on my own as I feel in safe hands on this tour . Thanks Frances for all your patience and assistance.
Well paced tour with a variety of experiences 1
Easy Pace Budapest, Vienna & Prague (Winter)
Kay & Ian Searle, Australia, Dec 2012
Insight had a well paced tour with a variety of experiences. The optional events, tours were marvelous. Cultural events outstanding for restaurant, entertainment and food. Tour guide excellent, friendly, efficient, knowledgeabl and she shared her own experiences growing up in the region and made us feel special. I am sure she deflected problems before read more they arose as there were none apparent. Lost luggage dealt with well by hotel and tour staff. The effort made to accommodate the Christmas season, with celebratory meals, and ensuring we were well entertained and fed in cities with eateries and things otherwise closed for feast days. Advertised as a Christmas market tour and we had ample time for this. Info about words in Czech, Slovak, German and Hungarian would have been good, and info about church service times would have been appreciated. Midnight mass at cathedral was a safe bet and we went.
A wonderful interlude over Christmas 1
Easy Pace Budapest, Vienna & Prague (Winter)
Kay & Ian , VIC, Australia, Dec 2012
This was a wonderful interlude of six days over the Christmas period. We saw so much and the tour guide was generous in her help and information, never left wondering. Highlights were the mealtimes, evening dinners, so many in very interesting venues. They showed us places we would not have found by ourselves.
Excellent Tour Director 2
Van & Minhai Tran, Australia, Dec 2012
I was very lucky to have a very knowledgable Tour Director who also passionate about touring, history and geography.
Driver and guide were excellent and thoroughly professional 1
Wonders of Turkey
Dean Jeffery & Kim Robertson, Australia, Oct 2012
Great tour guide, driver and tour group. We all got along famously. The driver and guide were excellent and thoroughly professional. The bus was great and we had heaps of leg room and cold drinks. We both enjoyed the tour. I thought several attractions and cities could have been cut. I thought the 2 hrs we spent at the Kamal Attaturk Memorial in Ankara read more was too long. I also thought we didn't need to see 2 Sufi centres (the one in Konya was better). I think the underground city in Cappadocia was a waste of time. The leather factory where we spent more than 2 hrs was a waste of time - unlike the ceramic factory and carpet factory which were craft centres. I think Troy was a waste of time. I would have liked to have spent another day sightseeing in Istanbul and had shorter days and more down time to relax and enjoy some of the facilities at the hotels. The accommodation provided on the tour varied from 2 star to 5 star. Loved the Charisma Hotel and the Swissotel in Izmer. The Dedeman in Kappodocia was terrible. The Crown Plaza in Antalya was too far out of town. The other hotels were ok. The food was better in some hotels than others. I would like to have had more fixed menu meals. I don't want to see another buffet meal for some time. The final celebration dinner was disappointing. The restaurant was noisy and the food was mediocre. We missed the first night's welcome drinks and nibbles get together as we were stuck out at Istanbul airport. It would have been nice if some of the food and a drink could have been left in our room at the hotel when we did arrive. My only other gripe is that we had to pay AU$120 at the airport for 2 Turkish visas. I would have liked to have known about this beforehand. (Ed: Review based on slightly different itinerary. Trip name and itinerary updated this season)
I enjoyed the tour, although the Hydro hotel near Lake Windermere was disappointing. I have heard this hotel will no longer be used for this tour, as it is not up to standard. I did not receive a welcome pack when I arrived at the London Insight hotel, and I had to followup twice with the Insight rep at the hotel. I ended up getting a one page letter read more under the door - it was never explained why I did not receive a welcome pack. The staff at the Thistle Marble Arch were generally unfriendly, especially the head concierge Paul, who was not especially interested in helping me when I had an query. On arrival at the hotel, I was given a room with flooded carpet, a bucket, and dripping water over the doorway. I complained and received a free upgrade to a higher room grade, but I should never have been given the flooded room in the first place. Overall, I enjoyed the itinerary, which is the main reason I booked the tour. The hotels were slightly disappointing for an Insight tour, and the included and optional dinners were hit and miss.
Loved how everything was so very well-organised 1
Treasures of Italy
Serena Alim, Australia, Sep 2012
We had a fabulous time on our Insight Vacations tour in Italy. We loved how everything was so very well-organised. Our tour director, coach driver, itinerary, day to day admin were excellent! Making the booking with Global Journeys was easy and I valued the personal attention given to requests and questions, and I'd definitely do it again. Thanks for all your help Yvonne!
We really loved the tour and Turkey 2
Wonders of Turkey
Edward Cullinan & Judith Archibald, Australia, Sep 2012
We really loved the tour and Turkey. Our guide was excellent - he knew his stuff he was very caring, informative and helpful and capable. He was a local and his English was excellent but his accent was at times hard to understand. I guess that is the trade off for having a local who knows all you want to ask. The coach was brand new and very comfortable, read more vision was excellent. The tour was extremely interesting. Turkey its history, food , economy, sights-all blew me away. Some of our tour party were a bit disappointed we did not spend more time at Lone Pine or Anzac Cove. We found it quite moving - our local high school just happened to do a commemoration as we turned up. The accommodation was great. Overall we would thoroughly recommend it.
Insight Country Roads of Italy was a great tour, taking us to some smaller villages which were interesting. Belinda Richardson, the tour manager, was amazing, she had to deal with a some injuries and illness, but did it in a manner that did not affect the tour. The optional excursions seemed expensive, but they were to interesting destinations and we did enjoy most of them.
A wonderful trip, and I could do it all again 4
Elegance of Great Britain
Ottonie Oswald, Australia, Sep 2012
I loved this tour, Peter the tour leader was great as were the drivers. Not having too many people helped and everyone got on with everyone else. Only disappointment was the lack of time in Bronte country. I was wild with delight when the itinerary went to Haworth, but we were there only an hour and a half! We went through the museum but felt hurried, read more although it was no one's fault, just how the day panned out. I and others would have liked to wander through the village, go to the pub, whatever. We loved seeing the English countryside from the coach, something you would not see as well from a car. I was a single and was very fortunate to pal up with the other single lady, we got on like a house on fire. All in all, a wonderful trip, and I could do it all again.
