Intrepid Travel Reviews

This is the third time I have booked through Global Journeys and once again Georgie made it easy. The tour with Intrepid through Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia was one of the best I have done (and I've done a lot of tours!). Everyone should visit this special part of the world.

I will continue to use Global Journeys as their booking platform as it's easy and efficient to source for the right type of travel objective. Their agent Tracey is helpful and prompt in addressing my querys and concern,s thanks very much. So Global Journeys did well and deserve 5 stars for this.

Using the platform, I went along with Intrepid for ...read more a 18 days Premium Peru, Chile and Argentina. We (75 yo mum and myself) had great company (in Peru and only ourselves in Chile and Argentina) and guides for each of the countries. Generally, the itinerary was well paced and planned. But the elderly like my 75 yo mum and other fellow travellers may find the trekking up Machu Picchu challenging. However some of accommodation were below expectation for a premium tiered travel hence the 3 stars given.

The below par accommodation included San Augustine Plaza in Cusco where we had stayed for a total of 3 nights where night temperature is at between 2-5 degree celsius in mid May. We slept the first night without heater and not aware there was one until the next morning when we learnt from other travellers. Some travellers caught a cold as a result. Hence we requested for one. Because It’s a very old and dated 4 stared hotel, there is no sound proofing to speak off as a result, besides the bitter cold, our rest were constantly disrupted by noise from closing doors and dragging of chairs from above. The towel smelled musky from inadequate drying too. The breakfast looked like a bed and breakfast. This hotel made us wonder if there is a mistake in the type of package that we had signed up. The only saving grace was the staff who are accommodative and helpful in general.

The next accommodation in Ollantaytambo where we spent 1 night was similarly dungeon style, no heater and no kettle. There was only bottled mineral water and single used shampoo and gel bottles which I feel Intrepid has room to work towards a sustainable tourism. El Mapi accommodation were too near the bar and the music was too loud to allow a restful evening after a 3 hour trek.

Accommodation at Pullman Miraflores at Lima and Hacienda at Maldonado were brilliant.

In Chile, Hotel Altiplanici in Santiago old downtown has no kettle and no lift except for luggages. The check in staff was understanding and reallocated a room on the first floor. In Mendoza, Huentala Hotel is also very old hotel. There is no sound proofing and we can’t get a good rest as we can hear the constant corridor talk and closing of doors. The bed also sag and there is no quilt on the narrow single bed.

Intrepid should select hotels based on substance rather than form. Old hotels may look good and have charm but doesn’t meet the basic requirement of a accommodation which beside being clean is to offer guest a restful and comfortable stay. If we don’t mind such uncomfortable accommodation, we would have chosen backpacker style of travel instead of premium.

Usually independent travellers, this was our first experience of small group travel. First leg of tour group was through Jordan. Great group of 11 people who were led by well organised tour leader. Had plenty of time to see the sights. Border crossing to Israel was unorganized. No representative from Intrepid arrived to do the formalities of the crossing ...read more as promised. Second part of tour through Israel was with a different group of people and a different tour leader. Not as well organised. Food options and accommodation was not of premium level. The quality of tour leader can make a huge difference to your experience. There was a fair amount of walking in this tour and whilst we are over 55, some older members of the group struggled to keep up and be on time at sights which caused frustration for the group. If you’re not up to walking varied terrains and keeping on time then reconsider your ability for small group travel. Overall it was a good trip with plenty to see. Communication provided by your leaders is critical to enjoying the experiences of small group travel.

We were so looking forward to these two tours by Intrepid, "Premium Jordan" and "Israel & The Palestinian Territories".
The first tour "Premium Jordan" was all as expected we had a great Tour Director, great crew of tourists and amazing sites. There were 3 main highlights in this tour, Petra, Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea. There were also many other attractions ...read more but we thought these 3 were the pick. Petra was amazing, unbelievable on just how the tombs were actually constructed. The trek up to the Monastery is well worth the effort. Spending the night in luxury accommodation in the desert (Wadi Rum) was also memorable and floating in the Dead Sea is a memory that will last forever.

Only negative was the land crossing from Jordan to Israel for the "Israel & The Palestinian Territories". We were not provided with any documentation to confirm that we had paid for a VIP service. This led to much angst and confusion. This process will need to be reviewed and better explained on just how this process should work.

The "Israel & The Palestinian Territories" was well below expectations, while the sites we visited were amazing and the religious aspect of Jerusalem and Bethlehem were also very enlightening the Tour Director was not very good. I felt that he was complacent in his guiding (I have done this more than 20 times). In my opinion the Tour Director will either make or break the tour. Get a good guide and you will have a great tour. If the guide is not up to standard then the tour will be less enjoyable. Our guide was below standard. He did not provide us with any details to contact him if things went wrong. He did not stay in the same hotels as the members on tour, but elected to travel some distance back to his home.

We booked a Premium tour expecting the service to be above the standard tour but this was not the case. In one case we had been booked into a different hotel than was normally used but the Driver was not told of the change and we actually got lost and after driving around for more than an hour had to wait for someone from the hotel to find us and direct us to the hotel. This hotel did not have a kitchen and breakfast had to be brought in. Both these tours were Intrepid tours but the difference between the two was huge. I would recommend the Jordan Tour but would not recommend Intrepid for the "Israel & The Palestinian Territories". If you want to tour Israel look for another company.

There were 2 sections to this trip. Both were interesting perspectives of Mexico. I'm glad I did both but I much preferred the first half the best. Mexico City and all it had to offer culturally, historically, and it's accommodations was a pleasant surprise. The city is huge and for the most part seems to handle all our tourist needs. Our tour guide ...read more and cultural ambassador, Karla, was a wonderful, energetic human being. She knew so much about the country, you could tell we were only getting a small percentage of her total knowledge. Hotel accommodations were much better on the first half of the tour than the second half. The last hotel in Tulum should have never been.

The trip lived up to our expectations. We did the comfort level tour and it was very comfortable. The small tour group size is a real bonus. You get to know everybody, and there’s not too many people to wrangle onto a bus. We loved all the bucket list moments, the pyramids, the valley of the kings and Petra. The 2 L where fantastic and the organisation ...read more was excellent. Would highly recommend.

The size of the group was perfect. The two guides were great - quite different but a good mix. They were informative, flexible and friendly. The activities were a good range of difficulty, and you could do as much as you were comfortable with. My favourite spots were the more remote areas, which I wouldn't have attempted if I was doing my own trip.

We had a short break in Tasmania which was most enjoyable. As always Georgie had everything organized for us. Georgie at Global journeys has helped us organise a number of holidays over the years and we have never had any problems. Look forward to our next holiday.

This trip ticked all our boxes. Hannah at Global Journeys kept us informed on the booking progress and procedures the whole way through and everything flowed as she said it would. All 3 countries were amazing and each had their own WOW factors. Our guides were astonishing in their knowledge and love of their homelands, sharing their own personal stories ...read more to help us understand how life is in their part of the world.

Every day started on time, the accommodation was 95% great, the buses were comfy with enough room to swap seats when we wanted to, two had Wifi on board & there were always healthy options at every meal. 12 was an absolutely ideal number to travel with & our companions shared our sense of humour - as did our guides - so lots of laughs every day. Egypt, Jordan & Israel are way behind the 8 ball in terms of their environmental awareness of limiting plastic so take your own keep cup! Absolutely would travel with Intrepid again. Couldn't fault their planning and care.

Nice trip with a very professional guide. Erawan falls is a beautiful 7 level waterfall, the most beautiful being the therd. The River Kwai Resort and Spa is really comfortable, with very good breakfast.

We waited 3 years to do this trip to Antarctica, because of Covid, and we can’t say enough good things about the handling of our booking by Georgie, she really went over the top for us. Our Antarctic adventure with Quark via Intrepid was FABULOUS. We were looked after very well, our safety on the shore expeditions via zodiacs was always exemplary.

January ...read more was a great time to go as there was plenty of wildlife to see, penguins galore with their chicks, whales with their young, elephants seals, leopard seals and copious quantities of birds. The scenery, even though it was black, white and grey along with splashes of true “ice blue” in the glaciers and ice burgs was magnificent. We were able to walk on the 7th continent twice on our first day after crossing the Drake passage at Orne Harbour and again at Neko Harbour along with a zodiac cruise, something we were looking forward to doing but not expecting to be able to do. The ship “Ocean Adventurer” was basic but comfortable, food was tasty, well presented and there was plenty of it. Can’t recommend Global Journeys, Quark & Intrepid highly enough. Anyone looking for an exciting, mind blowing adventure this is it.

This was an amazing experience. Loved Egypt. Loved Intrepid. Tour Guide Mohammed treated us as all belonging to a family, this made a difference from other less impressive tours guides I have encountered on various groups.

Wanting to go on a walking adventure in between Christmas and New Year, I found an Intrepid/Global Journeys four day walk on Maria Island off the East Coast of Tasmania. What a beautiful part of the world. We were very well looked after with good meals and camping accommodation. The mix of 8 guests was great with everyone chatting as we walked along ...read more the tracks and beaches to reach camp. Nothing was too much trouble for the guides who told interesting stories of the history of the Island and points of interest each day. I loved it all.

So for a relatively compact tour operated by Intrepid we covered a good deal of distance (more on that in a bit) in this 3 week package (2 combined tours), I'm pleased to say that on the Egyptian leg we managed to fit in all of the (absolutely awesome) anticipated highlights including; The Pyramids, and Sphinxes, of Giza; The Temple of Isis; The River ...read more Nile; Abu Simbel; Karnuk Temple and the Valley of the Kings and a couple of extras sites (El Alamein Commonwealth Grave site/museum & the new Alexandria Library). These last couple of sites, although magnificent in there own right, did leave, in my opinion, us short on time in Cairo making trips to the (world famous) khan al Khali bazaar; the Egyptian Museum and the national Museum of Civilization truncated or missed all together. So to improve I would either cull the Alexandria leg or extend the stay in Cairo by a couple of days.

The most impressive leg of this tour, in my mind, was the 5 days we spent in Jordan. maybe because I had next to zero expectations of this country but it managed to delight with Amman, Wadi Rum and the absolute highlight of the tour (Petra). A stunning location deserving of its place in the "new" seven wonders of the world and far more than the "Treasury Building" which adorns most travel agents walls!

So apart from the slight issue with the time available in Cairo - The itinerary did make it look like there was lots of free-time - Intrepid did deliver. The arranged accommodation was a variety of styles with hotels, tents, a night on a felucca, a homestay, and a desert tent all of which met or bettered expectations (although one of the hotels in Jordan needs some TLC). intrepid's Tour Leaders (one in each country) were locals and extremely knowledgeable and passionate about their respective countries and went out of their way to try to satisfy the groups needs.

Global journey's Rachael McSorley was exemplary. Friendly, helpful and efficient is just what you need to get the trip started on the right foot and Rachael delivered in spades!

Even though the places listed on the itinerary were many, this actual tour had way to much free time, causing yourself to indirectly making your own plans quiet often. This was disappointing as we had no knowledge of the areas. Also some hotels were way below standard.

Awesome tour guide, went above & beyond, great personality! The trip was well organised but some of the appointed hotels were ok at best. The itinerary was awesome, educational & sometimes surprising. Overall would recommend.

Met my expectations on my spiritual and historic journey through the world's greatest monotheistic religions all in one package. Visiting many UNESCO world heritage sites was a bonus. Tour guides were well informed and encouraged comradeship among our group and left no questions unanswered. As a result, we made many friends in the group and home visits ...read more in Amman, Jerusalem and Palestine gave us many FB friends going forward.
Michael Virant.

Thank you Georgie for your contribution and assistance booking my Intrepid North Sumatran adventure through Global Journeys. It was all I could have wished for - a wonderfully successful 'nature filled adventure'! Dewi our tour leader was really excellent - a happy, considerate and enthusiastic leader who gave her all to make our trip a memorable one. ...read more Her professional consideration to all was obvious. She kept us full aware & informed of the itinerary and important requirements for our following day at our evening meetings. Helpful tips and hints were always on hand. Dewi was outstanding in ensuring our trip was such a happy one. I cannot commend her enough...a very big Thank You to Dewi...and also to our expert guides for the different areas we covered.

Our group of 6 friendly adventurers proved a cohesive group sharing encouragement and support for each other, and all reveling in our adventure together. Intrepid's itinerary covered so much in a short time, but always with respite before the next day's experiences. My adventure holiday provided more that I could have imagines. I will certainly be looking out for Intrepid Tours when next I can travel.

I booked this Intrepid Tour through Global Journeys and both the tour and booking process were fabulous. Georgie was easy to deal with, and booking process and documentation was clear and easy. The tour itself I would highly recommend- small group, great leader, unexpected highlights and the trip overall exceeded expectations. Will definitely use Global ...read more Journeys and Intrepid for future travel.

It was much harder than I thought it would be. I struggled mostly going downhill through the muddy clay and over slippery rocks. It was funny but my porter became very protective holding my hand and guiding my feet on the down hill and over river crossings. Over all I thought it was great. The porters and guides were lovely and took very good care ...read more of us. If I had any critique it would be maybe some additional history about the war and mustard or mayonnaise with lunch wraps :)