Tastes and Sounds of the South Reviews

This was a great tour. Most of the experiences were exceptional. Could have done with more time in Natchez and perhaps have gone to one less museum in Memphis. Plenty of coverage of civil rights movement but woukd have been good to include something on Underground Railway. All the music related experiences were great and food experiences were excellent. ...read more As the bus was not full, it was very comfortable. Tour Director was knowledgeable and went out of his way to make things fun. Excellent group of fellow travellers. This was meant to be a relaxed tour and it was but perhaps there was a little bit too much free time particularly in Nashville.

This trip certainly lives up to its title with lots of included meals and plenty of music. It is quite a leisurely pace but we still had early mornings and long days. We did the 12th-21 October 2016 tour. We could not fault the tour guide nor the driver who was very courteous and helped us all off the coach at each stop. The guide was very knowledgeable ...read more and had the full days itinerary/times printed each morning for us all to photograph with our phones so we knew what was happening. It was unseasonably warm for this time of year and no rainy days. Be aware that days 6 & 7 between Memphis-Natchez-New Orleans are both very, very long and boring full driving days with no scenery and very limited and basic stops in between. A few passengers suggested Trafalgar should look at flying between these cities in the future as there really is nothing to look at.

The night at the Grand Ole Opry was great/we could have done without the piano recital in Natchez after a long driving day/the local guide in New Orleans was wonderful and made the day very enjoyable with his humour. We did 2 optional excursions - a night on a paddle steamer with dinner included $90pp. (the boat ride was nice but the food was very ordinary and not worth the money in my opinion), and a swamp tour in New Orleans about $24pp also not worth the money as it was very tame compared to Australian crocodile tours - we could not hear the commentary over the motor and only saw a couple of baby alligators. I would suggest you book your own swamp ride on one of the air boats which looked like great fun. This really is a tour for anyone who has a big love for all things music or it can be a little too much if you are not. Accommodations were all a high standard. I was very happy with Global Journeys help with booking this trip.

The accommodation was excellent except in New Orleans - hotel was just OK - although location was excellent. Too many "free" days, nothing to do in Nashville or Memphis on these days. Maybe tour options could be added here. Tour guide was great - tour on the whole was very enjoyable. Large number in group, some didn't bother to interact, nice to have ...read more people from other countries in group. Global Journeys was excellent, Hannah was always there to answer any questions - great service.

I really enjoyed the relaxed tour to the USA. I had a trouble free booking experience with Global Journeys handling everything in a expertly fashion. Any queries were quickly dealt with so I was able to relax and enjoy my holiday. The coach travel was very comfortable with on coach wifi a bonus. Our tour director Gary was friendly, very knowledgeable ...read more and on hand for any queries. My only problem for the trip was my accommodation. Although the rooms were very nice my view was always to the back of the hotel with views of the car park. I expressed my disappointment on this and my view was quite different at our last hotel. I'm not sure just how the hotels relegate rooms, but this was the only drawback and was rectified once I mentioned this to our travel director. All up a great relaxed tour.

This tour was very well conducted and went along without a hitch. The tour guide made sure everyone was comfortable and fully informed about upcoming events or activities. This was our first guided tour and we do not regret it.

This was our first coach tour and we really enjoyed it. We chose an At Leisure tour pace as we wanted to have time to experience the places we visited and to have time to enjoy the included and optional activities. We were very glad that we chose this tour as we were able to relax and let the tour guide organise all the details which we usually do ourselves ...read more when travelling. Our tour guide, Gary, was a local and very knowledgeable about the area, but didn't overwhelm us with detail. Really though the highlight was the group of people we met and made friends with. We would like to go on another tour with Trafalgar.

Tastes and Sounds our second tour on this holiday was a more relaxed trip and was very enjoyable. However, I think we were spoilt by Cory our first tour guide, as our guide on this trip was very laid back. More time could have been spent at Graceland, we could have had lunch there, but instead we had to hurry back to Memphis for a group photo. Most ...read more of us felt this time could have been spent at Graceland. Getting on and off the shuttle at Graceland ate into time spent there also. And the Farewell Dinner while at an absolutely beautiful restaurant, (and the food was excellent) was very rushed. Our guide, at the end, got up from the table, and said it was time to go and for people who were not sure of how to get back to he hotel to follow him. We had no time to say goodbye to fellow travellers, and we were all leaving the next morning. Apart from these two things we did enjoy the journey, and realise that it all depends on who you get as a tour guide. We would travel with Trafalgar again, as we were well looked after. And we met some lovely people on our journeys. We would book with Global Journeys again as you have been very very helpful and very efficient.

I had a really great time on the tour, the tour guide Colleen was fantastic, she did a great job organising us all and making sure we made the most of the trip. There were plenty of extra 'hidden gems' that she showed us. The tour bus was comfortable, and had wifi which was useful. On the travel days, the bus stopped every hour or two to let us stretch ...read more our legs and grab something to eat. The driver Angela was also great, we always felt safe and she did a great job of getting us where we needed to go. I learnt a lot about the music of the USA, and found all of the tours very interesting. The food was fantastic at all of the hotel breakfasts, and the dinners were also great! The highlight dinners for me were the cooking school in New Orleans, and the 'Be My Guest' dinner at a pre civil war house. All of the hotels were comfortable and clean, with great service, and very well located close to the main attractions in each city. Airport transfers were very well organised, and are always a very welcome inclusion on a tour. Overall, I was extremely impressed with the tour, and I would definitely recommend it to my family and friends! One thing I can definitely recommend to anyone doing the tour is to make sure you visit a bar in Nashville called Tootsies! There is a bit of queue to get in, but it's definitely the best fun I've had in a music bar. Yvonne from Global Journeys also did a fantastic job, and made making the booking for the tour easy! I'd definitely use Global Journeys again. Thanks!

The tour was really great and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. Unfortunately the American tour director was not very helpful and the driver got lost a number of times. As a result we arrived on a number of occassions late to the hotel and no time to change after sitting all day on the bus. Also the tour director Garry was not very out going and made no ...read more effort to try and get people to mingle on the tour.