Trafalgar Tours

In reality – no stars! We recommend that you do not book a Trafalgar Tour. We had completely paid for our 16 day trip that was booked several months ago. Now they canceled the tour just 2 months before our departure date. Find a different company.

We booked the European Dream via Costco. Then the bad news, Trafalgar told us the trip we booked did not have enough sign ups and they had to cancel it and book us on another tour at a different time. This cost us big money with airfare because we DID NOT pay for travel insurance. This was a huge unforeseen cost. If you book any trip that requires airfare please be aware of this!!!
Our tour guide Martine was knowledgeable and had our hotel keys at each stop and kept us updated very well. She said she was a tour guide with Trafalgar for over 25 years and did a good job. Our coach driver Pancrazio was another story, he argued with Martine and was grumpy most of the time. The coach/​bus had a bathroom but the driver told us all not to use it, and when a passenger had an emergency need to use the toilet he started cussing and slamming doors. We regretted paying him the full tip. They charge for each sub-​tour, unfortunately they wont tell you locations are shut down. We went on the Trevi Fountain tour and it was boarded up for repairs for over two weeks, Trafalgar should know this and we were all pretty disappointed. You would think they would disclose this shut down of the best part of a tour before taking 70 Euro or $ 110 dollars from you. Also, not all hotels they use provide wifi without an additional charge. DONT forget to bring a power converter if you are from the USA.
When we arrived in England, our tour guide Martine left us and the new guide took over. The new guide (I never got her name) did not have our rooms ready, and could not explain the tours. She handed us a brochure and tried to leave promptly. I called Trafalgar twice to contact someone and they didn’t seem interested. Many of us on the tour got together and formed our own dinner and tour. We all are hoping to get the email list Martine provided to exchange photos and do a group complaint. However, after this experience I dont think they want us to be able to contact each other. On a negative/​positive note, our Trafalgar ride back to the airport came unscheduled, nor did my call or requests from Trafalgar provide a departure time to the airport, so our driver arrived at 5am and said he was leaving at 5:20. We complained and they rescheduled the ride to 7:30 which was much more appropriate. The great thing was the ride was with a newer model Mercedes which was classy.
Overall, I would say the tour was 60 percent very good and 40 percent of it was a disaster. Please heed the warnings above it you proceed to book with Trafalgar. You have been warned!

I think «brush off» is what Trafalgar does best. They changed my hotels in a Prague-​Vienna-​Budapest to inferior hotels far from downtown, in a leisure vacation where you are supposed to get around downtown on your own. First they apologized but refused to help, now they are offering to reimburse me for one taxi ride (out of 12?) if I can show them a receipt. I ended up cancelling my next trip with them (to Portugal) when a nice apology and very modest compensation would have gained them a client.
My last trip with was with Gate 1, with a great tour director. I should NOT have assumed that this was the rule.
Next time: Trip Advisor and I will choose my own hotels.

My husband and I just returned from a Trafalgar tour. Our paperwork misdirected us to the wrong hotel in a different city After much aggravation, we found where we were supposed to be. Our transportation costs were reimbursed We wrote a letter asking for a refund as compensation for all our inconvenience, and just received «brushed off» apology. Very poor PR
Sandy C

We bought a limited tour. They booked our hotel, The Kensington Hilton, our Oyster card, the hop on/​hop off tour, an introductory tour of London, and all transfers. We also purchased the day trip to Windsor castle, Stonehenge, and Bath.
They had a representative at our hotel every day to answer questions and help with our trip.
We were very pleased with the trip and Trafalgar was first class in their arrangements. We would do it again.

I’m writing this review to make others aware of some of the pitfalls of signing on for a group tour. This is a review of the Best of Scotland 2013 Trafalgar Tour taken May 2013.
Hotels:
The first hotel we stayed at was the Novotel in Edinburgh. It was way too modern for my taste (I would’ve preferred something more homey)… but it had all the things we needed. EXCEPT WI-​FI! Do you know how upsetting it is to be away from friends and family with zero connection? You *could* go to the lobby and connect or use their business PCs… and I did (at 2 am) one night… but that was less than satisfactory.
The second hotel was the Gaskmore in Laggan. The family that run it and the help were all wonderful. And the quiet country setting was nice. But…
There was nothing for anyone to do except sit in the bar as nothing was nearby to do or visit. The help actually picked a dirty towel off my bathroom floor and hung it for me to use the next day (I had to get my own clean towel). And the only toiletries was one tiny bar of soap. Wi-​fi was only available in the lobby again. I want to emphasize that I’d give the family 5 stars, but the hotel and maid service a –10. I see it’s rated 13 out of 19 hotels on trip advisor.
The third hotel was the Radisson Blu in Glasgow. Another über modern hotel… again, not my favorite type of hotel, but everything worked and we had connectivity (finally!).
The Tour Director
I liked her. But she was not the right tour director for this trip. She’s not an expert on Scotland — though she (of course) knows more than I do. I corrected a couple of facts she had missed or gotten wrong. Her main problem was the schedule. I think that is what made this trip less than desirable. Because of the timetable, we were CONSTANTLY rushed. I’m talking about 30 – 45 minutes to tour the Clan Donald museum that we’d traveled all morning to get to! That was a wasted day. I’m not sure what happened, but about halfway through the tour, she became snappy. She would not respond in a way that a tour guide should, in my opinion. For instance, at the end of the tour, I asked her about the email list she said she’d have for us, and her response was, «Why didn’t you get the email address you wanted last night???» (uhm… because we were running late and there was no time???). I wasn’t the only one at the receiving end of her lack of patience.
She said her background was event management rather than history. I think the tour suffered much because she didn’t really seem bought into what the tour was about. I have heard other Trafalgar tours are not like that.
The Bus Driver
He was amazing. Always congenial and a very good driver. We all liked him.
The tour itself:
One of the main reasons I signed on was to see Culloden. How the heck you could do a tour of Scotland and NOT send folks there is beyond me. Skip St. Andrews — but NOT Culloden!!! The entire history of Scotland swings around that. I was SO disappointed that you removed it from the itinerary. I’m not sure who makes the schedules, but they need me there. I would have reworked the entire thing so that folks were NOT rushed. This was an at leisure tour that was not supposed to start before 9 am. We started somewhere between 8:00 and 8:30 nearly every day and still did not have time for touring on most occasions. In fact, at Blair Castle, folks were pulled out and off their tour to make the bus schedule happen. They were not happy (and I’m glad I didn’t go!).
Some of the positives on the tour were the last night’s dinner at the farm house and the sheepdog demo (the only extra I bought). Excellent value.
I asked one person on the tour what grade they would give this tour we were on. She said a «D». Another lady said she was not giving the tour director a tip she was that upset with her. As for myself…
I tipped both the tour director and bus driver well (it’s a tough job they do). But I won’t be going on another Trafalgar tour, I think. I got to see a lot from my bus seat, but not a lot on the ground. I at least know what I want to do when I travel independently to Scotland next time.
I’m hoping they get the problems fixed for future clients.

We’ve gone on 3 Trafalgar tours in Europe since 2005. Our most recent was the Grand Italian Experience which lasted 15 days. Rachel White led a wonderful journey thru Italy and kept us moving. Rosario drove a safe and fun filled bus too. Hotels were not what youd find in Las Vegas but worked as sleeping spots for us. Excursion dining was the best and sightseeing trips were great too as we visited Capri, Bollano and the Venice canals to name a few. It was worth every cent… we’ll be back again.

Trafalgar satisfied all of my expectations and more! I used Trafalgar for a 2-​week tour around Italy and London and was by far the most un-​stressful, carefree, and fun vacation I’ve ever had. It wasn’t too expensive either! I would recommend Trafalgar to all my friends and family! I will definitely use them again for future touring of the world :)

The final Chapter…
Trafalgar offers a variety of Tours that vary in duration, activity and places of travel. The places that I am mentioning, most likely can be added to any Trafalgar Tour.
This day we packed for Brussels and relaxed. I had a $ 50.00 trim in town and then putzed at doing my own nails. We had a light lunch on our private terrace. Hubby’s Uncle Fernand stopped by to visit and invited us to join them for dinner in town. When we returned to the hotel, the owner surprised us with a farewell bottle of Champagne. The Hospitality in Europe is not to be forgotten.
Vianden, Luxembourg to Brussels, Belgium… Today is the day of the Big wedding. We arrived at the Castle that we would be staying in and where we would be enjoying the wedding reception. The name of the castle was the Château de La Rogue.
The rooms were small and we so enjoyed sharing a hall bath with our neighbors, but hey, we are sleeping in a Castle.
The wedding was a Catholic Ceremony and it was long and beautiful, once we arrived. The bus that transported all of the guests, first took us to the wrong Church. We returned to the Castle, where we all enjoyed a two hour outdoor cocktail and Hors d’œuvre celebration in the Courtyard. Needless to say, the Dinner was incredible, the bride and groom were beautiful and we all danced and laughed the night away.
The following day with our heads still in the clouds, we drove from Brussels to Battweiller, Germany. It was a miserable day, weather wise and my kind brother in Law had planned to take us to Waterloo on the way to his house and it was water logged ;+} We saw the Lion Mound, which overlooks the Battlefield, where Napoleon was defeated. Then we went to Bastogne, WWII Battlegrounds and Museum.
The Town of Battweiller had an awesome Picnic this next day. We enjoyed the festivities and all of the many booths of local foods.
On September the 1ST we went to Neideroberstein. This town is known for it’s gemstones. I bought some beautiful Beads and a few other pieces and the greatest cocktail forks, with different varied and colored stone handles, that I still get compliments on. We went to a local German restaurant and I don’t know who does it better than a German Haus. Well, maybe the Italians, ah yes, the Italians do.
The following day we spent with our final packing and visiting and just relaxed and tried to remember it all.
On the 3RD of September we flew out of Frankfurt to return to our home in Coronado, Ca. Not such a bad exchange.
We have been Cruising in most recent years and we do love that everything is paid up front and we get to tour ports all over the World. However, for a land tour, I would not think twice about using the Trafalgar Line, which is also in Canada and the United States.
I loved reliving this trip with you, but alas, all good things must come to an end. Thank you for going along with me this time ;+}
This was the dream trip of a lifetime.