Trafalgar Tours

I returned a couple of weeks ago from taking two of Trafalgar tours back-to-back, Scottish highlands, islands and cities and amazing britain. I will never travel with them again.

1.

I was lied to from the start of the booking process:

a. I was told that these two tours had no single availability and I would share. I was willing to pay the single supplement, but was told that was not possible. The scottish highland tour had seven single travelers and amazing britain had six!

So how did that happen when there were to be no single travelers? I know for a fact many of them booked after I booked in March. Why lie to me when I clearly wanted to pay the single supplement?

While my roommate for the scottish highlands worked out and we got along great, that was not the point. My second tour there were two other single travelers and Trafalgar in their infamous wisdom had us sharing with each overnight stop having to change who was our roommate.

I had a room to myself two nights as each of them did but I also had two nights of each of the ladies. One was a person who was great at sharing the other not so much. Had I known that this was even a possibility of happening I would have never gone on this tour. Trafalgar had to know before we departed for our tour that this was going to happen but never informed any of us.

I would never have agreed to such an arrangement. Every night I knew I had to share with the one woman just ruined my day as she was just plain nasty to me.

Also when I arrived at the hotel in London and talked to Sebastian about room arrangements for the Amazing Britain tour, he told me I could not afford the single supplement! What a rude condescending person! How did he make that assumption?

I would have paid the single supplement right then.

b. In booking if I had not carefully scrutinized my invoice I would have been charged: 1. a night hotel before I left the United States; 2. a double booking of hotels for the same night in two different cities.

This was Glasgow and London. I stayed an extra night in Glasgow before boarding a train to London for the Amazing Britain tour; 3. travel insurance. I told the woman I had travel insurance; 4.

An airline ticket between Glasgow and London. I was told Trafalgar did not book train travel which was fine. Just dont put me on an airplane when I clearly wanted to travel by train.

c. An invoice that clearly showed my return trip to the airport from the hotel in London.

I had to fight to get that and I appreciated that Joe, my tour director, helped in securing it.

What had been looked forward to for many months quickly turned to a big disappointment when it was obvious that single traveling was possible.

Trafalgar needs to train their call center people better so that they follow the directions/requests of the person booking the tour and have courteous people at hotels giving information!

I have also tried sending this complaint to many emails but they just come back! what a way to run a company!

WARNING: Think Twice Before Booking Trafalgars Best of Italy Tour

If youre spending thousands on a dream trip to Italy, dont let Trafalgar ruin it. Check hotel review from customers that stayed in the hotels dont trust the pictures or the boasted positive reviews.

Customers of Trafalgar have been complaining about this for years!

The Reality Behind the Brochure

Were a modest family. We dont expect luxury. All we really wanted was a clean, safe place to rest between sightseeing. But what we got with Trafalgars Best of Italy tour was a string of hotels so bad, they made it hard to enjoy one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

Mold.

Spiders. Ants. Broken plumbing. Dirty linens.

No air conditioning. Inedible food. And yes, I have photos and videos with timestamps to prove it.

Its Not Just One Bad HotelIts Most of Them

About 90% of the hotels on the tour were unacceptablenot just budget accommodations, but outright filthy or unsafe.

Venice? Nope, Youre in Lido

Instead of staying in Venice, Trafalgar booked us in Lido, a different island that requires a $50 round trip ferry ride just to get to and from the actual city.

The hotel there was a slum: moldy walls, leaky ceilings, bugs crawling everywhere, and beds like concrete.

Rome? Crime Warnings and Rotting Food

In Rome, we were placed at the UNA Hotel, located in a rough, high-crime area. We were explicitly warned not to go out at night. The food?

Barely edible. The closest youll get to seeing really well prepared Italian cuisine with choices is watching other people that are not on the tour eating, because you have a fixed menu that many of the group would not eat. You eat what they give you or you leave starving.

This pattern repeated itself in every major city on the tour.

What Trafalgar Doesnt Tell You

Trafalgar appears to prioritize profits over guest comfort, booking the cheapest hotels possible while charging premium prices. They sell the dream of Italy, then drop you in places that are unsafe, unsanitary, and exhausting.

We werent the only ones upset.

Our entire tour group complained about the same things: poor sleep, bad food, no comfort, and no restexactly what you dont want on a fast-paced trip.

What You Should Do Before Booking Dont trust the pictures on Trafalgars website. Search hotel names individually and read the most recent reviews. Google Trafalgar Best of Italy reviews youll see this isnt just my experience. These complaints have been around for years.

Final Thoughts

Italy itself was breathtaking.

The cities, history, food, and culture are unforgettable.

But Trafalgar made it incredibly difficult to enjoy because of their terrible hotel selections.

If youre planning a once-in-a-lifetime trip, do your homework. Dont let Trafalgar company turn your dream into a daily struggle for comfort and safety.

Trafalgar should be ashamed.

Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherlands recent tour with Trafalgar was absolutely horrible. I can unequivocally state this was the worst travel experience I have ever had.

I have since learned that this was a popular time, so Trafalgar decided to take almost 100 people and split them up into two groups. The first group got the real itinerary, and my group got another substandard one. Specifically, the following issues arose during the trip:The accommodations were not as described and our stay. Request for two beds was not always accommodated.

In Brussels, there was a horrible mixup about check in, and we wasted over 3 hours not knowing when we should be checking in. If we had known, we could have at least made better use of our time town in that city. Also, the hotel was in the Berlaymont section where there very limited options for food on both Saturdays and Sundays, so it made it very difficult to find a place to eat nearby, only options were a pub or pizza. In Brugges, we received word two days before the trip that our hotel was changed.

We were placed in a substandard hotel far from the center city (we were supposed to stay in the City Center on the beautiful canal). It was a tiny and cramped room (not even space for a desk) with a view of the railroad yard and other horrible construction. The temperature control was unavailable, and I learned the next day that you had to call down to the desk and ask them to manually change it. And in the breakfast room were told that our group could not order the ala carte items even though we saw other customers ordering them.

In Luxembourg, we did not have two beds, there was a tremendous queue for the elevators and then once we got up to our room, our key cards did not work. This also happened again the next day! And then we went for breakfast, and they said our group was on the 1st floor, so we went there however our group was on the main floor.The transportation provided had a bathroom, however it was never emptied so we had to use public rest areas wasting time and money instead.The itinerary was significantly changed without giving us any notice causing us many rescheduling and additional money spent that we did not plan for. And in addition, we had to cancel several activities and dinners that we had prebooked.

Because of this last-minute change, it caused extreme disappointment and wasted money. In addition, the itinerary was restructured so that the optional activities became necessary since they were on the way to the next destination. The optionals that became pretty much necessary were Antwerp, Waterloo and Kinderdiyk. In Brussels, because of a bike race our tour bus was stuck in a residential neighborhood so we did not get to tour Brussels first, so they made a snap decision that those not going to the optional Antwerp were to be taken back in a taxi back to Brussels center and dropped off.

We then said we would go to Antwerp. I later found out on the other tour group they got a head start and did not have this problem. Waterloo according to the itinerary was supposed to be on Day 2 in Brussels however ended up being on day 3 on our way to Brugges so it was either that or spend 2 hours on our own in the very small town of Waterloo so of course we had to pay for that. In Amsterdam, the optional Kinderdijk changed to mandatory since it was on the way from Delft back to Amsterdam.

The Farewell Dinner was supposed to be the last night however it was changed to the night before the last night and we had made reservations for that night at a 2-star Michelin restaurant and had put a deposit down that we then had to cancel very disappointedly since we really did want to dine there. And in Amsterdam, I had purchased tickets for the Royal Palace but because of the itinerary change had to forfeit them since there were no refunds or changes.Several key activities listed in the itinerary were rushed in a way that felt unorganized and useless. We visited Bastogne however nothing was open, not the museum, not the option to ascend the monument, not the bathrooms, etc. In Delft, we never got to see the city bur rather visit a factory that felt like a shopping experience.

The tour was very rushed and we could not even stop to take photos in the factory since they really wanted our time to be spent in the gift shop! And then our time in the Hague was also just a stop to see one thing the Peace Palace.Several of dinners provided were equivalent to eating prison food and we often left hungry. And I found out there is a reason why the tour director doesnt eat with us since she was not eating the same food we were served. Our first dinner was supposed to comprise 3 courses however only two were served.

They were basic food and not the specialty of the restaurant which is such a shame and a culinary insult we were not offered the traditional mussels while in Belgium. Our second dinner was in a basement in Brugges with cobwebs and plaster on the seats. The food consisted of fake crabmeat salad or tough croquettes, beef stew that looked like dog meat or farmed fish swimming in a mysterious sauce. Needless to say we did not eat and left even though there was an offer of a taxi since we were so very far from our hotel.

We actually ended up getting rained on and drenched to the bone and hungry. The third dinner was at the hotel since there was nothing else around to eat. It was a buffet so we were able to find something to eat even though there was a long queue. The fourth dinner was supposed to be the Farewell Dinner however since there were the two groups travelling, we had to have our dinner the night before.

This was at a farm. It was highly inappropriate to host a dinner at a farm considering the rules for coming back into the country via airplane requires you to state if you have been around livestock. Also, the food was every version of potato I have ever seen with three different types and then sausage and meatballs and really no good option if you do not eat meat. There were some falafels but they were so hard I almost chipped my tooth.

And then there was a short visit to see the cows and sheep, basically useless.The Tour Director was unprofessional when she had her child join us on the trip. Who is she more focused on then??

This entire travel experience was deceitful and caused considerable inconvenience, wasted money and extreme disappointment, especially given the significant cost of the tour.

WARNING: Think Twice Before Booking Trafalgars Best of Italy Tour

If youre spending thousands on a dream trip to Italy, dont let Trafalgar ruin it. Check hotel review from customers that stayed in the hotels dont trust the pictures or the boasted positive reviews.

Customers of Trafalgar have been complaining about this for years!

The Reality Behind the Brochure

Were a modest family. We dont expect luxury. All we really wanted was a clean, safe place to rest between sightseeing. But what we got with Trafalgars Best of Italy tour was a string of hotels so bad, they made it hard to enjoy one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

Mold.

Spiders. Ants. Broken plumbing. Dirty linens.

No air conditioning. Inedible food. And yes, I have photos and videos with timestamps to prove it.

Its Not Just One Bad HotelIts Most of Them

About 90% of the hotels on the tour were unacceptablenot just budget accommodations, but outright filthy or unsafe.

Venice? Nope, Youre in Lido

Instead of staying in Venice, Trafalgar booked us in Lido, a different island that requires a $50 round trip ferry ride just to get to and from the actual city.

The hotel there was a slum: moldy walls, leaky ceilings, bugs crawling everywhere, and beds like concrete.

Rome? Crime Warnings and Rotting Food

In Rome, we were placed at the UNA Hotel, located in a rough, high-crime area. We were explicitly warned not to go out at night. The food?

Barely edible. The closest youll get to seeing really well prepared Italian cuisine with choices is watching other people that are not on the tour eating, because you have a fixed menu that many of the group would not eat. You eat what they give you or you leave starving.

This pattern repeated itself in every major city on the tour.

What Trafalgar Doesnt Tell You

Trafalgar appears to prioritize profits over guest comfort, booking the cheapest hotels possible while charging premium prices. They sell the dream of Italy, then drop you in places that are unsafe, unsanitary, and exhausting.

We werent the only ones upset.

Our entire tour group complained about the same things: poor sleep, bad food, no comfort, and no restexactly what you dont want on a fast-paced trip.

What You Should Do Before Booking Dont trust the pictures on Trafalgars website. Search hotel names individually and read the most recent reviews. Google Trafalgar Best of Italy reviews youll see this isnt just my experience. These complaints have been around for years.

Final Thoughts

Italy itself was breathtaking.

The cities, history, food, and culture are unforgettable.

But Trafalgar made it incredibly difficult to enjoy because of their terrible hotel selections.

If youre planning a once-in-a-lifetime trip, do your homework. Dont let Trafalgar company turn your dream into a daily struggle for comfort and safety.

Trafalgar should be ashamed.

Due to unforeseen health reasons, we had to cancel our Trafalgar Tour. We did so well before final payment was due.

I had paid for travel protection and at time of cancelling was told we would not receive our deposit back. Within 24 hours, I received an invoice for an additional $520 for fees due to the cancellation. No one at Trafalgar can explain the reason for the invoice but has said we need to pay it or they will automatically charge our credit card. We travel all over the world and have never heard of such a thing.

When you talk to them, they are rude and dismissive. We have travelled with other tour companies and have never encountered this situation. My suggestion, pick another tour company as this one only cares about the money you pay. They even changed our hotels twice to lesser quality before we came to this step.

We will be sure to use any other company in the future. Their overpriced non-caring manner of customer service in a highly competitive market is unacceptable.

Firstly, I paid a lot of money on a single supplement, however, I was upset to learn other singles did not pay this due to various reasons. I find this so unfair.

This happened on the four tours I purchased this year.

Also, my Eastern European with Gerwin I was not given a transfer at 5am to Vienna Airport. Being old and on my own, I was told by Gerwin to find my own way.

Again, the Eastern European I felt was on a budget. In Berlin hotel I had a room with a step to the bathroom which I fell and hurt my cut my arm. Gerwin did ask if I wanted to see a doctor, I declined.

Why would you pick hotels with steps in the room for seniors?

If it wasn't for the other guests I would have really disliked the tour. Peter the driver was exceptional.

Please do not advertise full serviced coaches when in all my tours you were discouraged not to use them. Again, when you have seniors toilet breaks should be closer if the coaches do not want you to use this facility. The Scandanavian one was the best for toilet stops.

As I am thinking of booking another tour.

Could you please answers there points. Thank you, Kind regards, Susan Farnham