Frequently asked questions

Why don't you include international flights with your tours as standard?

We believe that offering our tours without the flights included gives you several advantages. While we are happy to arrange flights for our customers, and hold an ATOL to protect all bookings made with us with a flight, we feel leaving this as an option gives you far greater flexibility in deciding which airline you might prefer to book with, where you want to come from, or where you might want to stop off en-route. You are also able to hunt around for the best deals on offer, possibly saving yourself some money. Finally, some people join our tours when they are already in the country, removing the need for a flight altogether.

I want to travel with my family and children - can I do this on your tours?

Yes you can - we have made a more detailed family information page with more details about travelling on our tours with your family and children. This explains the age restrictions we apply to different types of tour and options we offer for private and tailor-made family holidays.

Why don't you include domestic flights with many of your tours?

There are several reasons for this. In principle we like to avoid internal flights both for environmental reasons and because we feel that travelling overland by road or train gives you a better insight into the country you are travelling through.

Flight times also often do not fit as well within the tour itinerary as the options that we do use (such as overnight trains). For some longer journeys, and where we feel that an internal flight will provide a much better experience than travelling by bus or train, we do include flights. We also offer upgrades to internal flights on some journeys as option you can add to the standard tour.

Why are your tours such good value?

• We don't produce expensive brochures - but we hope you like our website
• The United Kingdom market is more "competitive" than the US market as a whole - for the same well organised tours.
• Other tour operators hide the local cost of arranging these tours by adding in the air fare. You get what you see with us.
• The majority of our tours are sold direct so there are normally no travel agent commissions & distribution fees. This “hidden commission” that you get in many other companies' prices can often be quite high (over 25% in some cases), but has to be there as most travel agents don’t like the operators they work with to undercut them.
• We don’t have an office in a prestigious location in London.

We definitely don't cut back when it comes to putting together your tour, quite the opposite, but we do ensure that our marketing and advertising costs and our UK operating costs are kept to a minimum, as ultimately is you that ends up paying for them. We know that a satisfied customer will refer a friend and that's why we're successful.

What financial protection do I have?

We comply with the 1992 European regulations relating to Package Travel, Package holidays and Package Tours. Our membership with the Travel Trust Association gives our customers 100% financial protection as all funds sent to us are put into a designated trust account, which is supervised by an independent trustee (who is a banker, chartered or certified accountant, or solicitor) approved by the Travel Trust Association. Your funds are held in this account and may not be released to us until you complete your holiday. Your payment to us is also covered by a fidelity policy, which works under the umbrella of the Travel Trust Association. For more information regarding your Financial Security and the Travel Trust Association, visit our Financial Security page.

Your tours are Land Only. I will already be in the country at the start of the tour. How do I find out where to meet you to start the tour?

After you have booked, we will email you with some pre-departure information. This will include details of the hotel where you will join the tour and spend your first night, as well as contact details for our local representatives who you can contact in advance for further details.

I will be flying into the country before the start of the tour. Do I still get an airport transfer?

In most countries, we include an airport transfer whenever you arrive, as long as we are arranging your accommodation that night. If you arrive before the start of the tour, we can organise extra night's accommodation and a transfer for you. Details will be included in the pre-departure information we send you after your booking.

I want to buy some souvenirs like carpets when I am on the tour. Can I carry them with me on the tour?

There are many great opportunities for buying exciting and valuable souvenirs on many of our tours. However, it is not always practical to carry large items around, especially if you are making train or boat journeys. Most places can arrange for items such as carpets to be shipped home at relatively low costs and this is usually a better and safer policy. Your guide and our local representatives will give you further information while you are on the trip, but if you have some specific ideas about what you want to purchase before you go, please do contact us for advice.

I would like to join one of your tours with some of my friends. Can you offer us a discount?

We try to help groups keen on joining our trips in several ways. Anyone who has been on one of our tours before may benefit from our 'refer a friend' scheme. We also try to offer group discounts for parties of over 4 persons. Please contact us for specific details for your tour.

I like your tours but would like to do something different. Do you do tailor-made tours?

In all the countries in which we operate, we are very happy to tailor-made tours for individuals, families and groups who are interested in cultural or adventure travel. You can use one of our set tour itineraries as a base, or we can create a completely new holiday for you. Please contact us and where possible, we will try to work together to create exactly what you are looking for. We are keen to help in this way, as in some cases in the past, this has given us new ideas for tours to run permanently.

I'm really interested in one of your Diving packages; I'm just not sure whether I'm fit enough or if it's right for me?

Each of our activity tours is graded, enabling you to determine prior to booking whether or not it's suitable for you. You should be fairly confident that you match our criteria for taking part in that particular activity. With regard to diving, that's simple - if you meet the criteria on our diving information page then don't worry. Anything above and beyond that is based on having the first qualification. For more diving faqs, take a look at our diving frequently asked questions page.

Why should I buy from you, as opposed to all the other companies that are out there?

We're not just your average tour company. While relatively small, we have grown by putting our customers first, and allowing them to customise their holidays with us as much as possible. We know that you may only visit many of the places we offer once in your life, and that getting exactly what you want is therefore very important. All of our office staff have worked or travelled extensively in the countries in which we operate, so we can provide informed background information for you, as well as helping create the right holiday for you.