European Whirl Reviews

Well we did not know what to expect as we had never been on this sort of trip before but we heard great things about Trafalgar and they certainly did not disappoint. Wow what a journey. The tour was arranged without a hitch by Yvonne Brooks and when we needed an extra day at the end she organised this for us too. The tour guide Director Brendon Bush ...read more was OUTSTANDING . He was meticulous with his organisation, he went out of his way so many times for us and he looked after anyone who needed help, including the dietary needs of a Coeliac traveller and those who got sick on the trip. I don't think he slept!! Brendon's history lessons prior to each country, and his little films he had made, enhanced our visit to each country immensely, and our coach driver Rudi was totally the best driver in the whole world. He is a walking talking GPS and drove with such skill we were in awe. The hotels and the meals were fantastic - the Hilton in Vienna with the view of the Danube was wonderful and the old Palace we stayed in at Lucerne was breathtaking. If we had arranged these hotels and paid individually the cost of this holiday would have doubled. Having never been to most of Europe before, this Interlude trip was full of highlights I had waited my entire life to see. The weather we had in October also was very mild and gorgeous - we even arranged for the snow to fall for the first time in the season on the day we arrived in Switzerland. They had blizzards after we left. And the sun shone in Rome for us , it was 32 degrees, and then 2 days after we departed they had floods. We were so very blessed. I am so glad we did the optional extras too (all of them!!) even though this added another $3,000 to our holiday costs, they transformed a great holiday experience to a magical one. We highly recommend Trafalgar tours. We never had to queue up for anything at all, we felt like royalty!

We have been on a few tours and would have to say that Bern was one of the best Tour Guides we have had. She made us excited about all our destinations and was a wealth of information and assisted everyone with any problems. I would recommend Trafalgar to our friends and would definitely book again. Our only disappointment was the Capthorne in London ...read more the night before we left. We asked for double and got twins, the room was very worn and then we had a breakfast bag as we were leaving early. I could of had a weeks holiday for the amount we paid for a 2 star experience. Besides that we love the trip and would book again with Trafalgar but would stay elsewhere the night before and get there by taxi for the departure.

A great way to see many countries and main attractions in a short space of time however the pace can be hectic when only staying one night in a hotel. Our tour director and driver were excellent and made life as easy as possible.

We enjoyed our trip immensely and for the first time I can say with complete confidence that the trip was made all the more enjoyable because of the Tour Director, Brendan Bush of Trafalgar Tours. He managed to completely bond the group, and bond with the group, within the first couple of days. The group remains in touch and we are planning another ...read more tour together in 2016 - a long time off but I believe that there is a dedication by many to make it happen. The tour itself was busy, medium place and we managed to fit in another couple of special places that were not originally included on the itinerary while still managing to cover the planned visits. Although I am not Catholic, to be present in Rome on Easter Monday and to attend the Vatican whilst the Pontiff was giving his blessing was memorable. My only real complaint of the trip was that it was not long enough. Thanks Global Journeys (Yvonne) for assisting in making the arrangements for this holiday.

A wonderful holiday, made easier by the ability to go through the computer to make inquiries with Global Journeys for any questions we had.

Our tour guide Howard was fantastic, so informative and organised...excellent. The food on the other hand was average, some of the restaurants were well below average and most we spoke to on the tour agreed. At our welcome dinner they gave us microwaved fried rice with sweet chilli sauce squirted around it and said it was traditional netherland food ...read more .. we all shook our heads at that one. Our farewell dinner, which the restaurant had been advised of our orders 4 days before by Howard, didn't have one of the desserts and had no soft drinks for the kids. Well that was until Howard got up them and suddenly Pepsi appeared but no Lemonade. I was embarrassed for Howard as he had made every effort to make our trip memorable. So I would suggest Trafalgar look into a few of their restaurant choices, ie Amsterdam, Venice, Rome and Paris. Nevertheless we had a ball, we loved the tour and all the cities and countries we saw. I think the fact we had a great bunch of people on tour and a fantastic tour guide in Howard, this made our trip really great. Thanks to you too Yvonne for being so helpful in organising this most memorable trip.

Overall the tour was excellent. It was a large group of 51 people, but our tour director Emile Wiegand Bruss managed it well. We enjoyed the tour very much, we paid an extra $2,300 ( per couple ) in order to join the optional tours but found that it was quite worth it. Some hotels were better than the rest, and food quality was of a good standard too. ...read more I would recommend Trafalgar to anyone interested in European tour.

Bookings and information was excellent. The tour was better than expected. The tour director for Trafalger (Jella), went out of his way to provide information and to go the extra mile. The bus driver was a true profesional and left us in awe of his ability to drive the large bus. I would recommend anyone to use your company and Trafalgar for any holiday ...read more in Europe. 11 out of 10!

It was a very well organised trip and looking forward to having more trips with Trafalgar.

Very happy with our holiday. Everything went well. Tour Director, Peter Rosenthal, was excellent - would be very happy to have him guide our next tour. We were put at ease with everything done for us - the holiday was stress free. Knowledge and guidance from Peter made the holiday very informative and relaxing. (Ed: Review based on slightly different ...read more itinerary. Trip name and itinerary updated this season)

We loved every minute! Our guide really made the trip. Stephen was so informed, switched on and had our every need organised before we knew it. The group was also a fantastic mix of people - they, together with our guide and driver really made a wonderfully enjoyable holiday for me and my son. Hotels were great, much better than expected with great ...read more meals throughout. We certainly made some wonderful friends who we will share memories with for life. There was a mix up with our seat requests on the plane, however, I sorted this out with a phone call and request to Singapore Airlines and they gave us wonderful seats the whole way through. Thanks to Global Journeys and Trafalgar for a memorable trip.

If we had to summarise our overall experience in one sentence, it would be 'SIMPLY THE BEST'! A massive thanks to our incredible Travel Director, Stephen Pearce (aka '007') for directing this tour with such a positive energy, patience and friendliest smile from the start to the end. His knowledge, people and management skills were all top notch with ...read more first-class hospitality throughout the whole trip. It would take many decades of experience and extensive leadership training (and perhaps hours of daily meditating as well), to master the art of leading 47 people 24/7 for 15 days all through 8 different countries, whilst organising and dealing with numerous vendors at the same time. We commend you for going above and beyond to ensure that we are happy at all times - cheers mate!

Fortunately, we had a fantastic group though, mainly from Australia, a few from the US and a couple from Canada. However, with any tour group, there's always one or two uncivilised or negative people whom we all could travel without, but thankfully majority was very friendly, easy going and open minded as well. The weather was also pretty good, mostly sunny between 25 and 35 degrees Celsius. We managed to see and visit all the things and places as per the itinerary and more with no issues at all. The tour pace was not too bad either, the first 3 days were pretty fast pace, but it was then reduced to moderate and much easier closer to the end. We can't speak highly enough of Steve and definitely would not hesitate to recommend this Trafalgar tour to anyone, particularly for those who like 'VIP' treatments. A special mention to our main Tour Bus Driver also, Antonio (aka 'Tony'), for the remarkable and tireless driving - Mille Grazie!

Last but not least, thank you Georgie from Global Journeys for assisting us with this tour. It took a while for us to finalise our Europe trip as we had to make quite a few changes along the way but Georgie was always very helpful and patient in re-arranging the tour and accommodation as requested in a professional manner. Wonderful overall experience indeed!

it was very fast paced but that was expected considering the distances and destinations. The tour guide, Deborah Wiggin was very thorough and quite unflappable, and kept up an interesting narrative. Hotels were mostly great. the locations were not so important to us because we did all the optionals and there was no time for anything else. Only a bit ...read more disappointed in some of the included meals - they were a bit poor. As lunches were usually rushed in a truck stop, dinner was a bit of a highlight and to get an average (but adequate) meal a bit of a letdown. That would be something the hotels could improve upon - I am sure the Trafalgar contract is lucrative for them. The hotel internet was also poor in many locations - nuisance only. The coaches were fine - roomy enough. All in all, my expectations were met and my first visit to Europe was amazing.

The tour guide Patrick was excellent, we consider he went above and beyond what a tour guide should do, the hotels were all very good and the driver, Luca, was also excellent, some of the roads in Europe he had to traverse were a drivers nightmare but he handled them all brilliantly. He was also a great help with peoples carry on luggage. (Ed: Review ...read more based on slightly different itinerary. Trip name and itinerary updated this season)

The whirl was a whirl but never dull. I actually enjoyed the pace. Perfect selection of places visited. My only crisicism is the local tour guides tend to take you on meaningless sights and not much time left to shop...it's a girl thing!

Lots of variety, weather was great, sunshine and snow what more could we have asked for. Thank you Georgie for helping me organise our fantastic trip. I can highly recommend Trafalgar tours.

Thankyou for the opportunity to comment on our experience with Trafalgar Tours on our European Whirl vacation in May 2012. Beginning with our booking experience and continuing through the 12 days throughout Europe and ending with our drop off in London we were extremely impressed with the efficiency, friendliness and joyful exuberance of all concerned. ...read more Even the weather and the passengers with us were great - something that tour operators can hardly be responsible for. The Trafalgar office in London was modern, informative and with the added bonus of free wifi laptops for our use and even a 6am start did not dent our enthusiasm with their support. The Tour Guide - Victor Catllin - was humorous and extremely well informed about where we were going and made our first coach tour experience very easy to follow and enjoy. He became each country as we passed through it and told us all the history, geography and social information that was possible in the time and in a way that entertained and informed at the same time. The choices of hotels were wonderful and we had three two night stops to allow a better understanding and view of that city and a welcome chance to get some washing done. Victor even organised a commercial load for some passengers when in Rome - did someone mention Roman Baths? The pace and variety of the tour was well managed and we arrived back in London to weary weather but with joyous hearts. Thank you for making our holiday such a great experience as it was our first time in Europe but definitely not our last time, nor our last time with Trafalgar.

Overall an excellent tour, well organised and balanced. Very informative, and for a relatively short tour, we were able to visit and experience many places without compromising personal time to explore, shop and enjoy the attractions.

I have been wanting to tour around Europe for as long as I can remember but at first wasn't too sure about going on my own. It was the biggest holiday I have had but the easiest and totally stress free, even on my own. Thank you to Global Journeys and Georgie for your assistance as it was all very easy to book online and any questions I had were quickly ...read more answered through email. I thought Trafalgar were outstanding - our Tour Director, Bernie, was fantastic. His historical knowledge and general information (very useful) was incredible ... even though I may have fallen asleep half way through, too relaxed! It was so well organised that you didn't have to think of a thing, even down to a 'pee pee' stop! We had a diverse group on the tour from families, single people and older couples but we all blended and it added to the experience. Transfers from and to the airport were great and having a Trafalgar rep at the hotel in London was a real bonus as spoke to him about what I would do in London for a couple of days and it was so very easy to get around with his help. Would totally recommend all the above. I only hope I have the opportunity to do another tour sometime in the future. (Ed: Review based on slightly different itinerary. Trip name and itinerary updated this season)

My touring experience with Trafalgar was unbelievable for one main reason - our Tour Director Brendon Bush - his talk to us at the beginning of the tour of his expectations of the group so that we could get the best out of the tour proved to be the best advice we could receive. By cooperating with the main one (never being late) it made for the perfect ...read more tour as no one was ever kept waiting for inconsiderate passengers. Introducing the concept of our bus being the 'love bus' was a positive outcome for all. By playing the song 'Love is in the Air' as the bus left each morning put us all immediately in a happy mood for the day. If there was any issue with a passenger, he discreetly dealt privately with it and attempted to rectify it as efficiently as possible. Brendon's knowledge of European history and his familiarity with all the places we visited was so impressive and wonderful to share with him. Many on our bus went on to more tours but I heard from 7 fellow passengers that although the next tour was very enjoyable, it wasn't the same without Brendon. My suggestion is that Brendon should be teaching other tour leaders his methods - he certainly has got it perfect after his many years working with bus tours. Our bus driver Marco was a very pleasant and courteous man and excellent driver. It was so good to be in a bus which was so beautifully presented and maintained, although the job was made easier for him as one of the rules was that we never brought hot food on board. Thankyou for a wonderful tour - my first visit to UK and Europe. (Ed: Review based on slightly different itinerary. Trip name and itinerary updated this season)