Absolute Escapes Traveller Reviews

We spent six days hiking the Great Glen Way in Scotland with some sightseeing mixed in. It was a beautiful trip, a quiet trail, and included diverse but equally beautiful landscapes!

Absolute Escapes provided exceptional service from planning through implementation. The reasonable deposit amount allowed us to confirm our plans early, accommodations and luggage transfer were terrific, and the information about each town and eating options were invaluable. We would travel with them again in a heartbeat!

Tailor made trip around Scotland including Isle of Skye utilising rail, ferry and bus services with B&B accommodation arranged by Absolute Escapes

Pippa and the team were excellent, very friendly with prompt responses and follow up. Everything went plan as arranged.

I really enjoyed the Cateran Trail. The landscape is wonderful. It offers a bit of everything, fields, forests, hills, lochs, heather, sheep, lovely villages and small towns and great hospitality. As I hoped it was a very quiet walk. Which is escpecially nice in August since the sights are very busy in Scotland.

Everything went perfectly. The accomodations were excellent. I usually organise everything by myself but now I can see the many advantages of choosing a tour operator.

We walked the West Highland Way from Milngavie to Fort William in 5 days as suggested on their website by Absolute Escapes and added an extra day at the end to climb Ben Nevis. It was a challenging but doable walk. We enjoyed the scenery of the Highlands and every evening we arrived at our destination a bit exhausted but happy and enjoyed the excellent food and friendly pub atmosphere along the way.

We booked the tour through Absolute Escapes. They organized luggage transport and accommodations for us and we received a detailed description about daily distances, lunch and dinner options and special sights on the way. Everything was organized perfectly, the luggage transport went smoothly and with only one exception (The Drovers Inn), accommodation was very clean, comfortable, usually in a scenic location and some we would even rate as exceptional.

Myself, my daughter and granddaughter did a self-drive holiday starting in Edinburgh onto Inverness and into the Highlands, all the way to Portree on Isle of Skye and back via Fort William and Callender and everything in between. We experienced scenery that leaves you somewhat emotional with the beauty of it and were transported back in time to Highland history in various castles and battle sites that we explored. It was an absolutely amazing experience for us, almost surreal....as Scotland had been a bucket list item for years.

Fern Urquhart from Absolute Escapes was amazing from day one when we started planning our trip. She was super helpful, always answered questions immediately and made really good suggestions with regard to guesthouses, sightseeing and other helpful information. Our holiday went exactly as planned because of our tour operator and our sincere thanks go out to Fern and everyone else at Absolute Escapes that was involved!

When you get to a certain age, you want the best value, and more importantly, comfort on a vacation. My friend and I decided to walk the West Highland Way in Scotland, but did not wish to wild camp or lug our belongings. Yet, we have a limited income. Absolute Escapes was the first website we came across, and the one we chose after some research and comparing. Booking with them was easy-breezy, and that basically explains the entire trip...worry free...organized...and perfect accommodations/breakfasts for our price point. We flew from Toronto Canada, and communication was via email (again, easy, hassle free). I would, and have recommended Absolute Escapes already! Well done!

We did not have one specifically, as all our bookings were done via email. However, excellent service, and all questions were answered in a timely manner.

Our journey began in Edinburgh where we picked up our hire car and set out for Arran. We loved the ferry from Ardrossan to Brodick and enjoyed the canteen's snacks along the way. The views from the ferry were spectacular. Once on the island, we were stayed in a charming B &B for two nights. During our stay on Arran, we visited Brodick Castle and its stunning gardens. On the second day, we set out for a ferry ride from Lamach to Islay. Unfortunately, we hit a large rock and that foiled our plans as we needed roadside assistance. We then spent a day making our way to Glasgow to switch vehicles. Fortunately, we had wonderful on the ground support from the Absolute Escapes team who informed our hosts on Islay that we would be missing a night with them. As it turned out, we ended up driving from Glasgow up to Inverary and down to the ferry launch at Kinnecraig. Which meant that we experienced the lovely rolling hills and sweeping views of the hills. Once on Islay, we stayed overnight in Bomore. The chalky white houses and the wide streets ending at the water's edge were very charming. We also enjoyed the open sweeping views on Islay. While on Islay, we toured Lagavullin's distillery and enjoyed a lovely of seafood at the Bomore Hotel. From Islay, we took the ferry back to the mainland and headed north to Glen Coe and Fort William. The glens, lochs and mountains were spectacular. In Fort William we spent the night in a Victorian B&B facing the water. We spent one night in Fort William. Then next morning, we went to Mallaig to take the ferry to Skye. On Skye, our B & B was located about 2 km outside of Portree. Our host was very knowledgeable and gave us a list of places to explore on the Northern tip of the island. We started our day hiking up the Old Man of Stor, then we went on to visit Kilt Rock, The Island life museum, Fairy Glen and numerous galleries. We enjoyed seeing the rolling hills and dramatic rock formations on Skye. Reluctantly, we left Skye and drove over the bridge, stopping in wonderful P and through the Highlands to, Aviemore, in Craingorm National Park, where we stayed in a charming Scottish traditional hotel in a room with a turret! The drive was incredible with the soaring mountains shrouded in mist. Aviemore reminded us of Banff in the Rockies. From Aviemore, we drove back through the Spey valley to Edinburgh. On the way we visited Blair Castle. Then we capped off our trip with four days in Edinburgh. During our time in lovely Edinburgh, we visited Hollyrood Palace, the castle, hiked up Arthur's seat, toured St. Giles cathedral, the Royal Yacht Britannia, Mary King's Close and the botanical gardens. Throughout our wonderful time in Scotland we enjoyed Thistly Cross in charming pubs and fantastic seafood. I am still missing scrambled eggs and salmon while my husband misses haggis and blood sausage at breakfast. In closing, we found the Scots we met to be helpful and welcoming.

Absolute Escapes was in communication with us months ahead of our trip. Our package was amazing. All of our bookings were made in advance as well as all of our ferry transfers. Each destination in our extremely detailed itinerary included all of the directions needed for each day as well as contact information for our hosts, restaurant suggestions and highlights to visit.

Spent 13 days touring the Inner Hebrides and had a magical time. All we had to do was turn up and enjoy our time as everything we needed in the way of car hire, accommodation, ferry crossings and detailed information re recommended sights , walks and eating houses had been arranged/provided by Absolute Escapes - this trip was arranged in full for us to the same exacting standard as that previously experienced when touring the Outer Hebrides.

Excellent to deal with prompt responses to all enquiries and queries. They have a good knowledge of the areas we wished to visit, book comfortable, well located accommodation with friendly hosts. In addition to this we have been attracted by the reasonableness of the trip costs quoted.

We were two days in each of these locations; Edinburgh, Fort William, Portree, Inverness. We had exceptional weather, accommodations, and transportation. We loved our self-guided tour of each location. It was so much better than being on a crowded tour, herded around!

Actually, I would have to choose Megan Bruce with Absolute Escapes, as she coordinated this amazing tour for us!! From the beginning, the communication and professionalism of all employees from Absolute Escapes is to be commended.

This was a holiday of a life time. Everything we asked for and more. Absolute Escapes are a gem. The accommodations, ferries, and extra add ons were A1. The convience of dealing with this company from such a distance was incomparable.

Nothing too much trouble. Answered all enquirers promptly even though we are in Canada.