Absolute Escapes Traveller Reviews

We booked a hike along the West Highland Way with Absolute Escapes, a company we actually used 10 years ago for the same reason. And, as we did 10 years ago, we were not disappointed with the proposed route, the booked accommodations and the service. We walked from Crianlarich to Fort William in 4 days with friends of ours, who have never been in Scotland before. Long story short, they will return - this walk is truly special. And my girlfriend and I visited Scotland for the 21st time, so we are hooked already. The hotels / B&Bs and Inns selected gave us and our friends a nice variety of what Scotland offers: We had a very nice cabin and inn in Crianlarich, a nice old-school Guest House with very good food in Bridge of Orchy, a modern Scottish interpretation of a ski chalet in Kingshouse and two unique B&Bs in Kinlochleven and Fort William. And all of them were very nice and a good place to rest our legs after the hike and to get good sleep for the next day. The baggage transfer was without any problems, our luggage was always where we expected it. We did blog about our trip on our (German) travel blog, so if someone is interested in that: Crianlarich to Bridge of Orchy: http://www.travellingdevil.de/?p=9518 Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse: http://www.travellingdevil.de/?p=9543 Kingshouse to Kinlochleven (2 versions: One by foot, one by bus): http://www.travellingdevil.de/?p=9571 Kinlochleven to Fort William (2 versions again): http://www.travellingdevil.de/?p=9618

Discussing possible routes, changes in the accommodations, booking process: All was done via mail and without any problem, very personal and friendly. We have nothing to complain - which is something we Germans do not like! ;-)

Reviewer's images:

I've been on my first ever walking holiday, walking the Great Glen Way in Scotland. It was fabulous :)

My first walking holiday was organised perfectly by Absolute Escapes. Everyting went super smoothly and I didn't have a single problem at the b&b's or with my luggage. The information they provided me up front was very detailed and it was all correct so very helpful. I would definitely book with them again!

To start with, I appreciated the thorough nature of the itinerary - it definitely made all the items very clear and helped us keep on track. The planning process with our agent, Katia, was also extremely professional and smooth. I will just go in order of locations and etc. we thought our accommodation in Edinburgh was fantastic - Six Brunton Place was the height of hospitality. Hillary and her team are experts in making us feel comfortable in this amazing accommodation. They were also willing to carry our large suitcases around. They also gave us good recommendations for what to do and eat around Edinburgh for our short stay there. Our next stay at Lochview in Fort William was an incredible view in the middle of the night but there were clouds all over Ben Nevis. We didn't mind the separate accommodations but the single was definitely bigger than the double, which we found intriguing. It was close quarters in the double compared to the single and the bathroom was quite small in this establishment. Our host was definitely a little more corporate especially compared to Hillary at Six Brunton Place and she did all the built-ins but nothing extraordinary! The train journeys were extremely easy to navigate and extremely high quality! Our transfers were smooth and we realized that agents at the train stations were extremely knowledgeable - booking our seats was safe for us mentally but we never had any assigned seats on any of the trains we were on and our rail rover pass was easily accepted everywhere. Our transfer at Mallaig from the train to the Armadale ferry was particularly notable for us because it was pouring rain and inside the ferry was warm with all the heaters! We all thought that was a very nice touch. Our car ride from Armadale to Portree was amazing. We had caught an earlier ferry so we go to spend some time in Armadale harbor, which was quaint, rainy and gorgeous. Everything I imagined of Scotland and more. The next stay was the Bosville, which truly was an amazing stay right in the middle of Portree. The high-class accomodations, dining and pub nearby has made Portree one of my favorite places in the world, let alone on just this trip. Skye is an amazing place and I find myself wondering when I will come back next. Our bus ride to Kyle of Lochalsh was smooth and quick. We didn't realize how long the stay was at Kyle of Lochalsh train station for the Inverness train so we were lucky to find surroundings on a Sunday at a cafe. (Really lucky in our opinion!) The train from Kyle of Lochalsh to Inverness was quick and painless. Inverness was the biggest city we had been to since Edinburgh so we definitely had to acclimate back a little to the bustling city atmosphere. We were able to easily acquire a taxi to our last stay (unfortunately) at the Lochardil House Hotel. Even though we were only there one night, we found the hotel charming, elegant and overall, an incredibly pleasant stay. The restaurant at the hotel is EXCELLENT with the waitstaff attentive and the owner/proprietor of the hotel who checked us in providing a kind welcome, her generous understanding for our emergency and immediate action to book our taxis. Though this hotel was a little outside the city center, its charm and the gorgeous gardens definitely convinced us that this hotel was completely worth the stay. I wanted to commend the quick response from the Absolute Escapes Team member I spoke to during a moment of crisis for her utter professionalism, efficiency in response and offer to help us find travel and accommodation. It says a lot to us about the quality of the company from the kind consideration received. Now, after this detailed review, there are definitely some lessons that all of us learned from the trip. Even for our relaxed vacation, especially compared to other visitors around us, we had WAY too much luggage. I would strongly recommend that everyone who is visiting Scotland, regardless of how long, edit greatly what they plan on bringing. Our luggage was the hardest part of the commutes and ultimately unnecessary as we used approximately quarter of all the clothes we had brought. Again, I reiterate, beyond personal consumption, I think Americans in general are prone to this and I would strongly urge them to bring only what is necessary to make the commute so much smoother and less stressful (especially considering availability in the luggage racks, which was never an issue but a topic of contention on all our train travel). The ScotRail app is also a good recommendation because it has the current travel conditions and easily is able to route to destinations. The physical timetables were a good security measure as the times are approximate but there was some confusion about the carriages and destinations which the train station staff were able to clarify but I think would be good to be included in the itinerary as "keep an eye out that you're in the right carriage" or something similar. However, all these are small, personal recommendations and I can only share overwhelmingly positive feedback for my entire experience in Scotland. I cannot wait to come back and I wanted to give you the biggest thank you to Katia and the Absolute Escapes Team for making this vacation one of the most memorable experiences.

Absolute Escapes is the best tour operator I have worked with. They have a quick replies, even with the significant time difference to America, and complete professionalism through the process. Katia was extremely patient throughout the various requests I asked of her and various changes to the itinerary. Her flexibility and professionalism is surmount and I greatly enjoyed her attention to detail and recommendations as we had the best experience on our trip.

Reviewer's images:

We did the Arran Caostal way in 6 days. We were lucky the have the good weather with us. Arran is a wondeful island with very friendly people. We enjoy our stay in the accomodations that Absolute Escapes had arranged

Very good communication on advance, On every question an answer via email. The information package we recieved after the payment was incredible. Maps, Guidebook and other useful information. Also the luggage transport was top. bags allways on time at the right place. In one word, Absolute Escapes is "AMAZING"

Reviewer's images:

One week on the South west path from Padstow to Penzance: 8 days of sun, breeze and the sea. Not a drop of rain. Coming as we are from Italy we were surprised! We enjoyed the walk, pretty kind folk and a perfect organization of the trip

Everything perfect, good and clean rooms and a couple of excellent b&b. We needed also pair of taxi pick-ups and everything was well organized

I took this tour with 5 members of my family (three generations) as our ancestral roots are thoroughly Scottish. We were excited for the trip and very hopeful it would be a memorable one, and all of us felt the trip exceeded our expectations in every way. We hired cars and toured around the country from Edinburgh to Inverness, up into the outer Hebrides, to Skye and Fort William and back to Edinburgh. It was a whirlwind of a trip, but it was planned in such a thoughtful manner that we never really felt frenzied or rushed, and we were able to see and do so many things in every one of our stops. All of the accommodations were absolutely lovely, with thoughtful and helpful hosts and delicious food, both the breakfasts provided and the recommended restaurants in town. The information provided in our tour packet was incredibly useful and really helped to enhance our trip and made things much easier for us than perhaps it would have been had we been flying blind around some of the more remote parts of Scotland. The members of my party ranged in age from 68 to 17 and everyone had a wonderful time and found things to do that they were particularly interested in at all of our stops. The standing stones at Calanais on Isle of Lewis were a definite favorite (we went back three times!), as was the Royal Botanic Gardens and the National Museum in Edinburgh, which could take at least a full day or two to see in its entirety. The scenery on Skye was absolutely breathtaking and there's so much to do on the island, it seems impossible to ever do it all. We toured the Talisker Distillery on the island, and even the non-whisky-drinkers among us really enjoyed it. We all agreed we could have easily spent a week or more in Fort William. The town is quite fun to stroll around and there's so much to do in the surrounding areas, particularly if you're a nature fan like me. I very much lamented not spending more time in the Glencoe area, but that just means I'll have to book another trip back to Scotland soon!

Megan Bruce was our liaison for planning this trip, and she was absolutely lovely. From the beginning of our interaction, she made it clear she wanted us to have the best holiday possible. In the early days of the planning, she asked thoughtful questions about my party's interests and goals for the trip to make sure she could put together an itinerary that would suit all of us (no easy feat, I assure you!). She provided different options for us to choose from to make sure we were happy with the plans and even after we'd made our selections, she was in touch regularly as the booking progressed to make sure our accommodations would suit us since we were such a varied group. She went above and beyond to make sure we were completely satisfied and comfortable, and it really paid off for us while we were on the holiday.

We traveled from Canada to complete the Coast to Coast walk in England a second time after 20 years. The experience of going over the horizon every day becomes a kind of "Crossing Place of Life": a journey away from the track of the past which brought us back to new landscapes of possibility with new energies and confidence. This is the second time in less than a year that we have used Absolute Escapes to look after the organization of our walking holiday, which again was excellent. Thank you!

Absolute Escapes provided us with a high quality personalized service and we heard from a number of Accommodation Providers that they are excellent to deal with from that perspective too. Our accommodations were very good and we were able to get our things dry when we really needed it. The baggage transfer service was impeccable.

A multi-day hike through the fields, forests, and villages of the Scottish Borders is invigorating but relaxing, stimulating but serene, challenging yet never overwhelming. When you can concentrate on those values, and never have to give a thought to your luggage, your transfers, your accommodations or your meals (aside from the deciding from the menu!), you feel you have truly taking advantage of this unique travel opportunity.

Absolute Escapes exceeded my high expectations. Before the walk their staff gave us personalized advice and worked through our decision-making process by listening to our hopes and plans and custom tailoring our experience. The materials they provided was exacting in detail, and included published guides, maps, packing lists, itineraries, daily summaries, etc... I know from talking to other hikers using other tour operators that this was NOT the level of service they were provided. After the trip, Absolute Escapes, Megan, specifically, went out of her way to identify any areas that they could improve, solicited my feedback, and was incredibly responsive.

Reviewer's images:

Lovely

Great

Everything went perfectly. We enjoyed all the places we visited and the B&Bs were great. Having 'changeable' weather made the highlands more interesting and we didn't encounter any midges. It would be difficult to choose a favorite spot as we loved it all. My wife still wants to retire to Lerwick. I'm trying to get her to settle for the mainland, perhaps Gairloch?

Absolute Escapes arranged everything including B&Bs, Rental Cat and Ferries. Maps, tips and information on all places visited were invaluable. We did not need or use a GPS.

Reviewer's images: