Absolute Escapes Traveller Reviews

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.

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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.

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We walked the Peddars Way/Norfolk Coast Path: Thetford-Hunstanton-Cromer, 92 miles. We took 8 days to complete the walk. The scenery is gentle, rolling and, for the coastal stretches, bordered by saltmarsh and delightful village-ports. Wildlife abounds and, in late June, the wild flowers are in profusion, especially poppies. The baggage-transfer and accommodation-booking service through Absolute Escapes worked really well so we were able to walk unencumbered by baggage, knowing that it would be waiting for us at our destination for that night. Accommodation and breakfasts were of pleasing quality and hosts welcoming.

Absolute Escapes provided a good service both before and during our trip. On return I mentioned a couple of minor inaccuracies in their info and they were receptive and welcomed the comments. I would use them again.

We walked the Peddars Way/Norfolk Coast Path: Thetford-Hunstanton-Cromer, 92 miles. We took 8 days to complete the walk. The scenery is gentle, rolling and, for the coastal stretches, bordered by saltmarsh and delightful village-ports. Wildlife abounds and, in late June, the wild flowers are in profusion, especially poppies. The baggage-transfer and accommodation-booking service through Absolute Escapes worked really well so we were able to walk unencumbered by baggage, knowing that it would be waiting for us at our destination for that night. Accommodation and breakfasts were of pleasing quality and hosts welcoming.

Absolute Escapes provided a good service both before and during our trip. On return I mentioned a couple of minor inaccuracies in their info and they were receptive and welcomed the comments. I would use them again.

We had a great walking holiday ( in spite of a number of showers in the beginning ). We just loved every bit of the Yorkshire section and in particular the stretch Hawes to Kirkby Stephen with the Highway stretching all the way to Mallerstang . But we enjoyed walking along the Warfe river just as much . The entire walk is very varied . Gentle rivers , hills , fields and pastures ,isolated moorland sections ,lovely villages and ofcourse the castles , or ruins of castles that were important to Lady Anne . This all makes the walk so enjoyable.

Our touroperator was Absolute Escapes. Their reaction to my e mails was prompt and helpfull . My friend and 1 wanted single rooms , not always that easy to find in the section we walked through . But they really did their utmost to fullfill our wishes . And when (on the rare occasion) there were no single rooms available they always offered us alternatives . Really very helpful . The accomodations were perfect , our bagage always at our destination upon arrival and good info about all our stopovers .

My husband Chris and I had a wonderful time walking the West Highland Way. It was hard work and we had sore feet by the end of it but we did it! The scenery was amazing and the places we stayed were great. It was so good to arrive at a B&B or hotel at the end of each day to find a lovely welcome, our cases waiting for us, a nice hot shower or bath and a comfy bed. And the delicious breakfasts were just what we needed to get us started again each morning.

Absolute Escapes were very helpful and efficient.