Absolute Escapes Traveller Reviews

An amazing holiday visiting some of the Scottish Islands. The accommodation was excellent, and we loved that each of our accommodations had such a different character. Everywhere was so accommodating for our 1 year old too! Even the weather was mostly excellent!

Absolute Escapes put together an excellent itinerary for us allowing us to take in the best of Scottish scenery. Everything that was organised happened flawlessly. The only thing that I would suggest could be improved would be to include some information about seasonality of local attractions in the itinerary. On Mull particularly it appeared that we had missed the "summer season" by a week, which in itself wasn't a problem as it was lovely and quiet but it did mean that some places that we hoped to visit like Duart Castle were closed. It would be useful when you provide your itineraries to include information specific to what is available to do at the time.

The trip was really well done. The chauffeur cum tour guide knew his stuff and was very friendly. He took us around a lot of interesting places and was a great guide to point us in the right direction for food and shopping among other things. The choice of BnBs was great. All our hosts were friendly and the rooms were beautifully done. Some were probably a little cramped up for space but we managed alright. I think the best was Oban in terms of both the host and the rooms.

They were very helpful with all our queries. The tour was well laid out.

I have to say I'm in love with Scotland! I am coming back next year. No seriously, I've decided that 1 week was not enough and I am coming back. The Orkney's were wonderful, but I think my heart is in the highlands. I fell in love with the area around Glen Coe. The places I stayed were great. Liz was wonderful in Kirkwall; she went out of her way to take a couple of us to see if we could spot the Northern Lights. I'm not sure if you knew this or not, but Liz also now owns a hostel. Just thought I'd boost her business if you didn't already know. Rabbies were fantastic! I even took a day tour with them when I got back. I went to explore Stirling Castle and Loch Lomond with them. They held up the tour for me because the police had the North bridge closed the morning of that tour. I was on the phone with them and they managed to get me to the Cafe when I was lost. David our tour guide for the 5 days was great. He was either really really knowledgeable, or he's the perfect Scot telling tall tales!! We had a really good group of people on our tour so that added to the experience. I'd love to live in a little stone cottage in the highlands! I also left a message for Jamie Fraser at the Clava stones. Please let me know if you get a return message from him! I'm still looking for my highlander! LOL Thank you and your team so much for pulling this trip together for me. My heart is definitely back in Scotland.

Please see previous comment.

Four of us did the Borders Abbeys Way walk this past September. We stayed in lovely accommodations with great breakfasts, had efficient baggage transfers, and complete information about our routes. We found the paths and directions easy to follow and enjoyed both the scenery along the way and the abbeys and towns. We also found the proximity of this walk to bus lines useful for days when we wanted more flexibility.

We found Absolute Escapes easy to work with. They contacted us in a timely manner, gave us complete information, and did a great job of choosing B&Bs and arranging baggage transfers. It would have been much more difficult to plan everything ourselves from the US and we feel we received good value for money spent. We would not hesitate to use them again.

Our holiday turned out to be the most rewarding travel experience we have had together in twenty-five years. The walk of the Rob Roy Way and the Isle of Skye opened our eyes to a whole new way of vacationing. The views and trails were spectacular. While I took hundreds of photos with my camera, photographs just don’t do it justice. You’ve got to be there, with your feet on the trail, breathing the fresh, clean air. I never experienced colors as vibrant and alive. I also never knew that any one place could have so many rainbows and waterfalls. The wide open spaces and bright blue skies and bright white clouds were breathtaking. Even walking in the rain was fun. We were also pleasantly surprised by the strident patterns the forests made between the mountains and rangelands. The dark, dense forests were also a pleasant wonder. Even the bogs were fun to walk through. As a result, we will plan no trip unless it includes walking time. Scotland is a beautiful country and we have told all our friends here in Florida and Texas all about our trip. I will be very surprised if some of them don’t plan similar excursions there. We plan to be back as quickly as we can. The food was great, the people were warm and friendly, the countryside and air were phenomenal. If you live in Scotland, you’re lucky.

We believe our trip was a huge success due to the work Absolute Escapes Ltd put into it for us. Through their careful planning we were able enjoy the trip and not sweat the details. They made it easy to prepare for with a thorough travel package as well as links of other sightseeing options. They created realistic expectations, were flexible and were really easy to work with. For example, in addition to our trip, I asked for help identifying street murals which I wanted to photograph in Glasgow before we traveled to Drymen to begin our walk. In addition to our travel packet, Scott (AE) provided me with links that allowed me to build a route through the city and capture some great street art and murals with my camera. They didn’t have to do so, but they did and I’m grateful to them for the help. Never once did we worry about a reservation, a meal, the hiking route or car rental. They took all the worry out of the trip which allowed us to focus on the fun. I would (and will) recommend Absolute Escapes Ltd to my family and friends for any walking or general vacation trips through Scotland.

Walked the entire JMW 15 September thru 27 September, 2016. We extended the trip by splitting the Balloch to Strathblane section into two segments, overnighting in Killearn. Even so, those first 3 days were strenuous enough with the hills and valleys. Entire Way was well marked and we only got off track a couple of times, due to our own inattention. We had wonderful weather with no rain on any of the days of hiking. Regardless, the ground was still quite wet in many sections and our hiking poles proved to essential for footing and avoidance of potential trip-ending slips. We spent an extra free day in Falkirk, which we highly recommend. The Kelpies alone were worth the extra day. And Steve Higson, the luggage handler and Kelpie/Helix tour guide, gave an enthusiastic informative tour and is a boundless source of information regarding the entire JMW. We also spent an extra free day in Edinburgh, at the castle and at Rosslyn Chapel. Our accommodations along the Way were all excellent and well located. The highlight regarding meals came at the end at The Rocks in Dunbar. It was the best meal of the whole trip. Second best was at The Kilted Lobster in Edinburgh. Third best was a big surprise: The Dragon Way, a Chinese restaurant in Port Seton. It is not listed in the recommendations in the trip guide, but it deserves to be prominently mentioned. Overall a great trip and introduction to Scotland. By the end we even began to understand the language, a little.

Absolute Escapes scheduled all our hotel and B&B stays, all en suite and extremely pleasing. Most were right on the JMW, a couple (Balloch and Killearn) about a mile or so off, and one (Grangemouth) far enough off that Absolute gave us taxi fare sufficient for 4 of us to travel between Falkirk and Grangemouth 4 times. Very generous. All pretrip questions were answered in their information packets. Those that weren't were promptly handled by email communication. The luggage service provided by Steve Higson thru Absolute Escapes was exceptional and very accommodating. A top line tour made possible by a top line tour operator and staff.

Beautiful 6 night trek on the Rob Roy Way

Trip was very well organized. We had a wonderful time and would use Absolute Escapes again and would gladly recommend them to friends and family.

The West Highland Walking Holiday organized by Absolute Escapes exceeded our highest hopes. Each day was like a new adventure as the terrain and scenery changed. On our 9 days, we donned our rain equipment just once for a couple of hours. The accommodations Absolute Escapes arranged were first class. Where there was a choice, they chose well. Our favorites was the B&B in Dryman (wonderful hosts), closely followed by Tyndrum. AMS (luggage transporters) was 100% on their game, with our bags arriving ahead of us on most of the walks. This vacation is certainly on our top 10 list, and we praise Absolute Escapes' professional services when we talk about it. I think there is a fair chance we will return next year for an English walk. A couple of years ago we did part of the Cotswold trail carry backpacks and making our own arrangements. If we do come back next year, we will certainly be employing Absolute Escapes again.

Extremely professional. They tailored our walking holiday to match our physical capabilities making each day something to look forward to. They responded quickly to all of our inquiries, and were dead-on with suggestions for equipment, restaurants, and travel arrangements. It is rare on a holiday like this to not encounter some problems, but with Absolute Escapes' experience it was a stress free vacation.

My husband and I have hiked many miles in the US, but never inn-to-inn. I'm afraid that we are spoiled and will never carry a tent again! The weather was not as good as we would have wished and the Cumbria way could use a few more signs, but the scenery was beautiful and the people were wonderful.

Although some of our days were wet and soggy, we knew that we would have a wonderful place to stay at the end and that our luggage would be waiting for us. We also had the benefit of suggestions for places to eat and things to do in the villages we visited. We could never have made such good arrangements as those made by Absolute Escapes.

Everything about our visit was exceptional and memorable, and thanks to Absolute Escapes, completely stress-free. We thoroughly enjoyed all of the accommodations and found the proprietors friendly, helpful, and willing to share their knowledge of their region and Scotland in general. The maps and driving guidance in our Absolute Escape package, when combined with the NavSat in our hire car, helped us move from place to place without confusion; and the dining recommendations were spot on with our experience of those establishments. We recommended your services to several travelers we met along the way, who indicated they'll be making repeat journeys to Scotland; and many of our friends here in the US who have seen our photos are intrigued and I'll be providing your website information to them. We do travel often, and generally after a week long holiday, I'm perfectly content to return home. Not so with our two week visit to Scotland - I could have easily spent at least another week! I'm sure that's thanks to Absolute Escape's efforts.

Our holiday was a self guided driving tour. All of the arrangements, from the hire car, to the accommodations, to the necessary ferry tickets, were pre-arranged by Absolute Escapes. This took all of the stress of planning and securing reservations away from me and left me free to fully enjoy a delightful holiday!