Absolute Escapes Traveller Reviews

We had a wonderful time on our two week tour of Scotland. Our itinerary was diverse yet we feel like we have been given just a glimpse of Scotland and what it has to offer. The people were so gracious and friendly. The highlight was finding our ancestral home in Dundee and after knocking on the door being invited in by the present owner who shared much of its history. Many thanks to Absolute Escapes for the awesome service! We look forward to a future trip.

We had a wonderful time on our tour of Scotland. Andy and Scott from Absolute Escapes were so patient and knowledgable. After many emails back and forth, answering questions and tweaking the path we would take, we ended up with a perfect trip! The places we stayed were wonderful, our hosts so very gracious and helpful, and our itinerary was perfect. Almost every restaurant that was mentioned as an option in the area was also recommended by our hosts and the sites that were included to check out were right on! While on Isle of Skye, we ended up doing everything that was listed on the page. The highlight was finding our ancestral home in Dundee and after knocking on the door being invited in by the present owner who shared much of its history. Many thanks to Absolute Escapes for the awesome service!

We spent a few days in the Orkneys which excited us intellectually with all its archaeology and history and stimulated us spiritually with its peace, silence and beauty. The road west to Durness and then south to Ullapool was breathtaking and made speech seem like a violation of its splendid isolation and grand wildness. Combined with excellent standards of bed and breakfast accommodation with friendly and attentive hosts, we felt it couldn't be bettered.

Our local toor operator, Malvern World Travel, recommended Absolute Escapes with whom we had a telephone discussion about the kind of things we wanted to do. That company answered all our queries and gave us good advice so that we were able to settle on an itinerary and dates that suited us perfectly. They also advised us how to add on extras that were personal to us but not part of their remit. Very satisfactory indeed.

We were a party of eight walking the first part of Offas Dyke for a week in June. We walked from Chepstow to Knighton which was around 85 miles.

The holiday was organised by Absolute Escapes who were excellent. The accommodation that Absolute Escapes organised for us was very varied but all excellent and all the hosts were very welcoming. It was also great to have everything booked and paid and all the details on the itinerary for reference so we did not have to sort anything out as we went along. The only criticism would be that the walk to Hay on Wye involved walking on a ridge which was 15 miles in length and involved coming off the Offas Path to get to our accommodation in Longtown. This meant the following day we had a bit of a climb to get back on the path. If I had been aware of this I think I would of preferred a shorter walking day the day before the ridge to get to Pandy followed by a longer day walking to Hay on Wye but I think this is one of the things you learn in hindsight as you go along. The comments form the rest of the party were all good and I am waiting until all the sore legs are fully working again before checking who is up for finishing the walk next year. It is one of those holidays that is hard work at the time and is full on as there is so much to see that you are completely exhausted by the end of the week. It is only when you reflect on it all when you get home that you realise how much you thouroughly enjoyed the experience.

We traveled around Scotland by car, starting from Edinburgh through to Spey, Inverness, Skye, Fort William then back to Edinburgh. My husband is a whiskey fan and was so excited to visit all the distilleries, whiskey shops and bars. I definitely learned a fair bit about whiskey myself. Sadly we felt the Isle of Skye was a little overrated -- maybe we had our hopes up too high but it wasn't as beautiful as we'd been led to believe, lots of brown and moss-green, and prettiest in the sunset. It is still quite pleasant to drive through, but be careful on those winding single-lane roads. Edinburgh, Fort William, Stirling and Spey were all lovely. We were also surprised by how great the food is in Scotland, and one of the highlights was catching some live Scottish music; we were well impressed. We'll be back, next time to see more of Edinburgh, the puffins on Isle of May, and visit the distilleries on Islay!

Highly recommend Absolute Escapes, if you are new to Scotland. We were a little overwhelmed by the choices available on their website, so decided to email them with a "wish list" and budget. In no time they had put together a detailed itinerary including hotels every night with breakfast, step-by-step directions for major sights/towns along our route, and car hire*. We were still able to enjoy quite a leisurely trip while deciding which sights to visit from Absolute Escape's itinerary. As we shared our travel details with them, they were also very helpful with advice to help make our trip as smooth as possible. What really impressed us was their hotel choices -- so many charming little places with a warm personal touch! We'd love to visit Scotland again. *Our car hire was with Sixt, and we recommend splashing out for full coverage. The roads in Scotland can get pretty rough and upon returning the car, Sixt found all sorts of minor dings and scratches that we didn't even realize were there; luckily we were 100% covered.

Stunning Scottish scenery topped off with first class accommodation and food

Looked after everything for us and always replied promptly to any queries

I had wanted to walk the Ridgewayfor some time. I had walked all or part of several other Long Distance Paths but this was the longest walk over the greatest number of days which I had attempted. I was fortunate enough to have friends who were happy to join me for individual days but I could see that the key would be arranging good accomodation at the right places to enable me to complete the route in the time available and not having to carry all my gear for 7 nights. The event was a great success, the scenery was wonderful,the weather (relatively) kind and we raised quite a bit of money for the MS Society.

Absolute Escapes made the arrangements very easy. They did exactly what they said that they would do, arranged great accomodation, eficiently transported my luggage, provided comprehensive and largely up to date and accurate information and were flexible enough to make a few changes after I had booked the trip. I would thoroughly reccomend Absolute Escapes to my friends, fellow walkers and anyone thinking of doing a similar walk.

Absolute Escapes were tasked to develop a schedule of locations in Scotland to fill 2 weeks, allowing at least 2 nights per location, & including Edinburgh, Glasgow & a whisky distillery location. They added Fort William, Isle of Skye, Inverness & Pitlochry. Accommodation to specific criteria, & where possible first class rail travel, were to then be added. Early train departure times were discouraged :) The specification was influenced by my having Scottish ancestry, but neither I nor my partner have visited Scotland during visits to the U.K. We sought a visit programme that gave a helicopter view of the Scottish people & country, & allowed a visit to my grandparents’ town of Galashiels. Cost for 2 people evolved to be around GBP7,000 plus meals & incidentals.

We came to Absolute Escapes following unsuccessful interactions with two previous operators. Locating Absolute Escapes on the web, we investigated their web site, looked at Trip Advisor comments about them & Googled for complaints. We then dealt with James Fathers & Andy Gabe, who I suspect were supported by strong back-office folk. Despite our providing clear specifications on activities & accommodation quality, the itinerary & choice of hotels needed to be developed interactively, for example including advice to reverse the direction of travel to avoid a sporting event in one town. Absolute Escapes then made the transport & accommodation bookings. They also produced a 35 page itinerary that included the mix of optional & specific train times, the essential related transport methods (taxi, boat, walking), & details of the accommodation booked. Their itinerary included the added, unexpected bonuses of restaurant options & critiques for each destination, & a suite of sightseeing & activity options in each location – both for daytime & night-time. Focussing us on key eating & activity options turned out to be particularly helpful when we were tired or short of time, & provided the icing on the cake for enjoyment. Dealings with James & Andy probably involved 100 emails over 3 months. It allowed assessment of their competence, willingness to assist, promptness, interpersonal sensitivity & interpersonal sophistication. My assessment is that both men score unusually highly on all dimensions. Having now completed the travel, we have undertaken the recommended travel & experienced the accommodation, transport & recommended activities & restaurants. The programme was faultless, the experiences delightful, & our satisfaction is high. A surprise finding is that Scots are unusually friendly and that the food can be as outstanding as any around the world. We strongly recommend Absolute Escapes to future travellers.

Everything went exactly the way that it should. Each B&B was wonderful with great hosts; the bags were always where they needed to be; the arrangements to get to the B&B from the trails worked just as promised. All in all, we couldn't be happier. We were talking about this on our trip, that really everything worked out perfectly. We ran into a hiker who had done lots of her own arrangements and had put days and days of her time into finding places, getting her bags moved, etc. We were quite happy we had gone with Absolute Escapes.

Prompt and courteous responses to all queries. On top of their game.

We hiked the West Highland Way in June 2016, booking the trip through Absolute Escapes. Everything was flawless. We were well prepared for the venture by the materials provided, and the accommodation was excellent. Great views on this trail...even when it is cloudy.

Absolute Escapes made trail arrangements for 15 of us, coming from the US. Great communications. Emails were quickly returned. Sine was the best!!!!

I was walking the Great Glen Way. The accomodations were very nice, the hosts and staff, too. The Transport of my luggage (and me) was always in time. Thank you!

I booked with Absolut Escapes. Excellent Service and I was alwayss informed about their activities. Thanx!