Absolute Escapes Traveller Reviews

The weather was great considering what it could have been. Most days we had minor drizzle and only 1 day of bone chilling soppy wetness. The accommodations were a mix, many of them were charming with great hostesses. A few of them were quite disappointing with deteriorating rooms - most especially the Edinburgh Regency Guest House - I guess with that name and being in a large city we expected more - it turned out to be very run down and in a poor location - it would have been nice to be closer to town. You might note that the Killin Cottage in Helensburgh - Franca - our host doesn't really care for Americans (the other hostesses may not have as well, but they hid that sentiment if they did feel that way). The Ravenous Beastie in Queensferry - we thought with that name it must be a happening place - it had the smallest of rooms and the cafe closed pretty early. But for the most part the accommodations were good, the hostesses were pleasant and the locations were fine. Our favorite accommodations Gowonlea Guest House in Balloch, Strawberry Bank House in Linlithgow, and Devine B&B in North Berwick. Not only were the rooms good but the hostesses were exceptional. The most frustrating part was the trail markers - or I should say lack of trail markers - having completed other treks - in comparison there weren't enough markers and at times the placement of the markers made them difficult to find. It would have been nice to have the markers confirm - you are on the right trail - since many times there would be no markers for a LONG while which just created some apprehension that maybe we'd made a wrong turn. A few times the markers with their arrows were ambiguous as to which way to go. The most challenging one was from Queensferry to Edinburgh: it had a - no stair diversion (which was unclear where the stairs were) and going on the diversion it never had another trail marker - we went passed about 1/4 mile, luckily we backtracked and guessed where to go - but when you are walking 15 miles a day - adding even a little more gets to be frustrating.

The amount of information - side trips, detailed info, maps provided - was superb. Your customer service when asked a question - outstanding.

To celebrate my 65th birthday and to raise funds for Jersey Mencap, myself and my faithful walking partner chose a 5 day self guided walk of Hadrians Wall. We had a small window in time when it was possible for us and very limited opportunity for training so the 'easy to moderate' description had a certain appeal and indeed turned out to be very realistic. We walked east to west and I enjoyed passing through Newcastle as I had never visited before. On the second day after some very long straight paths, running close to the road, the countryside began to open up and our third day through the National Park was stunning and very memorable albeit I found one of the crag descents a little challenging! Day four was a fabulous ramble through beautiful meadows and farmland, ( you certainly see a lot of sheep on this walk!). We walked at the best time to see all the beautiful flora. Our final day took us down to Bowness on Solway, again some rather straight walks at times but with wonderful vistas. The weather was very kind to us,, it was really special to see The Wall and many more Roman ruins and everybody we met was so very friendly - a great time was had by us both!

We used Absolute Escapes for walking the West Highland Way two years ago. They were so helpful then that we automatically returned for this trip. Their very personal service was really appreciated on both occasions. Every detail of our itinerary was perfect. The accommodation was ideal and we could not have asked for a better service in any way. Thank you Absolute Escapes!

We started with 3 nights in Edinburgh and highlights of our stay included Holyroodhouse Palace, the Royal Yacht, Rosslyn Chapel, and the real Mary Kings Close experience. We then began our rail adventure and the first leg was to Fort William. Wonderful scenery which we were to latter discover was all along our trip. Beautiful clear waters of the lochs and the stunning mountainous backdrops. Not having a car meant we did a lot of walking and used the public transport networks. At Fort William we visited the start of the Caledonian Canal and the brilliant engineering feat of Neptunes Staircase. A planned loch cruise didn't eventuate as the boat was under repair. From Fort William we took the Jacobite steam train to Malliag, then the ferry to Skye and a taxi to our next overnight stop at Portree. We has a Scot Rail pass and our travel agent provided details on times to catch each service. We had 2 nights at each stop. On Skye we did a half day minivan tour of the north - seeing Uig, Fairy Glen, kilt Rock and Old Man Storr. Another activity on Syke was a morning cruise. From Skye it was bus then train to Inverness. Highlights here included Cawdor Castle and the Culloden Battlefield. The visitor centre at Culloden is exceptional.. By train we then went to Pitlochry. Up to here we had enjoyed great weather, but the rain eventually came. It curtailed getting out somewhat. Blair Athol distillery tour, the fish ladder and a folk band band at the Festival Theatre headlined our stay. Back to Edinburgh by train, over the Firth of Forth bridge. Two more days in the city ended our Scottish trip. We visited a wet St Andrews (by train) and Edinburgh Castle. We had a great trip, all our travel went very smoothly, some excellent meals and even a taste of Black Pudding.

Extremely happy with Absolute Escapes. All our arrangements with them were made while we still at home in Australia. Suggestions they made on where to stay and the comprehensive notes on things to do and dining suggestions were great. Answered my queries promptly. In summary they delivered a product with which we were very satisfied. We wanted a leisurely self guided tour, but without having to drive.ourselves.

I would like to Thank for the support and the way you have organised my walk. After a exhausting walk it was good to hit the bed in such an awesome accommodation, I would like to thank for arranging wonderful accommodations at all the days. Thanks once again. Hope to get with absolute escapes for any other trip and I would definitely refer AbsoluteEscapes to my friends.

I walked the West Highland Way from Glasgow to Fort William taking eight days. The weather for the first few days in the Lowlands was sunny and warm, in the Highlands later in the hike it was mostly cloudy with drizzle a couple of days. My luggage was taken from hotel to hotel along the route by AMS so I only had to carry a daypack. This gave me the opportunity to leave the trail a couple of times and hike up a Munro (hill over 3.000' ft). The walk is 100 miles long but with off-trail excursions and a couple of hotels off the trail I ended up doing 127 miles. I had hiked much of this area as a student over 40 years ago so it was a wonderful nostalgia trip. Great scenery, met some interesting people and ate way too much. What more could you ask for!

Arranged the walk through Absolute Escapes. They did a fantastic job or arranging hotels along the walk and for AMS to handle my luggage which was waiting for me every day when I got to my hotel. After booking the trip I decided to extend the walk from seven to eight days to give me more opportunity to go off the trail when I saw something I wanted to do. Absolute handled the rearrangement at late notice so special kudos to them.

Glorious weather on Kintyre, a very well way-marked route, varied scenery and a well-organised trip.A special mention for Tommy Graham of MacDonald's Taxis, who was very helpful: he went out of his way to accommodate us and our requests! The accommodation, however, was variable in quality. Elizabeth Ball at Dunaltach was wonderful - lovely food, comfortable beds and a genuinely friendly welcome, with many 'little extras'. Rosemount House, too, was a very comfortable place to stay, with another excellent breakfast and friendly hosts, as was The Warren at Machrihanish, where we were made to feel very welcome.The most disappointing was the Argyll Arms in Southend - there had recently been a flood, the rooms had a peculiar smell and supper was poor quality pub food.Breakfast was fine.At the Carradale Hotel, there was no hot water other than that supplied by the electric shower: the food here was good, though.

The trip was well-organised - plenty of information and the taxi transfers worked brilliantly.Queries beforehand were dealt with promptly and fully.The company did its very best to accommodate our wishes.

I had spent a year in Scotland as a university student. And so I brought my university-aged daughter with me to visit Scotland for the first time since I'd graduated. We asked your agency to plan our cities, hotels, and driving routes. You did a wonderful job of choosing interesting places to visit, hotels to stay in, and restaurants to recommend. Renting our car was quite easy. And the hotels were expecting us. Really great vacation!

NA....we toured Scotland independently

Best vacation ever! Can't wait to do another walking trip.

Very responsive and detailed. Told us everything we needed to know. Not a single glitch in the planning.

Well organised walk: taxis etc arrived promptly and maps etc v clear. Two lots of accommodation were poor: Carradale Arms had good enough food but was a tad chaotic. Rooms were OKish, but hot water didn't work at all in wash basin and place was tired. Argyle Arms was truly dire, although staff tried hard as they knew it was bad. It had recently been flooded, but was drying out. However, our two rooms stank of damp, not, I suspect, from the flood as there were damp patches on the walls. Food was poor, even for pub food. I accept accommodation is difficult and Kintyre is in desperate need of investment, but poor old Argyle was beyond the pale. Taynloan was also poor in that it had a shared bathroom with a poorly functioning shower door and no toiletries; the company's promise of excellent food was not fulfilled as it is now just a café. Our first night in Tarbert was in a B and B up for sale - I felt the owner could no longer be bothered - breakfast being particularly dull.The other accommodation was good, with Clachan outstanding - excellent host in Liz with superb food, little extras and truly friendly approach. I think it was expensive for the accommodation we got - would have been hugely cheaper to fix it up ourselves - the taxi company knew the ropes and would have been easy to deal with.

The trip was well organised and worked well with good information though not up to date maps, which we had fortunately bought.I rate Absolute Escapes as average because it didn't really represent value for money - the accommodation was below par in many instances for what we were asked to pay. We would not do it again, but would revert to booking it ourselves.

We met our driver in Edinburgh after a night in a comfortable hotel near the city centre. The first day we drove to Oban and stayed in a wonderful B and B overlooking the bay. The sun shone constantly from now on!We caught the ferry to Iona the next day, and after a smooth crossing we had the day to explore. Wild life and bird enthusiasts like us would never fail to enjoy this island but add to that the calm serenity of the Abbey and the wonderful local fish lunch, we were in heaven!Mull was a lovely island in sunshine and we had many opportunities to stop and look around on all our drives between places. Castles, bridges, villages and gardens: nothing was too much for Audrey, who accompanied her informative commentary with fairy stories from the past and humorous anecdotes galore. After the dramatic scenery of the last day, through the Great Glen, we returned for our last night in Edinburgh. We all want to do the holiday again.

Absolute Escapes who organised the week were professional and thoughtful in all their dealings with us. We would recommend them to our friends - in fact, we already have. Well done Andy and all of you!The driver, Audrey, from Rabbie's Tours was the best companion we could have had for the week. We felt she was a good friend after the week in her company!She taught us much and gave us food for thought.