Absolute Escapes Traveller Reviews

Our holiday was a beautiful mix of nature, wilderness, cities, small towns, sea, river, mountains, lochs, rain and sunshine. Thanks to Absolute Escapes, all our guesthouses and B&Bs were warm, welcoming, perfectly located and served great breakfasts.We started from Glencoe and then headed to Skye. We spent a day in Gairloch, two days in Grantown on Spey and then three amazing days in Edinburgh.

Absolute Escapes took care of everything. We just had to stay at beautiful guesthouses and B&Bs. They customised the trip according to what we wanted from our holiday incorporating suggestions and giving their own ideas. Sine and Scott from Absolute Escapes were both really patient with us and responded promptly even to last minute changes.

We spent nine days walking the West Highland Way. The experience was memorable and largely very enjoyable. We experienced a few days of rain which made walking along the shore of Loch Lomond difficult and requiring great care. Overall we found the walking well within our capabilities although it took us longer than we had anticipated to cover distances on some days. The scenery was magnificent and we enjoyed all aspects of it. Accommodation was largely very good to excellent. Baggage transfer arrangements were executed impeccably. Two accommodation locations were disappointing on different ways. One Hotel did not provide a mattress protector for the bed, did not provide the requested sandwich option and supplied a badly bruised apple for the packed lunch purchased from the Hotel. The B&B in Kinlochleven did not quite live up to the advertising material assertion regarding a great Scottish welcome with a perception created that the convenience of the hostess with regard to breakfast was more important than the guests' desires. Provision of a used cake of soap in the bathroom was not appropriate. The Rowardennan Hotel accommodation was good but affected by the room being immediately adjacent to the kitchen door which was used multiple times, activating a sensor light, while we were trying to sleep. Otherwise, accommodation at Milngavie, Drymen, Balmaha, Beinglas Farm, Kings House and Fort William was excellent.

Absolute Escapes were extremely helpful and accommodating to our needs. Their information package was excellent and most useful during the walk. All arrangements for accommodation and baggage transfer worked without hitch. We were very pleased with our holiday. Thank you.

My husband and I spent 10 wonderful days doing a self drive in Scotland. We visited Inverness, Skye, Ft. William, Callander and Edinburgh. We had a teriffic vacation, and hope to one day return.

My husband and I used Absolute Escapes to plan our incomparable vacation to Scotland. I was completely overwhelmed with everything that Scotland had to offer. The staff at Absolute Escapes are the cream of the crop with their professionalism and in-depth knowlege of Scotland. Absolute Escapes hand taylored the perfect itinerary just for us. It was a real bonus having a travel agency local to Edinburgh. I will not hesitate to book with Absolute Escapes again, or recommend their services to anyone who wishes to plan that special trip to Scotland.

We spent 12 days touring the Scottish Isles and the North Coast of Scotland. The holiday was excellent. Everything worked smoothly, hotels etc. were fantastic and the weather was far better than we expected or planned for, including two superb days on Skye.

Great arrangements that worked like clockwork. Very attentive to our requirements and lots of consultation and attention to detail to tailor the holiday to our needs. We would definitely use Absolute Escapes again.

I walked from Milngavie to Fort William on the West Highland Way using B&B arrangements provided by Absolute Escapes.

Everything was perfect! Absolute Escapes was a joy to work with from the very beginning and I was extremely satisfied with the accommodations. Everything was always in order and I could concentrate on the walk without any worry about B&B details or baggage transfer. One tiny detail even proved extremely useful. In my trip materials, James included a brochure about the Green Welly Stop in Tyndrum which alerted me to the availability of hiking merchandise. It turned out that I had worn holes in my boot insoles (which caused blistering) and I would have had to do the whole WHW had I not been able to purchase new insoles in the Green Welly Stop. This was a real life-saver. Had it not been for that brochure, I wouldn't have suspected that the Green Welly Stop was a well-stocked outdoor store.

Good gentle walking on the John Muir Way, from coast to coast via a wide variety of terrain: coastal paths, woodland, canal footpaths, farmland paths, a few hills (but nothing arduous) and even on the beach. Stand out memories: the Kelpies and Falkirk wheel, the Antonine wall and Roman hill fort ruins, the Forth of Firth bridges, the view from the top of Arthur's Seat. We used the B&B and baggage transfer service which worked well. The B&Bs were good with one exception - it was adequate. We were fairly lucky with the weather considering it was October. The rugby world cup was on and we managed to find pubs in each place we stayed that were showing the matches and enjoyed excellent local beers.

Absolute Escapes were very easy to deal with, responsive to our requests and their actions matched their promises. No complaints at all.

We thoroughly enjoyed our Scotland trip! We were completely absorbed in the breathtaking scenery of this country! The Scots we met are super friendly, warmth and most helpful! Driving in Scotland is not as treacherous as we thought. The B&B arranged by Absolute Escapes were excellent except for 2 guest houses where the rooms were rather small. All the hosts of the B&B were very friendly and helpful! The breakfast provided were fantastic. Must say we enjoyed every breakfast especially the Scottish salmon with scambled eggs!

Andy of Absolute Escapes has done an excellent job. We have no complaints. Andy was most helpful, efficient and responsive from the start of our enquiry about our trip. Our queries and concerns were attended to very promptly! Will definitely use Absolute Escapes again for our next holidays in the UK!

Due to unseasonably good weather we had a very pleasant holiday despite realising that the description of Coastal path was not exactly appropriate.We were given advice by local residents to avoid certain areas of the path as they were too treacherous to contemplate.Absolute Escapes need to be aware that the stretch from Machrie to Whiting Bay is not suitable for anyone other than experienced walkers.We took a detour through the forest from Kilmory to Whiting Bay on the advice of a knowledgeable local resident.On a more positive note all our B&B stopovers were welcoming, comfortable and all advice about where to eat and purchase lunches was spot-on. Arran is a beautiful place populated by friendly, welcoming and helpful residents, we met so many interesting people.

All the information we were given was correct except the phone number of our first B&B, all aspects of our trip ran like clockwork. We were collected by B&B owners when requested,our bags were moved each day.We found the map and booklet particularly useful. Orwin House 01770 302486 not 01770 302707 We would recommend a visit to Arran to our friends but unfortunately not the full Coastal path until improvements have been made to the stretches previously mentioned.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed walking the Great Glen the holiday for me was diminished as my wife had an injury and could not take part in the actual hiking.

No problems at all.

I walked the East Highlandway from Fort William to Aviemore. I found it sometimes not so easy to find your way on a almost not waymarked trail. But that was also a challenge and at the end you had the feeling you achieved something. The accomodation was good , sometimes even very good, except for 1 B&B , maybe average , where the room was rather small. But in all cases the owners were very friendly and helpful. The pick up of the Luggage and transfer between the accomodations was good and I have not 1 complaint about this service. There is only 1 thing I wanted to say and that is; why do single travelers have to pay extra charges where others who travel together with 2 or more do not have these extra costs ?

See my remarks above about single supplement charges. One B&B provided a single room with only 1 bed in a rather small room.