Absolute Escapes Traveller Reviews

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.

We walked the West Highland Way in seven days. We were very fortunate with the weather, we used the raingear only on the last day. We felt very welcome everywhere and enjoyed the Scottish food and beer. The Way is very well maintained throughout.

We made very good experience with Absolute Escapes earlier so we decided to book with them again. And again they did an excellent job organizing the walk for us. Nothing to complain at all.

We had a terrific experience from start to finish. The JohnMuir Way was well sign posted, the trails and paths were easy to walk on, the places we stayed were charming and comfortable, with delicious Scottish breakfasts every morning, the inn keepers were almost all cheerful and helpful with advice when needed, and the weather was fantastic--we never walked in the rain.

Absolute Escapes was a pleasure to work with, responding very promptly to all questions and being very helpful with all our concerns. James and Andy each had good advice and useful suggestions. The information packet was most useful in many ways. Can't think of a single thing that could have been better. And an added bonus was meeting Steve the luggage carrier one morning on the road and then meeting almost the whole team on the trail the last day of walking. So nice to put faces to all those names.

Absolute Escapes planned a driving holiday for us around the north of Scotland and the Orkney Islands based on prearranged overnight stays. Destinations chosen were excellent as was the accomodation which included hotels and B & B's. In the main directions given were clear and concise negating any need for a GPS. Perhaps the one exception being exactly where to drop off our hire car which did lead to an "interesting" drive around Inverness. We thoroughly enjoyed the scenery of the Scottish highlands and the itinerary gave us plenty of time to do so. However we were a little disappointed that as our return by ferry from the Orkneys to the mainland was late in the day our drive from Scrabster to Durness was largely at night. We would have much preferred daytime travel to appreciate the beautiful scenery along this route. Perhaps adding a day to the itinerary and overnighting in Scrabster may have been a better option. Nevertheless driving this route at night with the narrow roads and sheep grazing along it was an experience we won't forget in a hurry (nothing a double scotch on arrival in Durness couldn't fix).

All arrangements were made with our tour operator via e-mail between Australia and Scotland. Communication was excellent and the attention to detail provided by Andy Gabe representing Absolute Escapes was appreciated and consequently gave us confidence in our dealings with this operator. An important consideration when dealing with someone on the other side of the world who you have never heard of before. All questions were answered to our satisfaction and hard copy of our travel itinerary arrived by mail when promised with content exactly as had been stated. In summation we would have no hesitation in recommending this tour operator to others.