Absolute Escapes Traveller Reviews

We booked our two week self drive tour in Scotland through Absolute Escapes because we wanted their expertise in the best route to travel and great places to stay. We knew the general outline of where we wanted to go, and Absolute Escapes did a wonderful job of honoring our requested general outline while also adding some amazing must-see places. James, Andy and Scott all worked with us and they were very thorough and attentive. Every last detail was planned for us in terms of accommodations, the car rental, a ferry booking, etc. It would have taken us months of research to come up with the same travel plan. Everything was went very smoothly. All we had to do was show up! Our accommodations were all wonderful, and the added suggestions by James of places to go and stay were some of the best highlights of our trip! We could not be more happy with our trip!

We did not go on a tour with a group, but rather a self-drive trip across Scotland for two weeks. However, the planning by James, Andy and Scott was excellent, and they did a wonderful job of putting together our route, accommodations and destinations along the way. We had the luxury of pre-booked accommodations selected by Absolute Escapes, a travel plan with maps, suggested routes, etc. yet we also had the independence to go where we wanted and when we wanted spontaneously. It was perfect!

After a three-day visit of Edinburgh, we took a car tour of Scotland with stops at Fort William, Portree, Inverness and Callander. We stayed in B&B's. We saw a lot a beautiful landscapes (especially in the Glencoe dale and on the Isle of Skye), a lot of beautiful places (Eilean Dunan castle, Blair Castle, Edinburgh) and met lots of nice and proud Scots. They are proud of their country and they show it although that nationalism might sometimes irritate some people. To sum it up: a successful holiday in a completely different country and full of nice memories and loads of lovely pics.

He adapted the tour to our wishes and was always quick to answer our mails.

We had a lovely time walking the West Highland Way with our dog, even the weather was mostly kind. Well organised with very good quality accomdation booked for us, all trasnfers were very smooth and all in all a very stress free week.

Good communication, very tailored itinary for us and lots of helpful information provided.

We had a wonderful time on our walking trip of the Speyside Way, unforgettable in so many ways. The springtime countryside was at a peak with intensely green hills broken up by bright yellow fields, beautiful pastures, the dark and fast Spey river, spring flowers and the wonderfully warm people of Scotland.

Quick to respond and very helpful documents for our trip.

Best holiday in ages. Organisation of the holiday by absolute escapes was flawless; excellent communication and very memorable accommodation. So grateful that hey were able to change arrangements at short notice

Excellent and very helpful

WE WERE 8 ADULTS, WALKING 150km FROM DRYMEN TO FORT WILLIAM. WEATHER WAS VERY RAINY, BUT THE WEST HIGLAND WAY TREK WAS VERY "FIENDLY". ABOVE ALL, WE ENJOID A PERFECT SUPPLY OF ACCOMODATION BOOKING AND BAGGAGE TRANSFER BY ABSOLUTE ESCAPES.

Andy and his team, manage to find the best B&B along the route, and gave us a pefect "back office" assistance.

We had a g0od trip. All the arrangements went very well and I really liked all the places we stayed. Overall as a long distance walk my son and I preferred the West Highland Way and the Great Glen Way but that is personal preference as we have decided we like the more remote places

Everything organised very well and this made our trip hassle free and very enjoyable

We walked the Great Glen Way with the assistance of Absolute Escapes and we couldn't have done it without them. We never had to worry about our luggage or the booking of the B&Bs. They sent a number of preparation materials including our itinerary, a recommended list of packing items, and a list of contact information for transportation and emergencies. The itinerary was detailed and also included suggestions for meals. It was truly a beautiful walk and we didn't have any problems following the trail markers and the directions in the itinerary. The mileage listed on the itinerary was a little off each day, usually a few more miles than we were told, based on our GPS and pedometers. In addition, the pick up location in Invergarry required a phone box that didn't exist. We were lucky that a local hotel let us use their phone to call our B&B to pick us up. We also didn't realize that the toilet keys could only be picked up on each end of the walk but it didn't matter anyway since there really aren't that many available toilets on the walk. Note: We definitely suggest using Marc Ronald at Fort Augustus Cabs and Appin House. He was incredibly helpful and was available to drive one of us around when we were injured. I hope the tour incorporates him, his B&B, and his cab service into their planning.

See above

Walking the West Highland Way through some of Scotlands wonderful scenery.I would recommend it to anyone who likes walking long distance.Some sections of the walk were hard going but we had a great sense of achievement when we finally reached Fort William. We met some terrific fellow travellers from other countries and had a great time at the end of each day swapping stories of our walk.Of course there was rain and midges but also sunshine. Come prepared and you'll have a great experience.

From the start they organised everything and supplied us with the information needed to complete the walk. Couldn't have asked for any more.

Stunning scenery, deserted beaches - only met 3 people in peak season on days 1 and 2. Great food in recommended restaurants. Good organisation from tour operator, helpful instructions, some excellent accommodation (Finn McCools in Bushmills) and some flaky (Fullerton Arms, Ballycastle) - live music till 1am under room, poor communication (left waiting in bar for 45 mins for communication on whether could check-in early after 9 mile walk in wet clothes) and despite me checking with receptionist all was ok, failed to transfer luggage or chase what they should do till I chased them. Strongly recommned against them. Day one suggested route (from guidebook) is almost wholly along main road with no pavement, - was helped to devise alternative route by B&B on day one which was great. Other days routes were stunning.

Good organisation, good maps, helpful map and guidebook, helpful help on phone out of hours when problem with luggage transfer. Suggest change of route on day one (see above). Some very good simple accommodation, but not all great.