Martin Randall Travel Traveller Reviews

Touring the great Gothic cathedrals of Northern France provides breath-taking sights, but we also had well-measured and detailed architectural analysis, lovely food, and a tour manager who left nothing for our comfort to chance.

Martin Randall Travel is famed for its attention to detail, and this has been borne out again and again in the many times we have travelled with them.

All three hotels were of a good standard, the itinerary was interesting and varied. The lecturer made the site visits interesting. Guests were very well looked after, with individual needs attended to.

MRT is always caring and puts the well-being of their guests as their top priority.

It was run by Martin Randall and entitled Great Irish Houses. A group of 15 of us spent 9 days visiting some of the best of the houses and grounds of the Protestant Irish “Ascendancy”. In most cases these houses could be called palaces, so exquisite were their interior design, decoration and furnishings. Coming from a colonial country myself and being descended from members of the colonising race, I found the tour absolutely intriguing and thought-provoking, though colonisation was certainly not a focus of the tour. All the hereditary owners or their representatives gave informative introductory talks and/or tours, and several hosted us to lunch, tea or dinner, and at one of the properties we stayed for two nights as guests of the owners, a truly delightful and interesting experience. We travelled between the houses, located in both southern and northern Ireland, in comfortable coaches through attractive rural countryside. For me one of the best features of the tour was our guide, who was extremely knowledgeable but presented only concise introductions for each house, though he was very ready to talk later and at length if asked.

The tour manager and driver were both very good and went out of their way to make the tour run smoothly, but the guide/lecturer was absolutely outstanding. I would like to participate in any tour he leads.

Excellent

MRT

Visiting a variety of gardens in the Highlands of Scotland.

Very efficient, with extremely knowledgeable guides. I am unlikely to recommend Martin Randall to friends as they would not dream of going on such expensive tours staying at top-class hotels, though I guess you get what you pay for., which includes small-group numbers.

A wonderful experience

Unbelievably well organised, Well researched presentations. Staff friendly and very helpful. Food excellent with a wide choice. The best choral music I’ve heard in a very long time.

after several years of Covid delays I finally got to walk my dream holiday along the French Camino pilgrimage track with the tour company Martin Randall after several of my colleagues and friends had undertaken years ago and due to illness my trip was delayed sadly it appears most of the hotels were reluctant to provide double beds, and or breakfast at a suitable hour and we walked late, then we were forced to accept local conditions, eat far too late at night, eat lunch in the mid afternoon and given heavily salted food., which at times was inedible. Suggestion, carry some fruit and health bars to survive if you are considering doing this trip with Martin Randall, or buy some food to compensate the low calorie budget meals you are served..

the tour operator is obviously in post Covid slump, hotels and connections are not smooth, guests are expected to walk in the mid-day heat, no provision for morning tea; late starts, extra late dinners and food quality that covered the spectrum of quality from excellent to inedible. Occupation health and safety rules were non-existent with heavily overweight walkers dragging out any potential timely eta's for meals or pickups. In addition they, the operator does not cater for vegetarians and non-alcoholic drinkers. Often I had to purchase my own drinks if I wanted anything else than table water or an allotted coke. Perhaps spend less on wine and more on food quality, if the operator was equitable drinkers should pay as they go or be truthful, advertise that this is a tour unsuitable for vegetarians, vegans and only wine swilling drinkers should participate! the day to day operation of the tour was held together by the experience and enthusiasm of the outstanding guide, without him it would have been a disaster. It was a expensive tour, the operator which spared no expense on wine however the clients received meal after meal on a set budget menu in a hotel that had better quality available to full fee paying guests. we were on a budget for food quality yet the wine flowed freely, to someone who was lucky to get A glass of soft drink a meal I financially supported the drinkers and my vegetarian partner who received a bowl of soggy lettuce meal after meal supported the other meat eaters. The tour operator therefor failed dismally in providing a positive tourist experience. Suggest that the tour operator revamp the itinerary and the accommodation which was overpriced and often questionable in overall comfort or services provided, I have stayed in better two star establishments in Thimbu Bhutan than these alleged 4 star establishments, in the alleged best hotel I was served uncooked frozen fish. Unsatisfactory! this is the reflection of the tour operator sitting on their laurels and not getting their professional act together, perhaps this is the post Covid experience that is a plague on tourist operations the world over as staff are no longer available in the hospitality industry however I paid for these shortcomings financially. If you get budget food, you don't mind if you are paying a budget price, this was not the case however.

An unforgettable experience listening to musicians of the highest order in wonderful settings

Martin Randall a specialist operator offering cultural and music tours in small groups with subject experts.

Excellent presentations and exhibits of development of aboriginal art

Have used Martin Randall tours all over the world. Always excellent service.

It was an outstanding experience, in terms of the setting of beautiful Prague, the immense amount which we learned about Prague, the Czech Republic, the very capable tour manager, and the superb lecturer. We've been on several Martin Randall tours, and this group of fellow tour participants was extraordinarily kind, intelligent and just plain fun companions.

Martina was our Czech tour manager, and was extremely knowledgeable to all matters related to Czech history, art, architecture and politics. We saw and visited a huge number of sites in and around Prague.