Mountain Kingdoms Traveller Reviews

Bhutan is one of those secret places tucked up high in the Himalayas. Who goes there? Well me for a start. I travelled in early November 2014 and took the long flight to Kathmandu. There are various ways of getting to Bhutan, either via Delhi or Kathmandu and depending on what flight you take, there can be a long transfer time. I took one of the longer options but wanted to overnight in Kathmandu both ways mainly because on the way back I would have more time to go shopping in Thamel and visit Kilroys famous bar and restaurant. Whatever option you decide, Mountain Kingdoms are very flexible. The best entry into Bhutan must be the flight from Kathmandu to Paro. I begged the check in lady at the airport to give me a window seat on the left hand side. I wasn't disappointed - the whole range of the Himalayas stood before my eyes and there above them all was Everest. Then you enter the Kingdom of Bhutan and life will never be the same. What a beautiful country steeped in its Buddhist traditions. Everyone smiles a welcome and nothing is too much trouble. I was with a select party of four. All of us good friends who have travelled together for many years. We had a guide Tashi who was marvellous and a driver who used to chauffer the Royal Family until he retired. Good job as the roads are apt to be unmade, very windy and strewn with avalanche debris. I won't give details about my holiday in Bhutan as it is waiting there for anyone to enjoy. I just want to say that Mountain Kingdoms came up trumps. This is the first time I have used them and it won't be the last.

Right from the beginning when this trip was just an idea, Mountain Kingdoms came up with suggested itineraries until everything came together. They have been very supportive and provided top quality staff. They have always been available to answer last minute questions. I think they are an excellent company.

Signed up for East to West, A Journey across Bhutan - with Mountain Kingdoms. Every thing was excellent - itinerary, hotels, meals, transportation, staff team, service from office staff, trip dossier. I would strongly recommend this trip to anyone interested in the culture and having the experience of hiking through the countryside to visit villages and monasteries.

Mountain Kingdoms is a long-established tour operator - originally specializing in the Himalayan region but now offering active trips to many other regions. Their trips are good value, they promote small group travel with a maximum of twelve participants, and they pride themselves on working with and benefitting the local people. I have now registered for nine of their trips, and can highly recommend all of them.

An excellent 5 day trek on the Druk Path in Bhutan. well led by a most interesting and knowledgeable local guide, our group of ten experienced a varied environment and visited many places of cultural interest. The support staff and horses did a great job in transporting our gear and having the camps and hot food ready for us every day. Hotels during the rest of the holiday exceeded expectations to give a great overall experience of a fascinating country.

Information from and organisation by Mountain Kingdoms was first class. From both their website and brochures a great deal of information was provided. Efficient and friendly staff whenever contact was made. Highly recommended!

The trek is 14 days from Paro via Laya to Gasa. The highest pass is just over 5,000m and, while breathless at times, we managed to avoid altitude sickness. The mountains en route, including Jomolhari and Jichu Drake, are spectacular. Our guide was excellent and the arrangements generally worked well. Either side of the trek we had some cultural visits and our guide was very responsive to the group's needs. Overall an experience it would be hard to beat.

In Bhutan Mountain Kingdoms is tied up with Bhutan Tourism Corporation Limited. They are both very experienced and the administration and organisation were very good. The staff at MK were very helpful in talking things through on the phone beforehand and helping us to decide whether we were up to the trek.

An all-round fantastic holiday which encompassed both off the beaten track visits as well as the better known "must sees".

They used their specialist knowledge of the area to devise a superb and varied programme that made the best possible use of our time but never seemed hurried.

Itinerary provided for the holiday did not match brochure itinerary to a sufficient extent. I understand that adventure holidays may always be subject to change but the mismatch was more fundamental than that. Trip to Supai was an unpleasant experience and unfortunate last 3 days of the holiday, contrasting very poorly with walking in the glorious National Parks. One trek Grand Canyon trek (Bright Angel Trail) and our trek in Bryce (Fairytale Loop) were excellent. Observation Point, via the East Mesa trail, in Zion, was also very good.

Not sure who you mean by the tour operator. Mountain Kingdoms (who sold the holiday) seem to be a good and efficient organisation in the UK. The deliverer of the holiday in America (Adventure Travel West) less good and clearly some communication problems between the two.

This was our sixth holiday with Mountain Kingdoms. It was, as usual, well planned and very enjoyable with gorgeous scenary both on the coast, bay and in the mountains. An unforgettable experience.

Mountain Kingdoms are consistently good. Internal transport was very good. Our guide was excellent and we consider the whole holiday a success and well worth the cost.

Walking trip to Montenegro. Scenery fantastic, lots of things seen and done. Trips on train, boat, bus, car. Saw most of country.

Good pre-trip information, good organisation, everything as described. Good leader with excellent support

a splendid, reasonably challenging walk with fine scenery and wildlife

well planned and documented route with good accommodation and meals

Mountain Kingdoms arranged a tailor made trip for us as we couldn't manage the dates of their group departures for Leh and the Indus valley trails. The walking was gentle/moderate and there was ample time to acclimatise to the altitude before we started. Good hotels and guide for the walks. We then had three nights on a houseboat on Dal Lake in Kashmir which was a memorable end to our trip.

We found Mountain Kingdoms extremely helpful and efficient at every stage. It was a complicated itinerary with several internal flights because of the addition of Kashmir. All the connections, hotels and transfers worked like clockwork - we were very relieved and most impressed! They were also quite happy to make some changes that we asked for. It was our third walking trip arranged by them - and we shall certainly travel with them again.