The British Isles in Depth Reviews

Maisie at Global was very helpful and the trip itself was varied and very comfortable. I had a great time.

Overall the trip was good. But in some places more time was needed to explore. All meals were of a good standard as well as the hotel/motels we stayed at. More time needed in Edinburgh to explore so much to see. Extra activities were good although some were a pricey for what you got. Tour director and bus driver were fantastic and very knowledgeab ...read morele.

We have recently returned from the Cosmos British Isles in Depth Tour. This was our 4th Cosmos trip and will definitely not be our last. Our Tour Director was well organised and very informative, coach drivers were competent and careful. We felt safe even when travelling on narrow country roads and lanes. Our tour group was great and many new friendships ...read more were forged.

Accommodation was comfortable, well appointed and usually centrally located. Included and optional excursions were varied and enjoyable. With so many towns, cities, places of interest and historic sites to visit this is a "busy" tour that does require some early starts. These early starts mean that you often beat the crowds at the more popular attractions...definitely an advantage. Free time is sometimes limited due to distances to travel, but we have made a list of places that we would like to revisit in the future.

We thoroughly enjoyed the entire trip and would recommend it. The scenery is stunning, the history amazing! Booking through Global Journeys was seamless and our consultant, Georgie, was efficient and always available to answer our questions.

The tour started and finished at the Novotel Hotel in Hammersmith - very good hotel, as were all of our hotels - well placed for access to the London Underground - very good breakfasts. The circumstances of our tour were unusual in that this was one of Cosmos' first tours after the pandemic, and our tour numbers were deliberately limited to 21. We still ...read more had a full-sized (brand new Cosmos bus, and we really enjoyed the extra space.

There were so many highlights of our trip. We were thrilled by the freshness of the Spring countryside in all countries visited (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and Wales. Places that really appealed included Oxford, Stratford, York, Edinburgh,, the Scottish Highands, Loch Ness (cruise), Glen Coe, Belfast, Giants Causeway, Londonderry (Derry), Cliffs of Moher, Dingle Peninsula, Killarney, Ring of Kerry, Tranmore, Kilkenny, Dublin, Liverpool (Beatles), Cardiff, and Plymouth.

We especially enjoyed the 2-night stays, and there were quite a few, with additional activities usually added on these occasions.

Our tour director, Peter, and driver, Kevin, were excellent, friendly, and knowledgeable. We really appreciated Kevin's careful driving, especially on some very narrow roads - also appreciated not doing the driving myself and therefore being able to take lots more pictures. Fine weather prevailed, and this was a special bonus! We also enjoyed our travelling companions.

We enjoyed travelling with Cosmos very much, and would certainly travel with them again!

The Cosmos trip of the UK was excellent value for money although the tour tended to drag a bit for the last three days. Tara was an excellent tour director and her knowledge was outstanding. The Scottish highlands were the highlight.

Some wonderful scenery along with incisive commentary provided by our tour director Liz, who along with our driver Barry kept us on our schedule. Hotels were by and large acceptable however a couple of them for whatever reason were poorer than others.

Our In Depth British Isles tour was wonderful. We had thirty three wonderful companions, and a tour director whose knowledge and humour was a delight. Our driver was excellent and made us feel very safe on some very narrow roads. We have not been on many coach tours previously, just two, but we soon realised we would have missed so much if we had of ...read more gone down the path of doing our own thing this time. Our journey was very smooth indeed. The only negative comments would be some of the hotel rooms being incredibly small and a few odd buffet dinners left a lot to be desired. In the end, I would recommend Cosmos and Global Journeys without any issues.

Tour was wonderful. Our tour guide was great funny and helpful. Would love to tour with him again as he was full of information and facts. Certainly would recommend our guide to anyone and the holiday as well.

Look, there's not much I'd want to change with this wonderful tour. I can't express how amazing our Tour Leader, Helen, was. Such a lovely taste of everything UK... some places I need to return to and others I could have done with less time in. Having said that, we were there at a very busy time of the year and this most likely affected our view. I ...read more was happy with the accommodation, some issues at places, but it's really the least of your trip. Baggage was handled for us at every stop which was marvellous.

Some of the excursions were phenomenal (do not miss Bunratty Castle evening!), others not so much, but it's all still part of the experience. Plenty of free time to find your own feet, which I appreciate as I like to 'feel' a city on the public transport systems and chatting with the locals. Lots of included meals (quite expensive to eat and drink in the UK). My special tip: go straight to the lounge on the ferry crossings... will cost you a few $, but better seating, drinks and food included, and toilet facilities.

The group we travelled with was fantastic with the exception of a couple, but that is to be expected. Great group well picked.

Our tour guide was a let down, he knew his stuff but was not what I had with previous tours. I will give you an example - left accommodation at 9.30am arrived at the Blarney Castle at 10.15am and were told that we did not ...read more have time to go there. It was on my bucket list so I went with two others of the group, did not have time to do anything but get to the stone and go to the rest rooms - no lunch. I asked the tour guide why he did not leave earlier, his comment was that it did not open till 10.00am, but this was not the case as it was open at 9.00am. This happened time and time again. I don't know who decides what time we leave but we left later than most of the tours that I have been on previously.

Touring the countryside was great but it was same old same old and most of the group went to sleep, too much of the same thing. The coach driver was rude at times, and drove as if he was on a race track. Never slowing down for things of interest for photos, just kept going fast. I approached the tour guide about his driving at one time in particular because I was very scared. He told me later that he had spoken to him. Good for a while but it didn't last. I found out later that I was not the only one to complain. We had a relief driver Tony and he was what I have had on previous tours, slowed down on points of interest, was there at the coach door to help if necessary and was friendly.

Missed out on many things because we did not have time, in my opinion we left too late. I forgot to say, that we were told things of interest when we were almost past them, not good. I could say a lot more but I will leave it there - very disappointed.

Accommodation great, but would have like to have a fridge in our room and a laundry at some of the accommodation. Laundry too expensive to have it done at the hotels. The optional excursions were great and a great variety. No meet or greet night which would have been great, plus no last night get together which I felt was disappointing.

I would think twice next time I go on a tour and look into things a bit more. I have been on tours with Cosmos before and I thought it would be the same.

This was our first coach holiday and it exceeded our expectations. Simon, the tour guide was droll but was able to maintain good cheer whilst enforcing the rules, e.g. seat rotation. Graham, the driver was very efficient and a smooth operator ensuring a comfortable ride. We had done our research, so were expecting the levels of comfort in the various ...read more hotels. Some better than others, but that was part of the fun of the trip. The excursions were well organised and a lot of fun. Unexpected delights of visiting small ports or villages was wonderful, e.g. Ullapooll.

The only point of difference that we would like to see changed was that the tour included 10 dinners, which on the whole consisted of reasonable choices of dishes, served at table, but three of those dinners consisted of buffet which we feel should be offered as a choice to forego and not have to pay for at time of purchasing the tour. I personally find buffets appalling, (breakfast apart). One buffet dinner is one too many, but to have three thrust on us, was outrageous.

Great time. The guide was very knowledgeable and explained everything in detail. The hotel choices were excellent. The places we went to see were beautiful. Will definitely book our next trip with Yvonne Brookes from Global Journeys.

The trip was excellent spoilt by a disappointing last night stay at a hotel where the bedroom was a joke, could hardly fit our suitcases in and we also could hardly move around. Everybody was complaining. Not good!!! Our guide and coach driver were excellent.

Toured June/July 2018.This was our second trip with Cosmos and we weren't disappointed. If you are looking for a lively tour that shows you much of what the UK has to offer this tour is highly recommended. Our coach driver, Alistair, was very skillful and showed great professionalism throughout the trip in his ability in maneuvering our well appointed ...read more coach in some very tight situations. Our tour director, Annmarie, was also very knowledgeable in both the history, sights and tales of all the areas we visited. Her organisational skills meant we avoided the large crowds and enjoyed the sights that much better.

The meals provided were of good quality and quantity, and the hotels, whilst not usually in the "middle of town" were of a mixed variety. They ranged from modern brick, a/c buildings to rooms in old stately buildings with varying standards of inclusions within each of these properties. If we had a complaint, it was that during our trip the UK was having unseasonably hot weather and the hotels didn't cope with this at all. There were no fans available and in many cases the windows were incapable of being opened - meaning very uncomfortable sleeping conditions, but the positive was the washing dried o'nite! Another thing we found was that the Holiday Inn London Kensington High Street was extremely expensive and had very small rooms but was in a central location.

The optional excursions were mostly of a very good standard and they complemented the overall tour. One thing that might add to the tour's charm is possibly a bit longer in Wales, especially in the Snowdonia region.
We found the tour group very easy to get along with. It was a large group of 47 people from Australia, NZ, USA, Canada and Hungary who all wanted to see and do as much as possible on our trip. The booking process with Global Journeys was one we found to very easy and stress free. Madeline was in contact with us throughout this period and also ensured we were informed of the late hotel change prior to starting the tour.

The tour was pretty good but very tiring, I think they could cover a little less distance and more time in less places. The accommodation and meals were good. Some of the optional excursions were a little expensive for what you get. Overall not a bad tour if you can take the pace. The transfers were excellent.

We had a wonderful tour and enjoyed the informative commentary provided by our Tour Director Martin. He was always friendly and attentive as was our coach driver George. We had a great mix of people, easygoing, and friendly which made the tour heaps of fun. The places we saw were amazing and the tour made accessibility very easy for all. A 2 night stay ...read more in Ireland offered a great laundry service 20 euro a bag full, use it.

The tour covered a pretty extensive area & exceeded our expectations. We thoroughly enjoyed it, although there where parts I could have lived without. We had a small group of 24 and very friendly bunch. Tour director, Peter, was excellent. Hats off to the drivers, they were skillful. This was our 3rd tour with Cosmos tours and we will be going on the ...read more fourth and fifth soon...

The accommodation with this trip was great. Except for our 2nd stay at Kensington high street, I'm not sure what happened but in the 3 weeks we were on the tour the hotel was off its game. The included meals were quite good with the exception of Jury's inn Plymouth, I chose to eat dinner off-site, sorry but it was bad but I would not hesitate to recommend this tour to anyone.

We would book through Global Journeys again. The Cosmos tour was excellent value, with the tour guide brilliant as was the bus driver. All accommodation was of a generally high standard and there was no place we stayed at that we wouldn't be happy to stay at again. Tip: Don't pack too many clothes.

There were 30 people on our tour and on a whole ...read more we all got along, although at times a couple of people become annoying. The other's were a pleasure to meet, talk to and be with. We only went on 4 of the optional extra excursions and found two to be off an excellent stand and the other two of a poor standard.

I have just returned from the 24 day British Isles in Depth trip with Cosmos. I have previously travelled with Cosmos. I booked my trip on-line through Global Journeys. On this occasion, Yvonne Brooks was the consultant who helped with the booking. I usually pay the single supplement. However, Yvonne advised that there was an opportunity to share, so ...read more I took up the option and had a very pleasant experience.

The standard of accommodation, optional excursions and entertainment, as well as included meals was of a high standard. It would have been lovely to have had more two night stays in places such as Strathpeffer in the west Scottish Highlands, but that would have entailed a much longer trip. Quite frankly, Scotland and Ireland were my favourite parts of the trip. It would be possible to fly into Glasgow or Edinburgh, hire a car and do Scotland and Ireland yourself. Or, if you had the time and money hire a camper van and take six months or so to do this trip yourself. Autumn is a good time to travel in these parts of the world as the weather is good and it is not too busy.

My fellow travellers were a mixed bag of ages and personalities and pleasant company. We all mixed freely throughout the whole trip. Our tour guide, Fiona, was extremely knowledgeable concerning the local history and gave commentary throughout the trip. Our bus driver, Mark, was a pleasant and experienced driver and his skill negotiating some of those narrow winding roads was much appreciated.

It's hard to say what exactly was my favourite part of the journey as there were so many picturesque coastlines and memorable sightseeing opportunities every single day. I definitely think that this trip is value for money and suitable for any person who is reasonably fit.

One word of warning. Don't take too many clothes! You really don't need six (or 10) of everything. Pack light. It will be much easier. As you are on the bus most of the time, you don't get dirty. You can generally wash your 'smalls' and get them dry in the bathroom. Do take a couple of ' better' items for changing for dinner - but not over the top.

The tour covered a pretty extensive area & had exceeded our expectations. We thoroughly enjoyed it to the maximum. The group were pretty nice. Tour director, Tom, was excellent. Drivers were skillful. This was our 3rd tour with Cosmos tours and we will be going on the fourth and fifth soon... Some of the hip cups were the accommodations with this trip, ...read more but I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone.