Europe National Parks Tours & Packages Tours & Trips

What travelers are saying

"What a wonderful, wonderful time we’ve had! Safe to say Team Ammar is not going to win the Tour de France anytime soon……. Couldn’t ask for friendlier or more obliging hosts. Highlights? Calella de Palafrugell and the pretty medieval villages….Mostafa"

What travelers are saying

"I was interested in a number of holidays offered by Equitour and requested answers to some straight forward questions through their "contact us" section of their website on multiple occasions. No answers. No contact. If I can't get the company to show an interest before I give them my money, I can only guess at their attitude one I've paid up. Im planning to book through Blackthorn and Brook. Responded immediately with answers to everything and mailed a gorgeous brochure."

What travelers are saying

"First, let me say our tour guide Tomomi S. is hands down THE best tour guide I’ve ever had - knowledgeable, fun and made great efforts to ensure that we were comfortable and happy (MTSobek tour guides are independent contractors. Tomomi also works for other Adventure/Tour companies) Secondly, Japan is beautiful, clean and the Japanese people are very welcoming. The hiking in the national parks was amazing. It could have been a truly five-star experience if MtSobek had not cut corners so egregiously. The website said (at the time) group tours are 5-22 people. The tour gets canceled if the minimum is not met. When I paid there were TWO other people booked-a mother and daughter duo. Shortly before our departure date I called to see if the tour would be cancelled. I wanted my money back but Mt Sobek was “pleased to say that the trip would not be canceled”. In other words, I could not get a refund. At the last minute a guy named Matt signed up so there were four of us. Five days into the trip Matt left and took a train back to Tokyo. I said to him “You realize Mt Sobek is not going to refund you”. He said, “I don’t care, Mt Sobek scammed us.” With tax, the tour costs $11,645 for 13 nights. For that price there is an expectation that the accommodations Mt Sobek chooses would be decent and clean. We all fully expected a ‘traditional Japanese experience’ which often means no private bath and 8 out of the 13 nights we slept on futon mats on the floor. However, Mt Sobek consistently booked us in the cheapest Ryokans (hotels) in each area in which we travelled. Most of these hotels were unclean and very out-dated. One Ryokan they booked us in was listed on a hotel website for $40 USD/night when there were much nicer accommodations nearby for $100 USD/night. (The Japanese yen is way down, the luxury Park Hotel in Tokyo was $200 USD/night. A comparable hotel would have been about $800/night in Austin.). We were the only people staying in several hotels that accomadated many more people. The most egregious example of MtSobek’s booking the cheapest rooms is when we were booked at a large traditional ski lodge at the base of a spectacular mountain. It was beautiful on the website but had two very different wings. One wing was modern, clean and beautiful with simple beds. The other wing was very old (similar to a cheap Motel 6 that had not been updated since the 1970’s). The carpet and bathrooms were disgusting and like many of the Ryocans where we stayed the futon mats seemed as though they had not been cleaned In 30 years. Only after our tour guide checked us in did we realize we had been booked in the cheap rooms. I asked Tomo why. Immediately someone from MtSobek reached out to me and said, “gosh, I’m sorry you did not realize you were going to have a traditional Japanese experience”. Really? “Traditional” experience depends upon one’s budget. In the US, “traditional” to some people may be the Marriott, a Motel 6 or the Four Seasons Hotels. We were paying for a Marriott experience and received the one-star Motel 6 experience. Upon arrival in Tokyo I expected to be met at the airport by a driver (as many tour companies do). However, several days before our arrival dates in Tokyo, MtSobek sent an email telling us how to locate taking a city bus from the bustling Tokyo airport. That is interesting if you do not speak Japanese. MtSobek cleverly uses great photography and elaborate descriptions of the national parks and the hiking while using terms like “traditional Japanese experience with tatami-mat sleeping” to disguise sub-standard accommodations. At one point we were looking on-line at the very hotel where we were staying and did not even recognize it from the website pictures. The hiking was amazing. The group size was disappointing with just the three of us. I would absolutely recommend a hiking tour through Japan, just not with MtSobek."

What travelers are saying

"No travel with then completely desaster First and last Hotel accommodations really cheap, they mix you with 40 people in the same bus"

What travelers are saying

"I was interested in a number of holidays offered by Equitour and requested answers to some straight forward questions through their "contact us" section of their website on multiple occasions. No answers. No contact. If I can't get the company to show an interest before I give them my money, I can only guess at their attitude one I've paid up. Im planning to book through Blackthorn and Brook. Responded immediately with answers to everything and mailed a gorgeous brochure."

What travelers are saying

"No travel with then completely desaster First and last Hotel accommodations really cheap, they mix you with 40 people in the same bus"

What travelers are saying

"This was their July 22 Cruise “Delights if the Danube” Absolutely awful company, great at taking your bookings and money but it then ends there. We paid a premium rate for what they listed as “Delights of The Danube” river cruise. They changed our ship, so we did not get what we paid for, and no pool as we originally specified. The drinks in the drinks package had very little choice. One draft beer is all that is available, and that is pretty poor as it is, you can’t even buy bottled beers or any other draught beer as that one is your only choice. Wines at meal times are either red, white or Rosa, no choice, just those three.The ship they put us on “boasted” a new wine bar, it didn’t serve any wines or beers at all the entire week, it wasn’t even stocked or manned, but it did have a kettle and tea or coffee !!!. The trips ashore are advertised to deceive you, this is appalling. Some of the trips are over two and a half hours each way on a coach, and the shorter ones are rushed, don’t be fooled by their misleading advertising. The train journeys are an absolute nightmare, even though we booked first class there and back. You have to rush between connecting trains while dragging your luggage with you, and the connecting times are tight, we felt so sorry for those less able who were severely stressed. On part of the journey we were told that 1st class was not available, we were put in filthy overcrowded carriages, with our luggage carriages away, and professional thieves operate on these trains. Some of our fellow passengers, on our cruise, were robbed on the way to the cruise and the way home. Great Rail offered us the paltry sum of £30 compensation for this. Once we got on the cruise we were excited, but that quickly changed, we spent the first two days moored up overlooking an industrial estate, yes an industrial estate, that’s what Great Rail advertise as a “Delight of the Danube”. When we complained and asked why are we on an industrial estate,we were told “because it’s cheaper than mooring up in a city or town”. We complained to the reps on the cruise, as did numerous others, only to be told that they don’t actually work for Great Rail, they are sub contracted free lancers, and that we would have to take it up with Great Rail upon our return. After numerous phone calls and e-mails we have been offered a derisory amount on one of their vouchers, which only benefits Great Rail, why would we want to go back with such an incompetent company? The communication with Great Rail is appalling once they have your money, be warned. Overall I have to say that Great Rail are appalling, amateurs playing in a market they simply don’t understand, their advertising is very misleading, that’s putting it politely!! The tone of their responses are arrogant, they simply ignore many of the points raised, and they honestly don’t seem to care, they are all image and no substance."

What travelers are saying

"This was their July 22 Cruise “Delights if the Danube” Absolutely awful company, great at taking your bookings and money but it then ends there. We paid a premium rate for what they listed as “Delights of The Danube” river cruise. They changed our ship, so we did not get what we paid for, and no pool as we originally specified. The drinks in the drinks package had very little choice. One draft beer is all that is available, and that is pretty poor as it is, you can’t even buy bottled beers or any other draught beer as that one is your only choice. Wines at meal times are either red, white or Rosa, no choice, just those three.The ship they put us on “boasted” a new wine bar, it didn’t serve any wines or beers at all the entire week, it wasn’t even stocked or manned, but it did have a kettle and tea or coffee !!!. The trips ashore are advertised to deceive you, this is appalling. Some of the trips are over two and a half hours each way on a coach, and the shorter ones are rushed, don’t be fooled by their misleading advertising. The train journeys are an absolute nightmare, even though we booked first class there and back. You have to rush between connecting trains while dragging your luggage with you, and the connecting times are tight, we felt so sorry for those less able who were severely stressed. On part of the journey we were told that 1st class was not available, we were put in filthy overcrowded carriages, with our luggage carriages away, and professional thieves operate on these trains. Some of our fellow passengers, on our cruise, were robbed on the way to the cruise and the way home. Great Rail offered us the paltry sum of £30 compensation for this. Once we got on the cruise we were excited, but that quickly changed, we spent the first two days moored up overlooking an industrial estate, yes an industrial estate, that’s what Great Rail advertise as a “Delight of the Danube”. When we complained and asked why are we on an industrial estate,we were told “because it’s cheaper than mooring up in a city or town”. We complained to the reps on the cruise, as did numerous others, only to be told that they don’t actually work for Great Rail, they are sub contracted free lancers, and that we would have to take it up with Great Rail upon our return. After numerous phone calls and e-mails we have been offered a derisory amount on one of their vouchers, which only benefits Great Rail, why would we want to go back with such an incompetent company? The communication with Great Rail is appalling once they have your money, be warned. Overall I have to say that Great Rail are appalling, amateurs playing in a market they simply don’t understand, their advertising is very misleading, that’s putting it politely!! The tone of their responses are arrogant, they simply ignore many of the points raised, and they honestly don’t seem to care, they are all image and no substance."