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Reviews 823
Customer
May 31,2024Excellent tour of Peru at a good price when compared to other operators when you consider the accommodation quality, Andean Explorer train and number of local tours included. Carlos the full time tour guide was excellent throughout. Everything happened as advertised and flawlessly. One point I would make is that C&K should provide details of all tour extension options and local add ons before departure so that we are aware of them, sadly one local add on was not offered to me (Sacsayhuamne tour in Cusco) which was a real shame.
Sheila Gardner
May 31,2024Excellent service from start to finish. Very helpful staff who discussed concerns and explained things in great detail, . Holiday was amazing even though changes to itinerary had to be made because of the earthquake at short notice. Accommodation of the highest standard. Amazing local guide, nothing too much trouble for him.
DOH
May 31,2024The tour was well organised with hotels/buses etc all just as expected and advertised. The tour manager (Matthew) was well-informed, knew the country and was able to deal well with little issues as they arose. With only 5 days and much to see you have to accept that you can't see everything but the itinery covered all the main items and still allowed some free time for individual looking around. Gives me an incentive to go back with more time to see all that I missed.
Marc ter Kuile
May 30,2024We had a great trip in China thanks to Nick Coy who organised our hotels and guides for Shanghai, Xian and Beijing. Nick suggested a change in our itinerary which proved to be perfect.
Isabel
May 30,2024The team at Cox and Kings, both the booking team in the UK and the staff on the ground in Egypt ensured the whole holiday ran smoothly. They couldn't have been more helpful or expert. Special mention goes to George, the Tour Co-ordinator in Cairo, who was fantastic!
Gary Holder
May 23,2024We had a fantastic time on the Splendours of Jordan tour. It’s a fascinating country. The accommodation was superb and the food wonderful. The trip was very well organised and our guide Mo was extremely knowledgeable, enthusiastic and friendly. The locals were friendly and we had no concerns about our safety at any stage. We were a bit surprised we did not visit any mosques considering we were touring a Moslem country. Also beware of mosquitoes in the desert! We would highly recommend this tour.
customer
May 22,2024We returned from our tour of South America in April 2024 and what in incredible holiday we have had! The itinerary, that Ewa at Cox and Kings put together for us at short notice was exceptional and included many iconic sights, landscapes, interesting cities and great hotels. What was really impressive was the seamless travelling between destinations which included five internal flights and transfers, three trains, cable cars and a boat trip. Our tour guides at each location were absolutely first class, really good. Always on time, very friendly, professional and very knowledgeable. This made our trip so easy and hassle free from start to finish. Cox and Kings provide an exceptional service. Thank you.
John Prout
May 22,2024We have booked for Southern India in 2025 - with a tailored itinerary covering 3 weeks. Have to say the plan for the trip seems very interesting - with lots of good suggestions and information. We have delt with Vasu in the past - and as before he has been excellent in advising on our trip.
Mr Sirett
May 22,2024Hotel in Naples was pretty poor. Firstly we were dropped off in a street near the hotel as the cab could not get up the road as it was too narrow, and we were told it was just up there. We walked about 5-600 hundred yards and could not find it so asked various people and we were sent in various directions until a butcher in a shop nearby told us where it was. Behind a gated complex and then through other gates up 50 stairs carrying our own suitcases we eventually find the door to reception. ( we are both over 70 ) not a good way to start a holiday. We contacted C & K whose answer was you never mentioned you had mobility issues to which the reply was we don’t and requested we were moved on to our next destination a day earlier than planned. This they did. But never contacted us to see if everything was ok. Pretty poor customer service.
Mr Chiverton
May 22,2024Excellent group of companions. Really interesting country to visit. Good hotels
Peter
May 22,2024The tour clearly states that this is for the more hardy travellers and rightly so . Some of the treks were quite strenuous with lots of early starts and late finishes . The organisation was great the tour leader was excellent and all the paperwork was very informative . The spotting of wildlife was fantastic and worth all the trekking and travelling . The only thing stopping me from giving 5 stars was the last two days seemed a little wasted . We travelled a long way to stop at a beach that we stayed one night and got there late . That would be my only issue other than that this was a fantastic trip
Picky Patricia
May 21,2024A good and interesting tour - even if I did find it a little too hot to be walking around Buddist temples for several hours in the hot sunshine with no hat (or shoes). I think the tour should have avoided the northern safari park as this was really a complete waste of time because of the layout of the park - driving for an hour and a half (or more) to see one elephant (and certainly no leopards) and then an hour and a half back. Yes, Cox & Kings managed to be first vehicle into the park so we didn't have clouds of dust from other vehicles in front of us on the park roads and could see the few animals that were around but it was disappointing. Could Yala Park not be included instead as part of the tour? And this would allow for a drive back along the southern coast to experience whale watching/Galle for one night and hence to Colombo airport? The group was friendly and cohesive and our guide, Akorn, knowledgable and informative. I would criticise 3 things - the lack of information about timing of toilet stops on our journeys; we got lovely complimentary metal water bottles (to save on plastic) but we had to refill them from (you have guessed it) plastic water bottles.. the bottle was very heavy and I am afraid I abandoned it on the journey (as did many other of the group|). This is a PR stunt and a waste of money until hotels have water stations for refilling said metal bottles. Thirdly, the hike in Horton National Park nearly killed one of our group and two fellow travellers had to spend a couple of hours assisting him to the finishing time. The difficulties of the walk should be emphasised and when we realised how difficult it was (half way round at Worlds End viewpoint) we were confronted by the decision to go back (a very difficult scramble upstream in a rocky river bed) or to carry on over some equally difficult terrain. Actually, 4 criticisms, our visit to the tea plantation was perfunctory and crowded, overly commercial (one of our group spent £45 on a very small bag of the "best" tea", and an unpleastant experience. As the Cox & King group is small in size, couldn't Cox & Kings use smaller and less-commercial local based tea and herb plantations and put money their way? We did pass many of these on our journey through the highlands.
Paul Bewley
May 16,2024We have just returned from the Grand Tour of South America, small group tour, with Cox & Kings. What a fabulous experience. Everything worked like clockwork. All of the guides were very professional with excellent local knowledge and were very passionate about the history and culture of their respective countries. Special mention to Juan Carlos in Peru, Ivar in Bolivia and Gus in Iguazu. All of the hotels and experiences visited were first class, including the Andean Explorer train journey. All flights and tickets for attractions were seamlessly organised, with no hitches at all. We would definitely book a tour with Cox & Kings in the future. Thank you for a great holiday.
Malcolm
Apr 30,2024My wife and I have recently returned from our “Journey Through the Himalayan Foothills” tour. We booked this tour because we had an excellent trip with Cox and Kings to Egypt last year. Cox and Kings operation in India is extremely poor in comparison. We have written to Cox and Kings detailing the significant number of serious issues which adversely affected our enjoyment of this tour, but 3 weeks later we are still awaiting a response to our concerns. The key issues described below raise fundamental concerns regarding Cox and Kings approach to Health and Safety, Data Protection, Tour management, and the use of Misleading Information in their sales documents Misleading Tour Description We were advised one week before we departed on our trip that the Kangra Mountain Railway, which was included in the tour, was not running. A check on the internet shows that the railway was not running at the time of our booking. Why weren't we advised at the time of booking? Delhi Airport -Domestic We were met at Delhi airport international arrivals by an apparently knowledgeable representative of Cox and Kings. He directed us to the wrong check in area in the domestic terminal. A minor issue, but not a good start to our holiday. Bus transportation The tour involved a significant amount of road travel on poor quality roads and therefore the state and quality of the vehicles was fundamental to our enjoyment of the overall tour. The two vehicles sent to collect us from the airport and planned to be with us for the entire trip, had a number of key failings. • The vehicles had factory fitted seat belts, but a significant number were unusable because they were broken. • Spare wheel on one of the vehicles was bald and probably illegal. • Air conditioning fitted but not working in one of the vehicles. • Gear box whining badly on one of the vehicles. • Seats uncomfortable and leg room restricted on both vehicles. Fundamentally the vehicles supplied by Cox and Kings were worn out and not in accordance with recognised safety standards . They were definitely not in accordance with the sales brochure “We specialise in taking travellers, in comfort, to places …” Following complaints from all the members of the tour party one of the busses was changed. The replacement model had less seats, more legroom, and more comfortable seats. Clearly better busses were available. The replacement of only one vehicle to a better standard resulted in half the group having to continue to put up with poor leg room, and uncomfortable seats, resulting in a degree of acrimony amongst the tour party. The seat belt issue remained throughout the journey as did the use of worn spare tyres. Cox and Kings were clearly economising on transportation costs and appear to have a blatant disregard for the safety of its clients. First Class Toy Train from Shimla to Kandaghat This was supposed to be one of the highlights of the holiday. The tour brochure clearly states there will be first class tickets. Although the train had first class compartments, our party did not have first class tickets. We had second class tickets, and these were not even together. Our experience on the train was significantly diminished by the bench seats and reduced visibility on the crowded second-class carriages. Was this a deliberate act by Cox and Kings to save money or were they so disorganised that they booked the tickets too late, and no first-class seats were available? Data Protection Our guide for most of the tour left us on the afternoon of Saturday 29th March and advised us that a new guide would escort us in the morning to the train in Chandigarh. Our guide passed the train tickets for our trip to one of the tour party. Unbeknown to us the tickets contained personnel information about the entire tour party. This was a clear breach of the data protection act. Chandigarh to Delhi Train The booked seats for the Chandigarh to Delhi Train were spread across two carriages and many couples including ourselves were not even sat together. It is unbelievable that a company such as Cox and Kings, which declares that it has great experience of India, is unable to purchase tickets so a couple can sit together for a 3 hour train journey. Summary Having lived and worked abroad for many years we fully understand and expect that things will go wrong and that standards can be significantly lower than in the UK. However, the vast majority of the issues raised above were directly under the control of Cox and Kings and should not therefore have occurred . It is unfortunate that a reasonably expensive tour which includes stays at generally good hotels and some excellent sites can be spoilt by a bad tour operator. Clearly Cox and Kings is not the high-quality tour company it used to be. Avoid Cox and Kings, if travelling to India!
Malcolm Crow
Apr 30,2024This is a very good tour if you want to see the top sights of the Golden Triangle in only a fortnight. The schedule is well-thought out, and although there is a fair bit of time on coaches (inevitable given the size of the place), the pace was good. Our guide Prem, together with his local agents, was superbly organised, so everything worked faultlessly - the knowledge he imparted on the sights was excellent. The hotels selected ranged from good to exceptional. Although you've seen the Taj Mahal on TV and in print many many times and therefore think the real thing could be a bit of a let-down, it is just stupendous, exceeding expectations. The train ride up to Shimla is a great experience, as is the place itself - but watch the temperature difference at the start of April: it hailed several times, causing great excitement amongst the Indian tourists there, but leaving us underdressed foreigners decidedly shivery. One warning: being in a group, your need for, and preferred length of, carpet and jewellery workshop shopping opportunities may not align with those of the rest of the group and the schedule !
Consumer
Apr 27,2024Extremely helpful staff willing to go the extra mile looking for the best option re the holiday and the flights. This booking was for Mexico but I have also travelled to Jordan which again was very well organised and an excellent holiday. The small group size is particularly good.
S Halls
Apr 24,2024We had a truly wonderful tour in Jordan. Our guide was amazing. We were in a group of 12 and that was really great a lovely bunch of people. The hotels were great and the foods delicious. The places visited wonderful. Everyone we met were friendly and accommodating. The tour by Cox and Kings was extremely well arranged with absolutely no problems. Would definitely use them again and recommend to others.
Howard
Apr 23,2024Just arrived back from the above trip and overall, it was an excellent trip, there are areas for improvement, however, in general it was a good trip. The trip is intense and even though it states you get afternoons to yourself, generally you don’t as you are pushing for time. The guides were good, especially Loius in Peru and Paula in BA. The hotels were generally good and provided comfortable stays and accommodation. Our worst hotel was the first one in Lima, where we were supposed to have a superior room but it was cramped and dated. Also, in Rio we paid extra for an ocean view and what we ended up with was a corner room with a “glance” of the ocean. I would not pay extra in future. The sights, scenery and views were exceptional, it also helped that we had a really good crowd of people (18) who generally got along and enjoyed the trip. The transport in Peru could have been of a better quality, as the roads and time you spent travelling were hard on the body. Transport elsewhere was good and comfortable. The Belmond Andean Adventure made the holiday, the food, comfort and service were excellent and could not be faulted. The sunrise on Lake Titicaca at the end of the journey just finished off the 24-hour trip. The altitude in Peru is definitely something to consider, as it plays havoc with the body and most people in our group suffered in one way or another. I would also say that a certain amount of fitness is required as you do carry out quite a lot of walking and there is a lot of climbing up steps etc. If I recall the tour info does not really mention this and it is a point most people made. The tour, although promoted by C&K is not a C&K tour as each country is subcontracted out to another tour company. The general feeling from those on the tour was that C&K should regularly send somebody on the tours as certain things could have been improved, for example the hydrofoil trip on Lake Titicaca. Also, when you eat with the complementary meals, the establishments could have been of a better quality. Fortunately, there are only a few meals provided. The booking process was easy enough and my consultant, Jo McCreery, could not be faulted. Jo even called when we got back to see how it went and if there was any feedback. Overall, it was a great trip and well organised and generally things flowed well.
Nigel Limb
Apr 23,2024Well organised, good standard of hotels and extremely good & knowledgeable tour guide.
A Moore
Jun 02,2024We went on the Southern Caucuses tour (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia). We were a small group of seven in a minibus. We had a different guide for each country but all were excellent and anxious to tell us all about their countries. Myself, I felt there was too much emphasis on politics, though others may have been happy with this. We had to move hotel in Georgia as ours was near the protests but this was handled smoothly and efficiently. This holiday does involve some long journeys but there are plenty of "comfort stops"and anyway a good time for a snooze. We did see some amazing sights though. Hotels were good although in quirky Chateau Mere in Georgia I got soaked from a high pressure basin tap with a tiny sprinkler and for some reason the toilet roll holder was fitted directly behind you. Very difficult! The hospitality in all three countries was amazing,- so much food and such friendly people. I would say we had two hiccups. Coming home the time between connecting flights was too tight. In Istanbul we just made the London flight as it was boarding. In Heathrow we were due an overnight stay in the Hilton T5, to catch a flight to Northern Ireland the next day. Cox and Kings let us down badly here. The hotel had no booking for us! We spent a very embarrassing time at the front desk as Hilton tried to find our booking. I produced our receipt from Cox and Kings which showed our agents name but not mine. There was a wedding at the hotel and we were told there were no rooms left and this was at nearly midnight. I tried to ringCox and Kings on the emergency number on our paperwork but it was unobtainable. What use is that? I mentioned to Hilton that I was an Honors member and after a wait for the manager, he kindly offered us a suite for the night and offered complimentary breakfast which had been on our original booking. Well done Hilton - but disaster for Cox and Kings. I think I would travel with the company again as the holiday itself was well organized. Just a pity someone messed up on our hotel booking.