Who's travelled with Collette?
 

Hi All .. I've been looking seriously at both Collette and Insight Vacations for a trip to the Switzerland/Austria area next year. Who has travelled with both these tour operators and what was your experience? One thing that was told to me by a travel agency was that Collette seems to cancel trips suddenly. Has anyone had that happen? Globus is also in the running and you've given alot of really good feedback on them. But, both Collette and Insight seem to have what I want. Please Advise. Thanks for your help.

I've travelled with Insight and was extremely pleased with them. I went to Italy for 2 weeks and really can't say anything negative, of course, our tour director was the absolute best, I almost felt like I had a personal tour director. If you check Insight's website, you'll see that many of their tours are guaranteed departures.

Like Savannah, I am exploring the opportunities. Spent some time on TripTalk, and my eyes hurt, try to read white letters on the blue background!

Can anybody share Collette experience? Insight has 2 tours scheduled, one is jumping from country to country, and another is 15 days, a bit too long for me.

Collette is considered somewhere between Globus and Tauck. Not sure where it would be placed in relation to Insight. Probably comprable. Take a look at which itinerary suits you best. Check out where the hotels are located and what is included in the price of the tour. Visit means you go inside and view means you see the outside either by bus or foot. What tours are you considering?

When you're ready to pay the non-refundable deposit call the tour company directly to ask if they have minimum participants for that tour.

By the way, it's not only trip cancellation, it's also you can get bumped, happens too.

I found 3 similar tours, in case one is cancelled. Try to make a back-up plan.

I travelled with Collette in June, 2001.
I took the Britian,Scotland,Wales & Ireland tour for 16 days. I went alone since my husband couldn't come. It was the first time I'd been out of the country. The Hotels were wonderful and the food was the best. We had 3 entrees to choose from each night. (not all tours give you a choice) Mostly all meals were included and the trip covered all options. Even a theatre show in London. The tour guide was wonderful and had a lot of knowledge of the history. Lots of stops for gifts, and photo shots. Enough time on your own to enjoy the cities. Lots of 2 day stays also. Much fun on the bus and the 40 people were like a family when we finished the tour. I still keep in touch with some of them.
I am booking a tour next year June 2007 with Collette again. I will be doing the Exploring the Alpine Countries. I know that this will be a wonderful trip again. Collette is just a step down from Tauck Tours. But we met lots of people on Tauck at the stops we made.
My friend and I are in our early 60's and I know we'll have a great time.

I also took a Collette tour to Norway. It was great. Great guide, great meals also very good pace. The highlight was the fabulous hotels in amazing locations. Oslo right in the middle of the city, Stalheim-almost unbelievable and Geiranger (sp?) all were superb!

bookmarking

Hi Savannah. I work with Collette, I would choose a guaranteed departure date. Collette has those dates that are avaialble and will go no matter what.

hi, i traveled with collette a few years back. i did spain with them. although the itenerary was wonderful we found the food they served us was not up to our liking. by the 3rd day of touring we desided to dine at other restraunts and just lose the money we spent with the tour. the hotels were all very nice but most were a little farther out of town. also,most tours that they took us on were very limited meaning we went to the places of interest but just drove by and were told what each sight was. we spent short time at each place where we would have prefered much more time. we have also done taulk tours and collette is no comparison.

I traveled with Collette in 2006 on their Italian Vistas tour and had a fabulous time! In fact, I'm doing the exact tour again this year! As for Collette cancelling, that's not what I've heard. In fact, if you look at their website you can choose a date with a guaranteed departure. Maybe your travel agent is trying to steer to you to a company where she gets a bonus or something? One KEY difference I found in researching and comparing Collette to others like Globus, Brendan and Insight is that Collette uses superior hotels! When I was comparing Italy hotels, Collette had MUCH better hotels than the others. Some others may have one really good hotel and then most are pretty average tourist fare. I also feel that Collette includes more......we had unlimited wine with our dinners......they thew in lots of extras and the tour guide, Gary, was FANTASTIC! I hope we get him again this year. Last year, I did this tour with my parents and sister. I'm doing the same one becuase my hubby gets to go this year and let's face it there's NO way to be bored seeing the sights again in Italy. haha I can't wait. I highly recommend Collette! My parents have also done their Canadian Rockies tour and RAVED about it. Again, they stayed in FABULOUS hotels.......MUCH nicer than the competitors. Just my two cents......:) Melissa