Albatross Tours - Brisbane City, Queensland

Heather Colville-Smith

Italian Grande Tour July 2023 - We have had the most amazing time with our tour, we saw so many sights, ate so many fabulous meals and made so many wonderful new friends. Antonia our guide for the tours was an amazing lady, so warm and caring, she went over and above for our group. We could not have had a better person taking care of us. Fabio our bus driver was a very skilled man, especially on those very narrow roads, I would like to personally thank you both. I would highly recommend Albatross Tours, we will definitely be using them again.

caroline Roberts

There were many really great experiences on this trip but a few things I felt let the overall quality of the tour down.

Initial accommodation was just sensational but after the first few stays the standards dropped off. My personal preference is to have a nice outlook from my room...it's important for me, when I want some alone time, to be in a pleasant environment. The last at the Amalfie... I was looking out on a wall 2 metres from my room, over an alley at other people's washing. It was a major disappointment for me after a few other minor ones.

Also the 'my time' was nearly always not where we were staying but where we went on the bus. So minimal time to do domestics and rest when needed. The tour was quite a bit busier than I expected as it sounded so relaxed in the blurb.

However our guide was a total delight and she did an amazing job of kindly herding 27 happy and excited older Aussies and Kiwi's! 6 stars for her for sure...can I give 7?

So the next tour I do, I will check how many hours each day are on the go and do I get a room with a bit of a view....or nice outlook. I would have paid extra if i could have and it would not have left me feeling a bit disappointed.

Harry B McDouall Stuart

I thoroughly enjoyed the Albatross 18 day “Grande Italian Tour”, which for our group commenced from Milan at 14:00 on Wed 25th September and concluded after breakfast in Rome on Saturday 12th October 2019.
Our Albatross tour director was Monica, a seasoned tour director with many years’ experience in the travel industry. She was wonderful – knowledgeable, funny (quirky at times) and above all, a great organizer. She looked after our group extremely well.
Our driver Fabio was another true professional, navigating the large bus around some very tight winding and often narrow roads, where other vehicle drivers were at times quite irresponsible. Great job Fabio.
Perhaps the start of the tour in the Lakes area of northern Italy was my favourite area, followed closely by Tuscany and Umbria.
All the hotels we stayed at are rated separately in Google and TripAdvisor.
I won’t rattle off all the places we visited and the things we did – you can read the tour summary to find that out.
Inland towns including Montecatini Terme, Lucca, Sienna, San Gimignano, Spoleto and Assisi were fantastic and well worthwhile visiting. So much history awaits. Coastal towns like Portovenere and Monterosso on the Cinque Terre were very worthwhile visiting.
After Tuscany and Umbria we drove down south to the Amalfi Coast, stopping briefly at Pompeii for a tour of this historic town.
The drive down to our hotel in Minori was very stressful for out driver Fabio. The roads are narrow and winding, frequently on the edge of high cliffs, and shared with some drivers that don’t give the bus enough space to maneuver.
The Amalfi Coast is beautiful and well worth visiting, but like many tourist areas nowadays, the effects of over-tourism are starting to be obvious. The Isle of Capri was so crowed it almost spoilt the visit – and this is in early October. It is a beautiful region, so don’t be put off by the impact from over tourism, just be prepared.
Our last day was in Rome, a city that needs no comment.
Overall, Albatross has put together a great tour of the main tourist areas of Italy. It was well planned and executed. Kudos to Monica our tour guide for making it all come together so well.

V

Recently travelled to Frankfurt for Andre Rieu, Rhine Castles & Moiselle Vineyards in July. This was the 3rd year that the tour had been run. The itinerary was great with few nights at 1 spot without unpacking and packing too much. The tour manager, Darren, was very organised and offered exceptional commentaries daily. We were driven safely everywhere by Marcus. They were an excellent team. An improvement could be considered is to provide more better choices of food/menu. Being a foodie, I didn't expect a lot from the included restaurants in the itinerary. However, I was able to find few Michelin restaurants during the given free time, which was a lovely surprise to compensate the pork & potatoes offered 3 nights during the whole trip. Apart from that, Andre Rieu was the highlight of the tour, of course! The night was beautiful even though there was slight rain. We all put on the free poncho which made us look a bit ridiculous. Only Andre could make us do that! I enjoyed all the quaint little towns that we visited. I will definitely revisit in future perhaps on a river cruise. I highly recommend this tour and any tour led by Darren, who is an expert in travels and speak multiple European languages.

Eloise Jupp

Great itinerary, amazing guide (we'd happily travel anywhere in the world with her), great accommodation and a very organised tour set-up (Italian grande tour)

Mary Ann

The "Hidden Italy, the Lands of the Etruscans" tour would have to be one of the best and most interesting tours I have done. The amount of free time was excellent and the places visited were awe inspiring, and certainly off the beaten track. I cannot speak highly enough of our tour manager Prisca, she was just amazing and an asset to the company. Our coach driver Carmine was both friendly and highly skilled. We certainly felt very safe with him at the wheel. I travelled with my husband and it was our first time in Italy; it certainly won't be our last! Thank you Albatross Tours for such a memorable trip.

Heather Taggart

My husband and l did the grande Italian tour 8.5 years ago. We loved every minute of it. We couldn't fault the tour guide or our wonderful bus driver. It was relaxing not rushed and we felt safe and well looked after. Plenty of food and comfortable accommodation. Time to do another one soon as we are in our late sixties. I will never forget those 18 days in Italy.

Martina Clarke

We did the German and Austrian Christmas Market tour and it was absolutely fantastic. Couldn’t fault it. I loved everything about it. The slower pace and 2-3 night stays were wonderful. No rush in the morning and just the perfect balance of organised activities and free time. We saw the most beautiful places with no hidden extras and a nice smaller group. Our guide Stephen and bus driver Heidi were the most lovely people. They were, kind, patient, accomodating and knowledgeable. Based on this experience, I would recommend Albatross to everyone!