Odysseys Unlimited

We went to Northern Italy Tuscany and Venice. This trip far exceeded anything I could have imagined! The guide was incredibly knowledgeable, personable, attended to individual needs as long as they were within reason and the way this trip was run there was nobody that was out of sorts or unhappy at any point of our trip!
Each destination we had a PhD guide to give us more in-​depth knowledge. It was run at a rapid pace however there is no way we could have seen everything that we saw, sample the foods of the region’s or, had such wonderful accommodations in this price range if it wasn’t organized the way it was through Odyssey! I rate them the highest rating they could get!

Our recent trip through the French Provincial Countryside was quite enjoyable, and our guide (Catherine) was excellent. However, the final days of our Paris extension left a bad taste in my mouth, because I felt misled by the advertising. We only had two days in Paris, not three as describe in the brochure. When I called the company after I got home, I spoke to Rochelle and Elizabeth, who tried to convince me that the last day could only be a travel day because all flights from Paris to Newark left early in the morning. When I checked, the was a nonstop flight on Delta from Paris to Newark which left at 1:20pm. This would have given me at least some extra time in Paris for sightseeing on the third day of my extension. Wouldn’t that have been nice, and more like the description in the catalog?

We just returned from the Portrait of Italy tour and could not be more pleased. All arrangements for flights, luggage, transfers, accommodations, tickets to sites, etc were flawless. The group size was limited to 24 which allowed for generous seating on buses. The tour director was knowledgeable and did everything we could have hoped for to make our trip outstanding. Local guides were informative and entertaining. We generally make our own travel arrangements but in this instance wanted a comprehensive trip that provided a good overview of Italy in approximately three weeks; this tour achieved much more than we could have accomplished on our own. Hotels were centrally located with all expected amenities including wi fi; they were not five star but more the equivalent of an older Holiday Inn: appropriate when your days are spent out doing and seeing rather than sitting in a hotel. We never stayed less than three nights at any hotel and took wonderfully planned day trips out — thus eliminating the need to pack and relocate each day, a much appreciated benefit. We visited the Amalfi coast, Pompeii, medieval villages, Florence, Rome, the Vatican, and Venice and every major site in each with free time provided to shop and explore on our own as desired.
Highly recommend!

Took the Odysseys Unlimited tour of Eastern Europe in May, 2014. The tour exceeded our expectations in every way. We had 22 delightful traveling companions.
Our tour director, Mateusz, was extremely caring, competent and exceptionally knowledgable of the history of the countries we visited. The hotels were above average except for Bratislava, which was a bit below the standards of the others, but that was to be expected. All the group meals and activites were well executed and very good. The buses were comfortable and not crowded considering they were just half-​full. Compared to Tauck, it was comparable in every way except the hotels were not 5 star, they were 3 – 4 star which included two major Hilton Hotels which were definitely 4 star. Also, Tauck tours usually fill the bus and there is little room to spread out.
We liked the tour so much, we are considering one for next year.

Another reviewer hit the nail on the head – with Odysseys, the quality of the tour depends heavily on the quality of the tour guide. Our first trip with them was to China, and our tour guide was fabulous! If I’d realized how exceptional he was compared to the norm, I would have tipped him even more generously than I did.
However, I subsequently took their trip to Guatemala. The guide was mediocre – very knowledgeable, but not very engaged with the tour group. There wasn’t even a «get acquainted» event at the start of the trip. In addition, all but 1 of the guests ended up getting sick, based on the guide’s recommendation of where to eat. One couple became so ill they had to leave the tour early. When I reported this to Odysseys, they commented that unfortunately tourists do get sick in certain countries because they disregard tour guides’ recommendations. BS! I again point out that ALL BUT 1 of the guests got sick. How likely is it that all of us disregarded the guide’s advice and ate at the same unsuitable restaurant?!!
Our third trip was to Scotland. Being a new offering for that year, we encountered some logistical flaws in the itinerary that should have been resolved beforehand. The guide quickly distanced herself from the company, indicating that she is contracted by Odyssey to run the tours and that she and her cohorts had warned Odyssey about these logistical issues when the trip was first conceived. We also noticed that when we stayed at a castle-​type hotel, the room the guide was assigned was large and luxurious compared to the dinky plain room we had. We were not impressed. Odyssey did acknowledge that this tour was subpar and offered an apology and a few hundred dollars. Still, we are reluctant to take a chance on them again.

My wife and I were planning the same trip to India with Odysseys that was reviewed earlier and I was concerned about the 5:00 am arrival time (on day 3 of the published itinerary, eliminating one night in a hotel which the traveler pays for). I made several calls to Odyssey to try to work out better connections, but got nowhere. I suggested leaving from Washington (one of their published departure cities) and paying extra for the flight from my city to Washington or flying out a day early. Their only suggestion was to wait until the date the final payment was required and, after it was sent, ask them to adjust the flights if I did not like them or to book my own airfare.
They were pretty unresponsive to my concerns — something which made me concerned about how much help they would be if something went wrong during the trip.
We booked with another tour company.

This company is an administrative nightmare! They ignored our request and, to cover it up, gave us misinformation about our flights. This misinformation made a bad situation worse when a piece of checked luggage went missing and wasn’t recovered until nine days later. Their customer service is a joke. If you travel with them, you better hope everything goes perfectly because they will of no help and will never even apologize.

I have taken 5 or 6 trips with Odysseys and every one of them was excellent. However, I would caution anyone considering this company to be extremely wary of the trip insurance they peddle. It’s junk. Under no circumstances should anyone ever buy the insurance Odysseys offers. I am in a nightmare trying to get a refund for the portion of a trip I have had to cancel because of a serious illness in my family. The insurance Odysseys pushes (Trip Mate) is yanking me around and making it a nearly impossible task. If you want trip insurance, with Odysseys (or any other tour operator, for that matter) do your homework and STAY AWAY from what these companies peddle to you.

My wife and I had traveled outside the United States several times and always booked everything on our own. However, we decided to try going on a tour since we heard they can be stress free.
After reading different reviews about different tour companies, My wife and I decided to try Odysseys Unlimited. We ended up loving the first tour to Eastern Europe so much that we followed it up with a tour to the Provincial French Countryside.
We can not say enough about how terrific these tours were. First of all, O U limits the group size to 24 where most tours are over 40 people. Secondly, they used large 44 seat buses, which allowed us to always have a seat by the window.
Both tour Directors were very good, especially Helena on the Eastern Europe tour. She took all 17 of us to her home to visit her family!!!
The hotels they chose were always near or in the center of where you would want to be. If I had to book on my own, I couldn’t have done better.
We usually stayed in each city for at least 2 days. We never felt like we had to rush. We felt like we had plenty of time to see things in each city on our own too.
O U doesn’t make you pay extra for excursions. Instead, the places we wanted to see were all included. I was glad there were no hidden fees.
We enjoyed all the restaurants they took us to for dinner.
The only tipping we were responsible for was for the tour director and they both earned it.
We are planning to go with O U to either Australia, Italy or Scandinavia for our next tour.
If you want a stress free tour where everything is taken care of for you, I highly recommend this tour company.

We’ve done two OU trips and will take a few more. We’ve done a lot of group travels and this company is as good as any and better than most. The groups are small and the service is excellent. The accomodations are first rate and the food while often buffets or limited menu sit downs has always been fine. We’ve had excellent guides. We really like the all inclusive style of trip and the small usually experienced traveler groups. Generally there is a full time guide with the group and specific city guides for the large cities. On our Greek Islands trip our guide did the honors for Delphi, Delos and Santori as well as Knossos and she was super. We will be travelling again with them as long as their trip itineraries are congruent with our trip plans and interests for the destination. They do an excellent job of giving one the feel for the country, and the sights while providing adequate independent time to get out amidst the locals and get the feel for where you are. We recommend them without reservation.

I have taken three tours in the past four years with Oddsseys Unlimited. They were Eastern Europe, Croatia, and Ireland. I love their tours. I have never had a problem and like the fact they now use local guides who know their country. The accommodations have all be good to excellent and in great locations. The tours are nice because they are small and include a lot of meals. It is not a city a night type of tour. i do not like a different every night. You get time to be on your own and the guide can help if you need it. On all three tours most of the patrons have traveled before and were always on time and fit into the group. I could go on and on about how good they are. I highly recommend them.

I’ve been receiving their catalogs for years, but as usual, we keep postponing to go. I’m glad we finally got the courage to just pick one of our dream tours and GO!
They are small tours, ours was about 14 — 16 if you include the tour guide & the bus driver.
The guy, Gerry, was very informative, and he made us laugh all the way. .. .and that’s a plus if you’re going to hire a guide, if you’ve not been in that country before. He also made sure that the food, hotel etc. are satisfactory with us, because he’d be writing about them and his manager would also want to know how we were treated. He really took care of us, like a mother hen! We took a two weeks tour, and to be honest? I didn’t want to leave. They spoiled us! And that’s what vacation is all about, to me. While there, we met up with another tour from Scandinavia, and you could tell they have one of those ‘discount tours’. In order to save $$$, they were actually getting their snacks & coffee breaks, from the bus, and they have to eat them outside in the rain, in the cold east wind, and the lunches were prepared without gloves! During one of those very windy day, I actually saw a guy’s coffee cup made of paper in a 3oz. container, blown away! We, on the other hand, like our check-​in luggages were already in our bus or in our rooms by the time we got there. Entrance fees are also included to museums, ferry, etc. and we avoided the crowds, so we got in and fast without being rushed or getting in huge lines. The tips have been provided for us, and we don’t have to worry where to go for dinner, and we were quite pleased with whatever sights we went. Eating in restaurants, the chefs do more to make their foods presentable, because they know we’ll be writing about them if they don’t! Doing this also, we don’t have to worry, what other countries’ foods taste like, and that was one concern of mine — why we put off traveling elsewhere! Now, I don’t.
Because our tour was quite small, our bus was comfortable enough, and we could sit anywhere we want and @ the same time, you get to know the people in your tour by name, than with larger groups. I think we got more bang for our $$$, than if we rented a car to sight-​see.
I will for sure, choose them again!
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I believe you wrote a very nice web review of your time in Ireland.
I would like to thank you so much for making that extra effort, as you were already very good to us.
Odyssey’s brought your article to my attention.
Hopefully we will get to meet on further travels.
Take care,
Gerry.