Mountain Kingdoms Traveller Reviews

We experienced homestays, a local festival, overnight camping and a rich introduction to Buddhism and to Bhutan's culture and landscapes.

My second time with Mountain Kingdoms. Excellent administration and information in advance of the trip. Knowledgeable and professional local guides/drivers.

I’ve been a member of Free Tibet for over 20 years and keen to visit, as recommended by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. No regrets about going, but be warned that the sites visited are almost all monasteries and their temple halls: fantastic, but you do get templed-out after a while. We were also disappointed by several aspects of the trip that were in the control of Mountain Kingdoms: 1. Their trip description promised “Best available hotels in Tibet”, but the hotel in Lhasa was 2-star and for five of the six nights we were in a very tired, grotty room that wasn’t even of that standard. We didn’t expect (or want) 5-star, but this was very poor. 2. There were only three of us on the trip, so we travelled in a small van with cramped seating in the back row. Worse than that, the passenger windows didn’t open and were made with frosted glass – which gave a blurred view of the world outside. 3. Our trip was “Definitive Cultural Tour of Tibet with Shoton Festival”, and the festival day was given as 4 September. On the evening before, I asked our guide about the festival next day and we were told that there were going to be no festivities, as the authorities had banned them after rowdiness the year before. That sounded highly unlikely, so I checked on the internet that evening and discovered that Shoton had been held on 4 August. It turned out that Mountain Kingdoms’ local agent had been aware that he’d provided the wrong date for Shoton sometime around the end of July, at latest. He decided not to own up to his error as he thought customers might cancel if they found out – which is exactly what we would have done. Mistakes happen, but what was really annoying was being lied to, and that wasn’t the only occasion when we were treated to untruths. If you’ve a particular interest in Tibet, please do go. But if you want a much more diverse and interesting trip that includes fantastic Buddhist temples, then I suggest you look at one we did a few years ago: start in Amritsar (Golden Temple, Jallianwala Bagh, Wagah Crossing), then to Dharamshala (Tibetan government-in-exile and home of the Dalai Lama), then up through Himachal Pradesh (Hindu temples and great mountain scenery) to Leh in Ladakh (Little Tibet). Around Leh there are several Buddhist monasteries that perform extraordinary Cham dances during festivals, and I assume most of the tours that follow this itinerary will take in a festival. If you do go on this tour, it’s worth arriving in Chengdu a day or two early: it’s one of the nicer mega-cities in China and it’s less than an hour by train to Leshan, where there’s the Unesco-listed Giant Buddha. If you’re in Chengdu and feeling bold, try the Sichuan Hot Pot!

As described above. Very unapologetic when we contacted them after we got back home; blamed it all on their local agent. Claimed the festival date had changed - which wasn't true, it was the local agent who'd come up with an incorrect date. When we threatened legal action, they claimed we could take action only in an English court (we live in Scotland) - this also was untrue. We entered our review on their website, but it never appeared; the only reviews of the trip are from 2007 (two), 2015 and 2016.

Great experience. Everything about the holiday was good. Great support team for transfers to and from airports, excellent guides on the trek. Itinerary was different to other tour operators going anticlockwise instead of clockwise on the trek - best way round in my opinion.

Responsive, knowledgeable, tailored my trip for me, allowing me to add days before and after the trek. Although I did not use them, they also offered me extension packages to help me use my extra days efficiently.

Excellent trek with great support from Mountain Kingdoms

Mountain Kingdoms.

We did Silk Road to Samarkand, Uzbekistan and it was just wonderful! We saw so much...so many beautiful buildings and the guide was wonderful with the knowledge she had. The food was also wonderful....a smaller lunch maybe! There was great shopping as well in the different cities we stayed in.....from the street traders.They had lovely stuff. It was a busy two weeks but so memorable.

Mountain Kingdoms are great.Extremely reliable and worth every penny! Very easy to contact and very helpful with any questions one may have. Will go with them again hopefully.

Stunning trip with lots learned about Inca and Andean communities. Beautiful sights and scenery. Great trek that was not too difficult re terrain just altitude to contend with. Local guides excellent. Wonderful food. All transfers went well. Luxury lodges to machu pichu lived up to its name. Sacred valley to acclimatise was great and learned a lot. Extension to Galapagos island hopping stunning.

Excellent and helpful

Trip taking in historic sights of Uzbekistan with reference to the Silk Rd

Mountain Kingdoms

A holiday of two parts, the first in Nepal and the second in Bhutan. Time spent in both countries. Less successful time in Nepal. Bhutan was stunning. A blend of historical, architectural and cultural exploration.

Mountain Kingdom were excellent. Communication timely and questions answered almost immediately where possible.

Annapurna wilderness trek and it certainly was that. Our local team had done a rekkie 2 weeks before so knew exactly to set up our camps. The team was amazing and the trek was unforgettable.

MK have always kept us informed and have been very quick to answer any queries. Their write up of the trek was pretty accurate

A fascinating holiday visiting the cities of Tashkent, Bukhara, Khiva and Samarkand and the Chimgan and Nuratau mountain ranges.

Mountain Kingdoms, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, GL12 7BT