Ffestiniog Travel Traveller Reviews

We travelled by rail from London to Austria with a party of 18 in total. We visited the principal tramway systems and mountain railways in Austria. The travel arrangements and excursions were excellent. The tour leader was knowledgeable, and quietly efficient. The party of like minded enthusiasts gelled well together. Unfortunately we were badly let down by german railways on the return journey from Frankfurt to Brussels with an unscheduled change of trains, together with the train terminating one station short of its destination in Brussels, making it a panic to catch our Eurostar train home. We understand this is a fairly common occurrence.

This is the third holiday we have undertaken with Ffestiniog Travel who offer something that little bit different. We have enjoyed all three holidays without reservation, and hope to travel with them again soon. We would not hesitate to recommend them to our friends.

The holiday was entitled the Hebridean and Orcadian Odyssey and began in Glasgow and included tours of the Outer Hebrides, Isle of Skye, railway excursions and transfers on the Scottish mainland and a tour of the mainland of Orkney. Included were visits to places of historical and geographical interest and of course Whisky Distilleries.

This is the second organised tour i have taken with Ffestiniog Travel, which speaks for itself. See also, sbove comments.

A very good tour of USA canyons but one that could have been excellent with some tweaks to the itinerary.

Good operator. Main Coach operator very good but others not so. More information during tour would have been welcomed to enable us to make better use of our free days at San Francisco, Grand Canyon, Yosemite & Bryce.

We enjoyed an 8 day rail trip travelling to some amazing European cities and staying in some wonderful smaller accommodations carefully chosen by Ffestiniog Travel. This meant we really immersed ourselves in the country and stretched our language skills to the limit, instead of staying in a chain hotel where everyone speaks English! We visited Brussels, Cologne, Munster and Bruges bringing back with us some fantastic memories.

In the past I have self-planned our family holidays, but I was very daunted having to plan a rail trip. I gave Dan at Ffestiniog Travel an outline of what I was trying to do and he very quickly put an itinerary together. I changed it a few times when I realised we were trying to fit too much in and also to suit our budget, but nothing was too much trouble. I specifically asked for non-corporate accommodation and Dan got that just right!

Very well organised, with helpful documentation and an experienced and helpful tour leader. Two bases in Switzerland, enabling exploration of impressive and scenic railways. Excellent hotels and travel arrangements.

Ffestiniog Travel caters very well for mainly rail-based holidays, and organises all travel and hotel bookings. we have used them on many occasions.

This holiday was for a party of 7 Seniors. Travel by Eurostar to Brussels and onward by train to Cologne to Hamburg. After an overnight stay onwards to Copenhagen for three nights. Train to Stockholm for 3 nights. Train from Stockholm to Lulea ( Northern Sweden) One night stay then bus to Finnish border and then bus to Kemi (Finland). One night stay then train to Helsinki for 2 nights. Ferry to Stockholm, train to Copenhagen Airport and Easy Jet flight to Edinburgh

All rail tickets seat reservations and hotel rooms chosen for their proximity to stations were booked Over a number of months during the planning period there were numerous e-mails which were always answered immediately and in a friendly way. I cannot praise highly enough the quality of service from the company and from Mrs Liz Turner especially

A 16 day tour of Germany by rail, taking in a number of preserved steam and diesel railways.

The booking was handled very effectively, the only problem was that the tour manager did not speak German, something that would have been very useful when there were a few problems on the tour.

A completely new venture for us, and we booked a Railway holiday through Ffestiniog Travel. This came as a recommendation from a friend, and it all worked out extremely well. All the arrangements went like clockwork, and it was a pleasure to travel on the routes suggested.

Ffestiniog travel were extremely helpful at every stage of the planning and preparation, and flexible to meet our requirements. The paperwork for the rail and hotel accommodation was excellent and the locations met our every need.

Run by railway buffs for railway buffs.The tour leader in our case (given free holiday and expenses)had no knowledge of India or places on the trip outside of his railway expertise. Despite having done the same trip four times it appears he makes no recommendations to the Company for improvements and did nothing to adapt to conditions on the tour. The tour was organized a month too early;indeed Simla was almost cancelled because of the Party having been snowed in the previous year.Timing presumably made to save money for the Company. Travelling logistics ,other than the Hill Railways incredibly poor and naïve. But my major complaint as a single traveller was the scandalous application of a single supplement of £995 (21%). This equated to over £50 per hotel night.This ,when I obtained published hotel tariffs from all the hotels we stayed in ;I emphasise the SUPPLEMENT-EXCEEDED the price of nightly rates of almost all accommodation.Three were as low as £23,£29 and £42. Ffestiniog confirmed we were booked in single occupancy rooms. Don't forget the holiday price already included an hotel room charge based on a shared double room rate. They also claim their booking are done through an Agency in India and they receive no discount themselves. I find this difficult to believe. Either they are being economical with the truth or they are totally naïve. They refused any sort of refund whatsoever or to make any sort of token goodwill gesture. AITO want a fee of £140 to go to arbitration. The Holiday Media have ignored my requests for help or advice. I would like my comments published on the AITO website to forewarn other single travellers. It is a disgrace.

Amateur, naïve,inflexible and exploitative. They seem to have little knowledge of India and the logistics necessary to travel there and clearly unwilling to employ professionals, obviously dominated by cost control. This was not a cheap holiday. Even their comments on hotels were totally out of date.In Delhi we didn't even visit the Red Fort but they took those that didn't know to the Red Fort in AGRA instead and in Darjeeling ,a run down tiny green tea station when there was a superb proper tea garden on the edge of town, with proper guides and a museum. I have travelled extensively in India;done a lot of business there and holidayed, including 5 tiger safaris.Never have I been disappointed or let down by any tour company.

The Isle of Man is charming; everyone is so friendly. We had tickets to ride about in buses, trains and trams all week and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I particularly liked driving a tram. The hotel was good; the meals were first-class and the wine was decent and not over-priced. The bed was most comfortable. Our guide tended to our every whim and everyone did their best to make our trip worth while. The scenery was wonderful - glens full of bluebells and mountains covered in miles of golden gorse flowers - never seen such a display in my life. The rail connections to and from our airports were impeccable, but it ought to be recorded that Manchester Airport is dreadful. It is a fair distance from the railway station to the departure point, the travolators don't work and it is uphill with the baggage to pull. Distinctly not recommended. It used to be quicker to go to the Isle of Man by boat from Llandudno than it is nowadays by train and air. On the return, Birmingham Airport did not have connections to the aircraft so again, a deal of steps and long walks. Ronaldsway (IOM) was OK. In short, Ffestiniog Travel were impeccable, the Isle of Man in enchanting, but airports need to pull their socks up, especially Manchester.

We have been using Ffestiniog Travel for forty years and have found their service faultless. Only place in North Wales where you can buy tickets for the Channel Tunnel. Many of the staff have become friends over the years; nothing is too much trouble for them. First class.