Distant Journeys Reviews 464

Just arrived back from India on 20th November, having been on the Golden Triangle, Ranthambore &Goa trip. The holiday was fantastic from start to finish. Distant Journeys managed to fit everything in, we took in all the sights you associate with India. Out tour guide Ajeet Chouhan (AJ) was the best, very knowledgeable and extremely friendly. It was great not having to think about organising any transport or standing in any large queues waiting to buy tickets to attain access into any of the places we visited. We had ample time to see the sights. The hotels we stayed in were fantastic very clean. Friendly staff and great food. I would definitely recommend Distant Journeys and will be using them again.

We have recently returned from India on the Golden Triangle with Goa Extension trip and what can we say but WOW! We went for my husbands 60th Birthday celebration and India didn't disappoint. The whole experience with Distant Journeys was excellent. The hotels were amazing and the organisation of the whole trip was fantastic we saw so much and found out loads from our guide Ajeet Chouhan (AJ) he was so knowledgeable, he even quizzed us on things to make sure we were listening, (haha) with AJ as our guide and the people in our group it has definitely made this trip one to never forget. Thank you Distant Journeys and AJ. We will most certainly be looking at a future trip with Distant Journeys in the future.

Back from Golden triangle India. Certainly an experience and was well looked after by our tour guide Ajeet Chouhan. He was so knowledgeable and funny but also a caring attitude and guided us well. He was superb! Safari was very uncomfortable in the trucks. As a person with back problems it would have been good to have an option at an extra cost for a four seater
jeep. Minus note was silly o'clock for flight to Goa. Pointless excursion to kill time because we couldn't check in at hotel. Why not a later flight.
But having said all that i would recommend Distant Journeys.

We returned last week from out trip to the Golden Triangle, Ranthambore and Goa. We were lucky to have a fab group and excellent tour manager in Ajeet Chouhan. The tour is full on with some early starts but well worth the effort. It was really worth doing the Goa extension as a chance to unwind. It would be even better if you can fly straight from Goa home.

We had a great golden triangle and Goa tour, our tour guide Ajeet Chouhan made it so, he was so helpful, knowledgeable and funny, nothing was too much trouble. Some of the early starts were a bit taxing especially the 3.30am pick up to fly to Goa. Our driver in India was great, got us through the chaotic traffic 😀

Brilliant we went on the golden triangle & Goa trip our tour manager was amazing his name is Ajeet Chouhan and if your lucky enough to get him your in for a well organised and informative trip. Could not praise him enough

Wonderful tour of Cambodia (november 25).
Mr. Ajay Sethi prepared a very well-organized trip, with a well-thought-out itinerary, an excellent selection of excellent hotels, and knowledgeable, kind, and helpful guides and drivers. Mr. Ajay was always available for any clarifications and details. Excellent tour operator!

We’ve just returned from a 19 day Classic Vietnam & Cambodia private tour. Overall the trip was very enjoyable with many fantastic experiences but issues with certain hotels and transfer drivers let them down.

+ Booking process and provision of information.
+ Support from UK staff and local teams when our itinerary needed to be amended due to tropical storms.
+ Local guides very informative and pleasant.
+ Itineraries good but disappointingly missed out some main attractions.
+ Hotel quality (mainly) good but some issues.

- Some transfer drivers drove very dangerously and erratically.
- Quality of hotel in Singapore was very very poor. Dirty rooms and poor service. Hotel bar was clearly being used for illicit purposes!

Just returned from Distant Journeys New Zealand by road rail and sea calling at Singapore on the way and Bali
On the way home.
Distant journeys kept me up to date with flights etc and replied to a query I had very quickly.
If you are looking for a relaxing holiday this is not the one for you. I wasn’t expecting how hard it would be to live out of a suite case and be on the move so much. In saying that the experience was well worth it. The scenery was magnificent as was our guide Adrien who was both knowledgeable and funny. He did have a lot to contend with but handled everything calmly and with a smile on his face. The hotels were mostly good and the coach drivers were excellent.
All in all a good experience.

Have just returned from India doing the Golden Triangle and Ranthambore tour. A fantastic tour and a fantastic company. The trip was so well organised and stress free for all of us. We were so well looked after by our tour rep Bhanu Nirban. Accommodation was off the highest standard and places visited were so interesting covering all the major sites.
I was so impressed by the app covering the tour. This covered all the information we needed for the trip along with excellent useful advice.
I couldn’t recommend this company highly enough and will definitely be using them in the future.

Recently returned from Very Best of Australia tour, and it did not disappoint. Far from it! The trip was packed with memorable sights and experiences, and the hotels used were all excellent (a Distant Journeys' speciality). Danielle was a superb tour manager (professional, personable (and ridiculously well organised) who really has a passion for the role (and for Cairns!) There were so many highlights - but the Barrier Reef trip, Kuranda (optional but not to be missed), The Ghan, Sydney, and an easy hike into the Olgas were our most memorable experiences amongst many. Not a cheap holiday, but considering what was included we agree with DJ that it was good value (particularly as we booked early and had a two-night stopover in Bangkok at a superb hotel for a bargain £29 a head). Wouldn't hesitate to book our 4th trip with DJ.

Whilst there were many good points on this holiday, I was left disappointed overall.
Good points - Local guides, general standard of hotels. Visited many interesting places.
Bad points, Not enough time at most of the places of interest, but too much time at service stops. The worst example of this was the cruise on Lake Ashi. The short cruise was only 15 minutes long and we were left at Hakone (a place with a bakery 2 restaurants and a gift shop) for lunch at 11.15 (having had breakfast just before leaving the hotel) and being left there for an hour and three quarters. Myself and others sat on the coach for over 30 minutes as there was nothing else to do. In Tokyo the itinerary states that we would a brief photo stop at the impressive imperial palace. This turned out to be a n opportunity to photograph the bridge leading to locked gates behind which the imperial palace was no visible.
Group size larger than we were told . We checked before booking and was told max group size would be 28. Audio head sets didn't work very well. this was mentioned to the tour guides and Tour manager. Some of the hotels were not as clean as expected. Breakfast at some hotels were chaotic and we had to wait up to 20 minutes for a table. Distant Journeys provided an app with itinerary details and details of each hotel. Not all hotel facilities as advised by Distant Journeys were open, for example, the hotel in Kyoto said the hotel had 2 bars. A roof top bar and the terrace bar. We were staying Monday to Wednesday. The roof top bar had closed for the remainder of the season and the Terrace bar doesn't open on a Monday and Tuesday. In some of the other hotels there was also no bar or lounge to socialise with other group members.
Lunch stops were generally either motorway services, railway stations or food courts in shopping centres (is this the very best Japan has to offer).The overall impression was that the tour was rushed.

A trip to Australia has always been on our bucket list and through through research we decided to book through Distant Journeys as their tour ‘The very best of Australia’ visited all our must see destinations including a trip on the Ghan, from booking to returning home (very sad) DJ were excellent, their attention to detail was faultless, hotels were excellent, however the tour was bought to light through our tour director, Danielle, who ensured everything ran so smoothly and went above and beyond in so many ways. This is a 29 day tour with some very early starts at 4am to catch flights or see Urula at sunrise and therefore can be tiring but we saw so much of Australia in a short time and have so many wonderful memories with our fellow travellers, and have made some great friendships, it was indeed a holiday of a lifetime, thank you Danielle and DJ.

Denise was very helpful in booking this holiday! Looked up alternative flights and made very useful recommendations! I hope the holiday goes as smoothly as the booking!
Very good experience

Richard was extremely helpful when booking our trip to Japan. There was never any pressure to book and we were given all options for consideration in our own time. We had a few questions which were answered comprehensively. The booking process was easy and we received a confirmation email straight away. Excellent service all round

This is the first time I book with Distant Journeys, I found the whole booking experience very easy. The advisor I spoke with was very helpful and able to answer the questions we had. Hopefully the rest of our holiday goes as smoothly.

A journey of a lifetime to New Zealand and Australia and Distant Journeys covered everything that we were looking for. Both Callum and Jack answered any questions we had. All information arrived within 24 hours so we could look at prices and arrange stopovers before and after our trip.
Thank you both you’re a credit to the Company

We have been on 4 DJ holidays and this was up there with the best of them.

Our South Africa guide Ella Bauer made everything go so well.
Her years of experience, knowledge and passion for Africa shone through in everything she did.
Her friendliness to us all from the first meeting as strangers made her our friend as well as guide as we travelled.
We couldn't have asked for anyone better.

Lovely to start In Cape Town and end in Pretoria and discover South Africa's history on the way.
Bayala started our Big 5 journey, with so much wildlife. The jeep safaris, we just wanted more and more.
Adding Zimbabwe and Botswana as additions to the holiday cannot be understated.
Victoria Falls was both magical and stunning to see.
Chobe was everything you could wish for in seeing wildlife in its natural environment, both by jeep and by boat on the Chobe river.

I have recently booked a managed tour to Singapore and N.Z. with Distant Journeys. They sent me a nice brochure to look through, full of information about the tours, flights, hotels used. The initial enquiry with Catherine was very good giving me lots of information about offers etc. and she answered any questions that I had. I went ahead and booked a few days later. It was quick and efficient .Even though the tour is a long way off at the moment all I can say is that so far the service has been very good, and I hope this continues throughout and warrants our 5 star rating.

I have just booked our third trip with Distant Journeys. Trips are superb with excellent guides. The booking process is so easy. The DJ staff are so lovely and helpful. I would highly recommend them.