Cosmos tour of Great Britain

[Jen]

I'm planning to go on the tour mentioned by Art - The Best of Britain & Ireland, in April 2004. This is my first time to Britain and would like to take in as much of the sights and sounds it has to offer. There is a comparable tour offered by Trafalgar, any one can recommend which is better - Cosmos or Trafalgar?

Thanks!

[Brian]

My family (Son 18 Daughter 16 Wife ? Myself 48) took a "Grand Tour" with Cosmos that included England/Wales/Ireland/Scotland. The meals are basic (English breakfasts are different from american they have fried eggs/bread/bangers & several FRIED items along with cold cuts,cheeses, tomatoes and baked beans) yet everyone can find plenty to be content with. The Hotels for the most part are pleasent with small but clean rooms (Air conditioning is not available on the budget tours) and we did have 1 night (Limerick) where the hotel was FAR from town, but the rest were walking distance or a quick bus ride from the attractions. The weather varies from day to day, yet we never needed more than a light coat an umbrella and a good pair of walking shoes to feel comfortable & Happy! We we there during their worst ever heat wave and only had 2 days/nights where it was a bit uncomfortable. The Tour Guide was INCREDIBLE, he was very Informative and a delight to listen too. He helped us out with all kinds of things like the nearest Internet cafe (my kids live on the net lol) or directions to whatever we were looking for. The Tour bus Driver made everyone feel comfortable & safe and was a blessing for a nervous scared passenger like me! The tour itself was wonderful and very exciting, I would recommend taking 1 or 2 of the "Optional" excursions and going out on your own as MUCH as you can tolerate to get the most of your experiance in the UK. Our entire family had an FANTASTIC time and would go back in an instant. Keep in mind this (Cosmos) is a "Budget" tour so you will see all of what the "Luxury" tours do just not "In Depth" tours of the big attractions, so pick and choose the ones that you really want to see In Depth and pay the fee for those and you will still have more Extra spending money than if you went to a Luxury tour. All in all I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND a Cosmos UK tour as long as you take a little time to plan your Free time excursions, we are taking a tour with Cosmos again this summer to Italy/Paris and maybe Amsterdam and know that other than a few minor problems (like anything is perfect lol) that Cosmos will provide us with another Exceptional Experiance. Have Fun and be sure to have Clotted Cream when in Devonshire, it is Mmmmmmmmmm good stuff.

[Faith77]

Hi Everybody,
I did a great tour with Cosmos to England, Scotland, Wales & Ireland in 2002. I felt I got great value and had a wonderful time. The only thing I wouldn't do again is so many 1 nighters. Next time I do a Cosmos tour I'd pick mostly 2 night stops.
I thought that most of the optionals were reasonably priced. I felt I lucked out with weather and we had a great guide.
Faith

[Brian]

Faith was you tour guide Steve or your driver Alan? We took the "Grand tour" of the UK and Loved it, I would agree that we wish we had more time in some of the places (and maybe a little less at some others). . We had a great group of people on the Bus so that helped a LOT! We took the tour knowing that we would not be in town on all the stays but it was great for the money. Im planning another trip with Cosmos to Europe and hope for the same good luck with the people on the Bus and the Guide & Driver.

[dragonwolf]

Hi, there, all!

My wife and I are taking our first tour this April (England/Scotland/Ireland/Wales) and had an interesting question. What does one do for laundry on the tour? We're taking the 16-day tour and we're wondering if we should pack 16 days worth of clothing (and haul around 16 days worth of dirty clothes at the end) or are laundry services available?

Help, anyone?

Thanks,

DragonWolf

[Brian]

Good question. We took the "Grand Tour" which lasted 18 days on the road through England/Ireland/Wales/Scotland it was our first trip. I packed as much as my suitcase would hold, the Important (at least for us) items were Underwear & socks which I ended up washing by hand (dont do this as it took 3 days before the were dry -lol) and hang drying in the room. Your pants/shorts can be worn 2-3 times and the same for shirts/blouse's and you will see EVERYBODY on the tour doing the Same. Laundry services or Laundermats ARE available, BUT the timing (arrive in town just as they close) can be difficult AND who wants to spend their FREE time doing Laundry. I say pack plenty of Underwear/socks and Carefully choose Pants/Tops so to allow ROOM in you luggage for those purchases you WILL make - lol. I would say pack 5 pr pants 8-10 shirts, plan you clothes so you can "Layer" them (ie t-shirt + button shirt/pull over + light/med coat) this way when the weather changes you can add to warm up and remove to cool off (and the weather will change so be prepared) Remember you have an extra outfit (what you are wearing there) that is not packed and I Highly recomend that you wear a Full outfit (pants/layered shirts/JACKET) EVEN if it is WARM when you leave for the UK. Hope this helps. To summerize (Lmao) Pack SMART and YES there are Laundry services, But one time shoud be PLENTY if you MUST Launder your clothes (PLAN AHEAD by Asking the tour Guide when you will have TIME to waste and where is the BEST to get quick service) Good Luck Have FUN. BTW bring a Backpack for the Bus, you can pack snacks/water -extra clothes -Camera -UMBRELLA- etc and put it in the overhead, It will be so much easier to have everything within reach, because when the Bus rolls your luggage is GONE until you reach the Hotel that Night.

[Guest]

I have taken the Cosmos "British Panorama" tour, which I can highly recommend. It was an excellent overview of Britain, proceeding as far north as Edinburgh, and was exceptional value for money. I enjoyed it so much I will be taking the Cosmos "Southern England" tour later this year, which does not duplicate anything from the Cosmos "British Panorama" tour.

[Guest]

Just got back home from the British panorama tour and loved it. Great tour and made many new friends. Tour guide and driver were excelent (Domonic was the guide and Adrian the Driver). . Already planning our next tour with Cosmos.

Dave and Katie
Cannon island, Alaska

[Guest]

hi
have travelled with them several times but beware they are a budget operator
They stay at hotels outside the cities
We have had problems with booking tours as they leave confirmation of travel arrangements to the last minute but require full payment about 7 weeks before departure
If the tour is cancelled then your may not be able to transfer to another travel company
Beware also of Fees for changing names dates etc
I would strongly suggest at this time of the year you do not pay the Non Refundable Deposit.If you pay the deposit it is only refunded if they cancel your tour which may not be till as late as 1 or 2 weeks prior to departure date.
Regards
Paul W

[Guest]

[quote="Brian"]Faith was you tour guide Steve or your driver Alan? We took the "Grand tour" of the UK and Loved it, I would agree that we wish we had more time in some of the places (and maybe a little less at some others). . We had a great group of people on the Bus so that helped a LOT! We took the tour knowing that we would not be in town on all the stays but it was great for the money. Im planning another trip with Cosmos to Europe and hope for the same good luck with the people on the Bus and the Guide & Driver.[/quote]

Hi Brian
We did a cosmos tour in December 2004 and our driver was Alan but our guide was Hugh, a really nice guy who originally came from Wales. We did the 6 day panoramic tour of Britian which was part of a world trip we were doing. We even got to see Stonehenge which wasn't part of the tour but Hugh knew we had come from Australia and were desperate to see it, plus a few other Aussies on the trip so we made a slight detour. Nothing was too much and all of us on the tour were accommodated in anyway that was possible.
I have friends that have toured with Cosmos in Europe and they cant fault them, they're budget but you get more than you would expect at a budget price.
Cheryl

[hrhleg]

I just got back from my Grand tour and it was FANTASTIC!! My tour director (Henry) and driver (Adrian) were brilliant and the people were fun. I have no complaints at all.

As a matter of fact, we stayed at hotels that were nicer than Trafalgar or Trafalgar was in the same hotel as us but we had the ocean view.

I have also taken the Grand Tour of France.. ..absolutely Gorgeous, Cosmopolitan Europe (at Christmas), Vienna Prague and Budapest (Christmastime.. ..a must do) and Spain Morocco and Portugal.

My tour directors gave me a Masters education in most of these countries and boy did I have fun on every trip!!

Happy travels.