Five Epic National Parks (9 Days)

Customer Reviews

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  Mark

  · May 17th, 2022
  if your goal is to see five national parks in rapid succession, this is an ok experience. vast majority of time is spent on bus. rest stops about every 1.5 - 2 hours. very very little time spent at each destination. the weather in early May is dreadful at elevation in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. several of the premier activities were cancelled .... and i suspect are commonly cancelled this time of year. covid precautions were virtually absent .... the standard questions are pursued at the start of the trip, temp is taken on passengers' wrists, and that's about it for the rest of the trip. despite at least three bus boardings daily .... no questions about covid symptoms, covid exposures, or temperature checks are done for the entire duration of the tour. the "wellness" emphasis is marketing .... it has nothing to do with reality. staff wear masks when in aisles of bus, otherwise they do not. first two hotels were dives ..... with substandard food, management, etc.. tour director was knowledgeable but not helpful when several of us had problems with early and late hotels. pre-paid breakfast vouchers were nowhere to be found. i had the impression that the tour itself was taken care of better than the customers. for instance .... it was a "new" bus and we were repeatedly asked to limit our use of the rest room on the bus ... believe it or not, "doing number two" was explicitly and repeatedly discouraged ...... we were repeatedly warned not to bring beverages with creamer on the bus because that was hard to clean up. when important activities were cancelled, flimsy alternatives ("a good tour director has plans b, c, d, e and f") of lesser interest and lesser value were substituted. Any cancellation (and there were several) were " I hope you know this is beyond Trafalgar's control" while good weather was "this isn't my first rodeo, you are so fortunate to have me as tour director". the "wellness director" was pleasant, but his role was trivialized by the tour director .... in reality, he had very little to do other than unloading the suitcases. he occasionally made one pass with a single cleaning cloth through the contact areas on the overhead compartments. i observed no efforts to clean the bannisters, the seats, the handles or any other part of the bus. at least one member of the tour was obviously ill. she was not isolated. as i said i observed no temp checks, no queries regarding illness or exposures, no effort whatsoever to isolate the ill. traveling without being able to bring a "carry on" wheeled bag (doesn't everyone travel with a wheeled carry on" was a real pain. it led to unpacking and repacking and every hotel, to carrying relatively heavy bags, and to the threat of extra fees for roll on carry on's". Trafalgar said this was "the industry standard". several of the couples on he tour were unable to keep up the pace and were relegated to sitting on the bus or staying at the visitor centers in the parks. on the other hand, there were very few moments for independent enjoyment of the parks ..... my two favorites were the geologic wonders at zion national park and the wildlife at yellowstone. i am taking another trafalgar tour in three weeks. i certainly hope the service and experience is better.
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  Trafalgar commented on this review

  We thank you for putting your concerns through to us; as this helps our team learn where we are going right and where improvements might be made. That being said, we were concerned to note that there may have been several elements of the Five Epic... Show more
  Trip date: May 2022
• TH

  Timothy

  · September 16th, 2021
  Definitely could not have seen all that we saw without the tour. Trafalgar took us to all the great places. The accommodations were nice. The tour director, wellness director, and driver were all fantastic. Worth every penny! I can't wait for my next tour.
  Trip date: September 2021
• S

  Salima

  · September 16th, 2021
  I really enjoyed my trip: unforgettable landscapes, excellent guide and good hotels. Highly recommend this tour.
  Trip date: September 2021
• BM

  Barbara

  · June 10th, 2021
  Great parks but way too much time on the bus and not enough time spent actually exploring the parks. Not sure I would ever take a bus tour like this again.
  

  Trafalgar commented on this review

  Thank you for sharing your feedback here with us. We're happy to hear that you enjoyed visiting the five national parks, and hope that you were able to see some truly spectacular sights. Having said this, we do recognise that you felt there may have... Show more
  Trip date: April 2021
• JR

  John

  · May 21st, 2019
  Lucked into the right time for this trip avoiding high season, where time that would have been wasted waiting to enter / park / view a site was able to be used to attend other scenes. Loved EVERYTHING. But cherished rafting the snake river around Jackson Hole at the beginning of the tour. And the helicopter ride at / around / through the Grand Canyon at the end. A real life participant in your own memory / movie trumps a single photo for me.
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  Trafalgar commented on this review

  Thanks for taking the time to share your review of Five Epic National Parks guided holiday. It’s wonderful to hear that you thoroughly enjoyed our carefully crafted itinerary, and, moreover, that you really were able to see and experience everything... Show more
  Trip date: May 2019