Andalucia & Toledo, 5 days on Thursdays

Customer Reviews

• PY

  Paul

  · May 28th, 2024
  If you are looking for a good but brief overview of southern Spain, then this is the tour for you. Overall the experience was fine with comfortable bus with A/C. We had Patrícia as our tour guide who was overall great at providing context to Spanish history, culture, and society throughout the tour. There is a good mix of down time to explore several towns (Cáceres, Seville, Ronda, etc.) and organized tours (Seville walking tour and the Alhambra). Do note that the tour at least for us included tickets only for the Alhambra Gardens, not the main Nasrid Palace itself. The meals included were okay at best. Included lunches were pre set menus without many (if any) options to accommodate dietary restrictions, and breakfast/dinner were buffets. We thoroughly enjoyed the service and accommodations of the first hotel accommodation (Al Andalus) in Seville where you stay for 2 nights. The second hotel in Costa del Sol (Sol Príncipe) was satisfactory with close access to the beach although the hotel is a bit dated (be sure to bring swim/beachwear!). Our major complaint was the last hotel (Hotel Angeles) in Granada. The hotel was advertised as a four star hotel but it was very outdated. The worst part was that the hotel purposefully would not turn on their central A/C because the temperatures were not "hot" enough despite the weather forecast being about 30C (mid 80s for my metrically challenged friends). With a toddler, we only had a fan that was limited to the lowest setting by the hotel, making it difficult to sleep or feel comfortable. Moreover, the dinner and breakfast buffet were extremely lacking in options and the hotel staff refused to sit any tour group in the air conditioned section of the dining room (despite it being closer to the food and completely empty) and instead had everyone on tours sit on the hot side of the room. Overall, this hotel was not worthy of any "4 star" designation. Lastly, my recommendation for improving the tour would be to have more clear communication about how much time we had for free time to spend in a location. There were a couple of incidents were members of the tour group had no idea what time they had to return back to the tour bus, leading to delays. Giving all members of the tour group access to a contact number with the tour guide on WhatsApp or some other messaging service would also help improve communication! Overall, we enjoyed our experience and hope we get the opportunity to visit Spain again soon!
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  VPT Tours commented on this review

  Dear Paul, Thank you for your kind review. We will more than glad to welcome you back soon. Kind regards
  Trip date: April 2024
• DE

  Daisy

  · April 21st, 2024
  No English speaking guide for most of my tour. I was not informed prior to confirming my booking that I will miss Alhambra due to no ticket. I can't cancel because I already travelled from USA to Madrid to catch this tour. The next tour I will take will be all English tour agency.
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  VPT Tours commented on this review

  Dear Daisy, Thank you for your review. It will help us to keep offering the best services. Kind regards
  Trip date: April 2024
• 

  Beth

  · October 20th, 2023
  This tour began badly when the tour leader and bus were late. It would have been better if we had some information to let us know what was happening and then were told the plan for the day. It would have helped to know that the tour groups may be moved around depending on language groups. English speakers in the minority so we were put with 3 different groups over our 5 day tour. The places we visited were amazing and our guides knowledgeable. The itinerary had mentioned some optional visits that weren’t included.
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  VPT Tours commented on this review

  Dear Beth, Thank you for the feedback. We apologize for the inconveniences. Your suggestions are very important for us. Kind regards
  Trip date: October 2023
• GM

  Graeme

  · October 13th, 2023
  Overcrowded bus with dodgy aircon but fantastic sites visited. Great tour guide and interesting local guides.
  

  VPT Tours commented on this review

  Dear Graeme, Thank you for helping us with your review and rating. Kind regards
  Trip date: September 2023
• AH

  Amanda

  · October 10th, 2023
  It started badly. I was told to be at the VPT office at 0745. The guide turned up almost an hour late. Nobody in the office bothered to give any information so i eventually enquired at 0830. The guide was Spanish speaking wirh very little English for which she apologised. However, this meant there was scarcely any commentary in English for much of day 1. At Caceres I and one other English speaker transferred to a different coach full of French speakers but the guide gave commentary in both French and English. He was very good. Days 2 and 3 were fine. On day 4 we were supposed to visit the Alhambra. I was much looking forward to revisiting the beautiful palace after 20 years. However, the tour included only the gardens! It was clearly stated on the itinerary that we would visit 'the former residence of the Moorish kings with its magnificent fountains, gardens and arches'. The local guide said it was not included on the ticket. One of the reasons for booking the tour was to see the Alhambra, so i feel that the information given is very misleading. That evening the 2 English speakers were put in a hotel way outside the old centre of Grenada while the rest of the group were in a central hotel. We were then told that we would be in a different coach with a different group for the last day. I felt very much, as did the other English speaker, that we were excess baggage! I have done 3 tours with Tourradar before this one and all have been great. I am afraid i cannot say the same about this one.
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  VPT Tours commented on this review

  Dear Amanda, Thank you for helping us to improve with your rate and feedback. Kind regards
  Trip date: October 2023
• PB

  Philip

  · June 7th, 2023
  We were only shown one attraction out of each city and then were taken to a hotel far from the town center but told that there were other attractions to see but that we would be on our own. The hotels were far from the city centers and in areas where there wasn’t much to do. Patricia, the guide was very nice and Pedro, the bus driver was very nice also.
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  VPT Tours commented on this review

  Thank you so much for your opinion. You did a 5-day tour and the program was fulfilled as published. Patricia offered to do more activities in Seville and Granada and you accepted and were satisfied. We thank you for having traveled with us and we're... Show more
  Trip date: June 2023
• MZ

  Monique

  · February 14th, 2023
  Had an excellent driver (Constantine) who went out of his way for our comfort and enjoyment. Casa del Sol was a disappointment and the accommodations there were dirty and crowded. The other hotels were clean and enjoyable. The guided tours were very good. Overall it was an enjoyable experience.
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  VPT Tours commented on this review

  Dear Monique, Thank you for sharing with us your trip experience. We are delighted to know that you could enjoy our beautiful artistic Heritage. Best regards
  
  Trip date: February 2023
• IK

  Inna

  · December 11th, 2022
  It was amazing experience good service and our driver guide was professional and caring.It was excellent small group tour but I had difficulties communicating with my group nearly all of them were Spanish speaking and did not know English and I dont speak Spanish.During excursions the guides were giving much more information in Spanish than in English which is dissapointing.In future I am planning to visitSpain again but would like to join English speaking group.I am interested jn Highlights of Spain and Portugal tour and probably will use the service of this company
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  VPT Tours commented on this review

  Dear Inna, Thank you for travelling with us. We would like to welcome you back soon again. Best regards
  Trip date: December 2022
• SH

  Suzanne

  · October 11th, 2022
  The tour started well, but went downhill and ended in a bit of confusion. First, this is my first tour group so I have nothing to compare it to. There were aspects of the tour I really enjoyed, but it felt generally disorganized. One of the reasons is that this company started with 12 people, added another 35 that joined us from another location, 25 departed two days later, and on the last evening we had more join us. This was all during a 5 day tour. This puts a burden on the tour guide, who appeared tired at the end of five days. I know I was! This is also a Spanish/English tour which requires every guide to switch back and forth between languages during the tours. This is a difficult thing to do well, especially when conveying complex ideas. If you are happy to go on a quick tour with only a little free time in each location and a quick overview of key sites, then this might meet your requirements. If you have more discerning taste and want a tour to give you a little more, I’d suggest you keep researching.
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  Trip date: October 2022
• BF

  Brenda

  · August 24th, 2022
  We took this tour in August 11 to August 15 2022, Begonia the tour guide and the driver (sorry I dont remember his name)were excellent. The places, the local guides, the hotels, the included meals everything exceed my expectations. Awesome tour, great company
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  VPT Tours commented on this review

  Dear Brenda, On behalf VPT Tours team, thank you so much for the kind review. We would love to welcome you back soon. Kind regards
  Trip date: August 2022