The Colorado Rockies

We are able to see lots of activities and National Parks without driving and meet new folks.

included dinners very good. Driver Nathan was excellent! Gude friendly well-informed

It was a bad tour, one of the worst I have taken

Excellant Tour. They were so nice

Our tour guide for the Colorado Rockies, Heather Larsen and driver, Nathan, created such an incredible team. Our tour was FUN, educational, and exciting everyday! Heather and Nathan made seeing and experiencing the Colorado Rockies completely awesome for me especially when I least expected it. The Arches National Park - oh my goodness; Mesa Verde - breathtaking and so memorable; the Silverton to Durango train ride - what a FUN adventure into nature and the Cog Train up to Pikes Peak - so amazing! The scenery was ALWAYS breathtaking! The nostalgic old towns where we stopped along our journey were so interesting and FULL of history of the Wild West!!

This is a fantastic tour where you get to see many areas of Colorado: 4 National Parks, State Parks, historic towns, and 2 train rides.

Tour was too fast paced. Silverton to Durango RR and stay in Durango..

The tour to the Arches was only 1 stop and didn’t get to see a lot of it. Only given 30 minutes to walk around and most stops in any parks were too short! Signed up to climb the ladders to Mesa Verde and was told we couldn’t. Collette did not arrange it with National Park Service. So I felt like Collette had false advertising!

Really good tour - well balanced and very informative.

Every thing was done well

It was a fun trip and I got to see so many wonderful things

Our tour guide ad manager, Heather Larsen, exceeded our expectations with her communication skills, was unflappable, resourceful and knew how to take the ordinary out of every day and create FUN and LAUGHS! We would go to any location with Heather Larsen - she is a TOP NOTCH pro and clearly enjoys what she does and sharing her knowledge and history with participants. Nathan, our motor coach driver was excellent, flexible, accommodating, and such a gentleman who was always keeping us safe, helping someone, and could park our motor coach on a dime!! Our journey was the best thanks to these two professionals. Our motor coach was always spick and span and we were where we needed to be when we were supposed to be there - one time. We were able to experience so very, very much of our FABULOUS Colorado National Parks in such a short time. We cannot wait to go with Heather and Nathan on another incredible journey!!

Well organized trip that allowed us to see many sites in one trip. Collette takes the worry and anxiety out of travelling. Activities have something for every activity level. Beautiful Rockies.

Everything was excellent except 1st bus and plane seating

Our Tour Manager Bryce Hill was exceptional, and our Motorcoach Driver Nathan Black was superb. The tour was amazing. Collette failed, us however, in selecting a less than reliable bus company to transfer us from our hometown to the airport. We are addressing that situation directly with our Collette representatives.

The bus that was sent to take us to the airport was a piece of junk and it broke down causing us to miss our flight. We lost the first day of our tour. I was very disappointed that Estes Park was on our tour package but they never went there. Went but didn't actually go through the unique town.

My wife and I enjoyed the trip

great weather, excellent knowledgeable tour manager, safe bus driver. Hard to narrow down one memorable experience. I especially enjoyed the CO national monument, Arches national park and Pikes Peak. I enjoyed the small silver mining towns and all the beautiful scenery in between.

One star deducted for lack of vegan options in meals provided, and the management of exposure to altitude

Just traveling with Collette and letting someone else do everything!

Excellent tour and tour manager

Very enjoyable love the trains

The tour was as advertised.

We loved all the beautiful parks and the cog railway on Pikes Peak was great and the views amazing

We loved all the parks and pikes peak was great!!

Tour was excellent. Except for Colorado Springs the other 3 motels lacked swimming pools and fitness room. Durango motel was a terrible out-dated motel which should be demolished.

Rocky Mountain National Park

We had a great time, although there is a lot of riding. Beautiful and unforgettable scenery.

Pace, content and tour guides.

Although the entire tour was wonderful, my favorite memory is pulling into Durango on the train. Everyone, regardless of what they were doing, stopped to wave at the train. Americana at its best!

Pike's Peak adventure......

Well organized and good tour director

Colorado Monument, Mesa Verdi, Silverton-Durango train, Pikes Peek. I thoroughly enjoyed this trip and our tour guide Heather Larsen was just the best. Her knowledge and personality really made this trip exceptional.

Everything was well organized and worked according to plan.

bus driver ranch tour and dinner

Bryce, our tour director, was super and even went beyond his duties by assisting a client who lost their glasses by escorting her back to the store and they succeeded in finding them.

Tour started out fine on 09/15 first day on bus to Rocky Mountain National Park. On Monday 09/16 bus was 4 ½ hours late leaving hotel. That was 4 ½ hours out of my vacation. We got another bus driver. Next day we had our third bus driver. Tuesday 09/17 on way to the Arches, we were taking to Cisco (once a town), A waste of time, would have preferred seeing the famous Delicate ARCH. Sunday 09/22 last day left hotel for airport. After 25 minutes driver received call from tour mgr. That three people were left behind. We turned around 25 minutes back to hotel. Picked up people, another 25 minutes to get back on track. REALLY.

The canyons and mountains are amazing.

The arches were the highlight of the tour

We have always had good experiences with Collette. We will continue to use them.

Hard to say. Train ride thru San Juan Mountains or the Mesa Verde. Just the whole trip in itself.

The tour was up close and personal, our favorite experience was the dinner/show at the Bar D Ranch in Durango. Entertainment was 5 star.

Same as I said before, it was a new experience seeing those beautiful mountains.

They were both professional, courteous, knowledgeable and fun!

The tour focussed on touring 5 national parks/monuments that were awe inspiring, but my favorite was bussing through the Colorado Rockies in a June snow fall. It was gorgeous!

Haydee was awesome...she made the tour!. the tour itself was good - but not awesome. There was too much time on the bus and the second train ride was lame.

Tour was excellent, lived up to expectations. Loved the National Parks and tour manager made the whole experience fun, wonderful and knowledgeable.

The guide was able to answer any question we had, if she did not know the answer, she researched until she found the answer. Visiting the Colorado Monument was a wonderful experience. Did not know it was there. It was beautiful!!

I have been asked this same question several times and I loved everything about the trip so I can't pick out a favorite

Climbing 13 flights down, and then 13 flights up at Crytal Palace in Mesa Verde at age 77 with my granddaughter.

Durango, Mesa Verde and the Stader Hotel were the best. Denver was pretty cool too.

I wanted to tour Colorado and see the sights and we did

Well run as usual. Have been wanting to see Garden of the Gods for years

We did the Colorado / Rocky Mountain tour. Everyday was what we'd hope for. Mesa Verde was our favorite.

Excellent tour guide, bus driver, accommodations. Friendly, happy travelers.

Excellent tour guide/driver!! Made the trip remarkable and memorable all along the way. Jenifer and David were 100% fun and informative, answered all questions and kept the tour interesting. Proud of their state. The attractions/train rides/special speakers on board were A++. The pick up/ drop off services make you start your vacation with style. The Doubletree Hotel was outstanding. The meals were great. The rooms were clean and comfortable. The Strater Hotel was a fantastic step back in time I would highly recommend this trip to anyone.

any difficulty was handled

Got to visit for the first time some locations I had wanted to see, re-visited some previously visited sites. Wish we had had more time at many locations...All in all, fabulous.

Pictures in magazines or TV don’t really give scope to the area

The sights were great, the hotels were great, and the bus was brand new. Lucking out on the weather didn't hurt either.

The tour manager was excellent - you could tell she did her "homework" way ahead of the start of the day. I did feel badly,however, when a guest was 94 years old (unescorted) and not from USA. Unfortunately, I do not think I could have handled it as well as she did. The guest should NOT have been on the trip unescorted.

Didn’t get to do what was promised in the tour

All of the trip was a huge memory.

The price was reasonable for the services I received. The hotels we stayed out was great and the food was good. I just loved all the sights we saw and really liked our train ride.

My favorties: Mesa Verde, Urey, Arches, Red Rock, Royal George, Silverton

We got to see all the National Parks and had great weather and good friends with us on this trip.

I didn't have a favorite.

We saw lots of wonderful sights, but we spent way too much time on the bus. I think it would have been better to eliminate a few stops so that we had more time when we stopped at places. Some stops were like 30 minutes. That definitely wasn't enough for Redlands.

Not hands on. Spent too much time in Denver.

All the tours were great,but sometimes alittle to rushed!!

Mesa Verde was incredible. It is hard to imagine people living there so long ago. The Rocky Mountains, on first sight, are miraculous. There aren't words to describe the feelings it inspired.

The Colorado and Utah scenery were spectacular!

Wonderful tour with great driver and tour director. They were able to modify the tour to meet our wishes. My favorite was climbing arches and Cliff Palace

Loved it all Mesa Verde, Strater Hotel. Silverton Durango train, Royal Gorge train, 16th St Mall in Denver, and all the rest!

I love the Arches National Park and the Royal Gorge Route Railroad. I rode in the open boxcar.

Worth every cent. Spectacular vistas, places, etc.

Tour manager well prepared Hotel location good. Freddies Restuarant awfull

It was a great trip but long rides on the bus. We traveled over 1750 miles in 7 days. The scenery was beautiful. It was very interesting. Our guide Jan Lowe was great. She was so knowledgeable and made the trip fun.

Train ride on the royal Gorge train

The beautiful landscape of Colorado and the Rockies was magnificent! The two train rides were exceptional.

Great group and wonderful guide! Haydee is the best.

Enjoyed all the unexpected/unscheduled stops to Red Rock concert arena , as well as the lunch stops in Vail, Ouray , Silverton, and Salina.

Loved the sights and exploring the parks.

Great Tour Itinerary and Tour Manager

The beautiful majestic mountains.

The tour guide and bus driver surprised us by taking us to Red Rocks! I was very impressed with the museum and the history. All the parks had something unique about them.

Collette provided us with the best tour experience we have ever had and we truly enjoyed it. Our tour guide (Althea Bartlett) was a true professional and our bus driver (Calvin) was excellent. The bus was very comfortable and spacious. Althea also included stops at locations not on the itinerary and this was an added plus. We will definitely take another tour with Collette again.

The Colorado experience brought us to 3 Natinal Parks; they were awe inspiring!

The destinations on this tour are incredible! We loved the Colorado National Monument best but that's just because we had rainy weather in RMNP! And when the Silverton Durango Railroad was derailed because of mudslides, Collette put in Great Sand Dunes National Park as a substitute which was greatly appreciated.

Again, everything was perfect.

Due to forest fires, our trip on the railroad in Durango was cancelled, but we were able to view the relatively new Gunnison National Park with its spectacular Black Canyon in its place.

Durrango. I loved the hotel and walking the town. The piano bar was fantastic. I would have preferred staying there the second evening to listen to the guitar player.

Each day was just so much fun. We had a good group of travelers and a great guide and everyone got along and made friends.

the national parks were amazing.

good hotels; great tour manager; well paced

Always a great experience with Collette!!!

Your guide talked too much. Some days were too long.

I filled that in above . Great trip

Beautiful scenery travelled 1,500 miles.

Tour itinerary was good. Scenery speaks for itself.

Choice of sites, hotels, and meals were wonderful; favorite dinner the winery and favorite site mesa verde; hotel in durango fun although the room/bathroom small we didn't mind as it is such a charming unique experience! The coach driver left a lot to be desired as he would not carry water, reach out to assist when disembarking and rarely spoke with us.

Stops at the national parks were too few and short. Much too much time spent in bus. Winery trip was fun and dinner was delicious! Durango cowboy dinner and show was lots of fun! Tour Manager, *personal details removed by Feefo* was engaging with her music ability! Bus was comfortable but bus driver needs improvement with his personality and driving skills. Nice and friendly people on the bus tour. Perhaps you could add Great Sands National Park to itinerary..... as it seemed like we took a longer way around to get to Colorado Springs.

Silverton/Durango narrow gauge

See comments on previous page.

See comments on previous page.

There was so much to see and enjoy. I loved the clog rail up to the top of Pike's Peak. Views were breathtaking!

enjoyed the rail trip from Silverton and guide. Also the trip up to Pikes Peak--even though it was very foggy

Short amount of time at destinations and long travel time to get to them. Maybe less destination, travel time and more time at cities and parks.

Dinner at vineyards. Very good and a fun time as well as educational.

The parks were all great!

I especially enjoyed the Arches and Canyons National Parks as well as the Mesa Verde National Park.

Overall it was a great experience.

Fabulous tour -- good hotels, except Durango had no hot water in room (I like my tea while I get dressed). I would have liked to gone into the cliff dwelling at mesa verde. I think the rotating seating on the bus, was a fabulous item. I would recommend Colette -- I was thoroughly impressed with the entire trip. Thank you. Emilie

The tour was all I could have asked for. The narrow gauge railroad from Siverton to Durango was fantastic. As was the cog railroad up Pikes peak.

This was our 5th Collette Tour. Everything on the itinerary was covered. It was a lot of traveling time on the bus, especially when we lost 45 minutes due to a wrong turn. I wish we could have made a stop at the Four Corners Monument. I also expected to go into the dwellings at Mesa Verde rather than just to view it from the other side as a photo opportunity. Would have preferred a different hotel than the Strater. Got tired of scrambled eggs every day. Hotels needed to provide more variety. Besides the wonderful National Parks and Dead Horse (a spectacular addition) and the Island in the Sky, my husband and I enjoyed the Vineyard, Chuckwagon entertainment (dinner was fair) and the two train rides! Looking forward to another Collette Tour next year.

Scenery was beautiful in national parks - Rocky Mou tain and Arches were our favorites. Downtown Grand Junction was beautiful and shopping was good . We were able to ship from there. People on the tour were a fun group. People were open and friendly.

It was exactly the itinerary was wanted.

All around good and enjoyable tour.

The selected parks were beautiful. The Rocky Mountain tour was my favorite.

loved the experience but would like more times at the attractions . there was one couple that carded a problem with every other traveler

the views were fantastic,Pikes peak was one of my favorites

The Durango Silverton train ride was incredibly beautiful

Pike's Peak cog wheel rr, Arches National Park

Most memorable experience was going to Pikes Peak. The Arches was a great disappointment . The time could be spent elsewhere, perhaps the air force academy.

scenic train ride to Durango and Pikes Peak adventure

Yes. Please re-read the paper survey we did at the conclusion of the tour. See opinions above. Strater Hotel is old and dark, without enough room to change one's mind. Drop it from the itinerary. Nice history-poor hotel. More free time to walk around towns visited needed; Sitting gets old. Bus riding is excessive, but understandably. Tour Manager, though excellent, needs to be able to speak crystal clear English to a bus load of 44 people in their 60's to 80's. Price a bit too high, in our opinion. That's it.

We had never been tp Colorado and the country side was beautiful.

The rafting trip was great. The mountains were beautiful.

I saw so many beautiful places tht it is hard to pick one memory.

We had a very enjoyable tour. Our manager was great as was the driver, The other members were about the same age as to make a good group. Probably one of our best trips. We saw things we probably would not have seen on our own. Not sure where to go next, but we will be looking to Collette.

Of the various forms of travel, bus tours are at the bottom of my list. That being said, this was one of the better bus tours that I have been on. The trip manager and bus driver, did an excellent job of balancing and responding to everyone's needs and preferences. The coach was well equipped and very well maintained.

Every day was a wonderful visual and mental experience. It would be very hard for me to pick out and one particular day since they were all very memorable.

The tour was excellent and our tour guide was outstanding. I would have preferred less bus time and more walking time even if it meant extending the trip by a couple of days.

My husband and I enjoyed the trip.

Each days views were stand alone events.

Arches National Park one of our favorite places.

I saw so many wonderful places that I've always wanted to see. Arches Nat. Park, Canyon lands, Cliff house dwellings, Pikes Peak and met a lot of friendly and fun people.

Awesome, relaxing, all inclusive.😎

Enjoyed all of the landscape features...... From the twin arches to the Garden of Gods, just beautiful.

Pikes Peak you have to see it to appreciate it.

There were places I would have liked to have spent more time. It seemed that time was abundant at gift shops and for eating, rather than at the parks and monuments. Example: Mesa Verde -- We could have spent more time at the overlook and for the movie, but I felt we we rushed, so we picked 1 or the other. We got back to the gift shop and lunch and everyone did what they had to do and were sitting outside waiting on the bus to continue the tour. Little more time in the park and less time at the gift shop would have served us better. Few places the tour guide and park ranger was confusing as to what was going on. Other than that everything was good.

The scenery in the parks were stunning. Everywhere we went was more beautiful than the last place. Food was good when it was included. The days were extremely long to get to see everything. Think we should have stayed closer to some parks so the day would be shorter. Also, when we went to the Arches park, the guide and tour director were not clear on beng able to go on a walking tour with the guide. Gave us a chance to go alone up to the large Arch which was fine, but when we got back the guide had taken another group up to the cathedral area, which some of us wanted to see, and said there was no time for us to go up on our own and had to leave. I specifically asked if the guide was going to take us there when we got back from seeing the Arch and both the guide and tour director said yes. Disappointed we didn't get to walk there. Thought the guide was average. We had gone to parks that we were waiting to leave on the bus because we had seen everything and yet there were other times we felt we didn't have enough time in places. Need to organize tour better. We felt the tour director was ok. Very pleasant, good sense of humor, knowledgeable. Not as organized as we are used to with Collette. Loved the scenery. Fabulous guide when we were at Mesa Verde. Loved Mesa Verde, could have seen more there. Loved the Cog train ride up to the top. Worth every penny. Loved the cowboy ranch and show. So much fun. Problem was that we were there 3 hours early. Did not need that much time there before the dinner and show. Every park was fantastic. The Garden of the Gods was amazing. The film we watched was wonderful. Wished we could have seen the museum. Nice train ride from Silverton to Durango, long, but nothing you could do about that. Loved Durango. Great bus driver. Very pleasant, efficient, would do whatever he could to make your trip good. Always enjoy traveling with Collette. Will use again, just felt time management was not good on this trip and tour director could have been more organized.

This tour covers a remarkable number of unforgettable sites in a few days, with great accommodations and experiences.

Great group of fellow passengers. The sites were second to none. I believe the tour should end in Denver instead of Colorado Springs. Also should go to the Air Force Academy. Best hotel was in Denver.

I loved Arches National Park and Varaison Winery the best on this tour. It was awfully hot to enjoy Arches, but the park is incredible. Also enjoyed the lunch in Moab, what a cute town! The one thing that I was taken aback by was the large granite 10 Commandments plaque next to the front door of the last hotel in Colorado Springs. I realize that is their prerogative as a private business, but it seemed somewhat insensitive to diversity. Not everyone is a Christian or Jew, and it just isn't necessary in a business setting.

Because so much emphasis was placed on finding high quality lodging, time was sacrificed which could have been spent seeing more of the sites. For example, by staying in Grand Junction and then driving 7-8 hours round trip to The Arches and Canyonlands, we only were able to stop at 1 location in The Arches in 1 corner of the park for a little over a half hour, half of that time was spent waiting in line for the 1 functional bathroom. This did not allow enough time to even walk up to one of the arches, having to turn back halfway in order to get back to the bus on time. If it would have been possible to spent the night in Moab in a lesser hotel, more time could have been spent driving through the Arches (instead of just seeing 1 corner or the park) and maybe seeing some of the dinosaur sites we saw along the road. There are several thousands of arches, and we saw only a few of them. Mesa Verde was fantastic. I wish we could have gotten closer to some of the larger ruins like the Cliff Palace instead of only viewing them at a distance from the drive along the overlook, but understand it may have been hard for many of the elderly to do the walking tour of the larger dwellings. Overall it was a good tour and we saw some beautiful sites and met wonderful people.

The trip to Pike's Peak was certainly a highlight, something I have wanted to see for some time. Even the trip on the cog railroad was an adventure.

The tour was not well planned or organized. Lack of prior planning on stops, on routes, and places to eat. Wine tasting was awful! Skip it! "Scenic route" between Durango and Colorado Springs was a waste of time. Too much time spent on the road and not at places of interest. Have nothing really good to say about stops or trip.

The Doubletree Hotel in Grand Junction was an excellent choice-- the food in the restaurant was really good -- every staff person that we met was so friendly and anxious to please us. The winery tour and dinner were also an excellent choice.

Problems with the airport pickup at both Denver and return to Boston. At Denver our flight landed 15 minutes ahead of schedule but by the time we got our luggage it was past our scheduled arrival time, so the limo should have been there. It was not. As in our instruction booklet, we called the limo pickup after retrieving our luggage. They said we were early and it would be 30 minutes before they would be there. The 30 minutes came and went and no limo. So we called again. Told the limo would be there in 10 minutes. It was not. It took another phone call and another 10 minutes before the limo arrived. The limo driver said had no record of our needing their service. On our return to Boston, we again called the limo service (800 number) after getting out luggage but no one answered the phone. We tried the local number only to have a recording that it was no longer in service. While my wife tried calling again, I went outside and found the limo driver waiting. Needless to say, I think if I ever do another Collette trip, I'll arrange for my own limo service. Also the flights that Collette picked were horrible. We missed the welcome dinner as we did not get to the Denver hotel until 10:30 PM. Collette did give us back $80 but that was not the point. If the welcome dinner is part of the package then all flights that Collette picked should have gotten us there in time for the dinner. On the return to Boston, we only had 58 minutes between flights. Luckily our first flight was early so we made the connection. After we were told about our flights (a few weeks before the trip) I saw I could get non-stops both ways for slightly (under $200) more but Collette would not allow us to cancel the flights and refund us that money and allow us to book the non-stops on our own. The non-stop to Denver arrived inn the afternoon, so we could have done the welcome dinner. In the future I'll make my own flights, no matter how cheap the Collette ones are. Otherwise we really enjoyed the vacation.