Spain's Costa del Sol & The Portuguese Riviera

03/26/2020

Service

The entire tour went smoothly and on time. All tour guides were informative.
Tour

Other than the property we stayed at near Grenada, all the accommodations were excellent.

03/26/2020

Service

I highly recommend Collette. All of our guides were knowledgeable, informative and enthusiastic, especially José Abscal who stayed with us throughout our visit, Jose shared wonderful stories about the culture and history of Spain and Portugal. The balance between time with the group and time on our own was perfect.
Tour

I loved staying in Malaga and taking the day trips to Granada and Gibraltar.

11/28/2019

Happy and would reccommend Collette to others.

Service

I was very pleased with Collette's service. They monitored us all the way; this was reassuring. My plane from Philadelphia to Madrid left 5 hours late due to mechanical problems. They were well aware of my predicament and told me not to worry, my ride would pick me up when I landed. The chauffeur service was very nice.
Tour

I have a few issues. Too much food; portions were too large for most people. Large portions are fine if you are in your home area; you can take it home for another meal. I don't like to see food wasted. For my taste, some of the food was too salty. Next time I will request low or no salt options.

11/28/2019

Service

All activities and events were well planned and our tour guide was wonderful! The local tour guides used at the various venues were wonderful.
Tour

My favorite places were Sevilla and Portugal.

11/18/2019

Service

Sergio our guide was outstanding
Tour

The Cathedral at Seville.

11/14/2019

Excellent tour.

Service

The tour manager (Sergio) and the bus driver (Carlos) were excellent. As to the local guides, the one we had for two days was really terrific (Pado museum).
Tour

The best part of the tour was the optional visit to Portugal and seeing the beautiful harbor, the highway across an airport runway, but most of all, the Burberry Apes. They were so much fun. Additionally, the visit to the Alhambra was really worth the walk and the history was really interesting.

10/17/2019

Service

Airport transfers, hotel accommodation, and accommodation location were very good. Touring very narrow streets and sidewalks with a group of 43 people can not be done! We still have no idea what some of the local guides were telling us. Could not hear them after they turned corners along sidewalks. More unscheduled time would have been nice as 3 tours a day by bus was too much for us seniors. I would have liked more personal time to explore at our great hotel sites.
Tour

Tours with local guides were too fast and we could not hear the tour guide. He went around rock corners and our ear buds could not pick up his voice.

10/17/2019

Service

There were no problems dealing with Collette. I forgot to mention that there was no seat rotation on the bus, so what happened was that four couples took possession of the front seats and no one else had an opportunity to sit there. The view is much better up front & everyone should have at least one chance to sit there.
Tour

There were too many activities each day and not enough free time. Usually the free time was taken up having lunch. I would have preferred one maybe two activities per day and more free to explore them on my own. I just felt very rushed. This felt much busier than any other Collette tour I have taken. What do you mean by tour inclusions?

10/10/2019

Service

Well organized tour with a knowledgeable tour guide.
Tour

Tour of the Alhambra was very interesting

07/04/2019

We enjoyed everything on this tour!

Service

We loved this tour! The sights we saw were amazing. We enjoyed visiting The Mosque-Cathedral in Córdoba, Alhambra, Gibraltar, the Mafra Palace, Fátima, plus the quaint towns of Ronda, Nazaré, and Obidos. The views of the Mediterranean from our hotel in Costa Del Sol were spectacular, as was our hotel in Lisbon, which overlooked where the Tagus River meets the Atlantic. The optional tours we took were great; the dinner in Madrid was excellent, as was the dinner and gorgeous view in Mijas Pueblo, the Flamenco show in Seville was fantastic. Our tour manager, Jim Clark, did a great job, the local guides were knowledgeable and provided excellent information. The food and wine were fabulous!
Tour

There were so many memorable experiences on this tour, but for me the most memorable was our dinner at Mijas Pueblo. The beautiful view, the food, and the company of our fellow travelers made for a wonderful evening.

07/04/2019

This tour met all my expectations. lodging, tour manager, itinerary perfec

Service

All my needs were met with professional courtesy and expertise
Tour

All aspects of this tour were memorable

06/16/2019

3 Countries in 1 trip - Fanstastic!

Service

Tour very organized, excellent driver and tour manager. Coach very nice with wi-fi. Train trip fantastic. Local guides varied from good to great. Beautiful countries. Hotels fabulous. Most dining great. Representative at initial sign up meeting needs to emphasize physical activity level required on trip, especially for senior group, and explain Options offer in more detail. Also need to explain Gilbraltar did not include military museum or caves even though I called customer service to ask, they told me it did. Enjoyed leisure time if we didn't do the Option. Need to include Plaza de Espana in Seville and Royal Palace in Madrid to tour, went on our own. Would have liked to tour a bull farm or arena as Option. Trip exceeded expectations. Learned a lot about history, agriculture, tradition and environmental/energy conservation. Had a great group and fun! Did not like parts of flight: Navigating at JFK airport both going to and from trip was awful - too much walking, stairs, outside and inside for senior group to get to next flight home.
Tour

Loved Fatima, tapas and Sangria on rooftop, resort stay on the Mediterranean, Gilbraltar (although the WWII sites weren't included), the Roman bridges and aqueducts, Tile and architecture by Moors, Medieval city of Obidos, Armory at Royal Palace in Madrid & Plaza de Espana in Seville (both not in tour), Olive and cork trees, welcome dinner in Madrid, met friendly police who welcomed lost tourists, shopping at local grocery and pharmacy stores getting to know local culture. Very nice local people everywhere, not just in tourist areas. Very clean countries. Superb food and wine.

05/27/2019

Service

The tour promised "free time" for leisure and this was not the case. We often returned to the hotel late in the day, only to find that we had to rush to get ready to go for supper. There was little time for shopping for souvenirs the first few days of the tour - the itinerary was too busy.
Tour

The location of the hotel in Madrid was good, but we felt the hotel itself was below average. The room was extremely small, was uncomfortably warm and was generally disappointing. Several of the meals provided by Collette were sub-par. The welcome dinner on May 26 in Madrid was outstanding and the Hake dinner served at the Parador Malaga was good as well. ALL of the other meals were problematic... (meat overcooked, gravy way too salty, tasteless food) We were especially disappointed in the optional Flamenco evening that we signed up for. This evening cost us $163 CAD so for the two of us that was well over $300 CAD, which is a substantial sum. We were looking forward to having authentic paella and enjoying the flamenco dancing. At the restaurant, my husband ordered the chicken paella - his meal arrived and he enjoyed it. I ordered the seafood paella. It arrived 5-10 minutes after my husband's meal and was so over-salted that it was completely inedible. Several other people who ordered the seafood paella had the same complaint. The restaurant offered to provide us with something else but there was no time as we had to leave for the Flamenco show. Needless to say I left hungry and extremely disappointed (as was John Raynak, the other person in our group who ordered the inedible seafood paella). Our tour director was made aware of this problem and told the restaurant but there was little he could do at that point. We should not have had to pay for a meal that could not be eaten - especially considering the price we had paid. We had travelled to Croatia two years ago with Insight Tours and that tour was far superior to this tour. Their accommodations were far superior (all excellent 4-5 star hotels), provided meals were consistently delicious, tours were appropriate and time was managed much better. We were extremely disappointed with this Collette Tour. We truly enjoyed our tour director Xavier Gimeno. His sense of humour and his excellent knowledge of the tour were the highlight for us. He always behaved professionally and efficiently took care of all of our travel arrangements and needs.

Thank you for traveling with Collette on our Spain's Costa del Sol & the Portuguese Riviera tour. We are very sorry for your disappointment with this tour. We have made our General Manager of the Canadian office aware of your comments and he will be reaching out to you personally in the next few days. However, we certainly agree you should not have to pay for a meal that was served too late and you found too salty and therefore inedible. We will refund you in full for the Flamenco show and dinner. We hope theses actions are satisfactory.

Collette Support

05/23/2019

Service

Very polite and knowledgeable.
Tour

Good tour but too many tours of the old parts of towns. Needed a little more free time.

05/04/2019

Service

The pace was very energetic, especially for seniors. The late dinners really messed up our " internal " schedule.
Tour

Gibraltor, the monkeys and the cave.

05/02/2019

Service

Most of the hotels were very good. One of the hotels the room was very small. Bed almost on top of of bathroom. I was not happy that I could not collect about 50 euros from purchases I made. No one mentioned that I needed a form from a participating store along with my receipts to collect.
Tour

Gibralter, Toledo, Fatima

02/13/2019

Service

Need to adjust touraccording to clients age and ability status
Tour

Some of the places we ate are good some are bad

04/05/2018

Perfectly perfect in every way

Service

Collette and our tour Guide Jennifer could not have done a better job. We saw just about everything imaginable on our itinerary and the optionals were absolutely worth every penny especially when we went to the shows and Mijas. The hotel choices were amazing with some of the very best breakfast displays ever. I wish there was something to complain about but alas everything was perfect except the weather which I can only blame on the heavens. In spite of the downpours we still saw everything!
Tour

As noted before, we saw everything this itinerary offered and more. The optionals aren't something I'm usually fond of but the ones on this trip I would not have missed. The flamenco show was super amazing, even the Fado night, which I really wasn[t excited about brought a new light to me regarding Fado music. The dinners were also so satisfying and the wine never stopped throughout our meals. I've been on food and wine tours before but this tour even topped them without having that distinction. Jennifer our tour manager did a magnificent job making sure we got all the photos, all the tours, and making sure everyone was happy. She had handouts for every city and marked our meeting points so no one ever was late or lost. Jen was super efficient. I would highly, highly recommend this tour. There were so many high points but Gibralta was one of my favorite optionals as was the Flamenco show which went way beyond my expectations. My one recommendation would be to arrive in Madrid one to two days early to really see what the city has to offer - there is so much!

11/02/2017

Service

A very professional agency with great attention to detail and a dedicated staff
Tour

Great sites to visit, very nice lodging, and plenty of delicious food

10/19/2017

Service

As always, Collette exceeded my expectations. It was a wonderful tour in every way.
Tour

The excursion to Fatima, Nazare, and Obidos were my favorite moments. And the optional dinner in Mijas Pueblo was the best!!!!

10/13/2017

Busy tour!

Service

I booked this tour directly through Collette and was pleased with the service I received. They were responsive to all my phone calls and requests... even to last minute changes.
Tour

We got to visit many beautiful places on this tour but would have preferred more free time to enjoy each place. Most of the places we visited we only had an hour free (which included time to find a place for lunch). If it wasn't lunch time we generally had 15 minutes free time which was barely enough time to find a restroom. We would have enjoyed spending more time on our own at the places we visited rather than spending so much time in detailed tours of the sites.

10/12/2017

The service was great . Resterants that were included were very good .

Service

Yes , but I really didn't fully understand the tour I chose . So I'm not blaming Collette . For instance, I expected to see Malaga but we stay outside of the town and if you went to Gebralta which I did their was no time to spend there and it was not part of the tour . At the Portuguese Rivera I expected to see those pretty different color buildings but that's not where we went . My biggest disappointment was not spending more time in Lisbon. I feel we really didn't see it . That's where we need free time . We needed two days in Lisbon .Toledo was disappointing because we spent the whole tour in a Church in stead of the city . The service was great and the food was good . The last hotel charged for a safe ? I thought that was terrible.
Tour

The tour wasn't what I expected . I didn't exspect to spend the whole tour in a church , we didn't see the city . Had I understood that tour better , I wouldn't have gone . I wanted to see Malaga .We didn't spend enough time in Lisbon we needed two days . Ronda , Columbus tomb , Lisbon and Fatima . The diners included in the tour were very good .

06/08/2017

Great Trip BUT Be prepared to walk ALOT!

Service

We booked through a travel agent, and had no contact with Collette directly. That said, everything on the tour went smoothly.
Tour

This was a great trip, we lucked out with 30 companions who were incredibly congenial and thoughtful, from all over the US, Australia, and the UK. Excellent tour guide and careful and safe driver. The included meals were large portions and the wine flowed. The hotels were fine. I do think the "3" rating on this was a bit off, particularly for the first 2/3rds of the trip. We were counting "steps" on our pedometer and almost every day we broke 20,000 (250,000 for the trip)(figure 2000 steps per mile?). The sites were incredible, particularly the Alhambra, Mexquita and the Alcazar, However all entailed long walks to/from bus, many steps up and down, long walks within the site and long periods of standing. Once we got to Cascais, the physical demands lessened considerably. This was our 3rd Collette trip, and we will be back again soon. Thoroughly enjoyed it! 5 Stars to our Tour Manager, he was great!

06/08/2017

An interesting tour with much to learn.

Service

The tour was quite inclusive with many learning experiences. Many of us on this tour thought its difficulty rating was inaccurate as it was more difficult than most thought it would be due to the fact that much of the walking was on cobblestones, hilly and hundreds of stairs. It would be helpful to have more information before booking these trips. We were not given details until a couple of weeks before departure.
Tour

This tour included many UNESCO sites and was an excellent learning experience. Some of us even had the experience of holding a bird of prey!

06/08/2017

Service

Very knowledgeable guides. Throughly enjoyed the itinerary. Would definitely recommend Collette to others.
Tour

The group...I have to say the people we travelled with. The tour had a diverse group of people from all over the world. Our tour manager's knowledge and stories were so interesting and funny. As a group, we really all got along. And the itinerary of places we visited were amazing. There wasn't just one place we visited that stood out.

04/20/2017

Service

-tour guide was excellent; professional, personal, well organized and on top of every detail - driver was competent, safe, and professional also. - top quality
Tour

- if by purchases you mean 'extra tours' we only went on one. Because of our smaller group (which we loved) it prevented some of the extra optional tours from going ahead. - the tour we went on was good, but the guide (in the van) could have had a head set, as he was difficult to hear at times . . . we were in the very back of the van. - Content, location, organization etc., though were good as usual

11/29/2016

Great !!!!!

Service

Great tour, great accommodation, great fellow travelers on the tour, great tour guide, and driver., great value for money.
Tour

Portugal is a must see. We will be returning.

11/03/2016

There were many logistical errors made by this company, including not sched...

Service

There were many logistical errors made by this company, including not scheduling our airport transfer correctly at the end of our tour. We almost missed our flight!
Tour

Everything was basic in quality, especially included meals.

10/15/2016

I had a very good holiday with lots of culture and excellent food.

Service

nice hotels with check in service limo pick up at airport efficient itinerary was excellent, more time needed, but I realize pack a lot into one trip good local guides
Tour

The mosque in Cordoba Seville. great city for walking Prada Gallery in Madrid

07/07/2016

Service

Good service
Tour

The hotels were chain hotels and some of the locations weren't as good

06/10/2016

Traveled with Collette two years in a row

Service

This was our second trip with Collette and once again we were very impressed. We went through our travel agent, so she dealt directly with the company. We received all travel documents earlier than expected with no mistakes. We received credits for being repeat customers, as well as for early booking.
Tour

The hotel selection was excellent; we stayed across the street from the ocean in Cascais and Torremolinos, and were within walking distance to the city centers. Buffet breakfasts were amazing in all locations as far as quality and quantity. Tour bus was clean, modern, and very comfortable, and our driver was professional and often went out of his way to minimize the amount of walking required. Quite a bit of walking required uphill, on cobbled streets, etc. which was a challenge for some participants with canes or other issues with walking. Tour was packed with included activities and destinations, but some days were back-to-back full days of touring, especially in Portugal. Tour does include down- time for people to be on their own, but it could be spaced out better. Our tour manager was capable and organized, but was abrupt and sarcastic at times, especially when asked to repeat information (we all had jet lag and were senior citizens!). She also didn't have accurate information at times since she hadn't done this particular tour for about 6 months. Our tour manager on our previous Collette trip was excellent; warm, friendly, knowledgeable, and added a lot to our overall experience. This time, though, my husband and i found ourselves avoiding her as much as possible, which was uncomfortable at times.

06/09/2016

uneventful

Service

we went through our travel agent, and everything went smoothly - Collette's literature was very helpful.
Tour

Everything went very well, we were very pleased with the amount of activities, and the degree to which we had flexibility to discover restaurants. The guides were also very competent. While we thought the quality of the hotels was generally good, we were generally disappointed in the fitness center, and the location could have been better. For example, the hotel in Madrid was in a commercial area, not close to the historic/tourist zone of the city. I would have preferred a hotel in Lisbon, and not have to travel 30 minutes to get there from my hotel.

05/16/2016

Service

We purchased the tour through our travel agent. This was my second tour with Collette. The first went well so I decided to try another one. I believe they provide good value for my money.
Tour

It was a bonus to be part of a small tour, just 21 travelers. The pacing was good. We had time to see the sights, to have some alone time and to just relax. The visit to the Alhambra was very special. The local guides were very good. They gave just enough detail, often with humour. The included meals were excellent. Not a tour to go on a diet!

04/21/2016

Keep up the good work.

Service

My documents were initially lost in the mail but Collette staff sent another set directly to me in Florida. I have been on several Collette tours and they have all been exactly as advertised with a few extras added to make the experience even more enjoyable.
Tour

Jim Clark, Tour Manager, enhanced our experience with information about the people, architecture, and cultures of Spain, Portugal, & Gibraltar. The most memorable experiences was the city of Rhonda, Toledo, Alhambra & the old city in Seville and of course Fatima. Oh hell, the whole trip was most memorable and very difficult to choose just a few things. The Flamenco & Fado dinner shows were excellent.