Jules Verne Reviews 86

We had a great stay and probably for us it was best that there was not too much "old" snow and it made walking through the tracks and forest a joy. The company was great and the Der Stern Hotel was comfortable and very hospitable. All in all a great holiday.

In August, I went on my first Jules Verne holiday – a River Cruise along the Douro in Portugal and had a wonderful experience. The itinerary was thoughtfully organised, the staff on board were excellent, and all the excursions were enjoyable and well-paced for the group. Our guide had good local knowledge and a good sense of humour, adding to the relaxed nature of the trip.
I particularly enjoyed the visits to several local vineyards, which were very informative, and I learnt lots, as well as the day trip to Salamanca, with free time to explore the city. The food on board was consistently superb, with a range of options, although there may have been a little too much food!
The scenery along the Douro is breathtaking, and the engineering of the locks was a real highlight of the journey. Each time we approached a lock, everyone hurried up to the deck to watch the process. The group I travelled with truly enhanced the trip. We had great conversations over dinner each evening and spent a few nights singing around the piano, which made the experience even more memorable. The Spirit of Chartwell barge was perfect, much nicer than the larger boats we saw on the river and it gave me exactly the small-group experience I’d hoped for.
I have no complaints and will definitely travel with Jules Verne again, I’ve been looking through the brochure for my next trip.

We had a fantastic Danube cruise with JV in September. All arrangements were great and the tour manager Sue was really good. Thank you.

Excellent trip with faultless organisation. A great team with driver, guide and rep. We got VIP treatment wherever we went. Cairo is an amazing city

I was so impressed by every element of my first-time Jules Verne Escorted Journey to Cairo. I was travelling as a single female in a small group and at all times felt well looked after, safe and cared for.

The reservation process was seamless and the pre-tour information was clear and accurate. Emails were answered promptly and airport arrangements were slick.

The standard of the representative and guide in Cairo was gold-standard! I cannot possibly think of a single thing that they could have done to improve this experience. You really could tell that Jules Verne had well-established and respected relationships on the ground, and this meant a seamless journey for us and access to the jewels that Cairo has without any of the potential fuss.

I am 100% going to be a repeat customer!

An excellent holiday with Jules Verne. Everything was so well organised and they also managed to get access for us to places we would never have got on our own. I had not thought of using them before and now would highly recommend.

Just comeback from the most fantastic tour of Cairo with Jules Verne. Amazing itinafy, outstanding staff on the ground and very knowledgeable tour guide. Nothing was too much trouble for JV staff and would highly recommend

My holiday with JV was terrible. The schedule was changed daily. The coach was old with no proper air con and a loose window that threatened to fall out! One day it broke down and we had to wait for a repair. The tour guide (self employed independent) had no communication skills. Despite being a native of SA he seemed to have very little knowledge of some of the places we visited. When there was any change, he told one or two people and relied on them to pass it on. I asked more than once for him to set up a WhatsApp group, but he ignored this. One couple were left behind on Robbin Island and had to make their own way back to the hotel. The scheduling was awful; one time we were on the coach for about 6 hours. We would leave early and get to our next hotel too late to explore the local area. To be fair the guide did have a lot of problems with the Johannesburg office re this and tried to get some things changed. We arrived in one hotel on a Saturday night to find the main restaurant closed so we all had to cram into the smaller Italian. Originally I was told it would be a group of 12 when in fact it was combined with another tour making it 20 people, not what I signed up for. It was only my fellow travellers that made it bearable. I will never use Jule Verne again.

Wildlife, Johannesburg & Battlefields of South Africa, October 2025.

Overall, an amazing and varied experience especially The Kruger National Park and the Anglo Zulu battlefields. Some aspects of the tour were not so good which could have been avoided .
Firstly, on arrival in Johannesburg after an overnight flight from London, Jules Verne (JV) should have taken us straight to our hotel in Pretoria to book in and freshen up. Instead, we spent most of the first day driving around Pretoria. We couldn't check in earlier as the rooms weren't ready but JV could have got over this by booking us into the hotel an extra night at the beginning.
We drove some huge distances by road and there was alot of interesting sights on our tour. However the minibus that took us everywhere was crampt and unsuitable for the number in our group(13). We tried to cover too much distance by road within the time span of the trip sometimes arriving where we were staying after dark. A solution would be to take longer with JV extending the tour by around 3/4/ days. For example; we only spent one night at the Cathedral's Peak Hotel in the Drakensburg getting there late afternoon and leaving early the next morning meaning there was little time to explore the lovely scenery around the hotel.
Our Zulu tour guide who was called "Life" was delightful and most helpful.

JV reply personally to my review on 5/11/25 as I also posted it on their their website. They said they will look at the issue regarding the problem I raised about the first day and not being able to check in earlier to the hotel. They have ignored the other points/problem I have raised so I have contacted JV again and asked them to respond on these too.

Just returned from my second Jules Verne holiday within a year, "Uzbekistan Highlights, Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara"
We flew from London with the often maligned Uzbekistan Airways which other than my seat back entertainment system not working was fine, the aircraft was a modern Dreamliner with plenty of legroom and reasonable food washed down with perfectly acceptable Uzbek wine.
The holiday itself was comprehensive, staying at decent hotels, a full on itinerary packing a lot into a short timeframe.
A variety of transportation including high speed trains, comfortable coaches, a ride on Tashkent's palatial underground as well as a fair amount of walking.
The meals included in the package were good and plentiful, often sampling local dishes which were usually excellent.
The guide was knowledgeable and helpful.
The only downside to the trip was the itinerary itself would benefit from some tweeks as some days were really packed while others we didnt leave our hotel until mid morning.
An example being our last full day we left the hotel at 10am, did a morning tour of Samarkand, then had free time before being taken to an excellent local restaurant for a late lunch before catching the 5.30pm high speed train back to Tashkent, then taken directly from the train to dinner with no opportunity to shower and change, so eating very late and getting back to the hotel even later.
If the Samarkand itinerary had been better planned then an earlier train would have made a better option (in my opinion) 😁

We had a very enjoyable holiday in Egypt with Jules Verne. Our guide & Egyptologist Shaban was fantastic - really friendly and knowledgeable. All the transportation and meeting & greeting were extremely well organised.

The itinerary was very intense! One day saw a 4am departure from our Cairo hotel to get an early flight to Luxor. That afternoon we saw the two major temples at Luxor - Karnak and Luxor Temple - and got back to the boat at about 8pm. This was the longest day, but make sure you have plenty of energy before signing up for this holiday!

Lastly, although the Nile boat we travelled on, MS Hamees, was a lovely boat with friendly staff, we were in cabins at the bottom of the boat, with water lapping against the windows - this meant no balcony (all the cabins on the upper decks had these) and quite a dark interior. The boat wasn't remotely full, so a bit surprising we were still put down at the bottom.

Travelled on a tour with Jules Verne to Scotland. Office staff were First Class in booking service, recommended cabin types and suggested rail options. Lovely boutique hotel in Glasgow, well located, good amenities, friendly staff. Travelled to Corpach rather than Inverness as Storm Amy had left much of the region without power. Travelled then from Corpach to Oban on Lord of the Glens. Superb vessel; very comfortable cabins and good amenities. Meals were to a very high standard, excellent quality and local produce. Great interaction with local experts onboard, from Kiltmaker, to Highland Dancers and Whiskey curator. First Class guide with excellent local knowledge. - One of the most enjoyable factors was the wonderful mixed of fellow passengers onboard who connected very well. Felt extremely well looked after throughout the journey. - what a wonderful way to see Scotland. - Would highly recommend Jules Verne.

Booking Reference JV053768:Would recommend the North to South Tour of Cypress tour, with one proviso….. the transportation provided in the North was awful. The dated minibus didn’t offer sufficient legroom for anyone over 5’2” and you would have hoped that in temperatures averaging 30+ degrees that the air conditioning actually worked. To finish on a positive note, the guide in the North, Onur, was excellent/couldn’t be faulted.

I travelled to Japan in 2024 on Jules Verne’s Earthly Treasures tour, costing £6,770. The itinerary included 9 pre-arranged group meals in high-end restaurants. At the time of booking, I clearly informed the company of my dietary requirements — vegetarian and gluten-free — and was reassured these would be accommodated.

In reality, I was not provided with any suitable food at any of the included meals. The local guide told me the restaurants had not been informed and that the chefs would not adapt the menus. Even when I offered to compromise (allowing fish stock and soy sauce as long as the meal was vegetable-based), nothing was provided.

As a result, I went hungry on multiple days, lost weight, and felt excluded from the social side of group dining. Mealtimes were a major part of the tour’s experience, yet I sat watching others enjoy elaborate multi-course meals while I had nothing. It was upsetting, isolating, and not what I paid for.

When I complained, the company pointed to its terms and conditions, which say dietary requests are “not guaranteed.” ABTA’s arbitration scheme upheld this clause and awarded only £520 as a goodwill gesture.

To me, this feels deeply unfair. On the one hand, I was reassured that my dietary needs would be met; on the other hand, small print was later used to avoid responsibility. For a £6,700 premium tour, I expected honesty and transparency. If meals cannot be adapted, this should be made clear before booking, not hidden behind terms and conditions.

My hope in sharing this is not just about my own disappointment, but to warn other travellers: if you have dietary needs, ask for written confirmation before you book, and be cautious about relying on verbal assurances. I also hope tour operators will be clearer in their marketing so that no other customer experiences the same distress I did on what was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime holiday.

Holiday to Mexico and Guatemala. Dreadful hotels at the beginning of the tour with very poor breakfasts. The hotel in Oaxaca was particularly bad. We had a leaking sink so had to paddle in the bathroom. The towels were dirty and stained.
Timings of the journeys were extremely inaccurate. All journeys were considerably longer than advertised in the itinerary - we spent many, many hours on coaches virtually every day - many journey times were double that described in the itinerary. The 2 border crossings were not the same as the itinerary and Jules Verne knew the crossing points had been changed - just failed to tell us. This meant instead of a 7 hour journey, we left the hotel at 5.30am and did not arrive at our destination until 9.30pm. Completely unacceptable. The second border crossing was due to be a crossing by boat and then a visit to a site only accessible by boat. Again the reality did not match the itinerary and we had another 8 hour coach journey instead.
In addition the coach in Guatemala was unsafe and the windscreen would not demist. Very scary at night and on winding Guatemalan roads.
We have received a paltry sum in compensation, given the misinformation from Jules Verne. And even this paltry sum was not given without a fight. If Jules Verne had been truthful with their itinerary we would never have booked this tour. DO NOT trust this company, find an alternative operator.

I have recently come back from a walking holiday in the Dolomites. The actual holiday was good and our guide very knowledgeable and sensible.
But the organization of flights was dreadful. We were on EasyJet from Gatwick , not ideal but could put up with that . But the timings of both out and back were so bad. We arrived at our hotel in the Dolomites at 1 pm at night to a hotel in darkness. Anyone could have worked out that that would happen. On the way home it was worse , we were on an EasyJet flight at 10-10 pm from Venice which unsurprisingly was delayed an hour so we landed at Gatwick at 12-15 pm at night. I arrived home at 2-45 in the morning. The demographic of customers must be older rather than younger and if we wanted that sort of timings we would have gone to a cheaper company . I will be reluctant to book with Jules Verne again which is a shame

I would not recommend this tour. The guides were mediocre at best. The guide in the Hanoi area did not say the truth about timings, etc. One guide spoke very poor English which made communication difficult. The bus in the Hanoi area was old with worn suspension. A 3 to 3.5 hour bus journey from Halong Bay to Ninh Binh turned into a 7.5 hour bouncy and shaky bus journey for no good reason - the detour and artificial stop had no obvious purpose. On this long journey and others there were not enough comfort breaks so we had to ask for them which the guides did not seem to appreciate. The tour was very regimented - it reminded me of a China tour I had done decades ago! - there was no free time other than in the evenings when we were too tired to do anything other than go to eat. The hotels were good but they were located a long way from anything and getting around in Vietnam is extremely difficult unless you take a taxi and then you have the problem of calling a taxi to take you back to the hotel. The sights did not compensate for these problems.

If you want to spend your holiday on a coach this is the one for you. We left the hotel generally at 8.00 am and arrived at next destination between 6.00 and 9.30 pm - often after the hotel restaurant had closed. Left San Cristobal (Mexico) at 5.30 am (lugging hand baggage through the streets in the rain for 1/4 mile to reach the coach) to spend 16 hours before getting to next hotel in Guatemala. Lots of padding to break up the long journeys (carpet factory, Mexicali distillery, “Mayan” meal [looked like a normal restaurant to me]). The archaeological sites were good but you might be only there for two hours and spend the rest of the day on the coach. Most of our group went down with colds, coughs and blocked noses / ears due to the long exposure to air conditioning on the bus. A number expressed the wish to be able to go home well before the three weeks were up. We survived but I would not repeat the process.
Journey times in the itinerary were hopelessly inaccurate. There must be a way to use internal flights to avoid 1000’s of kilometres on a bus.
Forced to fly from Cancun back to Mexico City when there are direct flights from Cancun to London.
It did not feel like the needs and comfort of the clients were taken into account. Little or no opportunity to rest and relax.
Three stars given only for the extraordinary archaeological sites.

We have recently returned from the bushveld and battlefields tour oct 2024. Life the guide and the driver were excellent. Life was outstanding from the start and nothing was too much trouble. He sorted any problems and was clear throughout on the tour. However, when we visited the battlefields lodge we were highly disappointed. Two sockets were damaged showing bare wires and loose connections, the wiring was downright dangerous!(see attached photos) The smoke detector wasn’t connected and lay on the counter. There was mould in the bathroom with cracked tiles. The bar shut at 9pm at night!. There was a blazing row amongst drivers from another company adding to the noise, which I had to intervene! We were told on day two at Kruger, that our included afternoon drive on safari had been cancelled. Thanks to one of our fellow travellers and Life our guide, this was thankfully remedied, for which we are grateful for your prompt action at your UK end. But this never should have arisen. The last hotel the cathedral peak was excellent, but we would suggest an extra day at the end of the holiday to relax and enjoy the facilities. The itinerary said we would have the last morning to relax but this wasn’t possible, as we all had to get to the airport that was over 5 hours away! That has no reflection on Life our guide or the driver as they rightly knew that it would take a long time to drive to the airport, esp with the state of some of the roads. The visit to Pilgrims rest was in ours (and others from the group) pointless, which put extra pressure on Life our guide and the driver. We nearly missed the visits to the other places that day. We also had time constraints which meant we could not get to the Talana battlefield and museum on time. Life our guide did manage to get the staff to hold on for us to look at a section of the museum, but that wasn’t really worth doing, despite their gallant efforts. (the interesting military section was closed.) This was perhaps a museum visit too far due to the time constraints, traffic and state of the roads. The visit to the lake takes some time, and we felt the trip on the boat on the lake could perhaps have been longer that an hour. It was fascinating, but we feel needs to be longer. Again we didn’t have time to visit the military museum in ladysmith which was disappointing again. Again not the guide or drivers faults, the roads were terrible and cost us a lot of time

My husband and I went on a Jules Verne Taj Tour earlier in the year. In essence the tour we experienced did not reflect what we were led to believe we would be doing.
When in the first few days my husband sustained an accident caused by the hotels lift we were not supported in the manner we expected from a Gold Standard Travel Company. On our return we had lengthy discussions with JV the result of which they apologised offered us standard compensation and advised us to go to ABTTA. Subsequently we lodged our complaint with them online as this is the only way they communicate with anyone. To date we have received no answer and feel totally impotent that we can not get anyone to listen to our concerns. It isn’t about financial compensation I just don’t want anyone else to take a trip of a lifetime and find it turns into a total nightmare. Think long and hard before you entrust Jules Verne with your dreams.