Insight Vacations

A major concern relates to the additional night at the Apollo Hotel in Amsterdam, you pay 3 times just booking with Insight, which in itself was an excessive amount for the standard of room provided. The Apollo Hotel itself was well below what we would consider premium accommodation. While we appreciated being allowed early check-in, we were… Read more

allocated basement-level (-1) rooms despite paying an extremely high amount for the additional night. The rooms were disappointing and did not appear to have been properly prepared. In our room, towels still had makeup marks on them, stained carpets, amenities appeared old and poorly maintained, and basic items such as sugar sachets had hardened and stuck together, suggesting they may have been outdated or exposed to moisture for an extended period. This standard simply did not reflect the premium experience that Insight markets and charges for. The hotel in Wurzburg fell below expectations, with rooms and facilities appearing dated and poorly maintained, including visible water stains and worn benchtops. The hotel in Budapest also presented issues, with insufficient hot water resulting in two days of cold showers. The hotel in Rome was particularly disappointing. There was no reliable hot water, amenities were extremely limited, reception services were minimal, and there appeared to be little concern shown regarding guest complaints. The shower facilities were exceptionally small and impractical. We additionally paid extra for the Country Mansion experience. Unfortunately, this was another area where expectations were not met. The dinner was disappointing, service levels were poor, and staff were largely absent throughout the evening, including for basic drink service. While we were told that we should have contacted the Tour Director at the time, that misses the point. Guests should reasonably expect an experience marketed as premium to be appropriately staffed and managed without having to escalate basic service issues. The visit to the Schonbrunn Palace and Gardens, we paid extra for the optional tour, and we hardly had any time in there to visit the gardens, not great value for money. To top it off Insight Travel doesn't take any responsibility whatsoever and shift their responsibility to the travel agency, hotel etc. I must say that this is one of the most disappointing customer service responses I have ever received from any organisation, particularly one that promotes itself as a premium travel company focused on customer experience. What stands out most is the complete lack of accountability. Rather than acknowledging any of the concerns raised, your response repeatedly seeks to shift responsibility elsewhere – to the travel agent, to the hotels, to individual circumstances, or back to the customer. At no point have you meaningfully addressed the overall experience or recognised that a customer can feel genuinely let down even when, in your view, contractual obligations have technically been met. Regarding the Luxury Gold guests, it is not my responsibility to investigate or prove where your customers were accommodated. I am certain that Luxury Gold travellers were staying at the same hotel as our group, and your immediate dismissal of that observation without conducting your own investigation is indicative of the broader approach taken throughout your response. What is equally disappointing is that none of the concerns regarding hotel quality, optional experiences, itinerary execution, transfer arrangements, or the significant disparity between what was expected and what was delivered have been met with any meaningful acknowledgement. Instead, the response appears focused solely on defending Insight's position and explaining why no responsibility should be accepted. During the tour, Roderick spoke very highly of the owners of this organisation and emphasised how much they cared about their customers and the experiences they delivered. Unfortunately, the response I have received does not reflect those sentiments in any way. If this letter is representative of Insight's commitment to customer satisfaction, then there is a significant disconnect between the message delivered on tour and the reality experienced afterwards. While I did not have high expectations based on my earlier interactions and the repeated reluctance to accept responsibility, I still chose to provide detailed feedback and give Insight the opportunity to review the experience constructively. Regrettably, your response has only reinforced my concerns. As a result, this will be the last time I travel with Insight Vacations. I will also be sharing my experience through reviews and other appropriate channels so that prospective customers can make informed decisions based on both the touring experience and the level of support they can expect if issues arise. I am genuinely disappointed that, after taking the time to provide comprehensive feedback, the outcome has been a response that appears far more focused on defending the company than understanding the customer's experience

I would never book any tour with Insight Vacations. We booked the Europe Tour with Insight Vacations in Nov 2025 and the tour is in May 2026, me and my husband just come back from the tour and put this review to warn all the visitors. The tour director was inexperience and her English is terrible. I hardly understand her English for my 26 days… Read more

tour. The local tour guide in Italy and Spain also couldn't speak English properly, I couldn't understand their English at all, what a waste of money for all the optional tours we paid for. Thus we didn't enjoy this Europe tour at all. We paid EUR114 each for Pompeii and The Bay of Naples. However, we only spent one hour in Pompeii (Rome) site (which is a huge site to see and it needs a whole day) and never go to The Bay of Naples. We feel be cheated. When I talked to other friends who been Pompeii with another tour company which they spent 4 hours on the site. Also the tour director arranged us to have lunch in the restaurant in Pompeii and never told us the restaurant will charge us extra service fee per head and we believe the tour director knew this, she should let us know in advance so we can have choice to decide if we want to have lunch in this restaurant or not. Also this restaurant is extremely expensive. We all believe the tour director received the commission from this restaurant. We been rip off by the tour director. The tour director has very poor communication skills. When she give information, she never bring every tour member's attention. This tour is only 15 people, small amount of people. She only talk to those member near her, those at the back missed out her information. The instructions from the tour director are not clear, her English has very heavy accent (Polish) and speaks extremely fast. Hard to hear and hard to undetstand what she talk about. When the tour director lead the group to a destination, she walks so fast and never look back to see if other tour member can follow or catch up, few times, we nearly lost, so we just walk so fast in order to catch up with the tour director, no time to take photo and admire the view. Our tour group has a very old couple 81 years old, she never look back the queue to make sure the old couple can follow, just walk and talk with the people near her, looks like she is the one travelling, not us and we all running in order to catch her. In fact this tour majority are old people over 65, 70 years old. Everyone couldn't walk that fast. Everytime with this tour director, it is rush and rush. No chance to take photos and enjoy the view. Waste of our money. When I mentioned to the tour director why she didn't tell us the information in advance, she agrue with me and defend for herself. No customer service at all. Actually, the list can go on and on, I just stop here, otherwise it is a extremely long negative review for Insight Vacations and the tour director who is inexperience, lack of customer service, poor English etc....

Tour leader (Gigi) did a wonderful job in keeping the group informed, on time and entertained. Hic-ups were quickly resolved and whole tour went to plan. Accommodation was good as were the extras on the tour. Tour participants were compatible, obliging and friendly. From a personal view, we got our money's worth and thoroughly enjoyed the experience

I did a 22 Day Insight tour in 2015 which I enjoyed. In 2024 I booked to do that same trip again. But it was nothing like the first one, matter of fact it was awful. Did not stay at same hotels, except for one. And I was looking forward to strolling around near some of the stop overs, but no luck. Show details

They held our trip to Italy paid booking for 4 months and 6 weeks before the tour we were notified by the travel agent the August 2025 tour had been cancelled- thanks very much Insight Tours -no reason given just dumped and go find something at short notice - not impressed with the business method- will never try to use Intrepid again, got money back just late to rebook !

10/10! – The whole experience from beginning to end on Best of Italy was amazing! I felt so taken care of the whole time by the incredible travel director and the local experts were so passionate and welcoming. We got to visit all the big spots as well as lesser known destinations, which were a real personal highlight. Would recommend Insight to anyone!

Insight Vacations are bloody brilliant – Insight Vacations are bloody brilliant and I'll have nobody tell me otherwise. I'm shocked to see any poor reviews!! Everything about our Highlights of Eastern Europe tour was flawless. The hotels were fantastic, the pace of the tour was brilliant, we spent more than enough time in each city, I learnt so much but also enjoyed letting my hair down… Read more

with the friends I made on tour. And don't get me started on the food, I put on about 5kgs but I don't regret a single thing.

If you're thinking of going on a guided tour, there's literally no better tour company than Insight Vacations.

Do NOT travel with Insight! – Insight has terrible customer service. Before booking our trip we could not get ahold of them to actually make our booking (this should have been our first clue that the company was terrible). Then after we finally were able to book I became ill at the very beginning of the trip. We had purchased the travel insurance recommended by Insight but… Read more

they refuse to pay even though I have a doctors note that states I was unable to travel. Insight also refuses to offer any sort of trip credit. We spent over $10,000 on our trip and will not see a penny of that back. Basically extortion.

Don’t waste your money on Romantic Britain and Ireland – What a total waste of money spent 18 days on a bus looking at trees on a Romantic Britain and Ireland tour. Saw very little of anything. Accommodation was very poor in most places. Food was mediocre and long days on winding roads too narrow for a bus and long detailed history lesson. Only highlight was meeting some wonderful people. Nothing… Read more

romantic about this tour!!! Oh and if you don’t book post tour or pre tour accommodation with Insight don’t expect them to care if you get transport you will just be dumped

Terrible included meals – Our tour director and driver were fantastic. My issue was the included meals on this tour. The included meals are awful. Tasteless cafeteria slop!! At these meals, you can really tell the waiting staff really do not want to deal with you. The drop plates of food down and walk away with out saying a word. Honestly the food that is served on… Read more

an economy flight is five stars compared to the garbage you are paying for with the included meals. If you want a great dining experience, please pay and go out to a nice restaurant. Those meals and service was fantastic. PLEASE NOTE- The only exception was the dinner in Rome at someone's home. That was a five star experience

DO NOT TRUST Insight Vacations – Our travel agent recommended Insight for our Scandinavia vacation. We liked their itinerary and booked their small group tour six months in advance. Two months before the trip our tour was cancelled "due to operational reasons and lack of participation". We requested but were refused compensation for costs incurred related to our unrecoverable… Read more

travel and insurance expenses for this cancellation. They said, "read our fine print, we do not have to compensate you." DO NOT TRUST Insight Vacations. Never again. Go with Gate 1.

Cancellation Fee - No compassion – Booked a trip to Spain / Portugal Unluckily got diagnosed with the big C Insight Vacation imposed its cancellation fee of 30% Both Singapore Airline and Flight Centre waived all cancellation fees and refunded in full Show details

luggage allowance – how can they expect their guests to have reduced luggage sized suitcases than what is allowed on their flights when you are on a long tour and different climates. we understand the weight restriction. After affording to save for the trip, we are now expected to buy new luggage to what we have always used on our other tours over the years to fit… Read more

their requirements for stowage. We have always been able to stow our suitcases and small wheelies underneath with no problem but not now despite the coach being the same size. Now my carry on (7kg allowed) can't have wheels or telescopic handle so it can go on the coach. however the remodelled coaches have more leg room and less seats.

DO N0T USE INSIGHT VACATIONS- TERRIBLE – I've decided to leave this review to share my recent experience with Insight Vacations. In 2022 I booked a trip called 'Sicily in Depth' for July 28- August 4th 2023. In May 2023 (6 weeks prior to me leaving for my trip and after paying for the tour in-full - Approx $6K-) I received an email stating that my tour had been cancelled due to… Read more

"operational reasons".

"I tried to give Insight Vacation the opportunity to locate another trip for me and accomodate the difference, but they have stated they would not do this. They have stated that they will charge more than $2000 for a similar trip originally booked. As for the Flights, "there are none available if we are to rebook on 06AUG23.-Only available for same cabin is on 07AUG23 however, there's price difference if we are to rebook it on this date, is an Additional Amount to be paid of AUD$3,863 for one person".

INSIGHT TRAVEL stated they will not be responsible for this inconvenience.

I HAVE NOT BEEN REFUNDED ( as yet) FOR MY TRIP FROM INSIGHT TRAVEL. I have had to outlay new funds for my newly organised trip whilst I am still waiting for my refund.

Insight Travel have also stated that there is no time frame for a refund of my booking. They have stated it is qued.

This company should not be in business!.

I have now noted that INSIGHT TRAVEL IS RATED LESS THAN ONE STAR, as that is the lowest score that a consumer can give. Terrible!

This has caused great inconvenience and distress.

In summary - I would not recommend booking with Insight Vacations and I will never book with them again.

Trip Completed: No Booking Type: Tour of Sicily

Don't book with Insight Vacations – I've decided to leave this review to share my recent experience with Insight Vacations. In mid-2022 we booked "Romantic Britain & Ireland" for May 2023. In March 2023 (7 weeks remaining) and after paying for the tour in-full - around $16,000 - I received an email stating that my tour had been withdrawn due to "booking patterns and operational… Read more

reasons". We then had to scramble to make alternative arrangements as our flights and other accommodation had been booked as well.

Although I had travelled with Insight previously (2011 and 2014) and did enjoy it - this is the second time Insight had "withdrawn" (cancelled) a tour that I had booked and paid for (same thing happened to me in 2018). In 2018 I was able to get a place on a Trafalgar tour but it was vastly inferior and very disappointing.

So this time I requested a full refund so that we could explore the UK/Ireland on our own. However so far, after 3 weeks the refund has still not been provided.

Follow up emails to Insight went un-answered, and when I tried to call to speak to someone... I was on-hold for 60-90mins each time.

In summary - I would not recommend booking with Insight Vacations and I will never book with them again.

Terrible..terrible service – I've been trying to get through on phone all day. Each time I've been on hold for over 2 hours until I just gave up. Keep getting standard pre-recorded messages. I've been trying to change my reservation before my final payment is due, otherwise I risk losing my deposit. I wish I had read their terrible, but true reviews. I would never have booked with them. I never will again. Show details

Poor customer service – We booked a tour that was subsequently cancelled due to insufficient numbers. We were advised that a full refund would be provided within 10 business days. It has been 12 days and I have been advised that they cannot provide an update on when the refund will be processed. That on it's own may not have been so bad (although given the amount of… Read more

money in questions it's a concern) however when we originally paid our deposit it took them over a month to allocate it to our booking, and right up to the cancellation date, the statement on our client portal still did not reflect that initial payment. It's near impossible to get through to anyone by phone and their online chat is a joke - frequently dropping out mid chat or timing out while waiting for someone to assist me. I know someone else who has travelled several times with Insight and never had an issue but our experience with their handling of funds is unacceptable and we would not consider them again.

Terrible – I booked a tour, paid the balance owed for the tour a mammoth 4 months before the tour date only to have the tour cancelled 2 months later. Having booked international flights worth more than $10000 I am left in Europe aimless and facing additional costs. I shall never book with them again Show details

DO NOT BOOK AN INSIGHT TOUR! – Poor customer service. Went on 3 Insight Gold tours and they were great but we booked a trip to Croatia and then unable to go when COVID hit. Insight did not proceed with the tour but refuse to refund our deposits. Unable to get anyone to assist via email, the web chat or by phone. Staff are rude and do not listen. Show details

Terrible Customer Service – I had booked and paid for a Scandinavian Bus Tour as a part of a 4 month European tour with Insight vacations. Every day on my trip to Europe was accounted for, booked and paid for. The day prior to flying out to London from Sydney, I was unable to access my booking to print off my travel documents. Upon telephoning the Sydney office, I was… Read more

advised that the tour had been cancelled due to insufficient bookings! I HAD NEVER BEEN NOTIFIED AND HAD TO FIND SOME SORT OF ALTERNATIVE! Hurtigruten was offering a cruise at more than twice the price. This is bad customer service of Insight. It left me stressed, angry and feeling more than let down. So I am voting with my feet and not booking a holiday with them again.

COUNTRY ROADS OF SWITZERLAND – Most people on the trip received a survey by email but we didn't (don't know why not) so here's our survey. Staff - tour director, wellbeing director and coach driver all terrific, no complaints there. Accommodation - some rooms were quite small and when you put 2 suitcases in there it was just awful. Our favourite was Grindelwald which was a… Read more

fantastic suite with stunning views.

Meals - the very few included dinners were average at best.

Free Time - way too much. If there's nothing to take us to see why go to that town?

This was our first Insight trip and didn't inspire us to do another one

No reply to emails from 3 weeks ago and holding on phone for music – Wish to talk to person I signed up with, Mel Kolo. No response to my emails or can not get through on phone. 2 trips are booked commencing 1 October 2022 Show details

ISSUE HAD BEEN RESOLVED! They Offered 5% Incentive For You To Leave Your Deposit, But Won’t Honor It, Once You Rebook! – I had two europe 2020 tours which were cancelled by themselves. I wanted a refund and they offered 5% incentive and all in writing to leave your money to them. Now that I am rebooking the same tours for 2022, They said ‘we’re not honoring the 5% incentive anymore, because the tours you wanted are very popular.’ This Issue Had Been RECTIFIED to my Satisfaction.  Show details

refund over 3 months – Due to Covid we cancelled our June Italy trip in late February and have just received a refund now 6th June, less fees which I don't think we should really be charged for as they could cancel motels etc this far out. Flight centre waived their standard $600 cancel fee which helps but we booked an extra night at Bettoja Hotel Mediterraneo Rome and they won't refund, even though all flights to Italy were cancelled Show details

Insight Vacations - Never Again!! – My husband & I recently travelled with Insight Vacations on 22 day America The Beautiful and from day one our driver was ill with flu symptoms. He advised us that he contracted the virus from the previous tour where some passengers had to be hospitalised. Within a few days of our tour starting more and more passengers came down with the same… Read more

symptoms, coughing and feeling very unwell. Some passengers missed organised dinners & tours because they were too sick to leave the hotel. Due to the driver being so sick, the bus was in a very dirty state with windows never cleaned & floors not swept. By the end of week 2 more than half the passengers had the same symptoms. We contacted Insight Vacations after returning home (still on anti-biotics) about the tour being ruined because of sickness also one of our suitcases was damaged and were told no responsibility could be taken by them. End of story. They simply don't care. Another thing to mention is the food on the organised dinners was very standard. We will be travelling with alternate companies in the future.

Never again! – On July 1st this year, I wrote to the CEO of Insight Vacations at their head Office in London, regarding the following issue. My registered letter was ignored. Several weeks later, I wrote to their Head Office in Sydney and have just received a reply. The issue was that my wife and I took the tour “Country Roads of Ireland” through Insight… Read more

Vacations starting on June 3rd. 2019. On the night of our “Welcome Dinner” in Dublin, our tour Director was sick with “flu” type symptoms, interrupting his welcome address more than once due to his coughing fits. The next morning, he told us he had a fever and two days later he informed us he was taking antibiotics. Within three days of the dinner, my wife was sick with the same symptoms. She remained very unwell with achiness, fever, severe sore throat and coughing fits for the rest of our ten day tour. Her uncontrollable coughing fits went through the night as well, resulting in her often being asleep on the coach as we traveled on tour during the day. There are many “optional” activities associated with this particular tour, and we were not able to go to most of them due to her general unwell health condition and sleep deprivation. Insight Vacations (Sydney) have just replied, offering us a ten percent discount off our next tour, as if! That’s the discount most travel companies give you for repeat business. I know APT does this. In other words, they have given us no compensation at all for their tour director infecting my wife (and several others) with his virus, thus ruining our trip. Before the end of the tour there were several others in our group (about 8 or 9) similarly affected, a young couple from the U.S. both contracted the virus and were both very unwell about three days out from the end of the tour. Never again will we use this company, as they have treated our complaint with nothing more than “lip service”, and in the case of their CEO, with sheer arrogance and indifference! Also, just a word of caution to anyone contemplating taking this tour. The small number of “optional activities” we managed to participate in, were definitely not value for money. Their prices increase after you commence your trip. Quite contrary to the spiel on page 227 of their “Europe and Britain” book which says Optional experiences “Are offered at special preferential prices”, the dearest of them was ten Euros dearer to us at 73 Euros per person ($117), than the general public. This was for the Shannon Castle Banquet. They make a lot of money from “pushing “ these optional experiences, but it’s a total con job. Insight Vacations, never again!

Great trip to Croatia – Country Roads of Croatia-Croatia is a beautiful country and our trip was a delight because of our tour guide Evan and the great driving of our driver Milly. Nothing was too much trouble for them and I can honestly say that the whole trip was a breeze-whether checking into hotels, departing or the guided tours. We were informed of all the… Read more

essentials as the trip progressed and I cannot recall anyone of the passengers having any gripes or complaints. Obviously for various reasons some hotels location or facilities were better than others but overall my wife and I have no complaints. We travelled late April and early May and although the weather was quite cool most days we avoided the crowds except for Split and Dubrovnik. This was our first tour with Insight and were pleasantly surprised. It is not cheap when optional extras are included but we still highly recommended this tour.

Long time Client of Insight – We booked 2 Insight Tours directly with Insight as always, Italian Escapades & Country Roads of France leaving in July '19. They cancelled the Tour to France and we were rebooked at a later date. this meant we had to travel to France 1st. & Italy 2nd. Changes to Air fares & Eurostar resulted in additional expenses of $2361.00. We have travelled… Read more

more than 20 Insight Tours and yet when we contacted them re compensation ..BRICK WALL! I asked for their General Manager .Response Overseas! I then asked if one of their Directors would speak to me. Response none available. Even though I had made the Original Booking with Insight They did nothing!

After being a long time Client I expected better treatment... and as they changed our travel plans full repayment of our additional expenses!

Long time Client Max & Family

Poor after sales customer service awaiting refund for damaged baggage - 6 - weeks response time – I hate leaving these long reviews, but there is absolutely no excuse for bad customer service. It took us over 3 years to save for our 30th Wedding Anniversary present to each other and last December, organised through The Flight Centre (another crooked company - separate review to follow) to spend Xmas in the snow, doing Xmas markets in Europe… Read more

and Magical Switzerland tour.

On the 1st tour my baggage got damaged either before loading to the coach in Munich, or on the travel between Munich and Innsbruck Germany. I immediately reported it to our Tour guide whom reported it to Insight, whom supplied a written Authorisation for a full refund.

There is no contact details on the form as to where to send it? How convenient.

The tour guide, i have messaged him three times on how do i claim for refund, he too has ignored me.

I then went on their website, filled in the 'Contact us form' for still no response, 5 days later till i filled in the same form on their website a second time, with a bit more gusto.

Our Tour director at the time got a claim form, we filled it out and it got approved by Insight Tours and signed by Dxxxxx Mxxxxxx but we weren't advised what to do next.

We have the receipts for all the out of pocket costs to purchase another same branded suitcase and also had to get a Taxi as the coach would't make a separate trip to the retailer's store.

These are 'out of pocket - unexpected costs'.

I have managed to find an email address to which i have emailed about 4 times this month of January 2019. The damage happened on 20th December 2018 where the wheel has snapped off, from careless handling.

The response email finally was, 'someone will contact you from our customer service department' in 6 - 8 weeks and resolve your issues!

Are you for real? A multi-million dollar travel company, and this is your 'after sales customer service' for an AUD$300 and something refund as stated on the form, you supplied, accepting liability!!!?

I have asked the question many times to several Insight departments i keep getting passed around to... Please advise when we will be getting our Euro 194.10 we are claiming for refund?

No one cares.

For this reason, i do not recommend Insight Vacations as a choice for your guided tours anywhere.

The included food is substandard, for the amount we paid for.

Some of the Hotels we stayed in were supposed to be minimum 4 star, we must have got 2 star rooms, photo evidence available.

The Setra Coach's used by Insight Tours [valued at (325K Euro] would have been better if the toilets weren't frozen up so you could use them. Fancy that, premium coach that doesn't have warm water running around the water tanks to stop them from freezing up???

We have fantastic memories of an awesome holiday, now spoiled by trying to get a refund for my damaged property.

You should be ashamed of this treatment Insight Vacations, ad news travels fast.

Have a nice day.