Intrepid Travel Reviews

We have travelled with Intrepid in Japan, Eastern Europe and now India. On each occasion the tours were well organised, and the guides professional, friendly and great communicators. Our recent Premium trip to India involved early starts and long days but those factors allowed us to see much more than we would have if we had travelled solo. We were introduced to many cultural experiences which added to the overall itinerary. Our guide orchestrated many seamless vehicular changes from bus to car to tuk tuk which allowed us to travel to and from temples, forts, palaces, etc, as efficiently as possible.

My trip to the Philippines was amazing. Our guide Donna was very organised with everything.there was lots of adventure.meet some amazing locals had good food.and lots of down time each day to. All the places we stayed was air conditioned and very clean.

My husband booked a holiday for us with Intrepid, to include Buenos Aires, Iguacu and finishing in Rio de Janeiro. Due to industrial strike action in Argentina, we weren’t able to get there (the whole country shut down the day we were meant to arrive with no flights) and because we’d flown via Rio, we were stranded in Brazil. We looked to intrepid to help transfer our accommodation and help us but they didn’t. We had to book our own. My husband called and called and chased them to see what bookings from our original trip could be transferred because we explained we’d booked to get to Buenos Aires two days later, but they wouldn’t help. We secured a new booking at the original hotel and it took them 3 more days to finally agree speak to the hotel in Buenos Aires to transfer our booking. They managed to screw that up too as they booked two single beds when our own booking had confirmed a king bed. It was so disappointing. Upon our return to Rio (tonight) they’d assured us we had a booking at a hotel which not only turned out to be untrue (and we’ve had to pay ourselves again) but the hotel is a dump. We were literally left with no choice to take a room here at 2am otherwise we’d be waking the streets of Rio with our suitcases. Intrepid have been such a let down and the major cause is stress on this holiday. Their idea of a ‘luxury’ hotel is also way off what ours is. The hotels which we did manage to stay at through them (or were meant to be through them!) were average at best. I would not recommend arranging anything through them as they abandon you when things go wrong.

Not sure why the reviews are so good. INTREPID maybe a Canadian company, but they are unresponsive and unprofessional to the point of exasperation. I had to insult them several times on the phone for their unprofessionalism and unresponsiveness. My air fares went up by 30% while waiting for their negative answers and I had to pry the answers with pliers over a 20 day period. Stay away. If sailing, try Intersail Group

Booked well in advance for Bolivia,Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. It was an all round success , very knowledgeable guides in Henri and Karina. They must have done so much behind the scenes to make sure that all went well, booking extra transport , taxis as required where our accommodation was further away than expected , as an example. We were away for a very full 4 weeks and made some life long friends on this trip and will book further adventures. My only criticism , would be that the guides do tend to steer you to their preferred restaurants , if you don't like their choice of restaurant, for whatever reason tell them and eat where you wish too , as a group or otherwise. Apart from that , excellent and I would not hesitate to recommend Intrepid Travel !

I have gone on five Intrepid trips in the past year -- Cycling Viet Nam, Morocco, Turkey, Costa Rica and Borneo. I have been extremely happy with the itineraries, which have included some physically challenging activities (sometimes included and sometimes optional) along with the homestays. The prices have been very reasonable, and all of my groups have been small (12 or fewer). The trip leaders have been terrific and knowledgeable about the places we visited and have offered great recommendations on everything from restaurants to laundry services. Intrepid is also using their purchasing power to encourage good behavior by their vendors, such as reducing the use of plastic bottles. I like that Intrepid offers different levels of comfort from basic, original, comfort and premium. I have been very happy with original (3 star) because I prefer to spend my dollars on experiences more than accommodations. I am super impressed with this company and hope to take many more trips with them.

Cycle Sri Lanka - is truly a well researched and planned 14 day itinerary that gave us a beautiful introduction to Sri Lanka as a whole as opposed to just the tourist sites. It was so lovely to not have to make decisions as to what to do and see during the two weeks. Both Indi and the bike & bus crew were by far the best we have ‘ever’ experienced on a cycling holiday. They fully looked after us all and genuinely cared for us throughout our adventure. 👍

Do not book a tour with Intrepid. Their “policy” on deposits is unreasonable, inflexible and downright thieving. I booked a tour in India with them over seven months ahead of its departure date, paying a 400 euro deposit. I then learned that another tour I planned to take immediately following theirs was unavailable for my desired dates even though the website showed it was available. Because I then could not find any other suitable tours that fit with the Intrepid tour dates I booked, I asked Intrepid, just three days after my booking, to credit my 400 euro deposit to another of their tours. They very rudely refused, insisting that their “policy” didn’t allow credits much less refunds. They didn’t care that the tour was over seven months away or that I made my request for a credit within three days of the booking. Fortunately, the good people at PayPal saw how unfair this was and refunded my 400 euros. You may not be so lucky. Avoid the thieves at Intrepid. There are plenty of other tour companies that don’t try to rip you off like Intrepid does.

I did the Moroccan Family Comfort holiday. It was awesome. I was traveling with my twins, 6 years old at the time. It was a small group and we loved it. We learned a lot about the people and the culture there. Beautiful Country. Our tour guide was the best. I am planning on going back with my mother-in-law and the kids to do it all over again with Intrepid Travel.

The scenery, food and than was an outstanding guide. On his day off he rode a bike around the old city to check on us.

Fabulous journey covering all the main sights of Egypt. Mo our guide was brilliant and remains a friend over a year later. Very knowledgeable and he took us to some great restaurants with amazing views over some sights like the Temple of Luxor. The overnight train from Cairo to Aswan was a fantastic experience! Highly recommend this trip.

On my return from 'Premium Northern Thailand' in January 24, I contacted Intrepid to discuss what I saw as the ONLY fault in an otherwise superb trip (I have done eight, so I have solid grounds for comparison!) My complaint was centred around the train trip that takes place on day 6 of the tour. Various factors conspired to see the group travel in non-airconditioned carriages for 6 hours! I was heard by senior management of Intrepid, each of whom took my comments most seriously and have kept me advised about their actions. I felt that this matter could not have been more effectively dealt with and gave me continued confidence to travel again with Intrepid.

I completed the Intrepid "Explore Vietnam" trip at the end of 2023, and enjoyed a fantastic trip. The tour was described as "Basic" which was reflected in the very competitive price, but the standard of accommodation and the quality of venues was certainly much better than the "Basic" label implied. The tour guide, Lucky, was probably the best organised and informative guide I have ever travelled with. A great trip, that I would recomend to anyone who wishes to discover the treasures of Vietnam.

Amazing trip! I had a brilliant tour leader, and everything was so well planned and organised. Had an amazing experience.

I booked a once in a lifetime trip to see Gorillas with my daughter several years ago now, with Intrepid. I payed around £6,000 in total. My daughter was then living in South Africa and unfortunately contracted malaria, about 4 weeks before we were due to start our tour. Luckily she fully recovered but we were unable to make the tour. Despite contacting Intrepid numerous times, they were totally inflexible about changing our tour dates or refunding ANY of the money. We let them know immediately when she became ill but they were adamant there was nothing they could or would do. They told me to claim on my insurance. Because I'd paid for my daughter's tour too, my insurance would only refund my tour. I basically lost £3,000 by booking with Intrepid and would consequently never book with them again.

We have just returned from a 15 day tour of the Best of Sri Lanka! What a wonderful trip. This really was the best of.Our guide, Ranjan went above and beyond to ensure we had the most authentic trip and that everyone was well looked after. We woke to the sound of peacocks calling by the Indian Ocean in Mirissa, were served tea in the heart of verdant tea plantations on our treks, rode bikes through ancient temple sites at Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa amongst the pilgrims and the monkeys, hung out of trains as they travelled through the lush green countryside, and marvelled at the treasures hidden up high in the Dambulla Cave Temples. New Year's Day saw us trek up Lion's Rock at 5am to toast the new year as the sun rose - we were rewarded with biblical rain instead! Our guide and driver were fantastic, even suggesting and organising detours to Ella, the Nine Arch Bridge and the Tsunami museum and Buddha statue....and introduced us to burnt cashew nuts. Wonderful trip, a wonderful guide. We will be back.

This was the trip of a lifetime- the Okavango experience 10 day safari- jam packed with authentic cultural experiences, excellent knowledgeable local guides, so many inclusions, wildlife galore, and real authentic experiences. Catered brilliantly for our family of 6, ages between 17-53. So many laughs along the way, basic camping with basic facilities but sincerely the most memorable trip to do.

I was interested in booking a guided tour for De Mont Blanc and tried to chat on Intrepid site to get knowledge on number of miles per hike. Was told by Janette that they do not provide that type of information as it might be misinterpreted by customers? As a result I will not be booking a tour through this company if they cannot provide this simple, important detail of their itinerary.

I was on a Premium Uzbekistan trip in October where travellers were extremely unhappy. We were buttered up a bit at a dinner by the local operator after I reached out to Intrepid customer service. No further outreach or follow up from Intrepid. I want to be clear - I don't blame the local operators here. There is something seriously wrong with how Intrepid is communicating, marketing, vetting, and supporting the local operators. My understanding was that an Intrepid trip should not be a generic package bus tour or forced shopping march, just with a smaller group. I chose to go on a tour as an experienced traveller to unlock a unique experience in an unfamiliar part of the world. This was my first Intrepid trip, but many others on the trip were experienced Intrepid travellers. The sentiment was that Intrepid is no longer applying the same level of care in curating experiences, including helping providers tailor their trip to Intrepid travellers and their typical profile. Or aligning what they were selling with what could actually be offered. Or providing basic support to travellers who have transportation issues, illness, etc. There's no sign of my critical review on the website, maybe it didn't meet standards - OK! But no outreach from Intrepid either. Currently 4.8 stars and no critical reviews that match my group. I do not trust Intrepid's own reviews as a source of balanced information. I guess that's not a shock! I can see two reviews here with the same sentiment for this trip, which match my experience exactly. Intrepid will respond and tell me to reach out to customer care. Done that - it's pointless. I'm leaving this review not to try to get money, etc. I want advise folks who are new to Intrepid and looking at experiences from a few years back: you should take a very critical stance and look at third-party and *recent* sources for the specific trip before you commit. The current level of service and curation provided by Intrepid may not match the experiences from pre-COVID. Go to Uzbekistan - either solo or with a local provider. Uzbekistan is an amazing country. It's safe for female travellers, increasingly accessible, friendly, and astoundingly gorgeous. I'll be back, but I won't use Intrepid again.

This review is in relation to East Europe Express trip that I attended in August 2023. Overall trip was good and tour guide did a good job. There are number of things that can be improved. 1) The trip is called East Europe Express but technically you spend a night in Romania and a night in Turkey whereas rest of the trip is through Bulgaria. Might as well rename it to Bulgaria trip? 2) Sofia is the capital and there is a lot to do in this beautiful city. One afternoon and morning wasn't enough. I would suggest allowing for another night there. 3) Bansko to Plovdiv train ride. As much as it was a fun local train ride experience. It took 5 hours to get to Plovdiv and we got to Plovdiv around 8pm. The same journey could have been done by car in few hours. 4) It appears that you are spending two nights in Plovdiv but technically you are only there for one whole day which seems rushed. 5) Plovdiv to Istanbul is a long drive, we stopped at a beautiful border town of Erdine in Turkey. One could easily spend an afternoon here and break the long drive between Plovdiv and Istanbul Most of the accommodations were reasonable and optional activities had a good balance.