Travelled with RSD to Nepal in June
Travelled with RSD to Nepal in June. Very good holiday, saw lots of interesting places, guide was superb and hotels were of a good standard. I would recommend the RSD holiday to Nepal
3.4
Average
356 reviews
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Review summary
RSD Travel has mixed reviews from customers. Customers particularly appreciate great value and service, though some mention concerns about customer service and expensive.
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Based on reviews, created with AISee what reviewers are saying
Cultural trip to Sri Lanka
I have travelled with RSD a few times and have never had a bad experience. An excellent way of seeing a country at an affordable price.
Fantastically beautiful country with lovely people
Went to Sri Lanka with RSD - fantastic countryside, amazing friendly people, good hotels and an amazing journey around the country in all its guises - one of the best trips of my life (I travel 10 mths a year) - why so good - people, no hassles of any kind going out, low cost economy, wonderful weather - an absolute gem of a holiday full of variety with something for everyone.
An Absolutely Fantastic Trip To The Balkans!
We had a wonderful holiday seeing so many UNESCO sites in Kosova, North Macedonia, Montenegro & Albania. Except for the last one, which was a little bit "Soviet era", the hotels were lovely with excellent food, very comfortable indeed. Our Turkish guide Gdoikca went above & beyond to help all passengers on her coach, even rescuing a hearing aid, which had fallen out in Cafe Mozart in Budva, Montenegro & organising for someone to drive it to our hotel at least 2 hours away so we had it before the coach left next morning.
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www.rsd-travel.co.uk
All reviews
356 total • Write a review
Showing 31 - 40 of 352 reviews
MI
Great experience at Rhodes and Turkey
We had a great experience in our trip to Aegean and Rhodes with RSD. The tour was very well organised. Our tour guide Rosie was brilliant. The hotels and transport arrangements were first class. The sites we visited , were well chosen and we were given sufficient time at every spot along. Rosie was very knowledgeable too. We had a great time overall and would definitely want to travel again with them.
Date of experience: April 8, 2025
M
Meg
US
Feel like I wasted a week of my life
I’m giving 2 stars because the company actually exists and the holiday “technically” actually happened BUT I would NOT recommend booking a tour with RSD travel. The majority of your time is spent in the bus and you hardly see anything authentic about the country you are visiting. I booked the BALKANS tour since I wanted a nice trip for my partner and I to go on without worrying about organising accommodation and activities but I highly regret going on this tour. I felt like all I did was get on a plane then on a bus, drive around for a few days and then fly home. We spent a very short amount of time actually doing anything tour related, the itinerary is VERY misleading and highly exaggerated. Don’t be fooled into thinking the holiday is “Cheap” because you can very easily spend less than what they’re charging you (especially in the Balkans) Also, be VERY careful when you are taken to any shops. We had a very scary experience where we were suckered into buying something only to realise we had been scammed and incredibly overcharged. We complained to our “local guide” who wasn’t a local and he begrudgingly told us that the company is paid by local businesses to take tourists to their shops. Do NOT buy anything from the tanzanite jewellery store or the leather company in Montenegro. Overpriced and misleading!!! Plus excessive pressure tactics! We asked to leave and were kept there against our will. Beware of “all inclusive” offer which is very disappointing and inconsistent in quality and isn’t “local cuisine” as advertised. You will easily find local restaurants nearby and get better quality. The accommodation is not up to standard and also very inconsistent. One day you will be in a half built 1 star accommodation with dirty towels and unmade beds, the next day you will be in a 3 star hotel but in a tourist area which is a cookie cutter replica of any other and nothing special. The tour groups are very large and ours was divided up into 4 buses. Not all people went to the same hotels, so maybe you will get lucky and go to all the good hotels. Unfortunately we got a few bad hotels, plus we made friends on the tour and were unable to swap tour buses and kept separated. Avoid!!!! Tourist trap!!!! My partner and my experience of the Balkans itinerary Day 1: you literally arrive, get on the bus and drive about an hour to get to a hotel. That is all you do. Day 2: no city tour of Skopje. Drive 2 hours to the monastery and then spend only 30-40min there. Then drive again for about an hour to get to the second monastery only to be told we have to decide to either see the monastery or get lunch because we’re only there for 1 hour. What stone bridge? We had something mentioned in passing but nothing more. We didn’t visit a mosque or a cathedral in Shkodra, we were just taken straight to the hotel. Day 3: The only day I actually enjoyed and the description is fairly accurate. Day 4: You are taken to a jewellery factory and a leather factory and spend the majority of the day there. My partner and I requested to not go shopping but instead go straight to Budva to enjoy more time in the old town. We were denied and taken to the shops against our will and the doors of the shops are closed behind you so you’re locked in until the tour group departs. Day 5: You again spend the majority of your day in the bus travelling. When you get to Tirana you are given less than 2hours to get lunch and see the city before leaving for Lake Orid (we did not choose the all inclusive option and never battled to find food near the hotels at night, actually our favourite times of the trip were when we were walking the streets like locals in the evenings and going to local restaurants) The only redeeming thing about this trip is the fact that the local scenery and heritage of these countries is absolutely beautiful. I would definitely encourage everyone to go visit these countries and take the opportunity to truly enjoy the experience, instead of being rushed from 1 location to the other with RSD travel.
Date of experience: April 7, 2025
PF
Just about the worst ever
I've never had cause to complain about a holiday before, but I guess there's always a first time. We originally booked with RSD to go to Morocco for a fortnight back in 2021, but then Covid hit and we had to cancel. I was so impressed by the way RSD handled refunds, etc. that I promised myself I would book with them again in the future. Fast forward to 27 March 2025 and we set off for an 8-day tour around the Balkans. I should say from the start that our coach driver and guide were exceptional, but they could only work with what they'd got. Also we were spending 10 hours on average a day on the coach, with precious little time off. We saw some lovely places (Kotor, Budva, Skopje, Prizren) but unfortunately only had a maximum of two hours to explore - and often a lot lesss - before we had to go. Border crossings were a nightmare - sometimes waiting up to an hour and a half for our passports to be checked, and bearing in mind we visited four countries, that was yet more waiting around. But the worst thing was the enforced visits to a jewellery workshop, a leather workshop and a carpet manufacturer. We had to spend around two hours in each with the hardest of hard sells (I actually ended up running from the carpet showroom pursued by a salesman!). Prices in all of these started at 500 euros and after that the sky was the limit. I didn't want any of this, and certainly didn't have that amount of money to spend, so more time wasted and we felt like we were taken for mugs. The hotels for the first four nights were nice - spotlessly clean, but poorly situated in the back of beyond. The food was average - certainly not the 'gourmet package' we thought we had paid extra for, but again, different countries have different ideas about food. On the fifth night we went to Lake Ohrid (renamed Lake Horrid). The hotel was like a youth hostel. The food was extremely poor, and leftovers were served up again at breakfast. Unfortunately this was our only two-night stay. Our room looked out over the lake, but unfortunately directly in front of us was a stagnant swimming pool. Three of the guests had to request a room move because of the smell of sewage. And then, on the last night, we went to the Hotel Continental in Skopje. It was an utter dump. The food was so bad that we had to go out for fast food (luckily it was the only hotel that was attached to a town). The rooms were shabby and run down, and the lift did not work (we were on the fifth floor). I've never ever been so relieved to get back home. Unless you are addicted to full days on a coach with much waiting, and largely uninspiring places to visit, DO NOT GO ON THIS TOUR. I know RSD would probably fall into the budget holiday category, but really this was very very poor value for money. I will never travel with RSD again.
Date of experience: April 7, 2025
K
The Balkan Trip
We really enjoyed our trip to the Balkans. We were happy to get up early to allow a lot of travel - we just re-ordered our bedtime. The hotels were all fine. The guide was excellent; the driver was exceptional. Both were very friendly and relaxed. We were happy to have long journeys as we enjoy looking at the scenery as we travel. Everyone on our coach seemed very contented and was punctual about meeting times. The visits to the factories were not a problem - quite interesting in fact! We have already booked another RSD holiday.
Date of experience: April 3, 2025
R
Rachel
US
Balkans Tour
Be prepared: extremely early hours f the night flights and very early morning starts each day, not getting to your hotel until late and having to rush down to dinner before an early night. This except for day 6 and 7 where the day was wasted hanging around and in the worst hotel with nothing to do and no running water . Schedule poorly designed. A different hotel every night- no point unpacking and very exhausting and unsettling. Three hard-sell visits to a gold and jewellery dealer, a leather and fur dealer and a carpet dealer. A huge waste of time and money. So much time spent on a bus with not enough time to get out and stretch your legs and go to toilet. Local guides all very knowledgeable and good English. Quality of hotels varied considerably but overall very poor. Holiday guide: very good English and overall quality of information good. However she was extremely unprofessional in several ways that require note. She told our fellow travelers that they should not have come on holiday if they didn’t want to do the extra excursion with additional costs. She told my daughter who is vegan and didn’t want to go into the leather and fur dealer that she’d be guilty if anything went missing on the bus, despite driver being in the bus. She did a very long lecture on how we should invest in the gold and jewellery for offer in the dealer and gave a very heavy sell like she was on commission. It was very lengthy and so horrifying that a couple of travelers expressed their opinion on this. She got very angry and on entering the dealership, in front of the gold/jewellery dealer she spoke critically about us travellers and expressed her outrage calling them rude and indecent for simply expressing unhappiness for the unprofessional sales pitch. She brought her brother and niece on the bus which is a breach of insurance policy. She was also very poor at helping my vegan daughter who also has additional support needs. We were often given rooms on separate floors despite asking for assistance with this from guide. We had also asked for her assistance at the beginning to help liaise with her vegan diet so that she could be catered for without surviving on salad. It turns out there was 4 vegans and 3 vegetarians yet my daughter was left with nothing but cold boiled vegetables and fruit and on her own negotiations with final hotel was able to arrange for two suitable protein rich dishes and soya milk for all the vegans and vegetarians: this should have been done by guide and was actually very straightforward- it only took a little effort.
Date of experience: April 2, 2025
Ma
Don`t use this company, awful save your money
This company uses a very hard sell, they took us to carpet factory, diamond factory and leather factory in 5 days all of which lasted over 2 hours each, the guide gave us the hard sell before each of them, saying these outlets sponser RSD so we can get cheaper holidays, the outlets gave the same speech when we got to them. The guide was also extremely rude when we did not buy anything. First time we have used them and definitley the last time. Save your money
Date of experience: April 1, 2025
TL
Downside of an intensive tour
Enjoyed seeing the variety of Balkan countries. Sometimes was spent at less interesting sites or coffee breaks were overlong. This resulted in having reduced time at the highlights of the tour. Certainly the last hotel was poor in quality and the food was awful
Date of experience: March 30, 2025
A
A.R.
US
What a rip off!
I'm extremely disappointed with this company. I had paid initial deposit of £255 on 13th February this year for a Cyprus holiday not departing until October. I have a specific swallowing difficulty following radiotherapy for throat cancer 3 years ago. So I was advised to purchase "gourmet buffet" in evening. But not really clear how we could make this suit my needs. Anyway, after reflection and discussion with my son I cancelled the holiday today as I was very anxious about getting sufficient nutrition in a strange country etc. I was advised I wouldn't get any money back from deposit and told to claim on travel insurance. Why would I have travel insurance now if not travelling til October? Also, they clearly have time to resell this holiday. Pretty shoddy customer service. Also appears I've had a lucky escape reading stories of gruelling schedules in other reviews.
Date of experience: March 25, 2025
ES
You get what you pay for - and that's great value
This was our third time with RSD on their trip to the Balkans. This trip was excellent value for money and we will certainly go with RSD again. Most of the negative comments I have seen are either due to folk not properly reading the very comprehensive information provided prior to booking or to their having unrealistic expectations of what standards to expect for the money they had paid. If you want champagne standards then pay champagne money! - don't expect champagne standards on lemonade money. Our guide Mahir and driver were excellent . Yes there was a good deal of time on the coach but if you are visiting four countries in a week what do you expect? We visited some brilliant places that we may well return to as independent travellers. We also met some lovely people on our coach. If anything detracted from the trip it was the small proportion of 'moaners' who seemed determined to find fault with everything.
Date of experience: March 25, 2025
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