Classic Journeys

"Contrary to the negative reviews, I did the Quebec trip in September 2023 by myself and had a marvelous experience. Our tour guide, Lucette, was the absolute best. The accommodations were luxurious and the meals were gourmet all the way. Our group of seven couldn’t have been more friendly. An employee from CJ called me during the week to make sure I was happy with the trip."

"An absolutely life changing experience! I booked a hiking and culture trip through Tuscany. I LOVED it and I don’t like hiking!! Our guide Alex absolutely amazing! He has a sincere passion to leading a group! He handled all the intricacies of building an unforgettable, wonderful experience. If I didn’t want to hike to say Porto Fino - he would book me a cab to take me there. And I shopped!!! He is supportive, knowledgeable and has a great sense of humor. I’m eyeing they Amafi Coast in April, should I go???"

"CAVEAT EMPTOR!!- Nothing like overpaying for a terrible vacation! Having taken numerous vacations with other tour groups all over the world I can say without a doubt this was absolutely one of the worst vacations I have ever been on and one of the worst tour company's we have ever worked with. We feel completely taken advantage of and ripped-off. We paid over $12K (this does not include airfare or the upgrades to our hotel room) for a 6-day trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. We were promised "Award-winning hotels that would be waiting for us at the end of every day where we could Luxuriate in the finest and most distinctive accommodations" (their words) what we received was a run down, filthy, smelly motel room filled with insects, spiders nasty stained linen & towels and this room did not even have a properly working toilet, sink or AC. Our tour guide was a very unfriendly and confrontational individual who on the first day made humiliating, inappropriate and unsolicited comments of a sexual nature in front of the entire tour group about where we and our traveling companions were from. She later also provided her unsolicited opinion and poked fun at the religious beliefs of others. Communication and information relevant to our schedule and daily activities was scarce and one was made to feel small for inquiring. Many of the meals provided on this tour group were from a food truck in the middle of a parking lot in Gardiner Montana- these meals were supposed to be provided by the tour group but on several occasions, we were forced to pay as our tour guide was nowhere to be found- We were later chastised in front of the other members of the group for voicing our dissatisfaction with this arrangement. We were crammed into a van with 13 other people which did not have fully functioning AC with all our luggage piled to the roof over our heads without any cargo netting or straps to secure these from falling on top of us with sudden stops and turns. This was also extremely unsafe as the rear view was completely obstructed from the drivers view. I could go on and on about the misrepresentations and epic failures we endured on this trip, but in closing I will just add the final insult came after we presented our concerns to Classic Journeys. After providing a detailed account along with numerous photos of this miserable experience they have expressed an absolute unwillingness to try and offer any sort of meaningful solution to compensate us for this horrible ordeal. Their best offer to date was a small discount on a future trip with them, so this was really not an offer at all. I usually do not make negative posts about my travel experiences, but I am providing this feedback in the hope it will prevent someone else from overpaying and wasting their precious vacation time with a tour group who does not deliver as represented or care to provide any respectable level of customer service. Buyer Beware!"

"A good negative review, yes such a thing, it provides the good, the bad. It offers suggestions for improvement and is factual. First, the good, we loved Sicily the people, the other Tourist on our Tour, the food and the views. The local Guides when they used them were very knowledgeable and friendly. (Wish we had them as our tour guide). Now the bad, Our Tour coordinator in the States was very inexperience, provided no real help before the tour and more importantly during the Tour when things went bad and was no help at all. Shortly before the tour was to start Classic Journeys changed the start location from Palermo to Taormina We had to scramble to change our flight to Catania. We learned later the reason for the change is that they double booked a Sicily tour and gave the other group our hotels. That first day we met our Tour Guide (who was from Northern Italy with no real knowledge of Sicily, we felt he was on vacation and not there to support us, more on that later) for the week tour. He informs us his name is not the name provided by CJ and to refer him by another name, but what was funny the bus driver keep referring to him by the original name. The Tour provided no list of names of the other travelers and provided no daily maps or activities. Unfortunately for us it rained in Sicily that week and the Tour had no back up plan to deal with change. They were so un-organized and had no idea what to do, no one took control. One example is we took a 3 hour ride to MT Etna in the fog and rain for our walking tour. No water was provided on the bus, the bus got lost, restroom breaks were requested with no stops. Once at the top, we used a local tour guide, some stayed on the bus because it was so cold while others did the short walk. Our Tour Guide went on to the restaurant. (Supposedly to make sure everything was ok for lunch) We met him there, and found him next to a warm fireplace having a drink with the owner of the restaurant. No drinks were offered and once we did order we were required to buy our own. And, it appears we bought the Tour Guide and the Bus driver a drink, go figure. Our day trip to an island was canceled due to weather and we spent another day on a bus to MT Etna again to look at run down pistachio trees and a decrepit castle that had not seen a tour in years. We can go on with many other examples of failures for example not noting birthdays or anniversaries or not responding to our texts, not knowing our names and walking to a dinner in the pouring rain to name just a few. After the tour we spoke live with Sr. Management and even got to the owner. We provided specific examples on how to improve their Tour. Their offer, we will allow you to book with us again within 90 days to show you how we can do it better. And, will give you a 10% discount for all your troubles. We declined the offer as the saying goes, burn me once…..etc. We have been on other small group Tours and this by far was the most un-professional/disorganized. We do not recommend Classic Journeys for your next tour."

"I just returned from my first trip with Classic Journeys. It was the Montana Glacier National Park tour July 2021. This tour operator prides itself making every trip the trip of a lifetime. It was very memorable but my personal experience was largely negative and the issues were preventable and unprofessional. I caution future travelers to think twice before making the sizeable investment with this tour operator. Their administrative offices are quick and responsive with bookings but slow, placating, and finally non-responsive when you bring them issues requiring redress. Here is a snapshot: No COVID precautions per their website were followed. Nothing. Not even a mention. The two guides had interpersonal conflicts quickly evidenced by the group. As guests, we should never be aware of any discord or challenges between our guides. It created a tense and uncomfortable environment and redirected our attention unnecessarily. It was a very amateurish situation and it permeated the entire tour. Basic communication updates were scarce from the guides. A camp group would have been better informed. The quality of lunches was substandard. As guests, we were charged premium rates for meals and lodging. There were itinerary changes and what we received was not reflective of the price point paid. Prior to going, I read so many positive reviews of this company and I truly question their current ability to meet and provide the guest service levels promoted."