Review Time
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.
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) 😁
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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Jules Verne offers expertly curated small-group tours and independent journeys to some of the world's most captivating destinations. With over 45 years of experience, we create immersive travel experiences that blend discovery, comfort, and convenience. Each itinerary is carefully curated, providing unique insights and unforgettable adventures, guided by experts who will enrich your journey every step of the way.
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