TourCompass Reviews 906

I have just returned from an amazing Serengeti Safari and beach holiday in Zanzibar.
It was my first solo holiday, so I wanted a tour holiday that was all set up for me. I had never heard of Tour Compass before and neither had others on the holiday. Through from booking the holiday to coming home, the whole experience ran smoothly and you are given lots of information on an app to ensure a great holiday. I would highly recommend this company for holidays.

The Safari was absolutely fantastic. Our guide Ezekiel was brilliant at spotting the animals. The Safari tour ran smoothly and being on my own the guide and staff were helpful, friendly and made me feel safe. Like most people, you hope the holiday is what you expect and you see some animals. What this holiday gave was way higher than I expected. We saw loads of animals and the people I shared my jeep with were a lot of fun. The hotel accommodation and Serengeti wild camp was very good and clean. The public toilets on safari were spotless and well kept. It really did feel it was a trip of a lifetime with a bonus. I feel I chose a good time of year to travel end of June, as it was not too hot and little rain.

We then flew to Zanzibar, which was a great combination with a safari as there were lots packed into the safari and so a beach holiday is just what you feel you need after. I stayed in the Ocean Paradise Resort and Spa and was just blown away with how beautiful it was. The hotel complex was kept clean and the staff were very friendly. I would highly recommend staying here.

Overall this whole holiday was breath-taking. Like another review has said, using the word fantastic and amazing doesn’t express enough how this holiday made me feel.

A well planned programme with John, our excellent driver and guide. We used top class hotels in Nairobi and the excellent Kibo Safari camp in Amboseli. The sightings were remarkable. The flight from Mara back to Nairobi in 45 minutes was well worth the extra cost.

The full itinerary was perfectly adhered to by all and the safari was excellent. Needed the beach holiday afterwards. Next time I’d go all inclusive at the hotel though.

Excellent service from Tour Compass all the way through from initial query to completion of travel.

Japan is an amazing country in every way but be careful which tour you book if you are (like me) an octogenarian. There is a lot of hard walking & steps which are not made clear in the tour information. It's undoubtedly a tough tour & to be fair, walking is the best & only way to see many of the sights. Also - it would be worth paying extra for better quality hotels. But do go if you are planning a trip!. Japan is an experience worth all the effort. I will definitely go back, though with a different itinerary.

We have been bitterly disappointed with our experience with TourCompass. We booked the Hakuna Matata holiday - a week in Kenya at various safari lodges and a week in Zanzibar. This trip was very expensive for us but as our honeymoon and a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience, we trusted TourCompass to deliver as they assure on their website.
We are midway through the trip and TourCompass have been disorganised throughout. When we arrived at Masai Mara we were denied entry and the local TourCompass office had booked us tickets for July, instead of June. This resulted in a wait of over an hour whilst the tickets were rebooked and resent to our guide. The same mistake was made the next day, resulting in a similar delay and reduced our time on game drives. Whilst there are queues to enter the park at busy times, it was the two TourCompass vehicles that were left waiting long after the other vehicles had entered. When we raised this as a complaint TourCompass told us the local office denied the tickets were booked incorrectly and was just due to delays in the park’s IT! This was despite us watching our guide speaking to the local office and both TourCompass groups waiting for their tickets to be reissued.
TourCompass advertise that they work with quality suppliers and that each aspect of the trip has been tested by employees. I am not sure why then they are continuing to use Precision Air when a simple google search shows they have a truly terrible reputation. Our flight time to Zanzibar was changed 3 times, resulting in our arriving in Nairobi 6 hours before we were due to fly. After a 90 minute delay to departure, we arrived in Zanzibar to find Precision Air had lost our luggage. We are yet to receive it and only have the clothes we travelled 18 hours in.
We have tried to seek a resolution from TourCompass but this has so far been lacking. They have skirted blame on the entry to the park and in order to make a complaint in Zanzibar about our delayed baggage we had to hand write a complaint that has been passed to the TourCompass partner organisation, who will then pass it on to the TourCompass office - hardly efficient service.
Our safari guide in Kenya was truly excellent and the service in the lodges was very good. Some of the lodges are tired and a little dirty. We wouldn’t use TourCompass again and we have been so upset and disappointed at the impact this has had on such an important trip.

The staff at TourCompass were extremely helpful and polite both before and after booking our holiday.

The safari tour that we chose had a brilliant itinerary and was super well organised, from transfers to guided tours and it covered everything we wanted to do and more.

Our safari guide Joel was amazing, his knowledge of animals and ability to spot them was excellent.

We hadn't heard of TourCompass before, but will certainly be recommending them to our friends.

It was so convenient not having to worry about transfers, internal flight bookings and the park fees were all included. The only thing we had to do was ensure we took money for tips. The TourCompass app was really good as all the important info was in one place and had a diary too.

Overall we had a wonderful holiday with TourCompass.

The holiday itinerary went exactly to plan. Every aspect of the holiday was exactly as explained on the Tour Compass website. The company are totally professional and I would highly recommend them and would be extremely happy and confident to use them again.

As a solo traveller to Bali, I needed to be safe and researched tour companies I felt would provide me with a holiday I would feel safe going on . I booked "a touch of Bali" 11 day holiday with Tour Compass and couldn't have picked a better company to take care of everything. The hotels were lovely, the tours were well thought out and I flew with Emirates Airlines, need I say more! It was a real no hassle holiday, Tour compass organised it all. It turned out I was the only one on the tour, and the tour guide RD was incredible! cannot stress how safe I felt with tour compass and if I decide to go away on a solo adventure again I wouldn't hesitate to book with them. Thank you tour compass, definitely worthy of a five star review!

Was a bit worried about this company as never heard of them before but from start to finish they were great. Everytime i had a question they were very helpful and friendly everything ran smoothly would defiantly use them again.

From the moment we landed in Nairobi to the return flight we felt safe and had the best time ever. The pick up was great with personable team then the guide John for our tour was exceptional! So informative and knowledgable, he taught us not only about the game drive stuff but also the cultural things in Kenya which was amazing! We were very lucky to have the driver to ourselves so was even more memorable as we tailored most days with him directly. I did unfortunately get very unwell on day 3 but had to keep moving but even then John was so supportive and attentive. I would highly recommend the Hakuna Matata tour particularly in June as the grass looks great and the range of animals was way more diverse than we could ever have wished for - we got lucky every single day!

Would highly recommend TourCompass

I returned earlier this week from my first Tour Compass holiday climbing Kilimanjaro. Everything about the holiday was excellently planned and everyone we came into contact with from Tour Compass employees to the hotel, and the guides and porters of Zara Tours were excellent were helpful and could not have been nicer. The whole experience was brilliant and we are already planning our next trip with Tour Compass. A member of our trekking group said they were concerned about booking with Tour Compass having never heard of them before but they have been excellent. Value for money for the trip could not have been better.

This review is a bit delayed as it actually relates to a trip we took with TourCompass to Costa Rica in Feb/Mar of this year. This was our second trip to Costa Rica to celebrate our 10 year anniversary, having previously gone there on our honeymoon. The travel agent we used for our honeymoon was great and our change to TourCompass was driven by the range of the hotels they have which tended to be more centrally located rather than any problems we had on our first trip. For this trip, we wanted to be located in towns/villages or within walking distance and our rep in TourCompass heard what we said and everywhere picked was perfect. On day one we were driven to the local operators office and we went through the itinerary in detail. There was one activity not included but that was sorted out within the day without having to chase anyone. Every transfer and activity included was spot-on with no stress. All in all I would recommend and would not hesitate to use the company again. Pura Vida!

Great service and holiday (Zanzibar and Tanzania’s safari) ran smoothly with no issues. Would definitely recommend.

I don't ofter rate anything a 10 as nothing can be perfect but this was just that!
From the ease of booking & customer service at the start [I ask loads of questions!] To the free flowing Travel including connecting flights, TourCompass where there, advising throughout the way via emails and their app.
The hotel, Kruger Gate was just like their website. Hidden from the main road and backed onto the National Park, built in a way to complement the nature and to give views in every direction.
Rooms were ideal; always cool which is great after returning back after a full day exploring. Food was fantastic with loads of choice so nobody went hungry and the staff went over and above in every aspect to make your stay memorable.
The Safari itinerary was great, not too long, not too short and we did manage to see the Big5 plus loads and loads of more animals & birds.
I couldn't have asked for much more of this ideal experience and just have to work out what next?

We have recently returned from the Safari in Tanzania and then Beach holiday in Zanzibar, I knew before going we would enjoy this holiday but it was so much better than I could have imagined. From the start of the booking process all the way to returning home TourCompass handled everything perfectly and efficiently.

The Safari week was incredible, our guide Peter was fantastic and provided us with information and fun on our journeys, found all the best places to see, smell and virtually touch all kinds of wild animals (they were that close). Every person we came into contact with were warm and friendly, the hotels were amazing with the most attentive staff you could wish to meet. The days were long but didn’t feel like it, Peter ensured we had every opportunity to take photographs and take in our surroundings before moving us on to the next incredible sight. It was a sad moment leaving Peter to fly to Zanzibar, he truly went above and beyond his job description.

Zanzibar was a feast for the eyes in different ways, the hustle and bustle as we left the airport in a air conditioned private car was a sensory overload, cars, bikes, tuk tuks and people everywhere, a real wow moment. We were welcomed to the Sultan Sands hotel like VIPs with a cool wet towel and a chilled glass of juice all served with the biggest and warmest smiles. Again another place where the staff couldn’t do enough for us, and the views were postcard perfect (Blue sky, white sands and clear blue seas). Our accommodation was perfect, the food delicious and the drinks plentiful. We took 2 trips Stone Town & Prison Island and a half day to swim with Turtles and watch the sun set on the beach, both trips were perfect with private air conditioned cars and with our own English speaking guide.

Tips - I should mention that every toilet we used no matter where were spotless and well attended to (a small concern before travelling),

Most plugs sockets were as you would find in the UK although Zanzibar the round pin was more widely found.

Take a Camera as well as your phone if you can, and take lots and lots of pictures. (I have taken over 1000).

Tipping is common place for guides, porters, housekeepers, service staff but no pressure was put on us to do so (take small denominations of notes).

In this review I have used the words Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible but they don’t do this holiday justice, you will not be disappointed if you book this holiday.

Tour Compass made sure we had the honeymoon to remember. We booked a beach holiday in Mombasa and safari in 3 national parks. They would always respond promptly if I had any queries or questions about the trip. They had also let everyone know we were celebrating and the hotels made up beautiful displays and little gifts. We had the most amazing holiday and made so many memories. We can't wait to book our next holiday with Tour Compass. Anyone who books a holiday with them will not be disappointed.

The measure of a good tour company is not the locations, they are there already, its the itinerary, the hotels and what to do if something goes wrong.
We booked a week long safari tour in Kenya, followed by a week in Zanzibar, including 2 nights in Stonetown.
The safari week itinerary was not well thought through. Amboseli, is in the South East of Kenya136 miles from Nairobi, 4 1/2 hours of rough roads, getting rougher the closer you get to Amboseli (part of the adventure, right?) The lodge was breath-taking, right by the entrance to the game park, overlooked by Kilimanjaro. However, the next destination was Lake Naivasha, 190 miles, North West, back along the same rough roads via an overnight at Nairobi, getting even worse closer to the destination. Rift Valley was a spectacle but no time to enjoy it. Then Masai Mara, 160 miles South West of Naivasha. Lodges at Masai Mara and Naivasha were quaint but nothing special, relying on where they were. Service and food mediocre at best.
All in all, too much driving, too much time on rough roads and not enough being on safari. I went to Kenya 30 years ago (I know, that's a life time ago) but the people were much friendlier, much more willing to haggle and much less greedy. Don't get me started on the tipping. Of the week "on safari" we had about 3 1/2 days actually on Safari. The truck was not that comfortable, being at least 10 years old and well used. There was no wi-fi on the trucks, as advertised. Note to TourCompass, consider the destinations, the distances and the roads. Amboseli and Tsavo, Yes. Naivasha and Masai Mara, yes. Amboseli and Masai Mara? No.
Now to where it all went wrong. We were aware of changes to our flight to Zanzibar, Kenya Air cancelled, Precision Air was the next best option, they changed departure several times, then cancelled. The next best was Kenya Air at silly o'clock in the morning (01:30) with a predicted arrival at Zanzibar of 04:30, due to a visit to Dar es Salaam. We actually arrived at 02:30 but no-one was aware of the change. When we arrived at Zanzibar, despite the promises of TourCompass, we were left "swinging in the wind" with no way of getting to our hotel but a very expensive taxi option. A night of lost sleep and lost accommodation left us feeling disorientated and very frustrate. Eventually, a very kind tour agent (not linked with TourCompass) rang the local tour company and woke up the driver, who had no idea he was required at the airport at that time.
After an ordeal like that, our stay at Sultan Sands was tainted by fatigue and loss of confidence in our tour operator. Fortunately the local trinket sellers were very kind, very friendly and fun, reminding me of my last visit to Kenya (albeit this was Tanzania).
And so to Stonetown. A long story short, the builders were in!! (Tembo House Hotel) Stomach churning risks, endless noise from early to late, mess everywhere. One time we found a builder on our balcony, while we were showering and changing. We complained but were told "its OK, he's just drilling a hole". Restaurant was filthy, food was poor, the whole experience was unpleasant.
We complained to TourCompass and were told that they recognised failures but would seek to correct these in future. We agreed compensation but that does not change the disappointment we experienced.
On reflection, I would not use TC again. They are not in control, their itineraries are not well thought through and the hotels are not worth the price we paid for them. If I were to do this tour again, I would use Expedia or one of the tour operators we have used previously.

Unforgettable Tanzania Safari Experience with an Amazing Guide
Joel
Our recent safari trip to Tanzania was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, made all the more special by the exceptional care and guidance we received throughout our journey. From the moment we were picked up at the airport, our guide made us feel welcome, safe, and well looked after.

The highlight of our trip was exploring the vast and breathtaking Serengeti. Our guide’s deep knowledge of the area, the wildlife, and the local culture truly enriched our experience. Thanks to their sharp eye and expertise, we were able to spot a wide range of animals in their natural habitat — including the Big Five — and learned so much along the way.

A visit to a Maasai village was another unforgettable part of our journey. Our guide facilitated meaningful interactions that felt authentic and respectful, allowing us to connect with the community and learn about their way of life.

Throughout the trip, our guide’s professionalism, warmth, and attentiveness stood out.

We’re so grateful for the memories we made and the incredible care we received. Highly recommend this experience — and especially our guide — to anyone considering a safari in Tanzania!

We decided to embark on a trip to South-East Asia and had wondered where to start. After perusing the various website we settled on using TourCompass and take in their Highlights of Indochina Tour.

From beginning to end the experience was exceptional. Conversations over e-mail and via the phone enabled us to tailor the trip to our requirements and everybody was extremely helpful. Some months before we went we made some changes. Again these were accommodated and sorted out really efficiently.

But surely that was the easy bit! How would they manage on the ground with the various transfers, tours and six different hotels. I needn't have worried, from Cambodia to Laos and on to Vietnam everything went smoothly. Our transfers were always on time and more importantly the guides we encountered were knowledgeable and helpful.

Next time it will be South America. I will have no problem using TourCompass again and would recommend to anybody.