Audley Travel Reviews 

We recently returned from our honeymoon in Northern Tanzania, and we couldn’t be happier with the experience Audley Travel arranged for us.

From the very beginning, the planning process with Lulu was smooth, professional, and tailored to exactly what we were looking for. The itinerary was well balanced while also enjoying comfortable, beautiful Lemala accommodations throughout our trip.

Our guide Hussein from Asilia was knowledgeable, friendly, and passionate about the wildlife and local culture, which made the safari even more memorable. He was very respectful of animals too.

Thank you to the Audley Travel team for creating such a special trip.

Audley travel were amazing! Tailor made our trip to Japan to include everything that we wanted . Attention to detail was fantastic and correspondence and information given was second to none . All the trips that were arranged were private and amazing ! We travelled around quite a bit and every hotel was perfect and in a fantastic location . Thank you Audley , we cannot praise you enough and look forward to organising another trip with you in the future.

Audley planned a wonderful trip for my husband and I to Borneo.
Audley's organisation was excellent and the accommodation and trips were perfect for us. The attention to detail made the holiday extra special.
The local guides were so polite and informative.
The follow up on returning home was appreciated too.
We will definately be booking with Audley again.

This company is absolutely amazing to book with, they made the whole process soo easy! We booked with robert brown and he was an absolute super star!

We did a tailored tour to China and Hong Kong in April 2026. Chris handled our booking and suggested places we hadn't thought of and recommended specific hotels for a lot of our destinations.
I can't praise him enough for the variety of hotels and destinations we experienced. This was a trip of a lifetime for me, and it way exceeded my expections! We went from city hotels, to remote mountain and village hotels. The changes from city to village kept the trip interesting and varied.
The trip was a true slice of the country, giving us an unforgettable experience.
If you want a special, tailor made trip, then I would definitely recommend Audley Travel. Plus, the attention to detail, with the destination portfolio, gift hamper prior to travelling and the app to keep track were great touches.

CHINA - we knew where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see. After much research, we knew that a tailor made tour was the only way to do this. (Wendy Wu and other group tours would not be able to facilitate this. We did initially work with Wendy Wu re a tailor made tour but the customer service and knowledge was very poor).
Chris Moore at Audley Travel was brilliant in working with us to put our trip together, adding his own personal knowledge and experience of places and hotels, Beijing, Pingyao, Xian, Chongquing, Zhangjiajie, Furong, Fenhuang, Longi, Guillin, Yangshou and down to Hong Kong.
We felt very reassured, and on the ground, everything was arranged seamlessly.
Many people have asked about our trip, and expressed an interest in doing something similar. Our one bit of advice to them is, if you are going to do it, do it properly, a tailor made tour with Audley Travel.

Our 5 week trip to New Zealand was the second tailor-made, self-drive holiday, the first being Namibia, that we booked with Audley Travel and both have been superb. The country specialists are friendly, extremely knowledgeable and the attention to detail is second to none.
Steven put together a great itinerary for us, having first listened to our ideas of places to visit and things to see and do. The accommodation varied from hotels to self-catering including 10 days in a campervan (at our request). All were to the standard descried or better - clean, well appointed and comfortable. Rebecca took over as our Audley contact when Steven took his sabbatical, keeping in touch at each stage of the process and providing information and documents in an efficient and friendly manner.
We were due to fly via Dubai on the day the bombing in the Middle East began. All flights were cancelled. Toby and Lee pulled out all the stops to find us alternative flights, getting us to Christchurch just two days late but in time to pick up our itinerary and and catch the TranzAlpine Train.
New Zealand is a wonderful country. We had a fabulous time there, much of it thanks to the meticulous planning and I would certainly look at using them again. All bookings were in place and on time - transfers, accommodation, trips, guides, train, ferry etc., picking up/dropping off the cars and campervan went without a hitch. We even got two nights in Singapore on the way home, rather than the one night we'd booked in Dubai.
Sue & Chris

Tesia at Audley Travel helped us plan a wonderful trip to Japan. She was wonderful to work with and our itinerary was exactly what we wanted. This is our 5th trip with Audley and they have all been excellent.

I cannot recommend my travel agent enough!. Eric planned two absolutely amazing trips for us. One to Portugal and our most recent trip to Greece, both of which were unforgettable. His attention to detail, professionalism, and constant communication made everything seamless from the beginning to the end. Eric was always attentive, responsive, and made sure every part of the trip was perfectly coordinated, from the beautiful hotels, excursions and incredible dinner plans. Everything exceeded our expectations. It is rare to find someone who truly cares about creating such personalized and stress-free experiences. Thank you for making our travels so memorable. We are looking forward to our next adventure with you.
Thank you,
Moniek

Audley Travel is, without a doubt, the worst organization I have ever dealt with. They absolutely cannot be trusted.

The entire experience was built on deception. Their specialists will tell you one thing, lie to your face, and then come back later with completely different details. No one in that office seems to know what is actually going on, and the lack of transparency is staggering.

What makes it worse is how they deliberately protect themselves from their own incompetence. They force you to sign a "terms and conditions" contract before doing any actual work with you. Once they fail to deliver on their promises, they hide behind that legal paperwork. No matter what verbal agreements or assurances their specialists give you, they will simply tell you it doesn't matter because of what you already signed.

To make matters worse, they completely refuse to provide actual, itemized receipts or invoices from the airlines, hotels, or other third-party vendors. This is clearly just a tactic to cover up massive hidden fees and markups they are charging you behind the scenes.

Avoid Audley Travel at all costs. They are deceitful, disorganized, and completely untrustworthy.

We had a great safari experience with Audley. Ben Attenborough organised a two-site trip in the greater Kruger and it was fantastic.
We stayed 3 nights each at Camp George and Last Word Kitara. Quite different experiences and all the big 5 seen. Beautiful scenery, exceptional hospitality. Excellent organisation by Ben. Amazing.

Just booked up with Audley Travel for a safari in South Africa and a stay in Durban. Andy Freeman was excellent! We are primarily going to watch cricket and wanted to add on a safari trip. Andy was beyond helpful and understanding; making appropriate recommendations, engaging in our plans and supporting us to find the perfect combination. Patient, interested and interesting throughout, great knowledge of the destination and super helpful. I would thoroughly recommend using Audley Travel. A fabulous booking experience.

We just finished a trip to Japan for 20 days, planed by Tesia Batts from Audley Travel. It was an amazing adventure. Tesia, took the time to listen to what our family liked to do and what we wanted to get out of the trip. She created a customized itinerary, including personal tour guides that made the trip enjoyable. She selected hotels based on our preference and we were very happy with all Hotels. Her knowledge of Japan was extensive and she was able to make this a family vacation we will never forget. I highly recommend Tesia Batts and Audley Travel, for helping you plan your next adventure.

We have recently returned from a most memorable trip to South Africa. Our thanks to Andy Freeman of Audley Travel for arranging our whole holiday and his attention to detail and all our requirements.

We visited Table Mountain and Robben Island whilst in Cape Town followed by a fantastic "Big Five" marine trip and then a short stay in beautiful Franschhoek. Towards the end of our trip we went on safari and stayed at the Amakhala Game Reserve which surpassed all expectations - a wonderful experience made all the better by the fabulous staff and guide at Woodbury Lodge.
All the arrangements were seamless and we received constant communication regarding our itinerary and advising contact details should we need any assistance.
We had a wonderful time and would not hesitate to contact Audley again for our next adventure!

We had a great time in Sabah. We stayed in several jungle lodges, did quite a few river safaris, saw lots of wildlife and topped it off with a few days relaxing on Gaya island. Apart from the sunburn, everything was really enjoyable. Audley did a great job of ensuring our needs and wants were catered for and that the trip progressed smoothly. The guides were great, the drivers were helpful, the food was good, the accommodation was as described, the sun shone (apart from when it rained) and the elephants showed up!

An incredible, tailored holiday of a lifetime with Audley Travel

We have just returned from a fantastic trip to China and Hong Kong (12–23 May 2026) organised by Audley Travel. Chris Moore tailored our itinerary beautifully, keeping us thoroughly informed and updated throughout. We cannot thank him and the team enough for what turned out to be a smooth, stress-free holiday of a lifetime. We will highly recommend both Chris and the company to others.

Aside from a couple of minor hiccups, all of our guides were helpful beyond expectation. Michael in Shanghai, Linda in Beijing, and Jenny in Chongqing deserve a special mention for being truly brilliant and going completely above and beyond for us.

For anyone planning a similar route, here is our honest breakdown of the hotels and logistics:

Shanghai – Central Plaza
We didn't receive our promised arrival travel pack until the following day. However, our guide, Michael, was absolutely fantastic. The hotel WiFi only worked with the local Baidu search engine, meaning we couldn't send emails or WhatsApps unless we used our eSIM (which was slow and only handled texts). The hotel also took a deposit on arrival, which was refunded upon check-out.

Beijing – Park Plaza
The WiFi was slightly better here but had similar restrictions. No deposit was required, and our guide, Linda, was another standout who went above and beyond for us.

Xian – Eastern House & Train to Chongqing
The hotel WiFi was much better here—we could send emails with attachments without needing eSIM data. Our guide, Kai, was okay. Regarding the train from Xian to Chongqing: it was originally scheduled as an 11:05 am fast train. It actually departed at 12:07 pm, and we felt it was a slower D-class train rather than the fast G-train we expected. While we appreciate that the local partner replied stating they couldn't secure the first-class booking and chose the closest alternative, we felt we had no option but to take this later train.

Chongqing – The Westin
A brilliant hotel in a great location overlooking the river and Hongyadong Cave. It’s ultra-modern with Japanese-style automatic toilets, a 51st-floor reception, and a clever locker system for deliveries. The WiFi was good. They did require a deposit of 1,000 RMB on arrival; however, this was refunded after I sought proof that it had been cancelled while we waited, which it duly was. Our guide, Jenny, was exceptional.

Hong Kong – Grand Harbour Kowloon
Excellent WiFi and a great location overlooking the harbour. It’s very close to Whampoa Metro station, where we easily got our Elder Octopus Cards ($50 HKD) for the ferry and metro, later getting a refund minus an $11 HKD admin fee. On the downside, the hotel fridge had no complimentary water, which wasn't cheap to buy unless you walked to a local shop. A top tip for food nearby is Xiao Noodles for delicious Chongqing-style meals (great combo deals before 5:30 pm). Lastly, a metered taxi to the airport took about half an hour door-to-door and cost around $310 HKD. No deposit was required. Note on apps: In China, Alipay worked fine as we had it ready before travel. In HK, AlipayHK did not work as it required a local SIM connection.

Thank you once again to Chris and Audley Travel for putting together such an unforgettable trip!

This was not our first holiday that we have booked with Audley Travel , in fact it was our 4th , and once again it didn’t disappoint! From start to finish we were helped guided and informed, every thing planned meticulously for an effortless trip,our pickups, drop offs, timings , all spot on , and 2 amazing resorts for good measure. Thankyou so much Robert Brown it was a trip of a lifetime!!! We can’t wait to start thinking about trip 5 🌞

My husband and I have been traveling the Mediterranean on our catamaran for two years. The coast is beautiful but we really wanted to experience Italy inland. I contacted Audley and Lauren Middleton quickly responded. She listened to our desires and promptly put together an amazing trip. We left our boat near Pisa and began our amazing Tuscany, Florence, and Venice adventure. The accommodations were fabulous and the tours written as if from a story book. Lauren did an excellent job. She was even able to get our well put together itinerary binder to our first destination in San Gimignano. We were already in Europe and could not receive it in the US. Loved the extra touch of a specially delivered bottle of bubbly.

The detailed plan for the 26 days in Japan was incredible. Accommodations created for my mother who couldn't walk a lot were fantastic. Hotels, food, cities, transportation and time response while in Japan were outstanding.

Our trip to Portugal was amazing! Erika Jolle did an amazing job planning our trip, and she listened to what we wanted. She also gave us invaluable advice on things to see that we weren’t aware of. She also kept cost well within our budget. Our trip to Lisbon was great. The hotel in Lisbon, Corpo Santo, was quaint and the staff was incredibly helpful. The transfers that Audley provided were first class, and the excursions - Fado dining experience in Lisbon and four hour tours in Lisbon and Porto. Audley’s local agency responded to our requests after hours. The highlight of our trip was our tour of the Duero Valley. A chauffeured limousine two hour ride from Porto to the valley, a private wine tour and a private boat ride on the Duero River. Just an amazing trip. Kudos to Audley and Erika.