Marvellous Escapes Anmeldelser 

We started by suggesting places we wanted to go, and were provided with excellent advice from Marvellous Escapes, we left the choice of hotels and the organisation of the trip with Marvellous Escapes.

We had requested better class hotels than on a previous trip, and in general the hotels selected were good, with the Tradition Julen hotel in Zermatt being probably the best.

The TGV route through the Jura to Geneva from Paris almost represents a scenic train journey in itself, as the train slows down as it traverses a section through the Jura mountains that passes lakes, and over a high viaduct over a river at one point, the winding track climbing and descending keeping the train speed down to about 80kph..

We had requested a visit to the Chateau de Chillon, a trolleybus ride from Montreux, or a long walk along the shore of Lake Geneva. The chateau is a lovely place, but best visited earlier in the morning, as it is justifiably one of the most popular destinations in Switzerland.

We took the Golden Pass Express, travelling Premier First Class, which gave us plenty of space and excellent views between Montreux and Interlaken, passing alpine scenery and through ski resorts. We enjoyed that trip.

We took a trip up to the Jungfraujoch from Interlaken. It is an interesting trip by train. All of the trains were very full, (reserved seating only means you guarantee a chance to sit down as you board first), and at the top, the circular walk round the attractions inside the mountain is interesting, with three places you can get outside and see the view, or take part in some additional paid for activities. We found that the time allocated was enough to visit everything, have a meal and spend money in the gift shops. We sometimes felt overwhelmed by fast moving tour groups who either rushed past or created queues for the lifts. Returning via Grindelwald and the Eiger Express gondola was interesting, "flying" over the alpine scenery.

Another day, we simply took the train up to Lauterbrunnen and did a circular walk up the valley floor, visiting the famous waterfall. This was relaxing, surrounded by meadows with cattle and the sounds of cow bells.

The other mountain excursion we did was up the Gornergrat, which is slightly lower than the Jungfraujoch, but you can take it at your own pace, breaking the journey at several stations up the mountain, allowing the chance to walk around and look at things. Each station exits to mountain paths, rather than tunnels inside the mountain. A highlight here was the Alpine Garden which showcases alpine plants that grow at 2800m. Views of other high peaks surrounding the mountain flickered into view as the clouds uncovered them. A magical place. There is a gift shop at the top, and a restaurant in the hotel and a fast food self-service at the top station.

The ordinary train journeys around Switzerland were a pleasure in themselves, getting between centres on frequent trains passing amazing scenery, usually not too crowded.

Overall, equipped with the folder of train tickets and passes, and hotel reservations and a copy of the SBB Mobile app to plan train and bus trips, we found the experience to be very pleasant.

As usual the "wobbliest train" on our journey was the 1610 from London Waterloo to Winchester.

I had no previous experience with Marvellous Escapes and had not heard of them until I saw an advert for a holiday spec that caught my fancy. From the time I contacted them, my agent , Vicky was excellent. She listened to my specific requests, was very quick to send me a proposed itinerary with inclusions based on her personal knowledge and experience. Even though I changed the dates and the itinerary several times , she reacted in a friendly and helpful way until I was completely happy. A very positive process .

Just returned from a rail trip to Scotland and a tour of the Northern 500. Thank you Marvellous Escapes, what a perfect personalised holiday you arranged. A day exploring Inverness followed by Rabbie's 500 tour, it was exciting and very informative. A wonderful 3 days travelling with a small group of people from all over the world enjoying the fantastic scenery and history of Scotland. The Rabbie's Lochness tour was excellent which included a boat trip on the loch as well as time for lunch by the Caladonian canal. You were there for us 24/7 to give us peace of mind if there were any problems. Will definitely recommend and use Marvellous Escapes again. Thank you Laurie and Paul

Excellent and supportive, from helping us plan an individual tour of Norway to providing backup when something went wrong. We arrived at our first hotel at 9.30pm to find it closed due to strike, I immediately rang Paul, and in less than an hour we were comfortable in another hotel in an even better location. We would happily use ME again and have already recommended them to friends.

Laurie was brilliant, she arranged everything perfectly. Such a smooth process. Would definitely recommend this company.

Brilliant. Laurie was so so helpful.

Great interaction, no question too small.
Process simple and
Staff incredibly helpful.

Everything went like clockwork. All the information provided and details of the travelling was perfect.

Amazing views of Switzerland. Haley covered everything, we couldn’t have asked for more.

Second time I have booked with Marvellous Escapes and second time that the service has been exemplary. Laurie, who assisted me with my booking was very polite, responsive and most importantly, knowledgeable. Although we booked on short notice she was able to accommodate all our needs including last minute changes of dates and itinerary, and the icing on the cake was that she was able to do this while keeping the price under our budget.

The fantastic foreward planning, for example the provision of a taxi from Ortanto to Bari airport at the end of the holiday plus the trouble shooting when a national rail strike was announced on the day we were due to use our tickets to get to Brindisi. We were aware of the situation as we had been on a train the day before when it was announced but in the morning we had a message from M. E. telling us it looked like our train was running as usual and that if not there was a guaranteed one later in the day they could switch our tickets for if we advised it was necessary. This was very reassuring and it all went as scheduled. Also the choice of hotels especially the Grand Hotel Lecce which was a very stylish throw back from the days of the Grand Tour and the final hotel where we were upgraded to a suite. The only real hitch was when the driver organised to meet us at the airport on arrival did not seem to have or have read the information we had about where we should meet. Another taxi driver made a call for us and got it sorted out, The taxi driver on the final trip to the airport was very professional and reassuring,arriving early and waiting in the car for us. The choice of hotels within a reasoanble budget was excellent as the agent knew this was a special wedding anniversary. Very personal approach and to top it all when the airline changed the time of departure to an unearthly hour M.E., as a good will gesture, paid for us to have a night at The Holiday Inn at Gatwick to help us with the hyper-early start. I would have no hesittion in recommending the Company. We are usually independent travellers but decided for once to use an agent, to incur less stress. We are pleased to have made that decision.Thanks especially to Olivia who dealt with our planning.
Dr Frances Mackenney-Jeffs

A well planned individual trip go Norway. Good comms and easy access to help and info.
Nice friendly booking agent, Haley, there for any help.
Good value in what is an expensive country - the £15 beer has arrived! Hotels and their location were brilliant. Good choice of airline and train journeys.

1st experience with Marvellous Escapes.
would definitely recommend this company. Booked with a pleasant consultant called Hayley, who went through every single item, very thorough. All our flight information and itinerary arrived in a folder 10 days before trip. we were in communication via whatsapp.
our trip was Canada to Calgary 2 nights then coach to Banff 5 nights then on board The Rocky Mountaineer train for 2 days stopping at Kamloops, then onto Vancouver for 2 nights. Our cases were in our rooms before we arrived. All excursions were amazing. We needed help a couple of times, and communicated via whatsapp and was answered within 5 minutes ( 1 time was 2amGMT) and problems solved very quickly. (Thank you Paul) Lasting memories will be the Gondola trip in Banff up a very high mountain! The Rocky train had impeccable hosts and nothing was too much trouble. food and drinks were marvellous. Our last night in Vancouver went to a blues club called Guilt & Co, live music and dancing, AMAZING. back home now, holiday blues. want to go anywhere again!!

Very quickly turned ann idea into a trip of a lifetime. Great recommendations can’t wait til we go

As a wheelchair user, our agent, Laurie Bizouard, went out of her way to find us wheelchair spaces on trains and suitable adapted hotel rooms. We have booked 15 months ahead of our travel dates and haven't travelled yet, so we hope all will go to plan.

Staff were very clear and professional

As a returning customer I was pleased that the same lovely person Laurie, was there to help me again.
She and Paul have put together another great looking package for next years adventure. Laurie took all our requirements and requests into consideration and added some great suggestions to find us the best way forward for us. I like that they are always there to ask anything I have thought of and get back to me really quickly. Also this years holiday went perfectly, great hotels, perfect timings for trains and good locations. I can thoroughly recommend Marvelous Escapes.

The white glove service is second to none. Have used them many times now and they never fail to give a top drawer service. Finding a holiday that suits all of our needs and offering advice all along the way. A special thank you to Paul Taverner.

How can I put this journey of a lifetime into words … from the first moment I spoke to Olivia and asked her if she could design the perfect train journey from London to Italy ‘an adventure’, there was no hesitation! This was for my partners 60th birthday and oh it was absolutely stunning! Olivia was amazing always keeping in touch, helping wherever she could, nothing was too much for her.. it was actually a surprise for my partner and Olivia had all paperwork sent to my daughters address to keep it secret. The trip was amazing, every step given on the itinerary was perfect. London Euro Star into Paris onto Zurich then into Switzerland and Chor! What a beautiful place so clean and pretty, we stayed in Hotel Stern a quaint traditional hotel with breakfast. Next morning boarded the Bernina Express train through the breathtaking Alps.. and if this trip couldn’t get any better we spent our last 3 days in one of the most prettiest places of Sirmione peninsula on Lake Garda.. wow just beautiful. Our trip went without a hitch, everything was designed for us to get to each train / place on time, We had been given a WhatsApp number if we should need to get in touch at anytime of the day (which we didn’t need). I’ve been home for a few days now and still can’t quite believe what we have done and couldn’t have done it without the professional support and help of these guys and many thanks to Olivia, Paul and Helen for making a dream come true!

Hayley Norris was brilliant from the start of our enquiry. Very happy with the plan for April 2027
Did not feel under pressure at any point to book.

Christian has made the booking process of this holiday stress free. He has put together everything I asked for within my budget. He is such a patient person. My holiday itinerary looks great x with all his knowledge x expertise I have the confidence that it will be great. The service from this company is amazing x they are always contactable.