Odysseys Unlimited Reviews 16

Catarina was really high energy communicative and helpful. Even though the Sintra palace was closed off because of the fire alert, she quickly adapted and created a new route for us. Catarina gave us was honest outlook on what it means to be a local and I really appreciate that. Obrigada!

After reading the many complaints about Odysseys, I am reminded that people who have a bad experience are the most likely to write a review. Not this time.
After planning our own trips for 30 years, we decided to try a tour. Requirements were; a small group, at least 2 nights in each hotel, a good mix of free time vs. tour time and of course, a good guide.
Odysseys hit the mark every time. There are ALWAYS some glitches, but overall we've been very happy with Odysseys. We visited Greece, N. Italy, Provincial France, Austria, Switzerland, Egypt, and Britain. This year we'll visit the Canadian Rockies and Central Europe. The guides are superb; personable and knowledgeable, the hotels are clean and comfortable and our fellow travelers were delightful. Would highly recommend.

We were on a Costa Rica's Natural Heritage tour in February (2025). The natural history experiences and sites we visited and animals we saw were great. Much of our enjoyment came down to the expertise and personality of our guide. He was superb.

All of the negatives could have been avoided by better planning and more transparency in the company's marketing.

The hotels at the start and end of the trip, while five star properties, had nothing to do with Costs Rica and could have been anywhere. Top memories? Saw the largest shopping mall and swimming pool in Central America. Furthermore, giving us a free day at the JW Marriot wasn't a plus. It is basically inaccessible to anything you might want to get to. (I honestly felt like I was being held hostage there.)

Huge negative. Hours and hours spent on a (nice) bus (with a superb driver). Most days averaged between four and seven hours. Not what we signed up for. The hours spent sitting in San José's traffic could have been avoided by a better hotel choice than the Intercontinental in Escazú.

Another negative. Far too much time dining. I get that serving 18 people takes time. But, we don't need three courses every night. A better focus on Costa Rican cuisine would be appreciated.

I communicated my concerns to the company before writing this review. Their response was not what I had hoped for. They "will be re-evaluating our partner hotels" and "pre-departure materials in the hopes of further emphasizing that lengthy motorcoach rides can be anticipated."

They've been doing this itinerary for awhile now. These concerns can't be new.

I would look at other alternatives to OU in the future.

Also, it would be nice to have a more intuitive and user friendly participant portal.

I have just returned from the Mystical India tour, and it was superb. The hotels were all deluxe, the level of coordination was excellent, and our tour director, Ms. Ritu Sharma, was the finest one I have ever met in 40+ years of group tours.

I'm glad that I made my own air reservations, and was able to fly non-stop to and from Delhi. From the comments I've seen, it is always better to arrange for air yourself than to rely on Odysseys.

Odyssey has made it clear to me and my husband that they are WOKE and do not tolerate those who are not. When I asked Odyssey to refrain from sending e-mails which contained Pronouns I was told how inclusive they were and how they valued the feelings of their employees. They obviously did not see the irony in not valuing at all the beliefs/feelings of their customers. In fact, Odyssey withdrew from us a $200 voucher for future trips with Odyssey and instead sent us $200 in cash - the message being - we don't want you as a customer but we have to honor the $200 somehow. They never specifically said we could no longer use Odyssey (I am sure out of fear of a lawsuit) but made it clear in an e-mail (in which they refused to honor my request to not send e-mails with pronouns as they were there on full display as a final insult) that we were not welcomed as guests in the future. So, Odyssey was willing to lose at least 6 clients (my siblings who normally travel with us) for the sake of satisfying their WOKE employees. We have subsequently used the $400 to take a tour with another recommended - 'NON-WOKE' organization which was recommended to us. We have also made a point of letting friends know about Odyssey’s ideology which includes only those who agree with them. Good riddance to Odyssey! Just wanted everyone who is sick and tired of the WOKE ideology where Odyssey’s loyalties lie. It is certainly not with their ‘UNWOKE’ customers.

Just returned from Provincial France tour. Guide was excellent. Liked the small group design because we did not have to be split up and could hear the guide. I saw so many interesting places that I don't think I would have found traveling by myself. As I get older I think I will travel this way much more since so much of the work of travel is done for you. Our bus was uncomfortable but I understand from others who have toured with this company in the past that this is not the usual bus experience. We traveled from Toulouse in southern France to Paris where the tour ended. We stayed 2-3 nights in each hotel and took day trips from there, which was a lot less tiring than changing hotels daily. Each day we started with breakfast in the hotel and there was sufficient variety in the foods served. Many of the other meals were not to my liking but there were plenty of opportunities to have meals on your own. I plan to do another trip with this company.

Read other review sites before you book with this company …

Just go to Better Business bureau website. You can google BBB - odysseys unlimited

My tour was delayed almost for a month. First and last tour with Odysseys. Delay is only problem. But still a big one

I am 77 years old and have been travelling for over 50 years and taken over 100 trips. I have made 3 complaints and 2 were about Odyssey. I took their Africa Wildlife tour in Nov. 2022. There were hundreds of bugs in our tent and I took pics and sent them to Odyssey. That was the 1st complaint. They gave me a credit of $150 and because I loved the tour itself and because they changed the bug lodge, I took it again in Nov. 2023. This was the 2nd complaint.
1st trip 14 hour thru NY then non stop to Africa, great. 2nd trip 36 hours in airports and on planes. They sent me, 77 years old on a 12.5 flight to Doha, with a 10 HOUR LAYOVER, then 8.5 more to Africa. I tried to change this flight but they refused and told me, rudely, that I could get my own flights if I didn't like it. I literally could barely walk when I got off the plane and had to be lifted into the van to the hotel and could not even go on the tour the next day.
The first trip the guide was great. The second trip - NO. He encouraged bullying among the women, mostly against me since I do not engage in that behavior. The tour was 10 people, mostly elderly women. This 2nd guide just sat there and let people bully others. Disgusting man. Then he tried to leave the tour early and told us he would leave us in a hotel day room and someone would pick us up and take us to the airport. I found this out because I asked why I would get a day room at the end of the tour for 2 hours in Zambia but no day room for a 10 hour layover in Doha. He said the Zambia airport was easy to get around - this was not true. Others complained so he decided he better stay but he was going to abandon elderly travelers in a strange airport in a foreign country. One of the women had already fallen down a moving escalator and had to call paramedics but in spite of that, he was going to leave us.
I cannot walk thru airports and have to have a wheelchair because I have plates and screws holding my foot together. This guy left me to fend for myself while he helped everyone else check in.
On the 1st tour in 2022 I gave the tour guide $150 tip. I gave the 2nd guy nothing. And I know that the 6 old ladies only gave him a $25 tip each. Karma. hahaha
abandon us in
Excuses excuses excuses. You would think they had sense enough not to send a 77 year old woman on a 36 hour trip and not provide a day room for the 10 HOUR LAYOVER. When I called they rudely told me I could buy my own ticket if I didn't like it. And the director only stayed with the tour because everyone complained that he could not abandon us, mostly older women, in an undeveloped country where very few spoke English. And if the guide was so great, why did they only give him a $25 tip when you recommend $10-15 a day. AND, even if you did send the flights in August, I had already paid the full price of the trip and you would not refund my money. Again, WORST COMPANY EVER.

We had an excellent tour with them to Türkiye. Great service, great tour guide, good price.

We have traveled with Odysseys Unlimited several times, most recently Costa Rica Dec 2022 and Croatia May 2023. Highly reccomended.

This was our second tour with Odysseys - Egypt ( the first being Peru and Machu Picchu). Both excellent. Well organized with knowledgeable tour directors. Any questions we had were answered promptly and effectively. Happy to recommend and use again.