Distant Journeys Avis 

Two weeks in Borneo, May 2026 - an incredible holiday. Really well organised, expert guides with exceptional knowledge. They even seemed to have a direct line to the Orangutan! We were extremely fortunate to have Yoga as our guide (‘never fear when Yoga is here’) who had a wealth of expertise in local history and culture. He was also a brilliant spotter for wildlife on the river cruises. Thank you Yoga and Distant Journeys!

Our Distant Journeys trip to Vietnam and Cambodia had a great itinerary with excellent local guides and lovely hotels. We enjoyed it so much we decided to book another trip to a different destination for next year. There are so many exciting itineraries on offer. The booking experience is easy. All the staff are friendly and helpful. They ring you back when they say they will.

Booking Reference: 40532
My mum and I went on 'The Very Best of Japan' holiday with Distant Journeys. There were several problems:
We had no Tour Manager! Whilst we had a small party due to the troubles in the Middle East, the trip that left 5 days beforehand (also a small group) had a tour manager and one local guide) As stated in the brochure.
One of the hotels we stayed in was run like a hostel:
The carpets were filthy dirty
We had paper cups in our room (no coffee, milk, water or spoons)
Our rooms were not cleaned during our stay
Our toilet seat did not fit our toilet
Our basin in the bathroom was damaged
The bathroom was not clean
We had to collect clean towels from reception
No-one at reception spoke English!
The food from the foodhall (nothing like a restaurant) could be smelt from almost over the 'hotel'

We had two local guides during our holiday. The first one was excellent. The second was awful. She did the following:
Left clients behind on a regular basis when walking (never stopping to check the group was together) She always walked too fast.
Often did not give clear meeting instructions at places of interest, causing confusion and worry to members of the group.
Her guide stick was too short and she could not be seen in busy/more crowded places
Her attitude to comments and suggestions was curt and rude.
She fell asleep on the coach and did not talk to the group about places of interest on our travels.
She left guests at restaurants to find their own way back to the hotel (in the evenings)
On one occasion she lost several members of the group at a train station. Had I not spotted the back of one of the other guest's shirt as he disappeared up an escalator, we would have missed the train! Our guide had no idea she had left us behind!
The list goes on and on .........
My mum contacted Distant Journeys in regards to this complaint (she booked the holiday) She is a regular traveller (4 holidays, so far and a further 1 booked for later this year) Their reply was apologetic and they also offered compensation - a whopping 2% of the cost of the holiday!
Both my mum and feel this is an insult. More than 2% of our holiday was spoilt by the two nights spent in the awful hotel/hostel and the second half of the holiday being 'looked after' by our truly awful local guide! We expected more from Distant Journeys.

We were unfortunate to be in the cancellation of holidays via Dubai. The team in reservations were exceptional. Arranged a full refund within days. Up to that point the booking process had been smooth and detailed communications were received. Particularly liked the tour app. We had no hesitation in rebooting with confidence and look forward to travelling with Distant Journeys next year

From initial phone call, the professional, advise was a fresh air experience, in booking a holiday. No pressure to book, just good advise about the holidays l was interested in. Also, spoke to three different people, they were so happy to help. My first experience with this travel company, l have booked. I am very impressed, after over 40 years of booking escorted holidays

Brochure and info about our Uzbekistan trip in October very detailed. Really looking forward to the trip.
Staff very helpful at a busy time for them, with quotes and changes sorted quickly. Very professional!

I have now booked two holidays with distant journeys - I’ve yet to take them so can at this stage only comment on the service I’ve received in enquiring and subsequently booking . The staff are particular friendly and efficient - Joe Delaney booked the last one for me . I felt no pressure or rush to book the holidays and I feel they were genuine in their desire to book the best experience for me . The price point was excellent and I felt value for money . So far I’m very impressed with all interaction with the company and would highly recommend.

Fabulous customer service.
Excellent, knowledgeable, polite, patient, professional, friendly & engaging people at Distant Journeys. When we finished booking our holiday with a few gratefully received pointers we were even more excited for our holiday! This kind of experience makes you wholeheartedly trust a company and look forward to booking a future holiday with them. Easy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I telephoned Distant Journeys as a single traveller. Jack, the agent was so helpful, patient and easy to talk too. He answered all my questions and explained everything clearly. I have booked a single traveller holiday to Japan with this company and feel confident that it will be a great experience. It looks amazing. Special thanks to Jack.

Booking Process -

I dealt with Jack on booking the Peru group tour. I made a bespoke request that although unable to support he did refer to the product leader and fully explained the reasons. Straight forward process and my dealings before booking with general questions were answered on first call.

Trustworthy and reputable company we have traveled with before, Shauna Fowler made the resevation on our behalf and was patient, friendly, extremly professional and curtious. Her expertise and experience was invaluable in helping us to decide we booking the right tour for us

We've enjoyed a number of tours with DJ and they have all been excellent from start to finish. Be it the booking process, the itinerary, the hotels, the included experiences, or the tour guides, each has exceeded expectations. Very happy to recommend.

We went with DJ to India back in February and had a wonderful time. We were very well looked after especially when things started happening in the Middle East.
We therefore did not hesitate to book with them again. Our recent customer service was excellent - efficient, confident and warm service answering any questions we had. We are now looking forward to our next trip to China.

Jack Millin was an extremely helpful chap. We have travelled with DJ before and have been delighted with their product. Jack gave us the feeling that we were valued customers and that DJ were reliable. That is always a good sign.

We have been to Australia/New Zealand, Sri Lanka with this company and had amazing experiences both times, from initial booking to the tours themselves. We have Kerala booked for later this year, and have just booked Eastern Canada, staff are exceptionally friendly and helpful. We would have no hesitation in recommending them, and friends of our recently did Australia with them and loved it too. They have also made another booking.

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed the Very Best of Vietnam and Cambodia tour with a Singapore add-on at the end. Our tour manager, Angie Carpenter, was excellent throughout and every one of the local guides were knowledgeable, informative and fun to be with. Given a few early morning starts, the tour was tiring but nonetheless a superb experience while the Ha Long Bay and Mekong cruises did provide welcome respite. There was a minor hiccup in the transfer from Changi airport to the hotel in Singapore that was caused by the local agent, and thus beyond the control of Distant Journeys. Overall, however, the holiday was faultless and I am now looking forward to our recently booked trip to Uzbekistan with DJ.

Great booking experience. Very knowledgeable customer services staff member, Joe. It was refreshing to be able to book directly with a person rather than merely online.

We have been on 2 tours with DJ ( to Vietnam and Cambodia and then to India) on both occasions the tours were amazing. Great experiences and they were seamless in their organisation. We have just booked another tour with them. This time to Japan.

We travelled on the Highlights of Australia and New Zealand tour and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

We began with the coach tour of New Zealand and were very pleased with the planning and organisation. The tour leader Saul was brilliant. He was knowledgable about the various locations and was excellent in communicating the information to the group in a cheerful and humourous way. The driver Vlad is a top class driver and also bonded with the group. All the hotels were centrally located and had large very clean rooms.

There was excellent organisation of the flights to Australia. The hotels in Australia were excellent well located. We were pleased to visit Melbourne, Sydney and Cairnes with a few days in each. it was good to have free time for individual explorations in these locations. We were also pleased to see Australian outback. The internal flight travel was well organised and stress free.

During our trip Distant Journeys had to reorganise travel home because of war in the Middle East. The company got us new flights and carried out the organisation of this in an efficient manner. This was a difficult time for travel companies and I was impressed with how Distant Journeys dealt with this to get us home.

We had a wonderful holiday and have no hesitation in recommending Distant Journeys travel company.

We’ve just returned from our holiday in India through the Distant Journeys Deccan Odyssey Heritage tour and can’t speak highly enough of our experience from start to finish. Using the train was a fantastic way to see so much including Delhi, Agra, Ranthambore, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, and Jaipur and then on to Shimla. The Deccan Odyssey train is incredible, the hotels were all 5 star with great service throughout. Our guide couldn’t do enough for us, ensuring that we got the most out of everywhere we went. Highly recommend.