Wonderful Experience--With A Few Exceptions

This tour was a wonderful, memorable, enjoyable experience. The Keukenhoff Gardens were magnificent, breath-taking, the War Memorials and Museum in Bastogne were very moving and had a great impact on us. Delft was charming and Bruges was busy, crowded, but great fun. Monet's Garden at Giverny was beautiful. Siggy, our Tour Guide went above and beyond to assure that we had an enjoyable experience. She coped with many unexpected challenges with grace and good humor and managed everything extremely well.. She did a great job. The Exceptions: Size of the Group: 42 people is too large for a group. It was impossible for all of us to hear the local guides in Brussels, Bruges and the Hague. Bathroom/rest stops were longer than necessary. It was our understanding that the maximum size of a group would be 30. Airport Issues: There needs to be greater understanding/empathy for travelers who have just completed an overnight, translantic triip. When we arrive in the morning, we are tired/ jet lagged and a little disoriented. We arrive in a large airport with suitcases, etc. and have no idea where we should go. A Go Ahead representative should be at each gate, with a clearly defined sign or placard welcoming us and directing us to the meeting place.. Our Guide was running back and forth between 3 gates, meeting 3 planes tfrom the U.S. hat arrived at the same time. A local guide/Go Ahead staff should be assigned to meet each plane. We should not be required to wait two hours for other tour members who are arriving on later flights. Our flight arrived at 7:15 AM and we had to wait until 9:30 AM to leave the airport. Not good. Hotel Issues: The staff/guest representatives at the first hotel also need to be more sensitive to the needs of travelers who have just flown for 8-10/12 hours. Many of us had been awake for 18 hours. We arrived at the hotel at 10 AM and were told that we could not check in until 3 PM. Unacceptable. There should be at least 2-3 rooms (one for men, one for ladies) where we could go to freshen up, have an opportunity to change clotes if possible, wash face, etc. Coffee and light breakfast should be available. Hotek staff should welcome us,, give us maps, told about nearby attractions that we could explore until rooms are ready. Staff should make every effprt to have rooms ready before 3 PM. Restaurant--DO NOT USE THE RESTAURANT IN THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT AGAIN. It was one of the worse meals that we had ever had. The room was crowded and hot, the one waitress was overwhelmed, inpatient and rude. Our dinner was canned Campbell tomato soup, micorwave chicken, frozen french fries, canned string beans and canned fruit cocktail. We were told that we had to pay for beverages! It cost $2.50 for a small bottle of water. It was horrible. The Red Light district was offensive to many of us. It is not an appropriate location for the introductory dinner. Go Ahead staff need to be aware of the demographics of the travelers/people in the group. Most of our group were professionals with extensive travel experience. When we pay $3700 to $4000 for a trip. we have expectations about the quality of restaurants and other accommodations. This restaurant did not meet those expectations. When we left the restaurant, we were told that the bus driver had accepted another assignment and we had to wait 30-45 minutes for him to return. The alternative was to take public transportation. This was our first night in Amsterdam, we were exhausted but still had to make our way back to the hotel on our own. Our Guide made every effort to help us. Not a good first night/ introduction to our trip. Optionals: Go Ahead staff in either Cambridge or Lucerne need to be proactive in assuring that all the details of optional trips are current. We were extremely disappointed that the city museum in the Hague was closed on Monday--the day of our optional trip. Most of us had paind for this optional because we would have an opportunity to visit the museum and see the paintings by the Dutch masters, We should have been notified in advance and given the option to either adjust the schedule or have our money refunded. This was a BIG DISAPPOINTMENT and totally avoidable if Go Ahead had made the effort to research museum hours, etc. The trip to the Hague was a dismal failure and our least favorite part of the trip. Accurate Descriptions of Tour Features--More attention needs to be paid to describing the features of the tour accurately. The description of the Floriade was inaccurate and misleading. It was NOT a giant flower show. The flowers--mostly orchids--- were in one building. The remainder of the Floriade was comparable to a state fair and more appropriate for children. Given the Go Ahead description, we expected to see flowers from all over the world and in multiple locations. This was not the case. So, we were disappointed. For us, the Keukenhoff Gardens, Bastogne, Delft, Brussels, Bruge and Paris were the most enjoyable parts of the trip. The members of our group had a good sense of humor, were flexible and reliable, experienced travelers. Meeting and spending 10 days with all of them was also extremely enjoyable. and felt that we had been misled/duped.

Flowers, scenery, and food were heavenly.

Our May 2012 European vacation was fabulous. We joined forty adults from 11 states, ranging from New Hampshire and Maine to California and Hawaii, and southern states of Georgia, Texas, Missouri, and Arkansas. Keukenhof gardens are the prettiest we have seen in 13 trips abroad. Bruges, Belgium, is prettier than Venice, or St. Petersburg. Luxembourg is a UNESCO treasure. Dr. Jerry D. Gibbens, Arkansas.

Amsterdam, Luxembourg, and Brussels

Relatively easy pace. As I've traveled rather extensively in the past, planning everything myself, it is nice to give up the details to someone else. This time included the Floriade show, which is only every ten years, but would be an interesting tour even without it. I do recommend going when the Keukenhof tulip garden option is available, as it is refreshing and beautiful.

Most disapoointing, very poorly carried out tour,

Tour director has poor attitude, blamming everything on the company...not doing her itmost tomake the trip more pleasant..."Bargain or Budgeted tours we passnegers negotaited with Go Ahead Tours " had nothing to do with her...so we need to contact you folks by computer or p[hone when we were on Europe? The Horticulture show was grossly miusrepresented....worst than most state fairs in the U.S......all the optional tours are very overpriced.... the last night hotel mistook was inexcusable, causing so much inconvenience.......will never use or recommend Go Head Tours again...

The Floriade and More!

My partner and I so enjoyed this very special trip, even with the cold winds of the North Sea chilling us to the bone in Amsterdam! Our group was large, really too large, but most of our fellow travelers accommodated the schedule and one another with grace. Our guide (Ildi) was Terriific! - smart, savvy, supportive, knowledgeable, patient, and very responsive, always willing to be of service. We had worked with GoAhead to schedule an extra day at the Floriade, wanting to maximize our time with this fantastic, once-every-ten-years horticultural event and all went well. We enjoyed our own excursions on the train(s) and chats with the locals. Between the Floriade and the amazing gardens at Keukenhof, the rest of the trip was "icing on the cake." We loved Amsterdam and walked all over the city, soaking in its history,culture, antique shops, and canals. The Red Light District was interesting and truly, harmless! Brussels was all hustle and bustle and we thoroughly enjoyed all of Ildi's little walkabout tours, introducing us to the city. We had sufficient time at each location to 'do our own thing' and options for sightseeing were great! The bus drives/tours were great and we saw far more than we had anticipated; Marco, our Driver, deserves 5 stars! Brugge deserves its World Heritage site label and is a treasure of a town...sights, history,architecture, canals, food, shops, chocolate, and more chocolate! As in Maastricht, it was smart to divide our group into two smaller groups. Also, the time in Bastogne and the American Military Cemetery were heart-touching; we we all profoundly affected with the history of the Battle of the Bulge and our 76,890 American soldiers who died there. I could go 'on and on' but far better that individuals sign on for their own marvelous adventure, and hopefully, with Ildi Hetesi as the Guide!

Much too large a group.

This was first experience with Go Ahead Tours, and probably my last. Several issues stood in the way of a good experience. First, the group size of 44 people caused delays, ineffectual walking tours, and logistic issues when checking in hotels. In addition the tour was advertised as somewhat leisurely but several less mobile folk had difficulty coping with the walking necessary at most of the sites. Accommodations were below average. The tour director stated that quality had to be compromised to get the best location. At least two nights we were put into smoking rooms. The one hotel that was comfortable, (Brussels Thone Bristol Stephanie) we were forced to leave a night early because of a booking error! Our transfer to the airport was in an overcrowded cab with no room for the luggage for 7 persons. The one saving grace was our tour director, who contended as best she could with the large group and decisions made by Go Ahead Tours.

City tours with a taste of the back door

Although the tour focuses on the cities of Amsterdam, Luxembourg, and Brussels, there are enough side trips and optionals that take you to their "back door". For example, the trip to the American Cemetery in Luxembourg and the visit to the WWII Memorial in Bastogne were very moving. The optional excursion to Bruges was outstanding. At the same time, there is just enough free time to pursue personal interests that are not part of the tour, like museum hopping. For those who want a bit more extra time, I suggest arriving or departing a day earlier or later to pursue personal interests.

benelux tour

I found the tour to be very interesting. We had an exceptionally capable and informed tour guide (Ildi). It was more strenuous than I was led to believe, but doable if the tour guide slows the pace to fit the less fit in the group which she did).

BeNeLux tour

We chose this trip, as well as the other trip we took with Go Ahead, because of the itinerary. A trip is only as good as its guide, however, and I cannot recommend our guide, Ildi, strongly enough. There wasn't a question she couldn't answer, and she was gracious and patience personified, nothing threw her. The feeling of our group, with which I heartily concur, was that the group of 45 was too large. Ildi also had to cope with an unfortunate hotel scheduling mistake that she was not responsible for but had to deal with the consequences. It was the perfect time of year to be in The Netherlands, but there wasn't enough time in Amsterdam to do the museums justice, and the same can be said for Bruges. The optional excursions are not to be missed---they made the itinerary! What added to the enjoyment of our trip was that the Go Ahead staff were all very knowledgable and extremely helpful, especially with the scheduling our Business Class airline reservations.

Writing a Review

There was quite of a variety of people on this particular , but I found everyone willing to get along. The tour was quite interesting, and I feel that Ildika Hetesi worked diligently to make the trip interesting and fact filled as possible.