Home > Compare Tour & Adventure Operators > Collette vs Luxury Gold
Collette vs Luxury Gold
Compare the travel styles, pricing, destinations and popularity of Collette and Luxury Gold.The Low Down
While new to the Australian market in 2017, Collette have actually been operating since 1918. Offering coach touring and small group explorations around the world, you won't find too many Aussies and Kiwis on their trips yet, but clients of ours that haven taken the plunge over the last season have come back with very positive reviews. Collette is very popular in the US and now has offices and support in Australia, Canada and the UK too. Collette market their trips as 4 star accommodation with 5 star service and inclusions - so if that sounds like your cup of tea, then how about this - Collette also includes a roundtrip home to airport chauffeur service for those within a 40km radius of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, Darwin, Cairns and Hobart airports.
Luxury Gold (a luxury brand brought to you by Insight Vacations) endeavours to elevate travel beyond the ordinary, bringing you the best escorted experience for the best value. Staying in some of the finest hotels, chosen for their prime location, ambience, and level of luxury, and enjoying meals and wine at some of the best restaurants the destination has to offer. Insight have recently expanded their range of luxury vacations to include trips through South America, Africa, and Asia - where you can expect the ultimate in luxury and refinement.With smaller groups (average of 30 but no more than 40 guests - and Asia & South Africa with only 24), relaxed start days, VIP door to door transfers (if you're an Aussie within 50km of an airport) , Luxury Gold offers a seamless stress-free travel experience. If you've travelled with any of its sister brands like AAT Kings, Trafalgar, Insight, Inspiring Journeys or Uniworld further savings are available.
Stats
No. of Trips
188
No. of Departures
6,357
Avg. Trip Length
11 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$527
Accommodation
4 Star
Budget
Premium
No. of Trips
47
No. of Departures
857
Avg. Trip Length
13 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$1,042
Accommodation
4.5 - 5 Star
Budget
Premium & Luxury
In Their Own Words We asked the travel companies themselves why you should travel with them
At Collette, we consider everyone who travels with us to be our personal guest. Every moment matters to us because we know it matters to you. This may be because at heart we are a family owned company that has been in business for 100 years. It may be because our team are passionate about sharing their own love of travel and uncovering mysteries.
Choosing Collette comes with benefits that take your guided travel experience to another level. Our inclusive tours provide you more value for your money and more of what makes travel special. Let us show you the world!
Indulge your passions on a luxurious small group journey, offering the perfect blend of guided and independent exploration. Choose from our worldwide collection of immersive luxury journeys.
How do we define “Luxury”? It’s exceptional dining experiences, including Michelin star restaurants and cooking classes. It’s staying in luxury hotels in central or scenic locations. Luxury is feeling like a VIP accessing iconic sites after hours and meeting remarkable people. It’s having the service of a Travelling Concierge accompanying you along the way with incredible commitment to service. When you travel with us, we ensure your experience is elevated, elegant and impeccable.
We put our heart into everything we do and are proud to be leaders in luxury travel. I invite you to relax and enjoy the charm of different cultures as we take care of every detail. Speak with Global Journeys today to start your holiday planning. We look forward to taking you on a journey beyond the ordinary.
Recent Reviews
4.4
Hi. If I’m going to be completely honest here, I was somewhat disappointed in this tour, don't get me wrong there were some fab times we had as well. Day One- the "included" breakfast was utterly terrible to the point where we didn’t eat it, and to the fact that we were sharing the breakfast buffet with another tour. The badlands was great we had a ...read more wonderful time here. The wall drug slop stop, for the money we eat in cafeteria? Couldn't understand this.
The night we were taken to another sub average hotel to eat yet another average meal, again I stress the point for the money spent, a) we are given a limited choice of food, b) told there are no modifications. c) the meal that was served wouldn't have fed a two year old, it was cold and average, a sharing plate of processed meats as a start.
Day Two & Three - Someone made the executive decision to take us elsewhere for breakfast which was very nice. The sight seeing was great, however I soon realized that we are not allowed to really stop in the bus in a National Park (I could be wrong here) or were we allowed off the bus, again my point to the money spent and all photos being taken from the window.
Day Four & Five - Tour was great, a lot more driving than I anticipated, Cody was great, would have been even better along the way if we were told that there are other things going on in the town i.e. Rodeo, but no, our meal was in a bistro of a hotel. Given there are so many places to eat along the way yet, the included meal is in the hotel.
Day 6 - This is the day that I calculated we were driving in a bus for approx. 8 hours. I’ll say no more the accommodation here was great the hotel staff and food were lovely.
Day 7 - Was great until we went to heart mountain (this could have been day 6). I would strongly suggest that this is an optional stop, I did not see this on the itinerary nor did I want any part of this, I actually can not describe how mortified I was at what I sat through, If you wanted to top off a good week, this just knocked it all over. I feel this was the most inappropriate tour stop I have ever encountered. At this point to be honest I was pretty much over the whole tour, I avoided the chuck wagon dinner (thank god) I was told I would have not been impressed, people were having to be driven back down. So overall I was very disappointed
Food- 1/10. Tour Leader - 10/10. Coach Driver- 10/10. Overall tour experience 3/10. If I’m going to be honest, I would probably never book with Collette again. Other tour members were saying that had been on many Collette tours and never had anything so sub par. Sorry to be so negative, but I’m being honest.
Reply From Collette:Thank you for choosing Global Journeys and Collette for your recent America’s Cowboy Country tour. We are grateful you took the time to provide valuable feedback concerning your tour experience. Your comments about the tour are being reviewed by Collette’s Product Development and Product Design Teams for this region. All feedback is encouraged as it allows us the opportunity to identify areas of concern and strive to make the necessary enhancements. A member of our Traveller Relations Team will be contacting you to review your concerns.
The night we were taken to another sub average hotel to eat yet another average meal, again I stress the point for the money spent, a) we are given a limited choice of food, b) told there are no modifications. c) the meal that was served wouldn't have fed a two year old, it was cold and average, a sharing plate of processed meats as a start.
Day Two & Three - Someone made the executive decision to take us elsewhere for breakfast which was very nice. The sight seeing was great, however I soon realized that we are not allowed to really stop in the bus in a National Park (I could be wrong here) or were we allowed off the bus, again my point to the money spent and all photos being taken from the window.
Day Four & Five - Tour was great, a lot more driving than I anticipated, Cody was great, would have been even better along the way if we were told that there are other things going on in the town i.e. Rodeo, but no, our meal was in a bistro of a hotel. Given there are so many places to eat along the way yet, the included meal is in the hotel.
Day 6 - This is the day that I calculated we were driving in a bus for approx. 8 hours. I’ll say no more the accommodation here was great the hotel staff and food were lovely.
Day 7 - Was great until we went to heart mountain (this could have been day 6). I would strongly suggest that this is an optional stop, I did not see this on the itinerary nor did I want any part of this, I actually can not describe how mortified I was at what I sat through, If you wanted to top off a good week, this just knocked it all over. I feel this was the most inappropriate tour stop I have ever encountered. At this point to be honest I was pretty much over the whole tour, I avoided the chuck wagon dinner (thank god) I was told I would have not been impressed, people were having to be driven back down. So overall I was very disappointed
Food- 1/10. Tour Leader - 10/10. Coach Driver- 10/10. Overall tour experience 3/10. If I’m going to be honest, I would probably never book with Collette again. Other tour members were saying that had been on many Collette tours and never had anything so sub par. Sorry to be so negative, but I’m being honest.
Reply From Collette:Thank you for choosing Global Journeys and Collette for your recent America’s Cowboy Country tour. We are grateful you took the time to provide valuable feedback concerning your tour experience. Your comments about the tour are being reviewed by Collette’s Product Development and Product Design Teams for this region. All feedback is encouraged as it allows us the opportunity to identify areas of concern and strive to make the necessary enhancements. A member of our Traveller Relations Team will be contacting you to review your concerns.
Collett tour itinerary was excellent Hotel stays were not bad, some bedding was poor quality. Tour bus was horrible, small bus with little comfort, shocking suspension, very rough. Meals were very good. The island of Salina was the best.
Cruising the islands was the true highlight of this trip. We loved going ashore in the evenings and exploring local fare in a great variety of restaurants. The boat was excellent with friendly staff, good food and a relaxed pace down the coast. We enjoyed swimming off the back on several occasions. Ports were getting busy and early June is as late as ...read more you would want to take this trip. Or wait till October. Have a decent budget for onshore meals. Our only gripe was a bit of penny pinching by Colette, with only one glass of wine with included dinners and rather expensive options. Would still do it again in a heartbeat.
My friend and I had a great time on this tour. We loved our tour manager Rosario, he was excellent and showed us elements of Sicily & Malta that we could never have done on our own. We also loved our bus driver Antonio, he also was excellent and had the added bonus of being a great musician, entertaining us when he finished driving for the day, much ...read more appreciated! We met new friends in our lovely group of 22, they were fun and interesting, mostly from USA with a couple of other Aussies. We were very sorry to leave them all & plan another tour for hopefully next year. Our hotels, guides & pre planned meals were all top notch. Thank you.
It was our first time in Norway and we’re so glad we chose this tour. The number of people in the group was just right. We enjoyed all the excursions we had in all the places we visited: from Oslo to Flam to Loen to Bergen. We were able to experience Norway’s National Day in Bergen which was a real treat. The trip to Geiranger village/Geirangfjord was ...read more something special too.
Accommodations selected were in the best possible location, close to the where the actions are. Our tour director was approachable, knowledgeable and very helpful. Everything went alright for us in this tour and would not hesitate to recommend this to our friends and relatives. We took the post-tour extension to Iceland too. Great place to visit but our local tour guide there was not as great as the one we had in Norway. Apart from that we enjoyed our trip overall.
Accommodations selected were in the best possible location, close to the where the actions are. Our tour director was approachable, knowledgeable and very helpful. Everything went alright for us in this tour and would not hesitate to recommend this to our friends and relatives. We took the post-tour extension to Iceland too. Great place to visit but our local tour guide there was not as great as the one we had in Norway. Apart from that we enjoyed our trip overall.
A fast paced tour showing what Italy has to offer. Commencing in Rome we basically had 2 nights stay at Sorrento, Florence, Venice and Stresa. We had stops along the way to such places as Pompeii, Pisa, and Verona. My highlight was the 1 hour bus trip each way up to Simplon Pass in the Swiss Alps whilst staying in Stresa. We had 42 in our group and ...read more it was a very friendly tour consisting of 35 Americans and 7 Australians. Clarissa was our fantastic Tour Leader and Gian Carlo was our excellent coach driver. You have to be reasonably agile and fit for this tour as there is a lot of walking on uneven cobblestone streets and paths. Although there was a lot of distance covered every couple of days, it was a great tour and we would travel with Collette again.
4.6
This was a great tour with excellent hotels and tour guides. The coach was comfortable with plenty of room - maximum 40 passengers - but with Luxury Gold the maximum number is 18 and minimum is 10.
Australians need to be aware that we were asked for an extra 400 euros at the end of the trip - 250 euros for our tour manager and 150 euros for the ...read more driver. Apparently Americans are given vouchers for these gratuities and the Canadians were given an itemised account which included gratuities. However I am not aware of how much they paid for their trip compared to Australians.
Note: The option to prepay Tour Director & Driver gratuities prior to departure is an option. Please ask us to include this in your quote if you wish - or they can be organised after you have paid your trip deposit.
Australians need to be aware that we were asked for an extra 400 euros at the end of the trip - 250 euros for our tour manager and 150 euros for the ...read more driver. Apparently Americans are given vouchers for these gratuities and the Canadians were given an itemised account which included gratuities. However I am not aware of how much they paid for their trip compared to Australians.
Note: The option to prepay Tour Director & Driver gratuities prior to departure is an option. Please ask us to include this in your quote if you wish - or they can be organised after you have paid your trip deposit.
We enjoyed all the highlights and had personal experiences with the sites. The food was great. Really enjoyed the villages we visited.
Great itinerary for a trip to Egypt, hits the main sites. Thrilled with the addition of Esna’s temple, which is being cleaned/restored and has amazing colors! Great pace with a 7-day cruise, allowing a break mid-day for a late lunch on the River Tosca. I never felt rushed to get through a site/temple. Again, our Egyptologist guide, Wael, was a wealth ...read more of information - we couldn’t have asked for a better guide!
Our itinerary was just busy enough with enough time to explore on your own if you wanted to or rest if you wanted to. I especially liked exploring Belfast and Giants Causeway, Dublin, Killarney, Ring of Kerry, Galway, and Ashford Castle. I loved hearing about the rich and sometimes complicated history of the areas.
Even though there was a lot of moving, the baggage handling and coach rides were done very well. No other way to cover so much ground in one trip.
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