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A great experience with an OAT trip... - Overseas Adventure Travel

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We have traveled 12 times with OAT and sister company Grand Circle. Our recent OAT trip was to... read more

Fabulous birds and animals and such a variety of scenery and temperatures. Our guide, Andres... read more

A great experience with an OAT trip which I will not forget

The knowledge of history, geography, geology and politics, etc of our tour guide and especially the local guides and their ability to impart it to the group was outstanding. Their concern for our safety, as well as by our driver must be noted. The driving skills of our diver was nothing short of incredible in addition to being very helpful and friendly.

This is the second OAT trip I have been on, and it was excellent as well. Rory was a fantastic tour leader, so very patient and looked after everyone.

the trip to Wales to see the Conwy Castle and hike Llyn Idwal. Also seeing London major sights and take in a play.

My husband and I had an amazing time in east Africa with OAT. They really know how to balance out a trip. Well, we thought we were going to Africa to see the animals, for me, being with the people and learning their customs, and feeling their warmth and sharing with us what’s my favorite part of the trip!

We traveled to the Balkan countries on OAT’s Crossroads of the Adriatic adventure with few expectations. It turned out to be an amazing trip. We gained new understanding of the terrible conflicts of the nineties, saw beautiful scenery, explored ancient cities, and enjoyed some memorable meals, all with a congenial group of like-minded people. Our trip leader Lili was the best tour guide we have ever had. All of our hotels were top notch and well located. Most of the time we were fairly close to all the attractions that we wanted to see. Our contacts with the local people were great fun, especially our “Day in the Life” experience. I heartily recommend this OAT adventure.

The Atlas World Traveler ship was amazing due to a knowledgeable expedition crew, friendly, professional staff and behind the scenes people who made it all seamless. The captain delivered for the passengers on all hopes and promises.. The team leaders hired by OAT tried hard with one exception. They were South American and had little experience in the Artic. Antarctica is a very different place. Lucas Bogani was the worst tour guide I have had over many companies in 50 countries I have visited. He had only been in the Arctic once and offered little or wrong information. He remained almost exclusively with the other team leaders, not wanting to interact with the guests until almost the last day when 2 people spoke to him. I had used OAT because of the guides they provided. It seems like their brand is in need of an overhaul. I would love to go on another Atlas trip. Not so sure about OAT

Donna, we are very sorry to learn of your experience. We strive to provide our travelers with the best possible experience. With limited population and minimal tourist presence in the Arctic Circle, our Trip Experience Leaders are from our Antarctica adventures, as they are trained for the similar environment. We appreciate your feedback and will share it with our regional team. Thank you.

The Royal Tour

An honest review of irish adventure by overseas adventure travel (oat).

Guided tours are not my normal way to travel. I am someone who prefers to do things on my own, with long periods in a single location leading to a relaxed pace. However, the opportunity came up to travel with Overseas Adventure Tours (OAT) to Ireland with my aunt, so I took it. OAT is one of the only companies out there with no extra change for traveling solo (a single supplement) so it allowed for the two of us to travel together and still have our own rooms.

For those considering taking a trip with OAT, and especially their Irish Adventure, I wanted to take an article to review the experience honestly, from the itinerary to the on-tour activities and accommodations to the company itself. I am not being compensated in any way for this; I just want to offer as true a glimpse into my personal experience as I can. It’s worth noting that while a few aspects are objective, most of this is purely subjective, and dependent on all sorts of outside factors. Your own individual experience could be completely different than mine.

This seems a good place to start. My tour began in Dublin, then went to Belfast and Derry in Northern Ireland, before continuing down the western coast of Ireland, staying in Donegal, Westport, and Ennis. If you imagine Ireland as the face of a clock, we went from three o’clock counter clockwise to eight.

I can honestly say that the itinerary itself was terrific. I liked starting with the large cities and then moving to the more rural areas. I spent two extra days before the tour began exploring Dublin on my own (with my aunt, of course), and would recommend that, as the tour itself only includes a single day in the capital.

Each location was at least two nights, with few truly long bus days. And all days on the bus included “comfort stops” at reasonable intervals for stretching and restrooms.

Trip Experience Leader

It’s a fancy title for main guide. My experience leader was Gillian McCormack, and she would rate higher than a ten of ten if I could. Knowledgeable, prepared (knowing background about everyone prior, and remembering all of it), funny, Gillian truly went above and beyond, even using her own personal free time to take group members out for music or a meal. This being my first tour with OAT, I can’t tell you if she is the norm or the exception; I can only say I’d gladly take any trip with her leading it.

Supplemental Guides

While Gillian was our main guide , OAT contracted with several local guides in certain cities. In addition, Gillian had to leave the trip two days early, so we had a second “main” guide. All were terrific.

I’d also like to take a moment here to mention our main bus driver, Mike, who was a true joy, always agreeable to make an extra stop to see something cool, knowing all of us by name and luggage, and being a pleasure to be around. Again, if this is the typical sort OAT contracts, you can’t do any better.

This is the first mixed experience. The trip advertises three and four star accommodations. Some certainly lived up to that, with the caveat that some rooms in Europe are fairly small. The Europa Hotel in Belfast was particularly lovely. However, while all the hotels were in good locations, a couple missed the mark for me. The Central Hotel in Donegal and Temple Gate Hotel in Ennis both had nice rooms (and the view from the Central couldn’t be beat) but neither had consistently working wifi, at least in my room.

The City Hotel in Derry was an issue in every respect. Rooms were small and hot, as the thermostats were broken, and windows didn’t open enough to cool the room. Furthermore, the windows didn’t close, which led to a night of almost no sleep due to noise from a large group event in the hotel. When I called the front desk to ask them to have the group turn their music down a bit (I could sing along from the third floor), I was told, “no,” and hung up on.

All hotels included breakfast. Most were adequate, although all were pretty much the same food. Over the course of a sixteen day tour, that can wear a bit.

By and large, I enjoyed all of the included activities on the tour. I did not participate in any of the supplemental ones, preferring to do my own thing on those days. Of most note are OAT’s signature activities , “controversial topics” and “a day in the life.” The former saw us having a full day in Belfast dedicated to the Troubles ( you can read more about that here ), with a black taxi tour and a brilliant panel of those who had been involved in the fighting on all sides. I don’t know any other tour company that would arrange that. A day in the life gave us some great looks into rural life in western Ireland, with sheep farming, weaving, and Gaelic sports features. ( Click here to read more about that. )

The only activity I had an issue with was in Derry, where a museum dedicated to Bloody Sunday took being pro-Palestinian to a place of being anti-Semitic. I didn’t feel safe there or in the neighborhood among signage glorifying violence. ( Click here to read about that experience. )

A note here on included meals. Most were reasonably good, although as with breakfasts, Irish food just got repetitive over time. On average, the tour included one additional meal per day. When not included, Gillian was great with recommendations, and even making reservations when the full group wanted to do things together (or in subgroups).

OAT caters to an older crowd. At 42, I was probably at least 15 years younger than anyone else, and 30 years younger than most. That doesn’t bother me, and with only fifteen of us on the trip (OAT is solely small groups), I got to know everyone. All were nice, although as with any group there were some I got along with better than others. Given the group, it’s natural that the trip was fairly low impact physically, and walking tours fairly slow moving. Just be aware of this if you choose to book. If you like lots of physical activity, this is probably not the tour for you. Same with intensive drinking and partying, though most of the group enjoyed far later nights than I (the young kid) did.

This was also mixed. My aunt chose to invite me on the trip since she had a large credit with the company due to tours being canceled over Covid. At every step it was an issue using that credit, especially to be applied toward my tour. It required numerous calls to the company, and as there are no direct lines for anyone, it wasn’t possible to just work with a single representative who was aware of our situation. That was extremely frustrating.

While I booked airfare on my own, my aunt did hers through OAT. Her flights were changed multiple times, and while some of that is the airline, OAT could have done a much better job with making her itinerary a comfortable one. At the end, she had her choice between an extra stop on the way home or a nine hour layover in London. Neither is fun.

Beyond that, communication from OAT was constant. Too constant, and all by snail mail, where I got at least one piece of correspondence a week for months. It’s overwhelming. But once the tour began and my contact with the company was over, the experience was much better. (I’ve also been told that customer service was better pre Covid, so take my experience with a small grain of salt.)

Overall, my Irish Adventure with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) was a good one. There were some frustrations before the trip began, and a few low points, but my tour was by and large terrific. If you can deal with the customer service issues, and the pace of the tour sounds like one you’d enjoy, I would recommend both the company and this particular tour. And if you can go with Gillian, I can guarantee a great time!

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Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T. Tours) vs Holy Land Tours Travel

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Policy over practical customer service. zero customer service

don't expect humanity or common sense

This letter is effectively what was communicated no less than 8 times in writing and conversation to OAT representatives up the chain, beginning 19 days before the t...

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About Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T. Tours)

About Holy Land Tours Travel

We're a leading tour operator providing an experiences of a lifetime to Israel and the Holy Land. We specialize in Holy Land tour packages, and Christian church tour groups. We are privilege to host hundreds of church groups and thousands of visitors per year to the Land of the Bible. Our unique Signature tour programs include deluxe and first class hotels, luxury transportation, daily meals and the best local Holy Land tour guide experts in the industry.

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• St. Petersburg

Moscow Metro

The Moscow Metro Tour is included in most guided tours’ itineraries. Opened in 1935, under Stalin’s regime, the metro was not only meant to solve transport problems, but also was hailed as “a people’s palace”. Every station you will see during your Moscow metro tour looks like a palace room. There are bright paintings, mosaics, stained glass, bronze statues… Our Moscow metro tour includes the most impressive stations best architects and designers worked at - Ploshchad Revolutsii, Mayakovskaya, Komsomolskaya, Kievskaya, Novoslobodskaya and some others.

What is the kremlin in russia?

The guide will not only help you navigate the metro, but will also provide you with fascinating background tales for the images you see and a history of each station.

And there some stories to be told during the Moscow metro tour! The deepest station - Park Pobedy - is 84 metres under the ground with the world longest escalator of 140 meters. Parts of the so-called Metro-2, a secret strategic system of underground tunnels, was used for its construction.

During the Second World War the metro itself became a strategic asset: it was turned into the city's biggest bomb-shelter and one of the stations even became a library. 217 children were born here in 1941-1942! The metro is the most effective means of transport in the capital.

There are almost 200 stations 196 at the moment and trains run every 90 seconds! The guide of your Moscow metro tour can explain to you how to buy tickets and find your way if you plan to get around by yourself.