North America Mountains Trips

It was too slow. Way too much time spent in Louisville. Horrible lodging and location at Cambria hotel in Lexington. Needed another activity in Lexington. Why on earth wasn’t a group hike along Appalachian trail offered? Instead we wasted time shopping at an Indian tourist trap in Smoky Mtns. This trip was a horrible match for me. Too many people on it and not enough to do. A lot of down time in Asheville too. Tour of Biltmore was too short!! We need 4 hrs to tour estate, gardens, and get a bite to eat there. Way too rushed. Need to add more interesting activities and less “on your own”. Dial back the constant time spent on shopping. Collette travel style isn’t for me. I’m going to try pricier Tauck for better land tours.

This tour was MUCH more than I expected. Hotels were good in central locations for down time. It was nice to spend two nights in each hotel. Included meals were excellent! Tour guide was energetic and cheerful. Step on guides were very informative. I have a dietary issue and found NO problems. Southern charm was felt throughout the tour but especially so on Asheville!!!!

The top 2 days of the trip were: Churchill Downs and the private tours of the thoroughbred farms, and the day spent touring Biltmore. All the hotels were solid 3 star, clean and comfortable.

I’m glad that I saw the things that were on the itinerary, but I feel that the trip was expensive for what I got.

The Biltmore experience was the high point of the trip. Absolutely amazing. The amount of walking involved made it somewhat difficult, but there was so much to see.

We enjoyed our tour. It was just as advertised. It was December and everything was decorated for Christmas. Met a lot of nice people in our group and enjoyed their company. Only downside was our bus getting stuck on ice, then later breaking down. On top of that we came home with the norovirus.