Traveller Reviews
Read holiday reviews and feedback by Mountain Kingdoms travellers.
Traveller reviews of Mountain Kingdoms
Overall holiday rating: 5
Total number of reviews submitted: 1187
Filter by:
Wonderful holiday
A wonderful couple of weeks with a bit of everything from palaces to safaris, saris to festivals, and top notch artisan crafts. To see the processes from the cotton boll in the field to spinning, weaving, printing, dying, embroidery, etc was amazing. Such skills and lovely people.
Fabulous holiday!
Fabulous holiday! We saw such a variety of high quality textiles and watched the processes through from the cotton plant, via spinning, weaving, printing and dyeing, to stunning embroidery; all in real villages and towns in a fascinating part of India. The beautiful, gentle people of Gujarat made the trip very special.
Fantastic!
The hotel was an absolute gem...end of the season and Nicola, owner and chef, has an absolute passion for food that made you feel it was his opening week and everything had to be perfect. The scenario is magnificent and the local guide fantastic with a real deep understanding of their environment. Pompeii was stunning though a authorised tour guide would probably have been advisable over the hand-held audio guide.
Colours of India
The variety and quality of the textiles we saw far exceeded our expectations.
Lovely country and people
I loved: The country, the lovely people, the fabulous buildings and the beautiful cities - especially Khiva and Buchara. The theatre trip and dancing/folk show! Markets, pottery, craft stops - carpet and silk paper makers (lovely site). Good food - although we personally found full breakfast and two four course meals each day (especially with the lack of choice) was too much!
Wonderful trip!
We had a wonderful trip to the Balkans. The scenery was wonderful, the guest houses exceeded our expectations, delicious wholesome food. We had Semir, a wonderful guide who knew everybody and who wasn't fazed when things went wrong; it's almost as if those things were planned into the itinerary. The walking was spectacular. The jeep rides along the roads were terrific!! We enjoyed the itinerary with the lovely hotel and city break in the middle. I'd recommend this trip to anybody.
Lots of variety
Lots of variety: good walking, great scenery and some interesting places to visit.
Excellent holiday
An excellent holiday walking through breathtaking scenery every day, with our guide providing plenty of information on both the scenery and the history of the region.
Spectacular mountain scenery
The trek was a very enjoyable week in spectacular mountain scenery. It was a small group of 5 people. The guide Marco was excellent and the itinerary involved quite demanding but manageable days mostly on pretty good paths. The accommodation and food and drink was good- better than those on other treks I have been on. I feel very fortunate to have been able to visit the high mountains again after three years when I have not been able to.
Beautiful Claree Valley
A beautiful unknown valley. We discovered so many wild flowers - new ones each day. Our guide, Stephanie, was very knowledgeable and friendly, adapting our itinerary due to changeable weather. The hotel was very good - excellent food and friendly staff.
A fantastic trip
A fantastic trip, very well organised in every aspect to a culturally interesting country and a well guided journey through spectacular landscapes. You need plenty of energy and to be very sure footed to trek a number of consecutive days on demanding glaciated terrain. I nearly wore out new soles on my boots in just over a week! It may help to bring yaktrax or similar to help with some icy sections. Peak day is tough but rewarding. Food at camps is tasty and plentiful and tents are large and comfy.
Breathtaking scenery
The Tien Shan is one of the world's great mountain ranges, and the scenery at the heart of it is utterly breathtaking, well worth the challenging glacial trekking to get there. The view from up Pesnya Abaya is particularly amazing. In addition, the people were friendly, the culture interesting, and the food excellent.
No crowds
No crowds, great guides and companions, beautiful scenery and an interesting blend of Kyrgyz and Russian culture. Not forgetting the dramatic exit and entry by helicopter.
Safe and secure
Friendly, knowledgeable and highly competent guides in both the city and trekking sections of the trip meant that I had full confidence in the conduct of the holiday and felt safe and secure at all times, especially in negotiating the ice slopes and Pesnya Abaya summit section with harness and crampons. A great feeling of achievement thanks to the unfailing support of our excellent guides and porters. Well chosen hotels and restaurants ensured an enjoyable apres- trek recovery before flying home.
Silk Road
Chance to explore all the main Silk Rd sites in Uzbekistan with with a knowledgeable guide and on our own (a good mix).
Awesome time
Magnificent scenery on trek. We had an awesome time Very well organised from beginning to end. Trek staff were helpful & very friendly. Acclimatisation was well considered. The final days descent and the river crossings are not for those of a nervous disposition.
Very interesting itinerary
A very interesting itinerary which I felt covered the most important aspects of Uzbeki history. Sometimes I felt that there was too much talking and not enough walking but I modify this comment by admitting that I wasn’t always up to the walking.
Well organised tour
A well organised tour, but with a little bit of the old "Intourist" feel of the Soviet Union - some places you go to because they are what the local tour company have on their list rather than their intrinsic interest (eg could have visited the Ulugh Beg Madrassa in Gi'jvodun rather than the ceramics workshop).
A great short trip
A great short trip that met all my hopes and expectations despite a change of itinerary.
Recommended - Silk Road tour
Wonderful friendly people who we really enjoyed meeting and talking with. Stunning architecture. All the places we visited had something different to offer and we had enough free time to explore further. We really enjoyed seeing traditional Uzbek skills such as silk and paper making. A wonderful country with incredible people. We will recommend this trip to all our friends.