How We Travel

Small Group

Our groups comprise no more than 16 participants plus a Tour Leader. With Compass you can do more and see more at an easier pace, enjoy the peace and quiet of that special place you've always dreamed of, and actually hear the local guide. With small group travel, you can easily venture "off the beaten path," or visit interesting places while getting around by special means; activities that will only enrich your travel experience. And as food always plays an important role in the local cultural experience, our small numbers allow us to avoid large hotel buffets in favour of typical local restaurants.

Itineraries

Spontaneity, flexibility, organisation, effective time management; all are integral tour aspects. All of our itineraries are regularly re-examined and updated to ensure critical detail, accuracy and appropriate pacing for every trip. We also take into consideration special events and other happenstances that cannot always be planned. Good itineraries are constantly evolving; our intent is to offer a busy program for the active and curious individual, with lots of highlights every day, while also allowing for free time for independent exploration and a chance to soak it all in.

Inclusions

Our professionally-guided tours include shared accommodation in three- and four-star hotel properties, breakfast daily, most dinners, and sometimes lunches too. All transportation—including any internal flights—is included, plus sightseeing/entrance fees as specified in our day-by-day itineraries. Hotel baggage handling (where available) is also included, as are all gratuities for local step-on guides, drivers, and restaurant staff for included meals. Arrival/departure transfers are included if we book your air, including early arrivals / late departures if air and extra hotel nights are booked through us.

Our Travellers

Our clients are a particular brand of unique individuals: interesting, curious, active and often very well travelled singles, couples or friends. Our English-speaking tours attract travellers mostly from Canada and the US, with the occasional Brit or Australian to enhance the mix. Though Compass tours are more active and tend to attract a younger crowd, on average our groups tend to comprise an energetic bunch of 40-65 year olds, with the odd 30-something, or even 80-something! We have no set age restrictions, though most trips require a medical questionnaire to ensure your suitability (view our rating guide).

Singles, Couples, Friends, Families

If you're travelling alone, you can avoid single supplement charges with our guaranteed "share programme." If we fail to pair you with a same gender roommate, we'll usually absorb the single supplement levied by most hotels (some tours have a mandatory single supplement due to certain destinations charging high rates for single rooms—we will advise at the time of booking). Although family groups (minimum age 13) are welcome to join most of our tours, Adventures Abroad offers Family Tours specifically for parents or grandparents travelling with children. If you have something slightly or drastically different in mind, let us know what you're thinking—we can customise trips for your club, group, company, extended family, class reunion or whatever!

Accommodation

The vast majority of our accommodation choices worldwide reflect our clients' desire for clean, well-located, three and four-star properties with private bath facilities. Should such accommodation be unavailable, for reasons related to our activities or our location, we find suitable alternatives. Though all our hotels, inns and lodges are carefully chosen, our tours are not about accommodation as much as a beach holiday and do not form the focus of our tours. Each tour description page on this site allows you to view sample hotel properties used on that tour.

Our Services

Our well-travelled, experienced sales staff excels at discerning your needs or determining your suitability for a certain trip, and we're happy to provide references from previous travellers. As well as our published airfares from major gateways, we can quote airfares from any North American or European city. We provide a full pre-trip package of information upon booking; if you require special airline meals, seating or stopovers, extra or nights accommodation, we can do that too!