Started traveling with this company in 2006. They used to live up to the "trek" part of their name. Not anymore. ElderTreks needs to vet the participants and send home those that are unable to participate in the trip! The loyal clients blindly sign up for trips, never reading the itinerary. I recently went on the Greece trip (rated difficulty 3 out of 5), and described as for 'hiking enthusiasts'. One woman had no shoes appropriate for a trail. Four hadn't read the tour description, one person had velcro braces on both legs. At one site, 5 hiked to the monasteries, the other 6 waited at the hotel and took the bus up - they got stuck in a traffic jam getting to the popular site and the hikers had to wait 45 minutes for them. The group (those who went on the hike), would be spread out on the trail for easily a 1/2 mile. The clients have gotten too old and out of shape for the trips - they think it's Disneyland....it's not....it is supposed to be active...they are not. The hotel used in Athens is a fire trap - 2 dead end halls, with an elevator and open staircase in the middle. All lunches and dinners were ordered as shared dishes. Fellow travelers can be slobs.....fingers and their used utensils diving into the food...disgusting. The bus in Greece was well sized, however, all the windows on one side of the bus were permanently fogged and the a/c didn't work properly....Oh, and you always have at least one person that has 'motion sickness' and has to sit in a certain spot (at the front). Send the inactive, out of shape people home.
Lest you think this is the first poor experience I've had with them, it is not. In the Balkans, small cramped 9 passenger vans - stuffed full of overweight/handicapped people, and you can't see out, marginal hotels, and again, all the shared dishes. Had I not already signed up for the Greece trip, I would have cancelled based on the Balkan experience .
Have taken 5 trips with them.....never again. read more