Beware Julia Travel - book at your own risk It was a very distressing and disappointing moment for me. I spent 10 years to save up for a European holiday for my mum. We went to Portugal and Spain - Madrid and Seville. In Seville I booked a walking tour with flamenco show, the details in the itinerary stated the meeting point is for 20:00hrs at main entrance of Alfonso XIII Lucury Hotel, and we are to arrive 15 mins prior to departure at 20:00hrs As our hotel was quite a distance, we took a Bolt to Alfonso hotel. We arrived 20 mins prior to 20:00hrs but already knew something was amiss because we were the only 2 lost looking souls. We waited and about 19,50hrs we approached front desk to check if we are indeed in the correct address 2 San Fernando and they confirmed it. We also approached random groups and asked if they were part of Julia Travel English speaking walking tour, and none were part of this group. One tour guide suggested to call OUR GUIDE but there was no phone number provided. We waited past 20.00hrs and then contacted Klook Customer service and we explained and provided evidence ce of time of arrival, copy of our tour voucher with details of meet up location and also evidence we were in the correct address but Klook could not do much element escalate for further investigation. We left at 20.30hrs very disappointed and distressed on the no show! The next day after fornally writing in with my feedback and submitted the Evidence twice, Klook said the operator Julia Travel had reviewed my case and will not be refunding due to the operator policy. Operator policy is no cancellation and non refundable. My written messages to Julia Travel via an app was also never responded to. So guys, please beware of this. Julia Travel can cheat with a no show because of their non refundable policy which Klook cant do anything about, means you would lose the entirety of the cost of booking the tour. Klook offered a compensation of 30% in Klook Cash which I doubt I'll ever need as this trip was 10 years worth of savings. I am so upset with the dishonesty of Julia Travel. It really marred our otherwise, lovely few days in Seville. Shame on Julia Travel! read more

I booked my tour through my hotel. The tour was to the Royal Palace tour. Our tour guide was excellent. She just started with this company and she was professional and knowledgeable. Our tour was in English and Spanish! read more

TOLEDO SPAIN: While we were in Madrid we took a guided 1/2 day trip to Toledo Spain through Julia Tours. I would highly recommend the guided tour for the information provided. The other issue is the meandering city streets could get incredibly confusing & too easy to get lost (also my GPS was practically non existent). Toledo is located about 1hr from Madrid. The city has an incredible history dating back over 2,000 years. The time span & empires that existed in Toledo are many & varied. Visigoths, Romans, Moors, Emirate of Córdoba, Christians to name a few. The city was an important center for many generations. The different empires, religions & architectural styles helped to develop Toledo's over 2,000 years into a unique city. In 1986 Toledo was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its many works of art and architecture are the product of three major religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Walking through Toledo is like walking through a time warp as the city sits surrounded atop a hill w/the river wrapping around it providing a natural defense & fortification. While there are many churches in Toledo the highlight of Toledo for me was the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Santa Maria de Toledo. This Church is mix of Gothic, Renaissance & Baroque styles. The construction started in 1226 & was completed in 1493. This church was absolutely stunning read more

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The company advertises skip the line guarantee into the palace, this is a lie. They tell you it's not their fault but happily let you pay for it. 4pm reservation, was over and hour and half line to get into the palace. unacceptable, booked through Viator. Don't waste your money!! read more

I paid Julia Travels just a bit over USD $700 for a 5-Day Spain Tour: Seville, Cordoba, Toledo, Ronda, Costa del Sol and Granada from Madrid, including hotel accommodation and breakfast + dinner, so was very pleased with this pricing (Note - we were using a discount coupon another friend had sent me). I thought our tour bus was very comfy and the tour guide was a young bloke who did a fantastic job - his English malapropism were very funny, and he had a great sense of humour, especially when one of the folks on tour got very sick and we were delayed leaving Seville by a couple of hours. The tour had a great mix of scheduled tours as well as plenty of free, down time for you to go and wander off by yourself. Each city had its own guide who would hop on the bus for the day, and each of them were total stand-outs, so bravo to Julia Travels for partnering with knowledgeable and funny local city guides. I really enjoyed myself on this tour and wouldnt mind booking another trip with them! Yelp Review 111/ 2017 read more

would not book this service. I can speak English and Spanish and the tour guide did not tell us when we were leaving and disappeared without trace. 10 people and a child were left behind at the Valley of The Fallen today. we all travelled back to Madrid together, despite having met each other only when looking for the guide. we had to take a taxi and a train to get back to the office. the office took no responsibility at all. we all had been phoning all day... trying the office in Barcelona as well as Madrid in both English and Spanish. we all had records of these calls on our phones. they had no proof of the time that the bus left. no stamp and no signature from anyone. normally a rep or guide would do this especially when so many people, including children, were missing. our things were on the bus as we had been told to leave them there. there was no way that the guide couldnt have noticed we weren't there. disgusting service and the to call us all liars was beyond belief. read more

On our visit to Madrid we have used this agency twice. The first occasion was a half day tour of Toledo, which was wonderful. The guide was friendly and knowledgeable. We would rate this specific tour very highly. However, our second experience was not as good. We bought tickets for a 2 hour tour of El Prado scheduled at 10:00 in the morning. The information we received suggested arriving at 09:45, and although we called an Uber to ride to the "information center", we were a couple of minutes late due to an unexpected detour. It was not immediately clear that the information center was simply a small sales kiosk on a sidewalk adjacent to the museum. When we got there, we were directed to wait for our guide, but it became clear that the group had already embarked on the tour. They offered us a rescheduled tour at 12:30 with an additional charge of €17 per person, or a refund. We requested the refund, but then we were bounced between the Juliá Tour agency and a booking office. We have not received a refund confirmation as of this writing. We booked the same 12:30 tour through a different agent for €6 less per person, and it was wonderful. The guide was brilliant, funny and managed translations in English, Spanish and French with amazing fluency. I'm not sure Juliá was entirely at fault for the refund issue, but they seemed unable or unwilling to help fully resolve it. read more

They were great! We scheduled a couple skip the line tours in advance/online for Barcelona and Madrid. The details of their tour and itinerary were accurate and all the workers we encountered were friendly. We actually had found out the day of the skip the line Royal Palace tour, the Royal Palace was closed due to an event. Julia Travel refunded our money and suggested a half day tour to Toledo (took a bus there and back), which we are so glad we did! Thank you, Julia Travel! read more

I don't understand the negative reviews! My experience with Julia Travel was great from start to finish. I took the Full day with lunch tour to Avila & Segovia from Madrid. Beatrice, our guide was wonderful and extremely knowledgeable about the history if each city. The lunch, included was great. When I told the server I was pescatarian, the kitchen quickly whipped me up a wonderful rice and vegetables dish. Beatrice kept a head count throughout the whole trip as we had some nice free time to ourselves as well. I will definitely use them again! read more

Julia Travel - Day Trip to Segovia & Avila from Madrid - Tours Near Me - Madrid, M

The Madrid panoramic tour was just ok. It was about 2-3 hours and we were pretty done with it after 1.5 hours. You do get a good sense of the whole city since you go around in a chartered bus but we felt ourselves struggling to not fall asleep. The people on the tour were mostly older, so everything took a lot longer than it should have (when getting off and on the bus). Ok if you have kids, not super fun if you are young and able bodied, great if you are old and want someone to drive you around. We did a group tour to Toledo and didn't like the experience. The group was way too big to be able to hear the guide and we basically ran around to all the sites and took pictures as quickly as we could before moving on. There were two different stops to souvenir places which really irked us. The lunch that came along with our tickets was surprisingly good. Be sure to spring for the traditional meal with the free wine. If you can find a smaller tour or just go on your own, I would. read more

I want to say how incredibly disappointed I was in this tour company; the Google reviews are horrible and I see why. Unfortunately, I booked via a third party and did not know this was who I would be stuck with. The directions to the office are horrible - they should use the Palacio Real as the "closest landmark" and Opera as the Metro. They are a 5 min walk. The Metros they list and Plaza de Espana as the landmarks are a 10 - 15 minute walk. The guide walked us a few blocks to the bus station, then disappeared. We were passed off to another operator and left just standing in the bus station with no explanation as to where the Julia Travel rep went. When we finally got on the bus the "new" guide started rambling off in Spanish (which I am fluent in). Someone asked him to please also speak English and it became quickly apparent he could barely speak English; he was mad and irritated that he had to "try" to speak English and it was clear during the entire tour. As I speak both languages, I could understand his long explanations in Spanish, and the barely coherent one to two sentence explanations in English. The English speakers finally opted to use the placards at El Escorial to get the explanation of what we were seeing. Due to how far behind we were, we had about 20 minutes at Valle de los Caidos, and the tour guide did not even try to do a tour for the English speakers. We were entirely left on our own. At the Madrid drop off he suddenly announced that at the next corner those of us not going to Toledo needed to get out of the bus. We were nowhere near where we started the tour, and had no idea where they were dropping us (it was about 4 miles from our meeting point). This tour was supposed to be a highlight of my trip and it was ruined. Due to this horrid experience with Julia Travel/Grey Line, I opted not to go to Monserrat in Barcelona because Julia Travel was the only option - never again. Google their reviews - this is not an isolated incident. read more

We took the Madrid Sightseeing tour, with the optional guided tour of the Prado museum, and on the following day, a day trip to Toledo. The guides were knowledgeable, friendly and funny. The whole tour was well managed and time-efficient, with hours to spare at the end of the day. Only downside, was that this tour was delivered in both English and Spanish, although this style was a bit discombobulating, with the downside of getting less information. It might have been better off delivered in just one language like how most others do it. If I was to do this all over again, I'd choose a touring company that did smaller groups, and in one language. Overall, we had a great time. read more

Do NOT make business with these people. They are thieves and steal your money ! I booked a tour of the royal palace of Madrid for $84.90 for 2 people. I was unable to make it to my tour in the morning because I was ill. When I showed up a few hours after they refused to refund me my money or even provide me tickets to the palace. Astencion was very rude, not understanding or sympathetic to my situation. You don't need to book a tour with these idiots when they jack up the price - again stealing your money !! Upon arrival to royal palace the admission is only 11 euro versus what I had initially paid for. Ridiculous and rip off !!! Don't do business with them. Shame on you people ! read more

The Julia travel hop on/off tour in Barcelona was excellent! Lots of buses and quick turn around time. The one in Madrid has been AWFUL. Each bus has been full and you can't get on. If you happen to get on a bus DO NOT get off because you won't be able to. read more

I wasn't planning on writing about my complaints, until Julia Travel became blatant in their disregard for its travelers. Sure we waited hours each day for loading and unloading people at different hotels. Sure the food was terrible (bordering on inedible) at every included meal. I could go on but that was fine because there was camaraderie among fellow travelers in commiserating about the disappointment in the trip. My real complaint is that upon departing when my flight was delayed, Julia refused to change my car service transfer. They expected us to sit in the airport for 15 hours. Management cited company policy and told me they get complaints like it all the time, and there's nothing they could do nor were they apologetic. Travel with Julia at your own risk. read more

i have seen so many low star reviews, i want to make sure that there is at least one review from a native Spanish speaker and English (US living) tourist., this was great and a perfect way to spend an afternoon. we did the half day trip to Toledo last second. the staff was gracious helpful and kind from the get-go. My wife and i both agreed that the sites seen in the 5-hour tour were a great representation of Toledo's rich multicultural history. yes, the guide could have spoken English clearer but the Spanish discussion was perfect and instructional. the only down side was ending on the sales room of a famous sword making factory in Toledo. it was not educational and more of a tourist trap. but otherwise we would use Julia travel again. read more

We were having a great time and enjoying all of our activities booked through Julia Travel until the very end. On our trip to Toledo, there was a mixup with our pickup location. With a group of 7, and several of the individuals being older with heart problems, I had asked our tour guide if she could kindly wait no more than 5 minutes as they made the hike up the hill. This was 2-3 minutes **BEFORE** our boarding/departure time of 6:45. She was extremely condescending and rude to the point that even other passengers told her to wait. As a tour company I would expect they would care about their clients and their wellbeing, especially given the fact hat we are visitors to the country without much knowledge of the home language. At the end of the day, I do not think my request was unreasonable. I would not use this company again and will not recommend to others. Whatever money you save is not worth the hassle. read more

We bought the full day Toledo tour. Tour was ok. It was all about religious or former religious sites/art in the old city- that the tour operator liked to call "monuments". There was much more uphill walking than other tours, although the tour operator had no warning about the physical requirements. Some participants had alot of problems with all the steps. We opted to buy the tourist lunch that was offered with the tour. Worst. Meal. Ever. 1st course offered is soup. Vegetable, cream, or rice soup. No description besides that. The 2 of us chose vegetable and cream soup. Both bland. The vegetable soup is just the cream soup with alot of cauliflower. Then they offer you only fish, chicken or veal. Again, there is no mention of preparation. We both took the chicken. Sadly, the restaurant only gives you a dull butter knife to cut through a leg and thigh that is horribly overcooked and the skin is like leather. They offer sauce for the meat, but that only ends up on your pants because the elderly watier can't hold the pan and spoon sauce without dripping it. The potato served with it are like thick potato chips that were baked then held in a warmer and condensation made them soggy. Tables of tours that arrived after us were served before us. We had to wave down a waiter to get drinks. And the wait staff was disorganized and appeared confused of the different types of meals the tour operator sold. Dessert was a refreshing gelato that is unfortunately covered in canned mixed fruit. We had the "tourist lunch" it did not include drinks, including water. It was an additional €5.40 for two cans of Coke. Then when paying we show our credit card and they say no and demand cash. We offer a €50 note and they suddenly accept the credit card. It was a VERY poor end to a day of adventure and will probably be the story that is told the most. read more

I took the Avila-Segovia tour on May 27. The tour was a disaster. The bus never showed for the English tour, so they combined the English tour and the Spanish tour. The guide refused to even offer an apology for the late start and inconvenience because "it wasn't her fault." The guide then needed to alternate between Spanish and English making for a disjointed and uninformative tour. I would not recommend that anyone use this unprofessional tour company. read more

We went to the wrong office to be greeted by a rude representative of Julia Travel. He gave us incorrect directions which led us to be 5 minutes late. The bus left without us and they made no effort to contact us before leaving. All the other vendors through Viator contacted us to ensure we were coming- late or not. Poor business practice to have our information and do nothing! read more

Poor customer service. We tried to take the tour from Malaga to Morocco. Turns out my husband needed a Visa. We did not know this (my fault), but it would be nice if Julia Travel did more due diligence checking this - as this happened to another couple on our same bus. Regardless, we ended up in Tarifa where were removed from the ferry. We made sure Julia Travel got the ferry fee refunded to them. When we asked Julia travel for the ferry fees refunded to us, they said no. So they got our full tour fee AND kept our ferry fee (which was refunded to them). I understand the mistake was ours, but since they did not have to pay the ferry fee, this should have been refunded to us. I agree with paying for the bus ride (and maybe shouldn't have had to pay for the lunch and tour in Morocco) - but completely disagree with not being refunded for the ferry ride which I KNOW was refunded to them. This was a waste of a vacation day for us and a waste of money too. I own and run a tour business in the Bahamas and feel this is a very dishonest practice and poor customer service. On that alone, I would NOT recommend Julia Travel, because if they do this to me, you never know what they'll do to you. read more

Oh Julia Travel, this would have been an easy 5-star review if you could have just trained your front desk personnel to keep their attitude at home! First of all, your tours are excellent. We went around Toledo full-day with Miguel, and we had an absolutely wonderful time. Not only was Miguel super knowledgeable about everything there is to know about Toledo, he was also professional and dashing as a tour guide. I am honestly look forward to the Avila and Segovia tour today as well because your tours kick ass. For Julia Travel, each of the tours are well-priced and consistent. You should be able to find the pricing on TripAdvisor and not worry about any deviation in pricing from day to day. Lastly, in terms of check-in process, that is where you need to come to Julia Travel to get your tickets. Please, Julia Travel, train your front desk personnel to be more friendly and patient in explaining the tours and mechanics to your tourists. We are not local, and we love seeing friendly faces in a foreign country. read more

Took a full day excursion to Segovia-Pedraza, and so pleased with the amazing customer service and professionalism starting off with Ina at front desk. She was really kind and patient with us explaining all the details making sure that we enjoy our best of this tour. Marta, the tour guide was also very professional and fluent in English. The overall experience was awesome, we definitely will use Julia Travel services again. Highly recommended to all visitors. ¡Viva España! read more

We are on the coach for a 9 hour tour from Madrid to Avila and Segovia (on Nov 20, 16). I've never met a tour guide as cold as ours. The bus has no toilet, and Avila, our first destination, is 128km away. When I asked, a brown-haired lady in the 50s, when we are arriving. She gave me a stiff face and shrug:" I don't know, I'm not the driver". When I asked:" are we making bathroom stop". She first replied" when we arrive," then made an announcement to the group:" we are not making toilet stop!". The trip overall, however, was pretty good. read more

When you're planning a trip to Madrid, I highly recommend using this company. We booked a day trip to Toledo and it was amazing! Our tour guide was fantastic and thorough. Julia offers tours all over Spain. If we'd had time, we would have gone to Barcelona. It's only 3 hours away via train. I recommend using the Viator app and booking with Julia Travel. read more

Tour guide on bus was not friendly and dropped us off for "day on our own " with no information at all. Yes I realize we were supposed to be on our own but basic info like here is where you can catch your (included) red tour bus, here is a map so you know where to use your (included) bracelet for the attractions, etc. Three sentences would have made our trip SO much better. Then on the way back we were left at a completely different location from where we started the tour with no explanation at all. When we asked where we were and how to get back to other office, the driver said "finito" and motioned us to get off the bus. I would not use again! read more

My family elected to take the half day trip to Toledo on 8/18/2016. We booked it through the Viator website but the tour itself was operated by Julia Travel. It was one of the worst tour experiences we have ever had. For starters, the tour was advertised as an English speaking tour. Instead, the group consisted of Spanish, French and English speaking tourists. Over 2/3rds of our time was spent standing and waiting as the guide repeated her commentary in two additional languages. Because of this there was never any opportunity to ask a question and the guide was always distracted and appeared to just not care. The group was very large. It consisted of a large coach full of people. The guide had no microphone and we had no headsets so it was extremely difficult to hear the bit of commentary she provided while walking. Most of the time on the bus was spent in silence which the guide occasionally broke to provide us with the highway number. Going over and driving back we stopped for breaks at nothing more than tourist trap shopping venues. All in all this was an extremely poor value for the money we spent which was over $185.00 for our family of three. We have toured worldwide and this was the first time we have failed to give the guide and driver tips. We did not see one person tip either the guide or driver. That tells you all you need to know o avoid this company. read more

Just came home from our trip to Spain, we used Julia Travel for a tour from Madrid to: Cordoba, Sevilla, Granada, Toledo and back. The majority of the tour was overall good however the food left something to be desired, there was a preset menu with few accommodations. The last day of our tour was a complete waste of time and appeared to be a planned scam. To connect our tour with another tour which took 3 of our members to another trip we spent over 2 hours at 2 rest stops, leaving little time to explore the beautiful city of Toledo. The switch also left the group with a new guide who was more of a headache than a help. We did a walking tour through Toledo for an hour and a half on our last day, and weren't given any free time to explore the city, which we were given everywhere else. The guide brought us to a metal working knife and sword factory which just landed in a gift shop and seemed like a kick-back if you asked the majority of my family (6 adults). Overall, the last day was a waste of time. I would have rather spent the day enjoying the beautiful city of Toledo than eating at a rest stop that nearly gave me food poisoning and visiting a gift shop scam. read more

My husband and I took 3 different tours through Julia Tours. The first was Barcelona day by rail which was basically pick up the tickets, get an explanation and they send you on your way. I did find the reps very caring and did answer all my questions. The second was a tour call Don Quixote Tour which was AMAZING! Our tour guide Kate (Katherine) was so fantastic. It was a small group tour of just 8 people including my husband an I. We were the only two English speakers and she made us not feel like outsiders at all. I found the tour very informative and exciting! Lunch was also delish! The last tour we took with them was actually the Avila and Segovia tour. We were not intending to go on this tour however our tour with a horrible company VPT cancelled the night before an early morning tour and we said oh well we will book with Julia they were great early in the week. The tour was great our guide was nice but her religious views were apparent throughout the tour making it uncomfortable to ask questions we would have otherwise asked. All in all though we loved it! read more