Lupine Travel Reviews 

411
TrustScore 5 out of 5

4.9

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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

My wife and I recently completed Lupine's Extended 5 'Stans tour. The logistics were flawless, changing vehicles and local guides at each border crossing. The accommodations exceeded our expectations,... See more

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Great pre trip help and advice from the tour operators. Wonderful local guide in a strict Muslim country. Picked up from the airport and cared for throughout the whole trip 🙃 What a splendid coun... See more

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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

As always Lupine looked after all the details to enable a fantastic journey in this unique location. Socotra needs to be seen to be believed. One of my favourite trips to date. The group dynamic... See more

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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Syria May 1st - 9th 2026. Fabulous trip to Syria with Lupine Travel. Although there are warnings from the FCO not to visit I must say I had a great time, I felt safe throughout the tour. Many loc... See more

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We are a UK tour operator offering budget tours to unusual destinations such as North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Chernobyl, Turkmenistan, Somaliland and more.


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4.9

Excellent

TrustScore 5 out of 5

411 reviews

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4.9

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(411)

23 reviews in the last 12 months

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Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Itinerary is great, local guides are wonderful

- itinerary is great. Local guides are wonderful.

- Lupin does not have up to date and accurate info. Did not need to buy abaya for Aden, wasted $19 and space in luggage. PCR test in Aden was not needed to get into Egypt. Another wasted $40.
- Since our tour leader is only a part time guide and has never been to Socotra, she was not able to inform us ahead of time on what to expect. She also spent all her time with the young men and did not pay adequate attention to us older folks.

19 March 2022
Unprompted review
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Reply from Lupine Travel

Hi Marg, thank you very much for your 4 star review, we're really glad you enjoyed the itinerary and the local guides!

Regarding the issues you raised, please let us address them below:

- Even though an abaya is not compulsory to wear in Aden, it is not a common sight for women to be seen without them in mainland Yemen. As security is a priority for us on this tour, we require our clients to wear them so as to avoid any unwanted attention and to keep as low a profile as possible for the journey between the airport and the hotel. It is also a request by our local partners that abayas are worn to adhere to local customs.

- Although the PCR test was not needed to get into Egypt, it was a requirement by Yemenia to depart Aden. The PCR test certificate was stamped upon check in at Aden airport. If we had not taken PCR tests then the group would not have been allowed to board the flight to Cairo.

- We're sorry to hear you felt that our tour leader was unable to give you information about Socotra. With our trips, our tour leaders have different roles to the local tour guides. The local guides are there to answer any specific questions relating to the destination, while our tour leaders are there to ensure things run smoothly, to deal with any problems that may arise and act as a go-between with the local guides if needed.

- Although most of our tours have quite an equal spread of age ranges, this tour was split about half and half between an older group and a younger group. Our tour leader was conscious of this and was keen to avoid a natural split. She therefore ensured that everyone was randomly mixed each day into different cars so that the group would get to share with different group members each day and get to know everyone equally. This also ensured that she herself was always with different group members each day in each vehicle and could spend time with
everyone equally.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

We had a wonderful tour to Mauritania…

We had a wonderful tour to Mauritania with Lupine travel and it definitely exceeded expectations. Everything was well organised, the guide was amazing and we discovered so many incredible places, nice people and of course unforgettable iron ore train. Can highly recommend and already looking forward to my next tour with Lupine!

12 March 2022
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Great trip to South Sudan

I went to South Sudan with Lupine in Feb 2022. South Sudan is a country where a lot of things can go wrong, but Lupine was so well organized that it went off without a hitch. The local guide Nick did a fantastic job managing everything, and the local team was on top of everything as far as transportation, permits, camping, and meals were concerned. I really had a fantastic time, and I'm looking forward to more tours with Lupine in the future.

28 February 2022
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

This was my very first trip with Lupine…

This was my very first trip with Lupine Travel, what a wonderful company they are, all the staff are helpful before the trip, they offer some amazing trips, I have another 2 booked and will continue to travel with Lupine, Oli tour leader and Hademine tour guide along with the cook and drivers was amazing too. I really enjoyed the tour and look forward to the next one in July

10 February 2022
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

A fantastic Mali tour, thanks Lupine!

I recently joined the Mali Highlights tour and I must say it was magnificent!

From the initial booking process, to payments, to full tour information, the pre-trip meeting and the tour itself, Lupine offer superb service.

The trip itself was brilliant. The sights of Bamako, Segou, Sans, Djenne and Siby are wonderful and I felt safe throughout the tour.

Lupine have now made me a returning customer and I will be joining them on more trips this year.

1 February 2022
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Lupine tour to Mauritania

Just recently returned from a Lupine organised tour to Mauritania. The experience from start to finish was superb with clear organisation, communication and support. Their teams showcased professionalism throughout centred around their travellers making the tour one to remember with lots of surprises along the way. Mauritania itself was an incredible experience with camel rides into the desert, bathing at the Terjit Oasis, travelling on the iron ore train and seeing many cities, learning about their history and culture. I would highly recommend future travellers tour with Lupine.

1 February 2022
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic service and fab tour

Fantastic service and fab tour! Mauritania is more than just iron ore! The local team and the activities will remain with me for a very long time. Mauritania has stolen a part of my heart and all credit for that goes for lupine and Had.

1 February 2022
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Superb company, Travel with confidence

Superb company, travelled with them to North Korea a few years back and it was amazing tour / service.
This review is more in relation to there recent handling of a cancelled tour (due to no fault of there's)
Handled superbly with several options offered, anything from a refund, credit note or transfer to another tour.
Will be booking on another tour soon....
Very responsive on email and how a travel company should be.

1 February 2022
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Once in a lifetime visit to El Salvador

Our December 2021 Central America tour was cancelled due to Covid issues. I decided to go to San Salvador anyway, and Dylan at Lupine introduced me to Salvador Sagastizada, who would have been our tour guide, and his newly hired interpreter, Douglas Aguilar Zelaya. I wanted to interview survivors of the Civil War, which took place from the late 70s to the 1992 truce. Salvador was extraordinarily conscientious. He introduced me to many interviewees I could never have dreamt of meeting otherwise as well as important sites I would not have been able to visit alone. From the time I was picked up at the airport to the time I was dropped off at the end of my stay, he and his team made sure everything was safe and smooth. Douglas Aguilar, the translator, is completely fluent in both Spanish and English, as he spent many of his adult years in the U.S. Team members Suleya and Jackie were always kind and helpful. I am grateful to this excellent team of guides as well as to Lupine for affording me this opportunity to learn about El Salvador by getting a glimpse of various Salvadoran viewpoints.

2 January 2022
Unprompted review
Lupine Travel logo

Reply from Lupine Travel

Thanks very much for your review Elaine, we're glad you enjoyed the tour!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Nice tour needing some tweaks

Well planned and executed tour except for the last 2 days. As you are not doing west Sahara, the extra time is not well planned . I would suggest a day trip to south Mauritania instead of an extra day in Nouakchott with virtually nothing to do.

The joining and leaving hotels, in my humble opinion, should be centrally located…. Especially in a country like Mauritania… However, in our case the hotels were away from restaurants etc. will be great if we can work on that.

The local guide is awesome and the tour leader did a great job.

Overall, some tweaks will make this even better

20 December 2021
Unprompted review
Lupine Travel logo

Reply from Lupine Travel

Hi Partha, thank you very much for leaving a 4 star review, we're glad you enjoyed the trip overall!

Regarding the issues you raise, please allow
us to address them below:

We normally have a well established one-way route on this tour, but as the borders between Western Sahara and Mauritania were closed due to Covid, we had to make late changes. Our time in Western Sahara had to be replaced with additional days in Mauritania. Due to the
routing of the train, this now meant we had to backtrack to Nouakchott.
However, we were able to add in additional sites for the return route including Banc d'Arguin National Park and Terjit Oasis. There were other places we would have liked to add to the itinerary but options were limited because of many sites being closed due to Covid.

We would have preferred to keep the original routing, but due to the pandemic this was impossible. However we did inform the group in advance about the required changes and gave the option to cancel the tour with a full refund.

Regarding the additional day in Nouakchott at the end of the tour, this was to enable enough time for everyone to take their PCR
tests. We had to take into account potential delays and ensure there was enough time for the results to arrive back before everyone's
return flights. Had PCR tests not been needed then we would have been able to add an additional tour on the final day.

In terms of the hotels, we assume you are referring to Nouakchott as Terjit, Ouadane and Chinguetti are very small places with the hotels in the very centre of the small old towns. Nouakchott is a much larger sprawling city and the hotel we used there is located in the
middle of the Embassy district. We're sorry to hear you felt it was not a good location. However we consider this to be a central area with many other hotels around. As it is only a ten minute walk from all the restaurants around Rue de l'Ambassade du Senegal, as well as only a 5 minute walk from a handful of other restaurants such as Mykonos, Chez Idris and Le Colibri, we felt this was a good location to be based.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

excellent tours

excellent tours. well organized, an absolute guarantee for travelling even in difficult destinations.

16 December 2021
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Exceptionally Good Tour to the Cradle of Civilization

The tour was filled with experiences that were appropriately modified to meet the needs of the tourists We had a desire to see the Tigris, and our guide Sardar allowed us to do this by making an unexpected detour and stop. The visit to the Yazidis made the tour particularly meaningful. This religion is a perfect blend of the world's religions, a living historical document. The tour was truly unforgettable.

17 October 2021
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

A wonderful company filling a niche for…

A wonderful company filling a niche for adventurous travellers at very competitive prices. Its tours are full of repeat customers like me. Throughout the covid crisis when the large tour operators were doing all they could to cling to customers' deposits, Dylan the owner of Lupine was emailing all his customers offering them full refunds. While the tours it offers wont be everyone's cup of tea, for those who can put up with a bit of hardship to see strange places, there is no real competitor

12 October 2021
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Unforgettable experience

It was yet another amazing trip with Lupine. As on previous trips they guided me from the step I booked till I come back safely home. I really admire their professionalism even in those hard times, where there is so many changes in regulation/requirements. I can highly recommend Sierra Leone and Liberia trip as this is great mixture of nature&culture experience.

9 July 2021
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Fabulous tour to Libya

Wonderful experience with Lupine Travel's trip to Libya. It's a more complex visa and entry process than most, and Lupine took care of all the details to make entry smooth and effortless. The tour itself was wonderful, and our two guides were incredible conscientious and knowledgeable. Highly recommend.

30 April 2021
Unprompted review

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