Shearings Holidays Reviews 

Our first experience on a coach trip to see ABBA voyage in London, 2 nights in the hotel and the concert, our driver Louise was absolutely amazing ( although does not work for shearings) the coach wasn't the best as a little cramped, the hotel was the worst I've ever stayed in in my life, very shabby, the curtains in our room were very frayed and the edges were literally stapled together! The food was shockingly bad and not as described on the hotel's website, The itinerary was good allowing some sightseeing in London but the hotel was a good hour to an hour and half away depending on traffic which was too long on such a short trip, the information we received before the trip was not detailed enough ie no approx timings at all which made it difficult to plan what we wanted to see an do while we were in London, the ABBA voyage concert was absolutely fantastic.

have been on a few f trips with shearings I am fully booked for more till the end 2027 .
I have always given them excellent reviews, and I ne er speak highly enough about them. However this time, my stars have gone down. I went to Torquay on may 25 the . A very hot bank holiday Monday.
Sadly the 2nd Driver ( Radcliff) on this triped has reflected very badly for this company from the getgo. This man was rude unprofessional and frankly darn right nasty
The story begins from the moment we boarded that couch, he made it clear his needs were a priority, and he would not be caring about ours.On the way to the hotel , we stopped at a comfort break . His very words were It's lunch time you have 1 hour. It's 2 .30 now. Be bavk here by 3.30 but Do not under any circumstances come back here before 3.15. You will not be let on to the coach ( apparently one.9lder lady was taken porrly amd he refused to let her on ) He went on to I need my privacy I have private calls to make no one is getting o. This coach early . I went in to the service station. It was rammed on bank holiday and the start of half term . By the time I got through the long que for the loo , then got a drink, it was 10 past I went to the loo again and headed out just after 3.15 . The coach was gone, I was confused. I went around d the building,I went back inside into asked where the coaches parked it was 2.22 when I started towhen I started too ring shearings ( the emergency number was.i. my travel bag in my seat but the gone log upon my phone ) I was very anxious by then in very hot , not knowing what to do o was fighting confused and anxious At 2. .2_7 I saw the coach. I ran to it, not realizing what had happened.The driver got off and screamed at me and i mean he screamed at me like i was a child . He said how dare you not be back on time I said you said 2.30 at the latest not before 2.15 its not even 3.30 yet he called me liar a d waving his hands to dismiss me. I was trembling al.ost I. Tears and i felt faint. I said I am sorry i could not find the couch at no point did he say because I drove off and left you . He asked if they were there anymore in there . I said I dont.know it's the first day I didn't do a head count ( nor did he ) i said you best go check as its only 3.30 now. He was fuming but went to look . I got on the coach, and everyone e clapped and cheered I apologized and said sorry I couldn't see the coaches . They all shouted because he drove off at 3.15 . They had shouted at him that I was missing and hignoredre them he was about to get on the motorway when he apperently said she will need to make her own way to the hotel

One of the ladies said you can't leave a woman there alone on a hot day like that go back. It's only when everyone started to say go back that he turned backAll this was unbeknown to me.
After checking for more people, he got back on. The coach he then spnd no less then 10 minutes giv8ng us a.lecture on his needs .
He did not speak to anyone all the way to the hotel .
When he got to the hotel there were two ladies .on the cuch he must have known hewas friendly them but slagging me off to them very loudly he created a them and us situation they ladted the whole week .As these two turned against me and others. These two people were really the only people he was friendly to. On all my trips, with dhearings I have never known a driver to actively stir trouble in this way .
On the first trip of the week, one of these ladies he was friendly with came to bacj very very late and very drunk he was friendly and kind to her lshghing snd encouraging her drunken state even though she was very passive agessive and rude to others . There's no telling off nomention of her drunken state no mentiion of her being 25 mind late . It was just the rest of us he treated with contempt.
Every single trip he would give conflicting confusing information changing times.or pick.up locationm
, Changing what he had said over and over . Everyone was very anxious . We were all watching each other's backs. Many people didn't even bother to goon the trips. I have never an empty coach.
On one trip, he said I will drop some of you in the town some of you at the beach . I will pick up those in the town at 2.50 these on the beach at 3.15. I got back on time he was late. He had stopped at the beach first . Two lates were missing ( again no head count )I told him and he swore. He drove off without them he had to go back the beach way and wesaw them . He had no idea who was missing as he made no attempt to engage with us all week. Only engaging t the people he slagged us off to ( tes some of them told us ) I told him i had seen the two ladie waiting in the beach he stopped for them. He then gave them the same dressing down taking no resonibilty for picking up the wrong group first .then telling he had not said he would do two pick up despite the fact he had done so.. he then got other passengers involved casuing ev4n more of a divide
causing even more conflict.
So much more to say

Comprehensive- if on this occasion faulty - range of options. The month I submitted did not, in the end, feature the trip I wanted…

Isabella was helpful and informative during our conversation… Even the boring T’s and C’s sounded interesting!!

The lady who helped me get my holiday sorted was so kind and helpful ☺️

I booked a trip to the Edinburgh Military Tatoo about 9 months ago with a £50 deposit. My wife has recently developed more serious mobility issues so I rang to check if this would create a problem and would it become too difficult to experience the trip. Having eventuality got through to an operator it became apparent that, due to a steep approach to the venue and a very late finish, neither of which were stated in the on line booking system, the trip was not suitable for us.
I then spoke to a specialist cancellation chap called Owen. I explained my problem and requested a cancellation realising that I would lose my deposit -I had not paid the balance.
I was shocked to discover that it would cost me over £600 to cancel because the £50 deposit was a promotional feature and a proper deposit would have been about 5x higher! I am sure there must be something in the extensive T&C's that explains this but I cannot find it and it certainly was not pointed out at the time of booking.
I was offered another holiday that was wheelchair friendly that I had to accept or lose £600.
They kindly agreed to not charge the cost of amending my booking!!!!!
One final annoying feature of this sorry saga was a
'call back' at 5,25pm which I missed - the message simply said 'sorry I missed the call' - I rang back at 5.29pm to be told all line were now closed although they are advertised as open till 6pm in mid week

Just back from Austrian Lakes and Vienna. 9 days! The overnight stops in Brussels were gorgeous. The hotel Weismann is dated and food not great for our 6 nights. Shame as swimming pool and gardens gorgeous. We did the add on tours too! Loved Salzburg and St Wolfgang. Tim and Neil brilliant drivers. Great holiday in a stunning area!

Fantastic holiday. Jason and Jack looked after us with nothing too much trouble. Hotel and staff excellent. Trips were well organised.

Wow they were so helpful and caring and made me feel at ease. They listened to me and made my booking easy, they made everything clear to me. Absolutely brilliant.

The lady today was so helpful, nothing was too much trouble. She answered all our questions.

Spoke to Adele about changing our date of travel. She was very helpful and went through the options and process thoroughly

I am very pleased with the service l received, the lady l spoke to was very helpful in booking my Christmas Break, it was nice to speak to someone who knew what they was talking about, and explained what l needed to do, thank you.

Kind regards John Parra

The tour to London Abba Party the hotel Ibis Greenwich was a good location but the hotel had problems. 1. 1. TV not working in rooms.
2. No handrails in bathroom /Shower despite advising disability on booking
3 The restaurant is Banana Asian on nit buffet/ or menu choice served 2 mini spring rolls and tasteless Pad Thai noodles. Many people did not eat the food was shocking. Staff were very very unhelpful
4. The coach parked on 2 consecutive days on Park Lane to shop! This was a 35 minute walk was unsuitable for people with disabilities
5. Parking at O2 for Abba Party was unsuitable driver parked much to far to accessible entrance despite a lot of Coach Parking
* Will not book again with Shearings

Friendly and competent reservations team. They make you feel valued as a customer.

Just returned from Splendours of Lake Garda, Venice &Verona tour. Excellent holiday. Beautiful Italy at its best. Good coach, thank goodness for aircon as in recent heatwave. Hotel Villa Mulino family run, very friendly staff. Good choice of food. Would recommend.
Andy & Mark our tour drivers made the holiday special. They are a credit to Shearings and Red Rose.
Only criticism would be on the North Lake tour to have more time in the charming Malcesine as plenty to see and less at Riva del Garda, nothing much to see.
This was our 4th Shearings tour and it was so good.
Thank you.

Everything was diabolical, the only thing what was 100% were the drivers. The paris at night should gave been cancelled, we were caught up in the riots, people were banging on the side of bus and throwing fireworks. The same thing happened last year WAKE UP SHEARINGS AND DO YOUR RESEARCH. 8 000 extra police were brought into Paris. We also had wrong seats on coach because the coach was changed. Wrong hotel which had drug dealers outside the door and vagrant, you couldn't go out at night. No way a 4 star. Completely missed informed about hotel. Shearings should of cancelled this tour and offered alternative dates. You put people's lives at risk. The excursions were faultless. Except Paris by night, we felt sorry for the driver he had everyone's safety on his shoulders. Jason and George you were brilliant!

The coach driver called James was very helpful and friendly considering he was on his own for a two day trip and had to sort out the hotel on arrival and the staff there weren't very helpful and the parking at the 02 arena wasn't where he expected it to be and he was told it needed to be pre- booked. The hotel was in a great location in central Greenwich but the internet and TV didn't work and the evening meal was a pan thai set meal so no choice. Breakfast was buffet style with cooked breakfast and was much better. Room was small but clean and comfortable. The stops to look around London would have benefited by being given a map of the area as we weren't given any previous information on where the stops were going to be so couldn't plan where we wanted to visit. Also we stopped at park Lane on way in and out of London so would have preferred to have had one of the stops to have had more time in Greenwich when it was open . The Mamma Mia The Party was brilliant so the whole experience was worth the money.

Bruges and Ghent - beautiful cities. We saw many things that you would expect from European cities with the street cafe cobble streets and chocolate shops - most in Bruges.
We loved Ghent more. There we had a river cruise with commentary, a visit to the castle and many other high spots -
Lots of bridges to take photos with a view of the city. We booked a free guided tour which was great and discovered many hidden parts of the city.
The day in Ghent was only half a day and we wanted to spend more time there, so to get back we took a T1 tram to the train station and then a train back to Bruges for 5 euros as an OAP 6 if not.
The most moving moment was last post at the Menin Gate - never to be forgotten. There was a large British contingent there that day and we had a chance to chat with them.
My sister and I loved the weekend.
Time keeping for the buses and links at the hub went very smoothly- we arrived home earlier due to this organisation.

Although the travel and the hotel were really great, we were advised by Shesrings NOT to book the Palace of Versailles in advance (as the itinerary might change). The Palace was fully booked when we got there!! This is terribly disappointing! One woman was in tears!!