Norte de España y Portugal, 8 días desde Madrid

This was the worst organized escorted tour I have ever taken. The destinations are worth visiting, but not with this tour. 1 Languages The tour description mentions a multilingual tour escort, but that was not the case. With the exception of some logistical information in broken and often unintelligible English e.g. four past quarter instead of a quarter past four, only Spanish was spoken. The tour escort/guide green-haired Susana admitted that she had not spoken English in 30 years. 2 Tour escort/guide Susana Beside inability to speak English see above, she was extremely disorganized: departures were frequently delayed as she was counting and recounting passengers did not use umbrella, flag or other identifier to be seen in the crowd was frequently unaware of toilet locations frequently provided confused and conflicting information as far as hotels, stops, etc. provided minimal or no assistance with check-in, dinners, etc. did not set any ground rules for such a large group to function such as seat rotation, not reclining seats, keeping quiet while she spoke. 3 Driver Alfonso Rude, argumentative, yelling at passengers, constantly ranting that he was working too hard for only 1000 euros a month, that the bags he had to load and unload were too heavy, and constantly threatening to leave bags behind. Loading the bags on the bus every morning was a disgusting spectacle, with the driver ranting and complaining while all passengers waited for the bus doors to be opened to make a mad dash for a seat. The driver also announced that it was strictly prohibited totalmente prohibido to eat or drink on the bus and made angry announcements about him having to clean the bus. 4 Organization Dismal from beginning to end. Tour description on Viator did not include any info about hotels I had to inquire via email, baggage restrictions or anything other than a very sketchy itinerary. The company did not send any travel documents before the trip. On the first day the tour departed 30 minutes behind schedule and, after 30 minutes on the way, the guide announced that the bus was going back to Madrid to pick up a passenger who had been left behind sic. No apologies were provided. The eventual departure from Madrid was 1 hour and 35 minutes behind schedule, which obviously cut into our visit time. With one exception, daily morning departures took place at least 30 minutes after scheduled departure time, due to the bags not being loaded on time. The group frequently changed with some passengers joining and others leaving the group for other destinations passengers also stayed at different hotels on several occasions. This resulted in total chaos as far as loading and unloading bags, and accounting for passengers. No headsets were provided, so it was impossible to hear the guide outside the bus. On the last day the bus pulled over at a gas station due to malfunction, possibly as a result of the driver hitting something. We spent over 2 hours there while the driver called the emergency service. In the meantime, the driver continued to rant and yell at the passengers. 5 Bus The bus was a double-decker filled almost to the last seat with 74 passengers, which made everything difficult: getting on/off the bus, restroom stops, hotel check-ins, guided visits. Some seats had broken seat backs. Wifi and USB ports didnt work. There was a toilet but it was locked and not made available even for emergencies. Very small overhead compartments, which didnt fit carry ons. 6 Punctuality The tour escort and driver set the tone arriving late on the first day, resulting in a 30-minute departure delay 08:30 instead of 08:00. With one exception, morning departures occurred at least 30 minutes after set departure times, due to the driver not loading the bags early enough. Baggage pickup was usually scheduled 75 minutes before departure time. 7 Hotels Decent, with the exception of the one in Oviedo. I emailed the company through Viator on the first day of the tour to complain about these shortcomings and give them a chance to correct them: they never replied.