About Trek TrekAmerica Reviews

I had read the itinerary carefully and also read all the reviews on this site, so I knew what to expect from this trip. I booked it mainly because it was a short tour and it suited how much time I had. I knew it was basically a three-day journey to see Niagara Falls and not much else.

The first day is spent driving through New York State up to Niagara. Be advised this is a very long day in the van, with not much else happening. The itinerary mentions driving through Delaware Water Gap (you do but you don't actually get to see anything much).

We arrived late afternoon and got to see the American Falls before going for dinner. It is clear the better view is rom the Canadian side, although you have to work that out for yourself. After dinner we headed back to the Falls, getting ice cream on the way, and although it was by now dark, most of us crossed the bridge into Canada to see the Falls from the other side, which are lit-up at night. You don't get much time to actually walk up for the best, closest view but it is still good fun crossing the border and see the Falls in full.

The next morning, we did the Maid of the Mist, which was another fun experience with great views all around and of course, it the main point of the whole trek. Afterwards we shopped for souvenirs before heading off on our journey.

In the afternoon, the group went to a winery near the Finger Lakes although two of us didn't go and decided to have a look around the Wal-Mart next door to the hotel instead.

That night we stopped near Seneca Falls, which, to my excitement and surprise, turned out to be 'the real' Bedford Falls from It's A Wonderful Life. Being a great fan of the film, this made my day and I had a great chat with the guy in the visitors centre who told me what sites to visit.

We had a lovely dinner in a bar in town and celebrated Sam's birthday (who has also reviewed this trip). Our tour guide, Liz, was very accommodating and friendly and made an extra special effort for the evening's celebrations.

Heading back down through the State, we stopped at Woodbury Common outlet mall. I am not big on shopping and could have easily given this a miss for more time in New York City. I should point out that NYC is not part of this trek at all and so do not be mis-led about that just because of the name of the tour. If you download the 'Trek Tips' for this tour, be advised that only one of the five current photos (the Maid of the Mist photo) is actually relevant to what you will see.

Everyone on our trip (there was nine of us) were really great and we all got on well. Our tour guide, Liz, did the job just right. The van was a comfortable size and I coudn't fault any of the hotels, which were all clean and comfortable and in good locations.

I would do another Trek America trip based on my experience and this trip felt like a lot longer than 3 days. Make sure you give yourself some time either side of the trek to see New York though.

I had never done anything like this before and didn't really know what to expect! It was an amazing experience I just could stop smiling the whole trip! The tour guide Shelby was just full of energy she was so happy and if wasn't for her I don't think our experience would have been as good!!

I had a fantastic time start to finish. We had plenty of time at Niagra fall, including seeing it from the top in daylight and also the night when its lit up, going across to the Hard Rock Cafe on Canadian side to eat and then watch fireworks, then returning in the morning to do maid of the mist boat tour. The tour leader was really nice and worked hard to ensure we all had a good time. I would definitely recommend. That being said, I have marked it down to four stars for a few reasons 1. we did not actually see the finger lakes, which is on the itinerary. When we asked the tour guide she said that we had driven past it, we had no idea when and therefore never saw any of it 2. The hotel after the niagra falls was no-where near anything (and really scruffy, but it did say 'budget lodging') and so we had to pay a taxi fee to get into town to eat 3. I felt that the tour leader did not know enough about the places we went to so I didn't learn anything about these places. Maybe that is all she was asked to do by TrekAmerica, but I have since been on another TrekAmerica tour (Western BLT) and the tour leader put huge amounts of effort into researching facts about everywhere and made notes so he could tell us about it all, which really added to the experience.

Well, I booked the Trip because i thought that this would be the fastest Way to See the Niagara Falls. We did See the Niagara Falls, but just for a very Short time. We were always in a hurry for no reason. We started on sunday in the morning and got to see the falls by night. well, only the american falls, the tour leader was obviously not interested in showing us a good place to see the falls, especially the horseshoe-falls. We only had 30 min. until we had to meet for dinner. Then we had to go back to the Hotel at 10pm. That was actually quite ok, Even though there was no time to cross the border to canada. But the next day, We did the Maid of the Mist-Tour at 10.15 am, which was only 20 minutes. Then the Tour Guide told us to get back to the Bus at 11.30 am!! It was a 15 minutes walk to the parking space, We finished the Maid of the Mist at 10.40 am and had then only 30 Minutes to get to canada! I was really, really mad, that we actually had only 5 minutes in Canada watching the wonderful falls from a different, much more beautiful ankle. So we were still 30 minutes late at the Bus. The Tour leader didn't even tell us, that the much more impressive horseshoe-falls were only a 5 Minutes-walk from the parking Lot. I think she just did not like to wait for us. So altogether we spent maybe 1h15 minutes at the Niagara Falls!!!!

That was really disappointing! Then we hit the road to stay 2 hours for lunch at a winery!? For what reason??? And we arrived at the most disgusting Hotel I have ever stayed at 5 pm! Why so early??? Why couldn't we spent more time at the Niagara Falls, which was the main reason for the whole travel? Well, then the Tour leader brought us downtown Ithaca, not telling us, that the whole city was a construction area. And she picked us up at 8.15 pm, so we were in this ugly Hotel in the middle of nowhere by 8.30pm! What a waste of time!!!! We didn't see one Finger lake, there was no hiking, she brought us to a parking lot at the bottom of a Fall the next morning to take a picture. Thats it!!!

Arriving at woodbury outlet, she gave us 1 hr 15 Minutes for lunch and Shopping! That was unbelievable! She First Said, that the Last ferry from New Jersey Liberty Park runs at 5 pm, so that we have to get the ferry. Then I told her, that she is wrong and that the ferry runs till 8 pm, she admitted, that I was right, but she then said, that she wanted to get us in the ferry before the rain starts (there was no rain!??). she just wanted to get rid of us! And that is pretty sad! I told her, that we never had time to stay at places we really liked, Even though there was enough time!!!!she just answered, that just the way it is in these trips. So actually this whole trip was a waste of time which makes me really angry! I should have rent a car to do all this in 2 days. I think that was just not the right way to treat tourists, who just want to have a great time. So this was actually the first and last time, i traveled with trek America! Especially, when I sent my complaint to trek America, they just answered, that i have seen everything I wanted. The next time I should book one week if I needed more time. They didn`t understand a word. I am really disappointed and wasted two days of my Vacations...

Response from TrekAmerica:

Many thanks for your feedback. We are sorry the trip did not meet your expectations and our customers service manager has forwarded your comments to our Operations Team in the USA along with contacting you directly about your complaint.