Contours Holidays Reviews 

A well-planned walk of the Cumbria Way with well-chosen accommodation.

Contours is an excellent company. I got great value for my money and the customer service on the trail and off was fantastic.

My daughter and I were booked into very inferior accommodation which we could not abide and had to curtail the holiday and return home early. Contours refused to refund us the full amount for the accommodation, and would not refund us for the rail surcharge we had to pay to change our tickets.

Contours replies that we did receive a full refund. We did not. We were refunded only the cost that Contours paid the hotel - not their profit, which in our estimation was close to double the price charged by the accommodation, or a figure in the region of £300+.

Furthermore, they claim that we did not notify them or give them an opportunity to rectify the matter. Again, untrue. Emails were sent almost immediately to Contours after we saw just how awful the accommodation was; our first thought was to get OUT OF THERE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. We tried to arrange alternative accommodation but everywhere local was booked up. We had no option but to go home, which is why were were asking for a refund of the rail ticket. We spoke to someone from Contours soon after we left the hotel and explained to them that it was impossible for us to stay in such a place.

This is our 4th long distance path booked through Contours. We did the IOW coast path which we enjoyed, there were a few diversions in place due to erosion so I would recommend using GPX as the sign posting was not always that great.
We loved the scenery and all our accommodation was of a high standard and we had fabulous weather which is always a bonus.
Booking was easy and we will definitely use contours for our next long distance path adventure.

Very straightforward and dealt with any questions or requests for info without fuss or delay

Fourth trip with Contours and have always found them to deliver a great trip. From organising route distance, accommodation, bag delivery and taxis everything delivered as promised.

We embarked on our first walking trip with Contours along the West section of the Ridgeway, everything went very smoothly, all luggage transfers to plan, a variety of places to stay which ticked all the boxes including friendly service (3 out of 4 had baths which was terrific at the end of a day's walking), and the information provided was great.

The total cost of our 8-night holiday was £2240, i.e. £280 per night. The room invoices we saw ranged from £80/night to £110/night. The hotels were 1-2star quality at most. It felt like more than a rip-off: a financial fraud. Contrary to their reply, I gave detailed feedback by email if not by their preferred format, and received just £140 refund. So my complaint is not disingenuous as they suggest.

Great pre- trip advice on suitable trails for level of experience, varied scenery and time of year. Everything managed very smoothly and good amount of supporting information provided. Would highly recommend.

Most places to stay overnight were good or even excellent. One was very noisy and quite off the South West coast path. The transport of the suitcases worked very well. We missed a list of all the accomodation places as soon as we had paid, which was very early in the year. So we didn't know what we would get and there was no room for changement of accomodation. Custumers pay a lot of money without knowing for what.....

Contours did an absolutely amazing job at organising my Hadrian's Wall Path walk. They did it all very last minute with great ease, were super accommodating and helpful with some last minute changes. The accommodation they arranged was great, baggage transfer was seamless as were all the extra pick ups and drop offs. Could not recommend them more!

I would agree with most people that Contours are brilliant and I have had many enjoyable walks with them. However they have recently marketed the Tamara way walk across the Devon and Cornwall Peninsular. This walk has a large amount of road walking, at one point there were two sections adding to 20 miles where you never left the road. I am speechless, why are you selling this rubbish?

We've just completed the West Highland Way and Great Glen Way. Contours organised all our accommodation and baggage transfers. All worked seamlessly. All the accommodation was great. Another lovely holiday with Contours.

My wife and I embarked on a wonderful pre-wedding journey along the Cotswold Way with Contours Holidays, and it exceeded all expectations.

We walked from Painswick to Chipping Campden, taking us through charming villages and picturesque landscapes. We were blessed with beautiful weather, and enjoyed breathtaking countryside views, golden fields, and quaint stone cottages, all straight out of a fairytale.

Contours Holidays arranged cozy accommodations in charming inns and B&Bs, offering relaxation and locally sourced meals. The self-guided walking tour allowed us to set our own pace and explore along the way.

In short, our Cotswold Way experience with Contours Holidays was romantic and rejuvenating. It provided the perfect pre-wedding retreat. We're grateful for their meticulous planning and support. If you seek a memorable Cotswold walking holiday, we highly recommend Contours Holidays. This journey will forever hold a special place in our hearts.

We booked our first walking holiday with Contours to walk Hadrian's Wall in May 2022 - the website was clear and easy to navigate, and adding additional nights at various points in our journey was intuitive. I'm not sure why other reviewers are complaining that they didn't find out where they would be staying until a few weeks before, this is stated clearly on all correspondence and we found it well timed to help us start to get excited for our trip!

The accommodation was great throughout, it's not 5* all the way but everywhere we stayed was easy to find via Contours directions, clean and friendly. That's all you need... it's about the walk after all :)

We did have a blip on the first night as we were unable to get hold of the taxi company to take us to our starting point the next morning. Despite being out of hours, we received a fast reply via text from Contours to confirm they had been able to contact them and sort a collection time - perfect! We really felt like they had our backs.

Otherwise the trip was incredibly smooth sailing, all helped by the pack Contours provide. I would advise looking at dinner options before your trip, and booking in advance, as some areas do not have much choice (although this will obviously depend on where you are walking!)

We are now looking at booking our next trip with them, so would not hesitate to recommend to others :)

Been on Adrian's wall walk and now doing legs of south west coast walk it is absolutely stunning.
Hotels have all been decent accomodation
With pubs nearby to get refreshments and luggage transfers are never an issue after talking to other people on the trail who booked with contours they also have been happy. Can't understand rating at 50-50
Of course you can't always get accomodation within 100mtrs of coastline but that is to be expected it is wild coastline. north Devon is a hard slog beware if your not ready for it.
Would recommend this tour company to any one and have done so many times with no comeback.

Booked us overnight at pubs that were not serving supper (a disaster at the end of a long day's walk) and failed to book lodging on the second night of our rest day (though indicated in our schedule). Will never use again.

I've used Contours for the last 3 -4 years on about 12 walking holidays across the country from Berwick to Penzance and they are by far the best multi base walking company I’ve found. I've looked at, and used other companies and Contours are my favourite.I can genuinely say I haven't had a single problem with them in all those trips (and that equates to probably well over a hundred or so pubs/hotels and b and b's and a similar number of luggage transfers) Not a single luggage transfer missed or damaged the standard of accommodation and hosts is excellent and having regularly compared prices with other walking companies I’ve found them to be very competitive.

If you want a walking company that delivers precisely the walking holiday you want, when you want it and is unlikely to let you down I can recommend them.

My friend and I walked the Bob Graham Round, organised through Contours.
Absolutely Excellent.
Initial contact via website/email and phone - 10/10
Quality of information provided - 10/10
Maps provided (including hoghlighted route + wet-eather alternative) - 10/10
Accommodation - 10/10
Bag transport - 10/10
Many thanks

You need to be aware that contours will book a walking holiday for you take your money upfront, but not inform you of any details for the route until 3 weeks before you go ! All well and good if everything goes to plan.
However if you don't like the route / accommodation etc it's too late and contours have your money, then you are at the mercy of the booking / cancelation policy.
My advise stay away, there are plenty of good walking companies out there that communicate with you and treat you well, contours don't care about your holiday they just want the booking. Very poor.
Ian W