Penguin Travel Avis 214

Yemen was really interesting and beautiful. The local guide in Socotra was great.
The issue was the penguin guide, who is not suitable for a customer facing position. She was rude and impatient. She treated it like a holiday she had paid €4k for. When someone was sick with potential heat exhaustion, she was totally unconcerned and just left them to go to the beach with her clique.
She hardly said 2 words to anyone over the age of 50. On occasion, she acted like a spoiled toddler making fuss over nothing.
She may be suited to an office role but not one that has to interact with customers.

I just completed Penguin’s Tour of the Caucuses (Armenia / Georgia / Azerbaijan), and my feedback from this well organised Tour is entirely positive.
The Itinerary ensures the traveller gains a comprehensive insight into each of the three countries. The pace of travel is entirely manageable, plus the hotel accommodation is excellent throughout. All the local arrangements made by our guide (Margarita) were notified to us well in advance, and this ensured the Tour progressed without any mishap or delay.
The other travellers on the Tour were brilliant , with about 11 Nationalities represented. We were an eclectic mix, but nevertheless we bonded quickly, and set up a WhatsApp group which meant we met up and enjoyed each others company ( ie visits to local Restaurants) after the days official programme of events was over!
I would highly recommend this particular Tour to anyone interested in this part of the world.
Each of the three countries had its own particular charm, and each one was also amazingly beautiful.
So to sum up, the Tour was well managed, and as any experienced traveller will know, the Tour Guides can make all the difference. On this Tour, our Penguin Guide, plus the three local guides who showed us around their respective countries were charming, approachable, knowledgeable and professional in equal measure, which augers well for those considering signing up for this Tour.
My advice would therefore be - just book it as you won’t regret your choice!
Gareth Jones (UK)

We all had a wonderful tour. Our tour director, Angelina, was very knowledgeable, accommodating and professional. Our driver was also very professional and safety conscious, bringing us safely to all our destinations. The whole tour was worth its price and value. I would highly recommend.

Penguin Travel had offered to provide me a full refund (less domestic flight costs paid) for a trip cancellation for their Madagascar tour, due to many customers canceling because of the recent civil unrest in October 2025. Due to this offer I had agreed to cancel the trip. However, they have been extremely unresponsive and have not been replying any of my emails after the cancellation was confirmed. I have yet to receive any news of my refund initiation & processing despite multiple requests for confirmation. Prior to this, their communication have also been almost non-existent. Seems like this company will only reach out if there is something they need from customers, such as payment or customer details. Be very wary about Penguin Travel.

Third time with Penguin and second withMilena! Amazing experience. We had a wonderful time in Yemen. Super interesting and SAFE. I Yemen to everyone.

I recently completed a phenomenal journey to the 5 Stans with Penguin tours from 29 September to 19 October 2025 with Tour leader Galina Trifonova.

Galina was friendly and above and beyond to ensure our safety n comfort.

The local guides shared insightful stories and anecdotes that brought the region’s rich history n culture.

The itinerary was well planned-yes, there were obstacles, but then which tour doesn’t- allowing us to exprience the best of each country!

I highly recommend Penguin tours and Galina to anyone interested in exploring this fascinating region!

Thank you for an unforgettable adventure.

This is the first time I’ve traveled with Penguin Travel. This company gives a great value with a great itinerary and hotels in the best locations. I went on the Five Stan’s Sept 29, 2025 for 21 days. Thirteen guests. We travelled via van or bus depending on the country. Drinking water was even supplied in some of the buses. Penguin Travel helped us navigate successfully from country to country. Money for optional tours were collected on a daily basis.

Galina was our fabulous Penguin travel guide whose responsibility was to navigate us from country to country successfully. She even went above and beyond helping us order food when we didn’t understand the language. She was always there ready to help anybody that was sick. Thank you so much Galina for your heroic efforts.
Local guides were provided for every country. Some guides even stayed with us for days. We were in great hands with both Galina and the local guides.

Helpful suggestions during the trip:
1. Always exchange some local money to use the toilet. Always bring toilet paper and wipes. Several locations there will be no toilets at all at your rest stop. Many toilets will be Asian squat toilets.
2. For money exchange only exchange the bare minimum. Credit card is taken in all countries except Turkmenistan. Use all your money up in Uzbekistan before traveling to Turkmenistan. No money conversion at this border only.
3. Be sure to drink only bottled water for the entire trip.
In Khiva, many people drank water out of the water dispenser in the hallway and got sick. Food in Khiva is salty due to the water table. Avoid soups and tea. Avoid fresh salads and uncooked vegetables.
4. Travel very light. Less luggage the better. You are responsible for your luggage during the entire trip via train, plane, van, bus, between the borders which could be a mile walk even in snow.
Always bring down your luggage before you eat breakfast because in one hotel the hotel elevator broke, and many hotels are antique and have no elevators.
5. Bring good hiking shoes and walking sticks because you will be walking at least 15,000 steps a day.
6. Be ready to have the most fabulous time of your life horseback riding, holding an eagle, 4 wheeling around the cliffs of the seven lakes, 4 wheeling in the sand dunes Turkmenistan.
You’ll be meeting some of the nicest people in the world in some of the safest places of the world!
Thank you, Penguin Travel for a fabulous adventure. I’m looking forward to traveling with you again.

Touring the Balkan States gave us unique and eye opening experiences of the various cultures and delicious cuisines unique to each place. The local tour guides were very knowledgeable in imparting reliable information regarding their respective countries. Our personal tour guide, Angelina Debie, was very helpful and flexible in keeping the group together as much as possible. She is definitely a valuable asset to Penguin Travel. As far as accommodations were concerned, improvements need to be made as far as facilities, i. e., elevators were not available in some of the hotels we stayed. Being seniors, we had some difficulties in hauling our luggages to our rooms. Overall, the tour was great experience not to be missed.

I had a superb time personally. Angelina was most amiable as a tour guide in meeting all my expectations and questions.

Each day, our activities were outlined so that we knew what to expect in terms of travel time, type of activity and duration of tours.

Our driver was very efficient and provided us with safe travels. I never felt uneasiness during the entire route.

Based on my experience of 30 plus adventure travel tours, I believe you will find it difficult to match the value I experienced over 3 weeks, across 5 countries for the tour cost. I noticed over the three weeks, competitor companies, used the same local agents, hotels and transport for part of the tour. They all have increased prices. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the experiences and memories I have made over the three weeks. I went into the tour knowing it was only 21 days traveling across 5 large countries and it was going to be fast paced. It was. If you are someone that likes detailed information from local guides I would suggest researching before the tour. The local guides varied in the level of information, interaction and energy. For free time while the local guide and / or tour leader had suggestions. Like some in my group, prior to the tour,  to maximise your time I would suggest a rough search of main cities, aspects of the tour that may interest you. Pack appropriately, for three of the countries we were on comfortable sprinter buses. One seat per person. It is cosy!. If all had brought a large hard suitcase, there would have been more bags within the seated part of the bus reducing the space even more, on the numerous long drives. Accommodation standard varied, but for the price point overall, of a good standard, But if you come from being used to very good air-conditioning, reduce expectation. I was advised prior to the trip to only bring USD. Coming from a Euro country I would have preferred Euro. Except for Turkmenistan, I would have been able to bring pristine Euro notes and exchange locally. Except for Turkmenistan, All of the group that used ATMs had no issue, equally in restaurants, shops, bars, tourist sites that accept card ( not all do) we had no issue. USD for Turkmenistan. Similar to a good proportion of the group, if you are prone to food in different countries, on occasion, not agreeing with you, bring medication. Trying to cover a good variety of experiences across 5 expansive countries, within 21 days, at the price point paid, overall, Penguin job well done.

Just returned from two back-to-back Penguin tours in the Balkans: Balkan Kaleidoscope and East European Discovery.

The tours are well paced to maximise the sights, staying in the same hotel only twice over three weeks. And there are a lot of sights!

I now have around 800 photos and videos of 9+ countries (UN formally recognised). I’ve seen battle zones, ancient walled cities, Dracula’s castle, the world’s largest underground wine cellar, and I’ve sat on the throne used for filming Game of Thrones.

I’ve also had the pleasure of visiting Transnistria (Pridnestrovie), and bringing back some of the world’s only plastic coins, I can’t understand why Moldova is considered the least visited European country.

Caucasus Explorer - Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan was a great tour with an amazing guide who helped me both prior with Azerbaijan Visa issues and when we were on tour we had similar humour Milena is a great guide who kept us right from start to finish and then the knowledge of the local guides made the trip to remember. I am on the 5 stans tour but a mere 10 days after the Caucasus tours. Great Company great guide highly recommend.

Central Asia, the "5 Stans", is an amazing place to visit. The people are welcoming, the landscapes are breathtaking, and the culture and history are fascinating. But I wish I had chosen a company that employs experienced and trained people. On arrival to Bishkek at 3 am, my transfer wasn't there. Luckily, I was able to get local currency and a taxi.
Our local guides were often the highlight but in Tashkent and from Karakol to Almaty, our local guides barely spoke to us. Our Penguin guide was a nice enough young woman clearly enjoying her paid holiday but wasn't interested in guiding. She didn't even think to have us introduce ourselves to each other and rather than speak up to the whole bus with our plans, she preferred to answer questions to 2 or 3 folks at a time, leading to a lot of miscommunication. Asking her to speak up seemed to offend her, so I accepted that I must have poor hearing (I don't) so as not to bruise her ego. She struck up a not-at-all-discreet unprofessional friendship with one young man in our group and on several evenings she was enjoying herself so late that she was often tired and irritable. She once opted out of joining the group the next day so she could sleep. Early on in the trip, though I was not the only one without exact change for an entry fee, she chose to scold me for it. Ten minutes later, she wanted to speak to me in private and I thought she was going to apologize. Ha! She wanted to further admonish me and tell me not to question her. Towards the end of the trip she did sort of "apologize" saying, "Sorry, I just really don't like Americans."

Just back from an amazing trip of the 5 Stan’s. Everything went off without a hitch and our tour leader Margarita was knowledgeable, well organized, and kind with a great sense of humour!
Nice variety of city stays, rural towns, mountains, deserts, lakes, yurt camps and warm welcoming people. Definitely recommend!

I just completed my first Penguin Trip (The 5 Stan-s - Follow in the footsteps of Genghis Khan) together with hubby who completed his 4th. I was very satisfied with the experience and our helpful guide Margarita. It was well planned across 5 countries that would have been challenging to even perhaps not possible for us to travel on our own. The experiences varied greatly, from sleeping in yurts and experience nomadic life to enjoying cocktails and dinner on the 7th floor terrace with the sparking Ashgabat city around us. This adventure, small-group travel company is getting my second booking this week. This is not for the timid beginner traveller looking for luxury and hand-held experiences. If raw, authentic, adventure travel is your style, then this is the company.

Well organized tour, plenty of experiences in culture, history, food, transport and accommodation. fantastic tour group and the best tour guide of the world Margarita made this three week experience through five central Asian countries unforgettable. Thank you very much.

I had a fantastic 21 days 5 Stan countries tour. We covered all the amazing and gorgeous places in the itenerary because the tour was very organized. Our Tour leader, Biliana was very efficient, and a good problem solver. I felt secured and well taken care of. The tour guides and drivers in each country were all very good and polite. The hotels were all fantastic.

Completed the Caucasus Explorer tour, a region we knew little about. The tour was excellent, took us to places we would not have gone to on our own. The local guides in Armenia and Georgia were very knowledgeable and could answer any questions. The Penguin tour leader, Valentina, was a lovely person and helped wherever required. We enjoyed the experience and will use Penguin again.

Angola is a truly fantastic destination: I spent there 3 weeks, out of which 8 nights / 9 days with Penguin Travel, so I am in a position to compare how I travelled on my own (a northern part of Angola) and how I travelled with Penguin (another part). On my own, I rented a 4x4 car and drove on my own and had no single problem in 10 days.
Travelling with Penguin was a BIG mistake. The tour was extremely overpriced for what they offered. They promised accommodation in 3-star hotels, but most of the accommodation was 2-star even according to the hotels themselves. Some 3-star accommodation (with attractive location and surrounding) they had originally promised were suddenly changed to 2-star accommodation in a noisy city centre.
The two guides – especially Marta who runs "Marta Tours and Trips" and is a partner of Penguin Travel – were highly incompetent and had really limited knowledge of most attractions we could see. There were unaware of a number of historical sites I could trace myself and which were on our way. Marta was largely preoccupied with running her own company (Marta Tours and Trips), buying things on our ways etc. A blatant case of a conflict of interest was when our group was accommodated in Hotel Moçâmedes in Namib, which was substandard (instead of a much better hotel just nearby), simply because Marta had her travel office in the building of Hotel Moçâmedes itself – the group fell victim to her private interests.
Marta, the guide and co-organiser and owner of Marta Tours and Trips (a local partner of Penguin), was completely disorganised most of the time, taking care of her private business rather than of the group. For instance, Marta once discovered that she had spent all the money on fuel and as a result had to borrow money from the group to pay entry fees to a desert park!
The transport they provided was also substandard and deficient. One car had no seatbelts – this is very important when you go to a desert to see huge dunes, and you drive across the dunes: the sand track is very bumpy and without seatbelts it is risky. The other car had no lights at night and drove without lights!
I calculated that with the total amount I paid for the 8 nights / 9 days tour with Penguin (2080 EUR), I could easily – with the same amount – rent a SUV / 4x4 car, pay for the fuel and for a 3-star accommodation.
Moreover, having the comparison of travelling on my own and with Penguin, I can conclude that my money and time was wasted with Penguin Travel. Never again. It’s a rip-off.
My recommendation: don’t travel with Penguin, and definitely avoid Marta Tours and Trips. Instead contact a local car rental place which can offer a good 4x4 car or a SUV, and travel on your own. The the fuel in Angola is very cheap: you get almost 4 litres of petrol for 1 EUR.

First of all, the holiday itself was good (literary, local guides)
BUT. Our supplied guide from penguin was terrible, self centered, told paying customers to get out of her way so she could take the pictures she wanted, made money mistakes and told paying customers they were dishonest even though we tried to point out her mistakes. She asked for feedback but dismissed anything she didnt want to hear. On the train to Summerkand she pushed infront of my elderly mother just so she could be on first instead of counting every person on. She was really unprofessional and she really put a bad twist on my trip. I raised this with Penguin Office and gave examples of her behaviour and they didnt even bother to respond to me. The tourguide just sent me a whattsapp message and told me I was being bitter and nasty and they dismissed everything I said. After a disagreement on one of the last days after yet another piece of discusting behaviour from her, our airport transfer got cancelled funnily enough and we were left stranded. So all in all a not great ending, and no support from Penguin themselves