Everyone who goes on a Headwater holiday will be emailed a link to our post-holiday questionnaire where they can give us an honest assessment of all aspects of their holiday - everything from how quickly we answer the phone to how clean the hotels were - plus an overall rating and comments about their holiday.
Any feedback collected is posted to our website, so that people can make an informed decision based on past experiences before heading off on holiday. We don’t edit the reviews, the only thing we do is proofread them and alter any typos, where necessary, to ensure they are easy to read for everyone. All reviews will be published (except in certain extreme circumstances), and a member of the Headwater team will respond to any constructive criticisms/comments under the reviews, at their discretion. So, for the real tales, twists and turns of our holidays, look no further than the reviews from our previous travellers.
Thoroughly enjoyed seeing this unspoilt country where the hills meet the sea. Lots of travel but other than arrival day with 5.5 hour transfer rather than the advertised 3.5 it was fine and enjoyed watching the spectacular scenery through the windows. Usually do self guided but with the travel including 100s of hairpin bends and being unsure of how well marked paths would be decided on a guided tour and loved it. 7 guests on our tour. Hotels overall not quite as high quality as usual Headwater ones but we could see there is very limited choice especially inland. Felt it was more a 1 grade than 1+. Max height climbed was under 300m and walks mostly 2-3 hours. Boat trips and included lunches helped fill the days. Would recommend this holiday
(Am sending separate email for Headwateer staff with more specoific feedback)
Great walking in an as yet fairly unspoilt country.
Montenegro is a beautiful country and this walking holiday enables you to see a large part of it, either on the coast or up in the mountains. Stunning views on the walks. Stayed in very comfortable hotels especially the Hotel Conte which served delicious help yourself breakfasts .
We had an amazing time in Montenegro and the holiday exceeded our expectations. The guide Sinisa was fantastic and we had the added bonus of a second guide Anna that was learning the route. The driver was first class and very safe. We would say Hotel Zabljak is in a good spot but the rooms are too small to swing a cat and the food isn't great. Hotel Conte in Perast is in a stunning location and the food is fantastic. The waterside terrace for dinner is amazing. The hiking was amazing with some stunning views but not too tricky and we got around all the key sights. The wine tasting lunch was simply delightful as per all the lunches. We had a group of just 4 and it was a most enjoyable week sharing lots of stories. We are already looking to see what we can book next with Headwater. Thank you to Sinisa and Anna, Headwater and Sue and John!
Excellent experience of the highlights of Montenegro but slightly too long in the minibus on some days.
Well organised, varied experiences,excellent guide
A great first experience of Headwater organisation. We were fortunate to join 8 other wonderful walkers who were all Headwater advocates. The guide was a great guy, helpful, interesting and fun. Hotel Soa was not so good. We hope to travel with you again.
Montenegro is a very beautiful country and the programme certainly showed us many highlights; guide Sinisa with his excellent knowledge of the region and its history certainly enhanced our holiday - super group of people too!
Great locations, excellent guide and a great bunch of fellow hikers. Wonderful holiday.
The whole holiday was well organised to give a diverse interesting and relaxing introduction to a wonderful country complemented by an extremely helpful guide.
Good itinery , lovely accommodation , Excellent guides
Visiting Montenergro was a wonderful experience. The walks through pastures, by lakes to rewarding view points with our excellent guides, Misa and Stefan will be etched in our minds. The beautiful wild flowers. The lunches provided by your company were interesting, one in the pouring rain by a lake, one with the Garnet wine grower, then at the mausoleum to Peter 11. Nothing was too much trouble for Misa and Stefan. The walks were great fun and despite our ages we managed the steep ups and downs. We will certainly recommend it to our younger friends !! . Our companions Paul and Elisabeth were great company. Primrose and Tony Oakden
Interesting country, good guide and walking. Fair amount of hill work, some with steep drops on one side. Would have helped if Headwater had provided good profiles for each walk. Very friendly people along the way.
Well-guided, with a good range of features to please any traveller
We thoroughly enjoyed our walking holiday in Montenegro. Our guide Sonja was excellent and the scenery was superb with very good accommodation.
A wonderful way to explore and enjoy a beautiful new part of the world, with challenging and stimulating walks and experiences - and with all the concerns, planning and details in the safe hands of a friendly and knowledgeable guide.
Excellent locations. Both hotels good,but Conte excellent. Food at Soa OK but not outstanding, while the meal out was really good. Super guide and a varied programme made it memorable.
It was good holiday, but travelling between hotels was longer than anticipated. Glad we booked an extra night either end as not much free time on the tour. And is hilly
Weather helped being nice but not too hot
A fascinating place to visit. Walking through beautiful 'alpine' scenery, gradually learning about the complex history of the area from a knowledgeable and amusing guide. Great local wine and food.
Our guide was really knowledgeable, helpful and friendly. She led us on some excellent walks with stunning views. If you like organised group holidays and walking I would recommend this company.
An excellent experience discovering a fascinating region which is still mostly unspoilt by mass tourism.
Excellent scenery with a nice mix of challenging walking and more relaxed days. Montenegro is a really beautiful country and the guide really knows it well.
Montenegro must have some of the most beautiful, unspoilt landscapes in Europe. The walks are a good distance, mostly through woodland, but with some spectacular mountain top views as well. In September, the temperature was about right, although we did have some thunderstorms and rain, fortunately mostly at night. I have never seen so many varieties of fungi as there were in Durmitor National Park and the fields were carpeted with Autumn crocuses and the woods speckled with wild cyclamen. The group of 12 got on really well and our local guide was delightful and looked after us brilliantly. The food was delicious and we were able to buy wild berries, dried mushrooms and smoked ham and cheese, eat local pastries for our picnics drink Montenegran and Croatian wines and try local liqueurs. The second part of the week in Perast makes for an excellent contrast, with a bit a culture thrown in, a couple of boat trips and wonderful seafood.
I thought Montenegro was very beautiful. Headwater are an excellent and efficient organisation with well planned holidays.
Very nice holiday in nice locations, with excellent local guide, only spoilt by extremely poor accommodation at Hotel Conte in Perast and extreme tiredness on first day due to ridiculously early flight time from Gatwick.
Headwater response:
Dear Mr Goodfellow,
Thank you for taking the time to complete your post-holiday questionnaire. We were pleased to see you enjoyed your holiday overall and rated our local guide as excellent, we will ensure your praise is passed on.
We were however sorry to read you felt the room allocated to you at Hotel Conte was extremely poor; this was disappointing to read; especially since past customers have rated this hotel highly. However, in light of your feedback, we will continue to monitor this hotel and work closely with the Hotelier to ensure our customers receive the standard of accommodation they have come to expect on a Headwater holiday.
We were also sorry to hear you felt extremely tired due to the early flight from Gatwick. In order to alleviate this, we do offer extra nights in Dubrovnik before the start of the holiday, which can help break up the travel a little. We are sorry if you were not aware of this option.
In closing, we would like to thank you for your continued loyalty and look forward to welcoming you on another of our holidays in the future.
Kind regards,
Headwater Customer Service team
We had really good walks in quiet, beautiful countryside in a part of Europe that is so far relatively unspoiled by excessive tourism. Our guide was friendly and knowledgeable and the group of 13 got on very well with each other.
This was my first holiday with Headwater and I really enjoyed it. It was well organised, the accommodation and food was very good and our guide was really good, helpful and very knowledgeable.
Montenegro was graded one and a half boots - I think two boots would be more accurate as some of the walks were more challenging that those in the holidays I had recently with Headwater on the Amalfi coast and in the south of France. Having said that, the country is very beautiful and unspoilt and although some of the bus rides from Perast were long (over two hours) the countryside was so interesting I didn't mind at all - despite the hairpin bends!
The Hotel Conte in Perast, its staff and its service were excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed being there, much more so than at the hotel in the mountains. What a pity that there are not more local walks in that lovely coastal area; although the boat trip in Kotor Bay was most enjoyable. The walks in the mountains (Durmitor NP, Tara River Canyon and Lovcen NP) have spectacular scenery but are somewhat dependent on fine weather for full enjoyment which, unfortunately, was not always the case for us - disappointing! Overall, though, a good holiday.
Good walking in a stunningly beautiful Country though the geography meant some long drives to access them.
Hotel Zabljak though looked good, once experienced felt cheap....bathroom fitments all loose, no plug in a tiny washbasin, shower that flooded the bathroom, awful food, undrinkable coffee! Not up to what we believe are Headwater standards.
Hotel Conte stunning location very good food until last evening when our group played second fiddle to a wedding party. By the time we were offered dessert, very late, there was only ice cream on offer.
Dubrovnik Palace Hotel fabulous a brilliant way to end a good holiday.
The holiday provides plenty of views of this country of contrasts during walks and (longer than expected) minibus transfers. Our local guide Olivera helped to explain much: from tourism on the crowded coasts to the many deserted buildings. Zabljak area provides mountain walks and scenery, so take warm layers as air can be cool if sun goes in (the hotel looks good, but only rates 2*). The village of Perast is a gem and fairly quiet in September, luckily 20mins drive from busy Kotor where the ocean liners stop. Hotel Conte really is 4*, with super food. All walks can be rugged from 1 to 2 boot (sturdy shoes and poles useful even on town walls of Kotor), and sometimes views hidden by low (wet) clouds (so thanks to our safe drivers). Not much evidence of wild life as we missed migration season.
Headwater response:
Dear Mr Ward, Thank you for taking the time to complete your post-holiday questionnaire following your holiday to Montenegro, Please be assured that all of the feedback we receive whether complimentary or critical is valuable in helping us to continue to improve and develop our holidays for the future and is well received.
We were pleased to read you had and enjoyable holiday overall, taking in the contrasts this area has to offer. Since receiving your feedback and as we continue to improve and develop our holidays for the future, we have made some changes to this holiday for the 2016 season. Firstly, we have changed the hotel in Zabljak to a 4 star located in the heart town, we have also increased the rating to a 2-boot holiday; we hope you will agree that these changes will help enhance an already interesting and enjoyable holiday.
In closing, we would like to thank you for travelling with us this summer and look forward to welcoming you on another of our holidays in the future.
Yours sincerely,
Headwater Customer Service team
Do not stay at the Hotel Zabljak. See our separate email to you.
We were surprised at your recommendation of the Dubrovnik Palace Hotel - it is so different to what you offer elsewhere!
Very enjoyable. The first two walks in the Durmitor NP were fantastic, definitely my favourite.
Montenegro is a beautiful country, fantastic mountain scenery and Kotor Bay is wonderful. We didn't bring walking poles due to the 1+ grading but I would have found them very useful on some of the walks, especially the last day walking to Godinje. Can't comment on Lake Skadar boat trip as that wasn't possible for us. Our guide Sinica was great, very considerate and obviously knew all the walks well. We have had some wonderful holidays with Headwater and this was one of the best.
An excellent guide, wonderful walks and very agreeable fellow travellers. We would always recommend small group holidays - they are so much more friendly.
A series of walks in varied locations.
