After finishing my fourth tour with Compass Expeditions over the last 5 years, it is an understatement to say that I enjoyed myself on this latest tour through Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. Riding along rolling hills and twisting back roads through the Andalusia region of Spain, the Algarve region of Portugal, and the Atlas Mountains of Morocco was sublime. Three weeks of great riding, unique and interesting accommodation, scenery to die for, delicious food, and a top notch Compass Team, made this adventure one that I didn’t want to end!
As with my previous Compass Expedition tours to South America (Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina) and Kyrgyzstan, the organization, planning, and execution of Compass tours is excellent. The old saying that “if everything goes to plan, then it’s not an adventure” is true for most Adventure tours. Unexpected things can happen on an extended motorcycle tour, including weather delays, civil unrest, mechanical issues, and sometimes accidents. But the Compass team are cool, calm, and collect, with an innate ability to problem solve and get the group back on track, always with a smile and easy going nature.
One special feature with Compass Expeditions is the nearly all-inclusive nature of the Tours. Petrol, tolls, accommodation, all breakfasts, lunches on riding days (scrumptious picnic lunches!), and a good number of the dinners, are included in the tour price, which makes for easy budgeting for the tour. Just throw in your spending money and you’re good to go. Transparent tour costs, excellent home office support before, during and after the tours, and tour guides passionate about adventure riding, makes for a fantastic combination in a Tour Company. How much do I recommend Compass Expeditions? Well, I just booked my 5th tour for next year!
Cheers Jerry and the Compass Team, keep up the great tours! – via
I was the only ‘Compass Virgin’ on our trip – which says a lot about the strength of Compass’s return business. So what makes a perfect motorcycle adventure holiday (as this truly was)? The places visited and the riding are very important, of course, but it’s ‘the people wot make it’. By this I mainly refer to the staff: what a great bunch of chilled, relaxed but professional bunch they were. Jerry and his team couldn’t have worked harder to ensure we were all happy. Most of this positive, down to earth attitude is to do with the nature of the Ozzies (and I am allowed to say this as a Pom!) who, I would say, are ideally suited to adventure tour organising – probably because living in Oz is one big adventure! Get this ‘basic’ right, though, and we the customers (the other side of the ‘people’ equation) can’t help but react positively….and on this tour, not surprisingly, the cameraderie was great. So that’s the cake…what about the icing? What about the bikes, the riding and the destinations? Sorry, BMW, but I don’t understand why I would pay more for your bike when my Suzuki V Strom was so perfect. All you want for an adventure bike is for it to be comfortable, fast enough but, most importantly, bullet proof ….. and the Suzy was all of these and more. The riding was wonderful: thoughtfully judged but sufficiently challenging. Couldn’t fault it.
Motorcycle adventure holidays – by their very nature – will never be the cheapest holidays on the market. So your choice of which company you use is crucial because a lot of your hard earned cash is at stake. That is why I unequivocally recommend a Compass Expeditions tour because it ticks all the boxes – and does so in spades. – via
Completely unorganized when we went. Too large of classes for only a 30 min teaching window. I signed up for 1 month and they continued to charge my credit card the next TWO months ( an addition $330) and I haven’t been there in over 2 months! When I called I was told they would “look into it” and I should receive a call back but haven’t heard anything, set a dispute with my credit card company but all in all poor customer service. – via