Home > Compare Tour & Adventure Operators > Cosmos vs Costsaver
Cosmos vs Costsaver
Compare the travel styles, pricing, destinations and popularity of Cosmos and Costsaver.The Low Down
A lot of our clients aren't too fussed about their accommodation (as long as it's clean and comfortable) and are more interested in the destination. Over 1,200 past client reviews with an average 4.5 out 5 star rating, is impressive. Why? Great value and interesting itineraries. Part of the Globus Family, there are further great discounts to be had.Accommodation is 3 to 3/12 star, but a lot of our clients are pleasantly surprised at the quality. Hotels are often located out of the city centre, so prepare your trip budget to allow for transfers or taxis if you want to explore the cities on your own. Allow extra funds for some meals and excursions not included in more premium inclusive itineraries. Like our past clients, we feel very comfortable recommending Cosmos.
CostSaver is Trafalgar's affordable range of coach tours. Comparable to Cosmos in price and quality, their focus has always been on Europe and the UK, but have more recently launched a range of new itineraries in the US, Canada and South America. If you are looking for an affordable touring option, then CostSaver is a great option, and if you've travelled with any of its sister brands like AAT Kings, Trafalgar or Insight Vacations further savings are available.The price for that affordability - while all the must-see sights are included, there are lot of optional excursions which can add up quickly if you choose to do them all. If that's likely, perhaps a more inclusive Operator like Trafalgar or Insight is best. However if you like the freedom to explore on your own, and are after a relaxing and hassle-free holiday, then Costsaver is a great option.
Stats
No. of Trips
200
No. of Departures
3,680
Avg. Trip Length
13 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$371
Accommodation
3 - 4 Star
Budget
Affordable
Trip Styles Coach Tours
No. of Trips
105
No. of Departures
1,601
Avg. Trip Length
12 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$330
Accommodation
3 - 4 Star
Budget
Affordable
Trip Styles Coach Tours
In Their Own Words We asked the travel companies themselves why you should travel with them
At Cosmos, we like to think of ourselves as experts in ‘thrillology’ – the art of bringing you an experience, time and time again. With over 50 years of ‘wow’ under our belts and no sign of slowing down, we know how to curate value touring holidays that you’ll never forget; creating the experiences you’ve always dreamed of and showing you the ones, you never thought of. Our job is to take care of the planning and logistics, so that all you have to focus on is living your dreams!
We know lasting travel memories don’t have to cost the earth. Our value tours cover all the essentials, while providing you the building blocks to tailor your dream holiday. We plan and include all the essentials – your quality transport, accommodation, sightseeing, many meals and the very best Travel Directors, leaving you the time to tailor your trip your way.
As an active founder and supporter of the TreadRight Foundation, you’ll travel confidently knowing we support the protection and conservation of the places we visit. We tread far, but always tread lightly. Having won the 5 star gold award for highest travel satisfaction, from the independent review provider FEEFO, you can be assured you’ll get an unbeatable holiday at an unbeatable price. Value is in our blood, and thanks to our Ready To Go Rate, you’ll be confident that when you book, the price you see is the best it’ll be. Travel the world without a hassle in the world.
Recent Reviews
4.5
Cosmos as usual offered a comprehensive circuit of Germany featuring impressive major cities, historic villages and countryside. Lots of walking was needed which enabled a sound appreciation of the sights. Early rises and punctual departures maximised our sightseeing. Kristina the tour guide was always pleasant and well organised. G our driver was totally ...read more professional. Highlights were Berlin, Dresden and Bavaria -we were in awe of post war re-construction. Thanks to Georgie Walpole for the effective booking arrangements. Highly recommended.
We had a group of 40, with most being Australian, with a few English and Americans. The region is covered in olive groves and vineyards, although we did drive through some pretty farming country on our way back to Naples. There were many lovely old town centres to explore, and I particularly loved seeing the Truli houses in Alberobello. Be prepared ...read more for quite a bit of walking on cobbled streets (often quite steep), in the old towns on this tour. On a couple of occasions we were given time for lunch and to explore on our own after our guided walking tour, but many felt these breaks were too long. Be warned that in Italy there are very few public toilets, and even if an actual tourist attraction has onsite toilets, they often don't work. When you do manage to find a public one, there's often a huge queue and you have to pay (anything from 50c -1.20 Euro). The recommendation from the tour guide was to sit down to eat or have coffee at a cafe, as they always have a free toilet.
Optional tour - "Apulian Delights" Farm Fresh Dinner & Pizzzica Show - I had expected that going to a farm we would be shown around the farm itself, but we were just given a short tour of the farm buildings and a brief history, followed by a dinner made from farm fresh ingredients, with about 3/4 hour of music & local dances - guests were encouraged to join in the dancing. Although I enjoyed the evening, I felt it was a bit pricey for what it was.
Optional tour - Caves of Matera with Altamura - took 2 hours to drive there, but the countryside was pretty on the way there. I enjoyed the walking tour of Matera to see the ancient cave houses, (we even saw a movie being made there), but felt that the walking tour of Altamura was a bit of a let down. I very much enjoyed the day, and felt this tour was worth the money.
The accommodation on the tour was fairly good, except for the location of the Holiday Inn in Naples - it's in the central business district, which isn't in a very pleasant area, with empty and derelict buildings surrounding it, and no food shops anywhere near. If you're a solo traveller I wouldn't recommend walking to the railway station on your own. Naples is very dirty, with garbage and graffiti absolutely everywhere, so except for using Naples as a base for visiting Pompeii, I personally wouldn't recommend spending much time there.
Cosmos no longer pay for portage, so you have to take your own suitcase to and from the bus each day, so I recommend you don't have a big or heavy one. Our coach driver was very good and I felt safe in his hands, as he maneuvered the huge bus through tiny streets and tight corners in the old towns. Our tour guide hasn't being doing it for very long, and to me it showed, (other tour members agreed with me). Unfortunately she wasn't as flexible as she should have been with passengers who requested a bathroom stop, or those who were struggling doing all the walking.
All in all an interesting and enjoyable tour, but not the best Cosmos tour I've been on. Thanks to Tracey for helping me organise the trip. I look forward to booking my next tour through Global Journeys again.
Optional tour - "Apulian Delights" Farm Fresh Dinner & Pizzzica Show - I had expected that going to a farm we would be shown around the farm itself, but we were just given a short tour of the farm buildings and a brief history, followed by a dinner made from farm fresh ingredients, with about 3/4 hour of music & local dances - guests were encouraged to join in the dancing. Although I enjoyed the evening, I felt it was a bit pricey for what it was.
Optional tour - Caves of Matera with Altamura - took 2 hours to drive there, but the countryside was pretty on the way there. I enjoyed the walking tour of Matera to see the ancient cave houses, (we even saw a movie being made there), but felt that the walking tour of Altamura was a bit of a let down. I very much enjoyed the day, and felt this tour was worth the money.
The accommodation on the tour was fairly good, except for the location of the Holiday Inn in Naples - it's in the central business district, which isn't in a very pleasant area, with empty and derelict buildings surrounding it, and no food shops anywhere near. If you're a solo traveller I wouldn't recommend walking to the railway station on your own. Naples is very dirty, with garbage and graffiti absolutely everywhere, so except for using Naples as a base for visiting Pompeii, I personally wouldn't recommend spending much time there.
Cosmos no longer pay for portage, so you have to take your own suitcase to and from the bus each day, so I recommend you don't have a big or heavy one. Our coach driver was very good and I felt safe in his hands, as he maneuvered the huge bus through tiny streets and tight corners in the old towns. Our tour guide hasn't being doing it for very long, and to me it showed, (other tour members agreed with me). Unfortunately she wasn't as flexible as she should have been with passengers who requested a bathroom stop, or those who were struggling doing all the walking.
All in all an interesting and enjoyable tour, but not the best Cosmos tour I've been on. Thanks to Tracey for helping me organise the trip. I look forward to booking my next tour through Global Journeys again.
My husband and I had a great holiday/tour throughout Canada with Cosmos. We call it a tour as you are up early and on the go, not much time for sleep ins. We appreciated the stays of 2 nights, as it gave us a chance to relax and explore. Our tour guide Sharon, was always on hand to answer any questions and give advice when needed. Sharon was very helpful ...read more and full of knowledge. The Rocky Mountaineer Gold Leaf was exceptional - staff are wonderful and the scenery stunning.
There are some places we would of preferred to have had a 2 nights stay, eg Whistler. When you do a bus trip, you get to see a lot of wonderful things but it is only a taste of the beauty of the places you visit. The hotels I thought were quaint and clean and all that we needed to rest at the end of the day. Our only hotel which was not to our satisfaction, was the Sandman City Hotel in Vancouver, old decor with dirty carpets. We would happily book again with Global Journeys, we both had an amazing time.
There are some places we would of preferred to have had a 2 nights stay, eg Whistler. When you do a bus trip, you get to see a lot of wonderful things but it is only a taste of the beauty of the places you visit. The hotels I thought were quaint and clean and all that we needed to rest at the end of the day. Our only hotel which was not to our satisfaction, was the Sandman City Hotel in Vancouver, old decor with dirty carpets. We would happily book again with Global Journeys, we both had an amazing time.
Well organized tour of the Canadian Rockies and Alaskan Cruise. 1 Bruce and Lyndall, VIC, Australia, Aug 2024
This tour was a good balance between group sightseeing and built-in free days to explore on our own. Special mention goes to our bus driver Mike who drove us safely on winding mountain roads and through tight city traffic, and also our tour Leader Ken who kept us entertained and informed throughout or trip. We learnt so much from him about Canada that ...read more we never would have known had we travelled on our own. Our accommodation was clean and comfortable, with some locations actually well exceeding our expectations.
The weather this time of year was mostly sunny with only a couple of rainy days, and the Autumn leaves were just starting to change colour. We were unfortunately not able to visit Jasper as planned due to the recent wildfires, but Cosmos strived to compensate us with another night in Banff and a complimentary lake cruise, which we appreciated.
We enjoyed our Alaskan cruise with Holland America, and we were impressed by how clean the ship was and how smoothly everything seemed to run. Our travel advisor Maisie from Global journeys was easy to communicate with and responded quickly to any questions we had. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Cosmos and look forward to travelling with them again some time in the future.
The weather this time of year was mostly sunny with only a couple of rainy days, and the Autumn leaves were just starting to change colour. We were unfortunately not able to visit Jasper as planned due to the recent wildfires, but Cosmos strived to compensate us with another night in Banff and a complimentary lake cruise, which we appreciated.
We enjoyed our Alaskan cruise with Holland America, and we were impressed by how clean the ship was and how smoothly everything seemed to run. Our travel advisor Maisie from Global journeys was easy to communicate with and responded quickly to any questions we had. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Cosmos and look forward to travelling with them again some time in the future.
We were very happy with the service provided while on our Canadian Masterpiece Tour. Everything was as described in the itinerary. Our tour director and bus driver went above and beyond their duties to ensure we saw everything and to ensure our satisfaction. The service on the Rocky Mountaineer was also exceptional. We would organsie our travel with ...read more Global Journeys again.
I feel the Vancouver section of the tour should have been completed before the cruise and included Whistler or Capilano as this was a highlight - we did this ourselves, I also feel like we were dumped before the cruise and tour should have included sights of Vancouver. The accommodation in all places was excellent , the train journey to Edmonton was ...read more excellent and the food on the train was amazing. I felt parts of the tour overall were a little rushed. When we arrived in Vancouver we had a day before the cruise and 2 days after, I feel we should have had all the days before the cruise and there were places to see that should have been included like Capilano or Whistler. Overall it was a wonderful holiday.
4.4
Excellent itinerary, which is perfectly designed to give good exposure to this beautiful country. Will definitely travel with CostSaver again. Highly recommended.
This was one of the best Costsaver trips I have enjoyed & as always it was perfectly organised & had a tour guide who was very professional & knowledgeable. The wonderful canyons & national parks of the USA exceeded my expectations & diversity in every way & were truly spectacular. The tour was well paced & I would recommend it to anyone with a love ...read more of nature.
It was our second time travelling with Costsaver. The Rocky Mountains scenery was amazing. We wished we could have spent more time in the mountains rather than the stops in Vancouver and Victoria. We enjoyed the free time during the tour as the Optional experiences weren’t our scene and quite expensive. All hotel rooms were clean and very comfortable ...read more although the hotels in Victoria and Vancouver were too far out of town and the train line behind the Canmore hotel was so noisy. Our Tour Director and coach driver were great .Our fellow travellers were from all parts of the world and all different ages but all very friendly.
We are home now after a wonderful (but occasionaly stressful) eight weeks away. Thankfully the trip was saved by the emergency passport! We would just like to tell you that we had a fantastic holiday on our Highlights of Scandanavia tour. The coach driver and Orsi the guide were both professional, organised and very personable, so it made the trip run ...read more very smoothly. We loved the scenery and experiences we had in these three beautiful countries. We would just like to thank you for your role in organising this trip for us, we appreciate it and may contact you again one day for another Costsaver experience.
Well-designed tours through UK and Ireland with breathtaking landscapes, lakes and rivers and optional activities on offer to dive you deeper into each locations. Overall, its an experience of a lifetime that will leave you long-lasting, happy memories.
Popular Trips
19 Days Vancouver to Vancouver
Operator: Cosmos
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