Things you need to know

Travel Aware

We highly recommend that you keep up to date with the travel advice provided by the government and sign up to receive the latest travel alerts relevant to the destination you are travelling to –
UK government websites – travelaware.campaign.gov.uk/ and www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice.

Your financial protection

All the flights and flight-inclusive holidays on this website are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. When you pay you will be supplied with an ATOL Certificate. Please ask for it and check to ensure that everything you booked (flights, hotels and other services) is listed on it. Please see our booking conditions for further information or for more information about financial protection and the ATOL Certificate go to: www.caa.co.uk

Non-air packages are protected by our Association of Bonded Travel Organisers’ Trust Ltd Bond. (For full details please see booking condition number 15 on pages 65 & 66)

To book a holiday, simply click on the red Book Now button on your chosen tour webpage. If you wish to complete a printed booking form you can download a form here, remembering to complete the two pages and send it to us with the deposit shown in the price box for the holiday chosen. For unescorted holidays, we will ask you for further payment as soon as we commit to various advance purchase tickets on your behalf for flights, train tickets etc. These are non-refundable and so it is important that your travel insurance is in place at this stage. An invoice will be sent to you for the balance of money due about 12 weeks in advance of travel, for payment 10 weeks before the holiday start date. During these last 10 weeks, we will be paying large sums on your behalf which we will be unable to reclaim and your commitment is therefore vital during this period.

What the price includes

• Standard class rail travel with seat reservations as appropriate (first class is included where shown).
• Economy (or equivalent) class on scheduled flights as appropriate from London Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted (other airports by arrangement for escorted and unescorted holidays). Please be aware that, in the case of escorted holidays, if you choose to fly from a regional airport or go by rail and, for some reason (e.g. weather) the main group is unable to fly, you will arrive at your destination without your tour leader and may incur additional hotel or transport costs until you meet the group. Flight upgrades may be available upon request.
• Sleeping berths on overnight trains where applicable.
• Bed and breakfast appropriate to the country being visited. For USA and Canada it is unusual for breakfast to be included but it is becoming more common for hotels to provide a very simple continental breakfast.
• All transfers on escorted tours where stated. Transfers on unescorted tours by individual arrangement.
• Local and airport taxes where applicable.

What the price excludes

• Single room supplements – we charge these at cost.
• Lunch and evening meals except where indicated in the itineraries.
• Passport, visa and personal expenses.
• Rail tickets to and from London or other joining points mentioned in the itinerary except where shown (we can supply these upon request).

Hotels

Generally, we use good quality, medium sized hotels (the equivalent of 3-star rating) with private facilities. Inevitably, the choice of hotels is limited in some remote areas and here we would use the ‘best available’. Sometimes, we use 4 or even 5-star hotels where we can take advantage of good offers or contract prices. Please remember that hotels are often rated in official guide books by their facilities and not their quality. We have come across, and occasionally use, some amazingly clean, comfortable and good value 2-star establishments which can never aspire to a higher rating because they cannot ‘tick all the boxes.’

Health Precautions and Immunisations Recommended

You are advised to visit the National Travel Health Network and Centre’s website at: https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/ for up to date health advice for the country you are visiting. We also recommend that you visit your GP for an independent assessment no less than 6 weeks prior to departure.

For European tours you should obtain the Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) which is available free of charge from www.nhs.uk Please apply in good time to ensure receipt of the card prior to departure. Do note, the GHIC is not a substitute for travel insurance. Exisiting EHIC cards remain valid until their expiration. GHIC cards are not valid in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.

Please note it is your responsibility to ensure you are aware of all recommended vaccinations and health precautions in good time prior to departure. This is most important when travelling to tropical destinations.

Use of Rover Tickets

Where tours are based on rover tickets such as InterRail, availability and validity are based on the best information at the time of going to press. These are outside the control of Ffestiniog Travel and are therefore subject to change.

Passport and Visa Information (Applicable to British Citizens)

• A full British passport is required for all non UK holidays in this brochure. Please allow at least six weeks and preferably three months for issue and renewal.
• Many countries stipulate that passports must be valid for at least six months beyond the date of your intended visit.
• Visas are not required for holiday visits to Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Georgia, Greece, Hong Kong, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, New Zealand, Peru, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
• In the case of the Australia, Canada and the USA, UK citizens may enter the country with an ETA or ESTA authorisation. This is required even for transit and must be applied for in advance of travel. Applications can be made online at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/ or Ffestiniog Travel can apply on your behalf (£20 fee applicable). Please be aware that, for entry on this programme, all travellers must now hold a Biometric passport (also known as an e-Passport) with an integrated chip.
• Visas are required for visits to Azerbaijan, Belarus (even for transit), Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Jordan, Russia, Mongolia, Vietnam, Egypt and Sri Lanka. Advice will be given when booking a holiday.

Please note that it is your responsibility to ensure that you have the correct Visas/forms required for the destination you are visiting. Advice will be provided by Ffestiniog Travel prior to your departure.

Airlines Used for Ffestiniog Travel Holidays

We use scheduled services provided by major airlines. The arrangements are not definite at the time of printing and we cannot give you any firm information about the airlines or the type of aircraft on which you will travel.

Extensions to Escorted Tours

If you participate in one of our escorted tours and you would like to extned your holiday, we recommend that you do so at the end of the escorted tour, rather than at the beginning. This eliminates the risk of your being ready to join an escorted group tour which is unable to depart the UK due to, for example, a volcanic ash cloud, airline or strike action, extreme weather conditions etc.

Acknowledgements:

Our thanks for assistance and photographs to our tour leaders, Ffestiniog travellers, tourist offices, railways, other organisations and individuals who have helped us to plan the holidays and helped put this brochure together.

Speak to us

If you have a problem, if you do not understand anything or want to know more, contact us and we will be pleased to help.

Telephone: 01766 512400
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.ffestiniogtravel.com