So here are my top five tours (in order):

1. South Africa with Zambia (Victoria Falls):  this tour has everything - the most spectacular scenery, amazing experiences (helicopter over the Falls, gourmet meal on a steam train, incredible wildlife on game drives - I could go on and on!), terrific food, fascinating history.  Simply the best holiday of my life to date.

2. Chile, Argentina and Brazil: I actually did this tour with Travelsphere but this was before JY started running it and the itineraries are identical.  Again, a perfect blend of holiday experiences - driving over the top of the Andes was incredible, as were the views at the stunning Iguazu Falls.  I loved the iconic cities of Buenos Aires and Rio, so much to see and do - the ranch experience at BA was one of the most enjoyable days of my life!  More great food (and wine), with every day being a highlight.  I absolutely loved South America and I am very excited to have the new Chile and Easter Island tour booked for next year.

3. Namibia:  so it's clear that I love Africa!  Namibia is such a varied country and the JY tour captures all the highlights - from the stunning dunes and scenery at Sossusvlei, to the fun we had on the catamaran cruise at Swakopmund (with lots of wildlife thrown in) and then an amazing stay at Etosha National Park where we saw such a diversity of wildlife it gives Kruger a run for its money!  More great food too!

4. US National Parks - my favourite holiday experience is to see stunning scenery and this tour packs in one incredible highlight after another - Badlands was an unexpected jawdropper and I loved Yellowstone NP, such an amazing diversity of landscapes and geological features.  Each park was unique and contrasted with the ones we had seen before - the rock formations at Arches, cave dwellings at Mesa Verde, the iconic Monument Valley, stunning hoodoos at Bryce and the natural beauty of Zion.  And then a night in the madness of Vegas to top it all off!

5. Vietnam and Cambodia: My first experience of SE Asia and a fantastic tour - every day brought new experiences, pretty scenery and things to reflect upon.  Halong Bay in the mist was an obvious highlight, as were the temples at Siem Reap but I enjoyed the food, culture and history just as much.  Fascinating.  I'm very much looking forward to seeing Burma next year.

And for good measure, these are my next five, in no particular order, as you might think that the tour in 10th place wasn't great - but the truth is they are all fantastic tours and I have enjoyed every one of them immensely: 

Jordan - spectacular scenery, historical treasures, great food, fascinating culture.  A brilliant experience and I hope JY are able to bring back this tour soon so others can enjoy it just as I did.

Iceland - this would have made my top five if the tour had been longer!  Unique scenery, simply outstanding food, overall an amazing country. And we saw the Northern Lights!

Borneo and Singapore - my most recent tour.  Seeing the orangutans, our closest relatives at the Sepilok rehabilitation centre, and in the wild, was utterly fantastic.  We all enjoyed our three day stay in the jungle lodges so much.  We were so lucky to see pygmy elephants (google them - they are very cute!) on a number of occasions, including a family crossing the river.  Singapore was the icing on the cake, so much to see and do, with stunning architecture.

Costa Rica and Nicaragua - for those who love wildlife with a bit of culture thrown in, this is a wonderful tour.  The amount of animals, birds and insects we saw in Tortuguero was staggering and Nicaragua was simply magical.

China - so many iconic experiences but a chance to sample some of the real China too.  One highlight after another with fascinating history and culture thrown in for good measure!

So these are my ten favourite JY tours - if you've done a few tours what are your favourites?  Please do share them and hopefully we can inspire some of our fellow travellers to try something new!

All the best,

Bob

Thanks for sharing your top ten what fantastic inspiration for those who have yet to decide where to travel next! Like you, I'd love to hear other community members' favourite holidays!

Kindest regards,

Julia

1. Australia Nov 2013

saw so much on this super value trip in 2013, visiting places like Perth, Alice Springs, Ayers Rock, Cairns, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne

highlights included the Great Barrier Reef, dining under the stars in Ayers Rock, Sydney inc the fab Blue Mountains excursion, the Kuranda Railway in Cairns and seeing Kangaroos in the wild, so much to mention throughout the tour

2. Borneo with Singapore add on May 2016

seeing Orangutans in the wild was amazing and all the wildlife cruises with the Pygmy elephants crossing the river, seeing an Owl at our lodge and of course visiting Sepilok

3. Peru with Amazon ( Travelsphere version ) Sept 2014

a Tour which had so much from Lima to Cusco

Arequiba was my favourite place but the whole of peru had such stunning scenery

the amazon was amazing and a must do

4. Vietnam Sept 2015

this tour was also wonderful from start to finish from crazy Hanoi to even more crazier Ho Chi Minh City

but Halong Bay was simply stunning and Hoi An was delightful

im afraid thats all i've done with JY to date though done a few others with Travelsphere years ago and i have Costa Rica & Nicaragua next March with hopefully many more to follow

all the best

Dave

Gosh, difficult to put my 17 JY tours in order of favourites, but here goes!

1. Spirit of India and Burma have to go in as joint No.1 as I can't separate them! India is incredible - you either love it or hate it, I loved it. The colours, the smells (!) the excitement, the food, the wonderful smiling people, a photographer's paradise. The highlights for me were seeing tigers on all 3 game drives, and the wonderful experience at Varanasi. Also, the Taj Mahal was the most beautiful building I have ever seen, especially at sunrise. Burma (Myanmar) - still not used to tourists,

and it was wonderful to get off the beaten track. Interacting with the local women by putting thanaka on our faces, stunning temples, wonderful food, being at the beginning of a "new" country with the election of Aung San Suu Kyi.

2. Borneo - as Bob has mentioned, we were so lucky to see orangutans in the wild, also the probiscus monkeys and, unexpectedly, seeing pygmy elephants on all 3 days of the river trips. Lots of wildlife, super lodges, and it was worth doing the add-on to Singapore.

3. Vietnam and Cambodia. We ate out at a different restaurant every night, so food was high on the list of wonders of Vietnam! A lot of history, and very interesting to see the "other" side of the Vietnam War. I was advised to visit Vietnam before I went to Thailand as it is probably about 15 years behind Thailand, and for me, more interesting and less touristy! Hoi An was my favourite place, along with the overnight on the junk in Halong Bay. Cambodia is just incredible, as is the food (bit of a theme running here!). Angkor Wat and the other temples are outstanding, the sadness of the killing fields, the Mekong boat trip.

4. Kenya - my first experience of safaris! I loved it so much that I have been back, and am going to Namibia soon too. Tsavo East was brimming with wildlife, so exciting. I extended my time in Mombasa which was very relaxing after the safaris.

5. Another joint favourite here! Costa Rica and South Africa! Both had lots of wildlife, and I would thoroughly recommend doing the add-on to Zambia and taking the one day trip to Botswana (70,000 elephants in Chobe when I was there!).

I could go on and on, but Bob has covered some of my favourites, and I would recommend anyone interested in doing these tours, to look at the individual reviews that some of us have done, to obtain more details.

Wherever you go - enjoy!

Cheers,

Hils

No 1 so far - has to be Burma.  Fascinating, welcoming, diverse, as Hils says great to be in at the beginning.

Of the others I have done Iceland has to be next and, like Bob, if it had been a longer holiday which I am still begging JY for (in the summer please) it would have been a close call for 1st place.  Next favourite is Andalucia for the whole holiday only just beating Croatia which lost out due to the hotel, but fabulous country and great excursions to Montenegro and Bosnia.

Now looking forward to Rome, Sorrento and Kerala

USA I have been on many

Nashville and Memphis 2008..country and western grand olde Opry Beale street, Graceland Elvis etc hectic tour lots to see and do

Florida2013...space centre, Everglades,key west!! Great day out, Orlando I was on the first tour, and it has been tweaked since then for the better.

East Coast liner 2008 tour..American civil war, Washington, Martin Luther King fab tour

Boston New England and New York 2006 and Canada Boston + New York add on 2014 fantastic tours so much to see and do, I did enjoy having time on my own in 2014 to do somethings extra well worth booking these tour value for money

Poland and Tatra Mountains 2007 ...I booked this to visit the concentration camps, was a good tour and the Tatra mountains were amazing, this was the tour I drank the most alcohol!!! Polish vodka!

Austrian Lakes 2009 ...stunningly beautiful country the hotel now is different from the one I stayed in, not to hectic and well worth doing

Kenya Safari 2010 + add on I love wild animals the elephant is my favorite so I was in heaven beautiful country animals and people, I really do want to see more wild animals at some time..

Tuscany 2011... Great sights to see, not to hectic hotel near a nice little town and the beach well worth the money

Hong Kong and New Zealand 2012 ... What a great journey amazing country, and people yes it is expensive but I have been and you can go no further I am very glad I went.

Lille and Bruges weekend battlefields 2015 ... This fulfilled my interest in WW1 amazing memorials, Menin Gate, Tyne Cot, Thiepval.

I cannot rate them in order all I can say is they have all been an adventure,I have seen great sights, had so many conversations and spent time with so many different types of people of ALL ages, I have laughed and cried with people as things have touched my soul or theirs...I really do think travelling broadens the mind opens the eyes and heart to experience new sights sounds and even smells at times, can only make us as a person grow.

There is a big world out there let's all go and explore it while we can and when we can...

Happy safe travelling one and all..

Cindy

Well this has stirred up a hornets nest. I think I have done 10 trips with another next week booked.

1 Jordan, Sinai and Egypt, October 2010 was my first JY trip. So exciting to finally tick some boxes ie Petra, first camel ride and see the Sphinx at Giza. Saw so much extra, too many to name.

2 Steam Trains of Highland Scotland- first time in Scotland and another tick for Eilean Donan which I have wanted to see ever since Highlander 😃 

3 Lake Garda ticks for Venice and a gondola ride. Saw Aida at the Arena in Verona- magical.

4 Heart of Alpine Europe Great fun from start to finish. Saw so much with 3 new countries, throwing snowballs up one mountain and so many different forms of transport.

5 Has to be Heart and Soul of USA. Chicago to New Orleans. Loved this trip. Never been to Chicago or St Louis so that was exciting. I collect pins from Hard Rock Cafes, House of Blues and Bubba Gump- tick, tick and tick 😃  I love Blues music so this trip ticked that box. My first ever ice hockey game in America 🙂  Learnt so much about Lincoln.

The other trips have so many great memories, the five above I remember with fondness as they are very special to me.

Jan

1. India. Have done both tours. My abiding memories are the Taj Mahal at sunrise, sailing on the Ganges, the temples at Khajuraho and seeing Tigers in the wild. Kerala was much more relaxing and the highlight was the time spent on the houseboat.

2. China. Ticked the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and the Terracotta Warriors off my list.

3. West Coast of USA. Enjoyed visiting San Francisco, Los Angeles, Palm Springs and Las Vegas. Ticked Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Universal Studios, and the Strip in Vegas off list but highlight was the flight over the Grand Canyon.

4. New England and Canada. This covered my wish to see a historical area of the USA and to see Niagara Falls. Really enjoyed seeing some major cities in Canada and the few days spent in New York gave a flavour of this great city. Intend to return to Boston and New York in the future.

5. Apulia. This was one if the few areas of Italy I had not visited in the past. Lovely area and the visit to Matera fulfilled my wish to see the old city.

I still have a long wish list and hope to visit either Burma or South Africa next year wit Sri Lanka to follow.

Lesley

M

Namibia

Silk Road to Samarkand

Vietnam

China

Balkans (Tales of the)

By the way Bob how do you find the time to write all this? I'm retired and there are still not enough hours in the day.

Regards to all.

Roger

I am shortly embarking on my, I think, 14th Just You adventure to South Africa and Zambia with 15th Costa Rica and Nicaragua booked for March next year. To date I have been to Jordan, Andalucia, Costa de la Luz, Holy Land, Italian Dolomites and Croatia, Calabria, Istanbul Troy and Ephesus, Marrakech for Christmas, Namibia, Battlefields, Kerala, Mexico Guatemala Belize, Borneo with Singapore Add-on - all tours had their own charm and like Sally it is very difficult to decide on the best one. I would love to do Mongolia, Silk Road, Burma, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Chile and Easter Islands, Alaska, Iceland and the list goes on and on. I doubt if I will live long enough to travel to all the places I want to so will have to be selective. One day I would love to do the USA National Parks but at the moment this is not high on my list.

Jaya

Others highly ranked are China (the Great Wall and the Terracota Army); Chile, Argentina and Brazil: and Yellowstone.

One of the early ones was on a coach through the Rockies followed by a week cruising up the Alaskan coast, the scenery was amazing, the sea flat calm and I nearly saw a whale, I went on deck just after it had surfaced by the boat and, of course, it never appeared again.

My running order of favourites may change in a few months as I am on the Antarctic cruise at Christmas, that is if the scenery, wildlife (including whales hopefully) outweigh spending Christmas Day somewhere south of Cape Horn.

Peter

Anyhow I'd love to hear from some more of you as to your favourite JY tours (and Sally, that's a cop out! I'm sure you could come up with at least a top five even if they are not ranked in order!!).

All the best,

Bob

I've been on 4 holidays with JY -  but my best every holiday (so far) was not with them - I did a USA trip with a social network group called Spice which was a Grand Canyon rafting experience. We had three day in Vegas, 8 days white water rafting down the Colorado river through the grand grand canyon followed by another 3 days in Vegas and a flight over the Grand Canyon to finish it off.  It was the most AMAZING holiday with so many memorable moments.....its what gave me the bug to travel more!!

Anyway, out of the 4 I have done so far with JY, I would highly recommend 3 of them:  The National Parks, Mount Rushmore and Little Big Horn trip, the Dubrovnik & The Dalmatian Coast (even with the issue we had as the first group - I still loved this holiday).  However my No.1 trip so far with JY would have to be Athens, Olympia and the Corinth Coast.  The holiday was everything I wanted and more, the people I shared the holiday with were fantastic, the Tour Manager we had was so much fun and nothing was too much trouble for her, the sights we saw were inspiring and I really had the best time ever.  

That said, I also agree with Sally and Roger that every holiday offers you a little adventure which in its own way makes the holiday unique.  Often its the people you travel with that are the ones that can make or break it for you.

Kerry

Right here are my top 5 destinations:

The Spirit of India-my favourite country, have also done the Golden Triangle twice which is Delhi, Agra and Jaipur  once with JY in 2005 and then again with Travelsphere in 2008 and on both of these trips I had the same TM Gary Desimone.

Kenya-been twice with JY and TS

Nepal

Peru.

Egypt.

Have been on plenty more JY and TS holidays including Borneo excellent, Canadian Rockies and Alaskan cruise super.

And Jaya you mentioned the National Parks Tour. The National Parks and Canyons of the USA tour is absolutely awesome, put it high up on your to do list, especially as you will have an ESTA.

It is certainly very difficult to choose a top 5 destinations.

However, I do limit myself to the amount of new countries I can visit because I  have a tendency to go back to countries I have previously been to in order to see a different area of that country. Hence one less chance of travelling elsewhere.

Happy travelling everyone

Di

Keep the top tours coming...

Cheers,

Bob

Just thought I'd add my top 5 to the list while waiting for the new brochure!

1. My first ever trip with Just You was back in 2005 to Nepal and that remains at the top of my list, possibly because it was the first time I'd ever travelled alone and also because I had wanted to visit Nepal for so long. It was a small group and we were therefore able to swap and change our itinerary almost as the mood took us, it was also the time of the Holi festival and it was great to participate in local culture at the time!

2. China and Tibet - I've always wanted to visit Tibet, to be honest I only booked the tour for the week in Tibet but the first two weeks in China were brilliant - we did the South of China not the usual expected Great Wall and Terracotta warriors (that will have to be another trip!) so I wasn't sure what to expect.  However it exceeded expectations, the people were very friendly, food was exceptional and the places we visited were traditional Chinese tourist destinations and for a change we westerners were in the minority. 

3. Vietnam and Cambodia - another must see place on my list!  If you can't tell already - I absolutely love Asia!

This is a very busy tour!  You see so much in such a short space of time but it’s worth it.

4. Borneo and Singapore – Orang-utans! Who doesn’t love orang-utans – we saw so many between Sepilok, the river cruises and Singapore Zoo.  Not forgetting the pygmy elephants, and the rafflesia in bloom – all those things ‘they’ said we might not see – we saw them! If only Leo had spotted a clouded leopard! 

5. and moving away from Asia – I’ve put my first trip to the States at number 5 – Golden West and Hawaii – we covered Las Vegas to San Francisco and then flew out to Hawaii for a week.  I’ve since returned to both Las Vegas and San Francisco a number of times as there so much to see and do in both cities.

In all I’ve done about 10 JY trips and despite having a long list of places I want to see, I am waiting for the September brochure as I have now put Iran and Mongolia at the top of the options for next year!

Happy Travels Everyone – let’s see some more Top 5’s!

Jacqueline

1.  Cilento Coast.  Wonderful hotel, great excursions, and a chance to go back to Italy again.  I love this part of Italy and it is a whole lot quieter than the area round Sorrento.  I would always recommend it to anyone. 

2.  Istrian Coast.  Although I still prefer the Rabac location, the trips are great, the scenery is stunning and they have the best rep in the world in "V".  :)

3.  Slovenia.  This has been greatly tweaked since I was one of the small group that first went out there. It was wonderful to go back, and I would have put it higher, except for the long transfer to and from Zagreb ( thankfully sorted now), and not such great hotels.

4.  Dubrovnik and the Dalmatian Coast.  Only as low as this because of the issues with the hotel.  Excursions and scenery wise it is amazing, and great value for money. 

5.  Battlefields of France and Belgium.  A wonderful short trip, in amazing company,  🙂, which gave me a chance, finally to see so much in a short period of time.