Swain DestinationsReviews of swaindestinations.com

Grant St. Clair planned my recent 3 week trip to Australia and did an absolutely fantastic job. The woman who planned my previous trip, Jan Miur, provided some additional insight and help also. The highlights would be the Murray River cruise (3 nights), the Ghan Train (Darwin to Adelaide), the Irwin Family Zoo, and my time in Melbourne and Brisbane…two beautiful cities with so much to do! I was totally spoiled and would recommend their trips to anyone!

We are mostly "roll your own" vacation planners, but realized we needed help to plan two "bucket list" trips, to Australia/New Zealand in 2022 and to South Africa/Victoria Falls in 2024. Kathryn is fantastic at figuring out what itineraries are "our speed" and setting up the level of support (drivers/tours/greeters) we need, which differed significantly in the two trips. The Swain organization provides great background information and support. Highly recommend!

I used Swain to help plan my dream trip fo Africa to celebrate my 50th Birthday. Best travel decision I’ve ever made. From the moment I started with the team at Swain, they were incredibly helpful, so responsive, never tired of my 1000s of questions and helped to curate the perfect trip for my dates and budget. They chose the best hotels, offered wonderful tour options and restaurant selections. Their local guides and drivers were so knowledgeable & friendly. Even traveling alone, I never felt alone because the reps were always checking on me. The highlight of my trip was my safari at the Kapama Buffalo camp. I can’t thank the Swain team enough, especially Kathryn for all her help. I look forward to working with her again soon to plan another magical trip.

Garry planned a wonderful tour for the 2 of us. All the guides showed up on time and were wonderful. Hotels were in excellent locations, rooms had a beautiful view along with excellent food. Everything went as planned and gave us enough rest at times when we needed it. Swain's assistance was only a phone call away when our airline canceled our flight to Kangaroo Island. We called Swains for help and they answered immediately and arranged our guide to pick us up at the airport so we did not miss any tours. Garry was organized putting our trip together. I would definitely use Swain Tours again.

I have worked with Swain for travel in Australia and Africa. On both continents they have always exceeded expectations. I have never written a review until now, but I am truly impressed by their precision in handling the required covid tests for multiple country itineraries in Africa. Numerous travelers have been able to experience Africa with ease because of how easy to follow and clearly pre-arranged travelers testing and requirements. Experts in knowledge and service!

My family of four traveled with Swain Destinations to Finland in December 2021. It was just when Omicron was spiking in Europe and we were nervous at first but the Swain team walked us through all the protocols and because we felt like we were going to be in a very remote area (Finnish Lapland, in the Arctic Circle) we went on the trip anyway. When I say it was the best trip our family has ever gone on, I am not exaggerating. Everything from the moment we landed in Rovaniemi to the day we returned home was so special. Our guide, Miikka, was so caring and flexible, always making suggestions based on the days' weather and working so hard to ensure we would see the Northern Lights, despite December being a difficult month to get to see them. The food from our private chef at our chalet was AMAZING. We gave Swain Destinations our preferences and dietary requirements prior to traveling and everything was prepared exactly to our needs, and was still authentic, locally sourced and delicious. Every activity that was arranged was so wonderful - from the activities themselves being unique and in the beautiful Arctic setting, to the individuals who led the activities being legitimate Sami reindeer herders, champion husky mushers, and so on. I cannot speak highly enough of just how moved we were as a family to have these experiences together. We wrapped up our trip in Helsinki and got to experience the Christmas Markets and even Finland Day, which was beautiful and touching. I have to say that I thought a trip to the Arctic would be one and done, but now I want to go again in a few years when our children are old enough to do some of the more active experiences like ice-track racing, and helicoptering over the North Pole! We are already planning our next Swain Destinations trip, and cannot wait to see what they offer elsewhere, but I highly highly recommend their Finland experiences.

What exceptional service my clients, Mr. and Mrs. Kevitt Adler along with their adult daughter and son-in-law received from Grant St. Clair. They had a very detailed New Zealand with some Australia program and Grant was so knowledgeable, helpful and attentive to their every requests. We at Regency Travel could not have made this travel adventure for this family possible without him. We appreciate him and his knowledge and ability to take such excellent care of this family. We all at Regency Travel have contacted Grant thru the years for our NZ and Australia customized travel arrangements and he has always succeeded in providing a wonderful, memorable sightseeing program with idea hotels for each individual request that we have made. We value and depend on him and how grateful we are that you have at Swain for us to contact! Many thanks, Glenda Owen

Swain Destinations has the most knowledgeable and interactive staff. Everyone including the CEO is always available provide assistance or reassurance. They are always available to assist in closing a sale, appease a unhappy client or just provide moral support to us agents when needed..... Best Suppler Australia, New Zealand and Africa!!