RSD Travel Arvostelua 

RSD are an award winning arts and cultural holiday travel company. We recently returned from an 8 day tour of Northern Cyprus provided by them through Northern Travel Cyprus. RSD do not inform you of your hotel details before you travel which leads to uncertainty on locations and can worry the nervous traveller. The two hotels we stayed in were ok but not really the promised 4 star but at the price we paid this was hardly surprising. Overall the tour was very good and we saw a lot in a short time. There was however some discontent with the many very expensive shopping stops we were obliged to endure. We realise that this is part of the financing of the tour but these visits were too long and too much hard sell was evident. It was also not explained that on thr return journey we would have to go through security again in Turkey. Most felt that this was unnecessary and did not realise that this was a UK government security requirement. The so-called Gala evening towards the end of the tour was an embarrassing "dance show" featuring a male belly dancer and frankly poor folk dancers. All this being said we have booked another tour with this company and were satisfied with the value for money we recieved

Advertised as a 5 star tour! Well unfortunately it was anything but! We booked this relatively inexpensive holiday thinking bargain! that should’ve been a red flag. Beware the glossy marketing literature! for its content is generalised & open to interpretation. We should have known better. We arrived at our destination airport with no representative from the company to direct us where to go? Finally we found a guide outside of the airport vicinity. Coach allocation proved chaotic with coach numbers getting mixed up, we were herded like sheep. After travelling all day on a basic flight with freebird it was the last thing we needed. So this was the start of the holiday. We arrived at the 3 star hotel. Dinner was served at around 12 midnight, the following morning we were up at 7 o’clock for breakfast, in the coach by 8am so we could start the day’s itinerary! We had no time to unpack clothes or rest before the excursions commenced. This must’ve been particularly difficult & tiring as most of the travellers were over 65 of age on average. First day of the tour was good/bearable, we were glad to be back at the Hotel in the evening so we could rest up. We did Visit various sites of interest, the downside was the lack of the guided actual knowledge and ability to explain the history of the region in a balanced and concise way. Rather giving sway to political bias on the various Greek - Turkish issues, cleverly manipulating the narrative to suit his own Turkish national bias. Not what we wanted to hear from the guide. The guide told us how much to tip him within our first 3 days! Several times! He was rude, bullying & obsessed with making money out of us. He took us to a leather shop, a rug shop and a jewellers, these were not cultural experiences! once inside these premises we were pounced on by swarm of hard nose sales people trying to make us purchase products. Several people felt intimidated. All the products were extremely over priced, ruthless tactics used to entice people to part with their money. On day 6 & 7 the guide sold additional excursions. I witnessed hard nosed selling & intimidation to get pensioners to buy into these extra charge days. It was disgusting to see. Health & safety on the coach and at the second hotel was poor, as was the food choices & quality of food. Definitely would not recommend this tour company. Avoid! Avoid avoid!

Rhodes and the Aegean including the
All senses Nautica Blue hotel

This was my fifth trip with RSD as it was for most of the guests who had travelled with RSD previously and were well aware of the sales pitches at the outlets in Turkey. One guest had purchased 10 carpets on previous visits and I bought a second leather coat. I know of one couple who spent £10,000 previously on wedding rings so for some people it’s a good shopping experience .

We spent our ‘free’ second week at this isolated west coast resort location near the power station and only 20 minutes away from the airport on an extensive rocky beachfront location looking directly out to sea. Dated design and very basic amenities the outdoor pool is tepid and surrounded by sunbeds and beach towels FOC for guests. FRAM the French travel company promotes an animation company to play pop music in front of the pool area which is really annoying if your room is too close.

Extending for over 400m the grounds contain many coloured maisonettes many with stairs and no lifts to the upper floor and is 1 km (only 7 minutes) from the sandy Fanes beach renowned for wind surfing and aero sports but now deserted. Access is just past the Fanes mini port which has been battered by winter storms just beyond the hotel beach with shingle covered in debris.

A useful taverna Akrogiale serves drinks and lunches. This is where the RSD clients not on the fully inclusive hotel package hang out when not on a tour. There are other eateries on Fanes beach but not yet open at this time.

Lots of flies and ants in abundance due to being surrounded by farmland including an aloe Vera farm close by on the access road to the main bus route into Rhodes. The owner is young and charming giving me a one to one tour of all the herb plants and products to buy. I spent 24€ on a variety of items because I enjoyed the experience so much.

The hotel can provide a packed lunch for guests who book all day tours or car hire. Book a day in advance from reception.

Sadly this hotel is rather dated with little kerb appeal as the frontage windows are of the tiny toilet windows. The patio doors however are facing the pool or the sea. Furnishings are the most basic of reception and bar furniture but the outdoor dining terrace has wonderful views and sunsets.

4 or 5 star it is NOT but is charging €15 per night hotel tax when clearly it should be in the 3 star tax rate. The tourist board needs to inspect and downgrade the 5 star rating. This amounts to FRAUD otherwise.

The unattended scruffy hotel beach with sun beds and umbrellas desperately needs cleaning up from the spring storms of flotsam and jetsam.

The food varies from tinned fruit and commercial deli concoctions and no fresh green vegetables to nice traditional Greek specialties alternating with an oriental night and a seafood night.

It was noticeable that croissants only appeared when the French group arrived and they were the only group provided with entertainment in the evening only in French of course.

The special Italian night cuisine was not as advertised on the menu and was decidedly less than acceptable. It was held in the snack bar not in the rustic Italian taverna near the sea which was looking almost derelict.

Soft drinks include fruit squash but not fresh fruit juice. The locally produced alcoholic drinks are noticeably weak and strange tasting. Most guests have found the tonic water leaves an unpleasant taste and smell so bring your own Schweppes and ask the helpful bar staff to put it in the bar fridge.

Altogether an acceptable weeks stay but I wouldn’t pay for full board again at €270 as the food and drinks package is not good value if you spend days away on excursions or book in with friends overnight on other islands accessible by Ferry from Rhodes port such as Symi.

RSD who booked this hotel should have their tour managers stay at the hotels to gain an insight into their guests experience out of season but I was soooo grateful not to be staying at the brutalist tower block that is the Rhodes palace hotel having read their reviews.

Michael our guide for the week was excellent in every way.

The previous week was a succession of excursions to archaeological sites both in Rhodes and Turkey such as Ephesus Afrodisias and Pamukkale all of which were stage managed perfectly and with great humour by Sami with hotels that ticked most people’s boxes.

The only downside was that my suitcase needed repair to the rivets of a broken handle after dragging it along so many rough paths in the large resort accommodation. The rivets holding the now wobbly wheels may not survive another trip.

Frankly I may not be fit enough to lift it without adequate help on such a strenuous programme as this or any other touring company in future but I’ve certainly enjoyed most of RSD holidays.

It was a wonderful holiday what an experience we visited so many beautiful places in such a short time
The experience from airport to coach was so effortless and our guide and coach driver were excellent the guide was so knowledgeable and good fun it made the whole experience amazing
The hotels were extremely good
We have had the most wonderful time although a little tiring

The enforced trip to the Jewellery sales was a nightmare. The manager became incredibly abusive and downright nasty when I wanted to accompany my partner into the high pressure sates room. Totally horrendous man.
The guide complained at length about his tips from the group, which was rude.

Balkans: Lots of coach

I did the Rhodes/Turkey tour 22/4/25-02/05/2025 and enjoyed it. The guide knew his stuff and gave expert briefings on the tours. He explained that no-one had to buy anything at the carpet/jewelry sites and told us to wait in the cafeteria if we didnt want to attend. He looked after us and kept us entertained throughout. The hotel at Pamukkale was very tired though - poor food and ramshackle. The other hotels were ok though. We stayed at All Essences Nautica in Rhodes. It isn't 5 star, more 3 star. The food and drink were good. The staff were friendly and we had a good All Inclusive week for £268. A few people moaned, but frankly, for the price you pay, don't expect The Ritz. I have done six tours with RSD - Turkey (x3), Greece, Northern Cyprus, Croatia)Montenegro/Bosnia and Sri Lanka. You don't get 5 star because you don't pay for 5 star!! Finish off by thanking RSD in general and Mert and Rosie in particular - knowledgeable, kind, funny and Honest.

Spend your time and money on a HOLIDAY !
Ridiculous disjointed itinerary with long travelling times.
Early starts with very poor food offered at breakfast.
Do NOT waste your money on the Gourmet Option. many of the Hotels ? Could not spell it let alone provide it.
The UNESCO sights were often short and hurried, after long travelling times along Routes we had travelled more than four times.
The Diamond/carpet/leather stores are no more than large companies selling very expensive goods at big mark up prices.
The hotels ACCOMODATION generally declined as the days went by.
The food was awful particularly at the last three overnight stops. Some of our fellow travellers rooms were worse than ours.
The trip is a money maker.. cheap accommodation and food?
TIPS feature regularly and the guide went around with an open envelope, which encouraged people to hand over a bit more if a sealed envelope was offered.
I could write a book about this trip, but cannot see the point.
AVOID IT unless you enjoy poor food and long travelling, stopping at dirty roadside toilets and particularly bad hotel overnight stops.
SKOPJE is a beautiful city.. you maybe lucky to have a few hours there, rather being abandoned at other grubby locations.
Our guide was informative, and finally realised Information overload was not always appreciated by a very tired group of passengers..
The only thing that made the trip bearable was a very comfy coach, excellent driver DANNI and some pleasant other travellers.

We are regular travellers with RSD Travel across Europe, Turkey and North Africa. Our most recent holiday was over two weeks; the first week touring by coach around the main archaeological sites along the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts and a second week in a hotel on the coast near Side.
The plus points - very well organised, with an efficient and friendly courier; a wide range of sites experienced and good value for money.
The not so good points - the quality of hotels ranged from excellent down to just about OK; there were a lot of dead miles with this particular itinerary

A great cultural tour of Lycia including ancient history and religious history including very good hotels and a lovely relaxing week to follow in a 5 star hotel.

I would not recommend RSD travel to anyone and will certainly not be using this company ever again. Please read the literature very carefully as although the beautiful UNESCO sites are visited you do not get nearly enough time to explore (barely 2 hours in each place), with the focus being on the HARD sell at carpet, jewel and leather factories. This seems to be a common theme among most of their offered tours! The merchants at these factories hone in on the most vulnerable and take rhem into separate rooms to “seal the deal”. ENGAGE WITH THEM AT YOUR PERIL!

The travel rep was rude and as far as I am aware “tips” are exactly that - optional and discretionary for good service, not something to be demand or constantly reminded about as a focal point over the mic throughout the trip! He also made a point of requesting customers take whiskey across the border for him, buying 8-10 bottles. Pretty sure this practice is illegal!! At the jewellery factory our tour guide made a comment about the smell of money on the coach as people had not bought enough goods in the factory! He made fat shaming comments about a runner outside on our way to Ephesus - this was very shocking and not very professional! I refused to “tip” such a rude and arrogant man.

At every point it seemed like an opportunity to con people out of as much money as they could. What appears a decently priced experience became less so as more and more “extras are added at every opportunity!

The last “free” week was not free at all if you opted for the “all inclusive” option. Price of room and all inclusive package for our “5 star” hotel was actually seriously cheaper on booking.com than RSD were charging for the food and drink package only. The reps continually hard promoted the additional week food and drinks package and asked for this package to be paid in cash! We were in the middle of nowhere but managed to find some decent restaurants on foot and also hired a car and found some really lovely places which cost us much less!

The 5* hotel had sadly seen better days and was definitely only 3* at best but we still had to pay another 105 euros on top for the 5* city taxes!!

I will never again travel with a company who do not tell you where you are staying before you travel in order to upsell their food and drinks packages or give you the opportunity to check out the reviews for yourself.

Absolutely Appalling – A Scam Disguised as a Holiday! Avoid RSD Travel at All Costs
This was, without a doubt, the worst holiday experience of our lives – and we're speaking on behalf of more than 100 people in our group. RSD Travel should not be allowed to operate. Their deceptive, disrespectful, and discriminatory practices are utterly unacceptable, and what we experienced during our 15-day holiday to Turkey and Rhodes was closer to fraud than tourism.
Here's a breakdown of just some of the countless issues:
• Blatant Lies from Day One: We were told our flight to Rhodes was delayed due to “bad weather.” This was false. We checked and found more than 10 other flights had landed with no problem. It became clear they were stalling to combine groups from Germany, Manchester, and London.
• Missing First Day & Meal: Our first day – including dinner – was simply scrapped with no explanation or compensation.
• Disrespectful Tour Leaders: Rude and dismissive, especially towards elderly passengers. We were constantly rushed, spoken down to, and treated with zero respect.
• Discriminatory Treatment: German travellers were accommodated in a proper 5-star hotel (Rhodes Palace Hotel), while the British and Irish passengers were dumped in a rundown 2-star resort (All Senses Nautica Blue Resort & Spa). The contrast was so blatant it felt racist.
• Itinerary Manipulation: The planned sightseeing was cut short to make time for stops at overpriced factories (carpets, leather, jewellery), where passengers were pressured to buy. This was clearly arranged for commission.
• Forced Tipping: Tour leaders demanded tips in advance and publicly shamed those who didn’t pay.
• Appalling Hotel Conditions:
o No water pressure or hot water
o Isolated location, far from the city
o No WiFi in rooms
o Unclean rooms with unchanged sheets
o Only two teenagers managing housekeeping
o No lift access, awful food, poor hygiene
• No Medical Support: When someone needed urgent medicine, we were told to walk for an hour – no help, no transport.
• Chaotic Check-In: In Rhodes, they failed to organise group check-in, leaving 200 elderly passengers queuing in the rain while staff scrambled with our passports.
• Shuttle Scam: We were told to pay €12 per person for a shuttle that only operated for two days out of seven.
• Overpriced Excursions: Sightseeing tours and boat trips sold for €60-€70, which were available locally for €20-€30.
• RSD Disowned Their Own Tour: When we requested a meeting in Rhodes, the local rep claimed he wasn’t even affiliated with RSD and proceeded to rant about his own health issues before yelling at us.
• False Advertising – The ‘5-Star’ Resort:
o In reality, a tired 2-star resort
o One hour from town
o Cold indoor pool with no changing rooms
o €25 fee to use the sauna and showers
o No seafood, barely edible food
o No international standards whatsoever
• Hidden Charges:
o Council tax of €105 (€15 per night)
o Advanced payment of £270 for food – we later discovered the hotel charges only around €50 per night including food
o Hotel manager confirmed he never received this money – where did it go?
• Health & Safety Concerns: Unsafe facilities, no proper staff, constant complaints ignored.
• No RSD Support: Promises of daily reps on-site were false. No support, no help, no interest.
• Fake Compensation Scheme: When people complain, they’re given a £500 voucher – a trap to push you into booking another holiday and spending more money.
In Summary:
This was not a luxury or cultural holiday. It was a bait-and-switch operation, designed to extract as much money as possible while delivering the bare minimum – if that. We were lied to, manipulated, overcharged, and mistreated throughout.
We have collected extensive evidence (photos, videos, receipts, recordings) and will be submitting official complaints to UK and EU consumer protection bodies, as well as tourist boards and watchdogs.
DO NOT BOOK WITH RSD. They are not a travel company. They are a sales funnel disguised as a tour operator. If I could give zero stars, I would. They deserve public investigation, not customers.

There's a lot of coach travel involved - about 1500 km. Some early starts and late arrivals at hotels. The gourmet package is essential to avoid going hungry in the evenings but don't expect gourmet food. Hotel standards are variable from good to poor. Had a great time despite some shortcomings. Great value.

RSD Travel

Andrea H
This was our first time holidaying with RSD Travel and we would certainly go on holiday with them again. The trips were well organised and the tour guides and drivers were very helpful and knowledgeable. Staff at all the hotels were also helpful and nothing was too much trouble.

This was a long anticipated trip to North Cyprus with RSD. It was packed full of interesting sites - Crusader castles, churches, monasteries, mosques and archaeological sites. Our guide was informative, supportive and funny with his anecdotes. Would thoroughly recommend this trip.

Just completed a magnificent eight day cultural tour of 4 of the Balkan countries with RSD Visting Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia. Overall cost for two of £1038 is exceptional value for money and included flights, accommodation and half board. Difficult to put into words how spectacular the countryside and mountain views are as you travel from country to country. So as not to mislead it was not perfection all the way as one or two of the hotels could have been better in particular the food and some of the lengths of staying areas could have been longer eg the wonderful Bay of Kotor. In conclusion however this is definitely tour I would recommend and we will definitely looking for other RSD tours to experience.

Currently on the second week of the 15 day Rhodes and Aegean Tour with my partner, fantastic experience and outstanding value for money. Excellent opportunity to visit heritage sites and access to local culture. Our our week one tour guide Gulchin (Rosie) was wonderful, informative and engaging and made it a trip to remember. We are now enjoying the second week in a lovely hotel. Highly recommend.

We are a married couple and have the same surname. We booked together on one booking. When we arrived to check in, we were given seats not together and not even in the same row. The airline said the seat allocation was the tour operator’s responsibility. So for the 7 hr flight to Dubai and then the 8 hour flight to Shanghai, we are not together. Maybe some married couples would be happy with that, we are not. This is not a good start to a long awaited holiday.
Although RSD replied and said that the allocation of seats was not in their power, we spoke to 2 Emirates employees who said that RSD could allocate seats and Emirates only do it if RSD don’t do it by the deadline they are given. This may seem like a small insignificant detail but it is important to customers and worth attention to such a detail. It is something that would be a deal breaker, especially for 4 long haul flights (2x7 hrs and 2x8 hrs).

The tours , accommodation and hotels were amazing.. our tour guide (Rosie) were amazing. Will definitely be using RDS again.

Our tour guide Barsac was always friendly and helpful. The itinerary was excellent and all the hotels were comfortable and served good food.