brightwaterholidays.com Reviews 

Enjoyed the holiday despite some failings

Plus...Gardens were lovely, guide was good.

Minus .. Some of the gardens were a long drive.
The hotel was fair, meals not so good, especially if you are vegetarian, no choice, stodgy and barely any vegetables.
No hot water for first two days in room

With just 4 weeks to they are unable to state where the flight leaves from and what time it leaves means I am unable to plan how to get to an airport.
Just a little worrying about this set up.
Otherwise booking was smooth and quick

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the Isles of Scilly. Mike Nelham was a perfect host - not only for his obvious knowledge of The Abbey Gardens on Tresco but as a former resident of some forty years or so, he was able to teach us about the history, politics and life on the islands. However, some of our group did have problems with their mobility and appeared not to have heeded the warning:

“ Please note - Walking Fitness
Due to the limited public transport, we believe it fair to remind passengers that a degree of mobility is required to get the most out of your visit to the Scilly Islands as most of the tour will be on foot.”

Mobility is important - the Star Castle Hotel is at the top of a steep bank and access to the boat trips is via steep steps at the moorings. All of the islands visited involved a degree of walking. Perhaps Brightwater should ask questions about guests’ mobility when accepting bookings.

Quick easy booking by phone. All questions answered. I have had several Brightwater holidays, most recently in July 2026,all excellent.

Whole holiday went without a hitch .
Horticulturist Julia was excellent.
Coach spotless and driver very pleasant .
Gardens were superb
Whole group got on

Wonderful guide- Carol was great
Excellent bus driver
Was a great tour

Sarah phoned me back after I e-mailed a query and was very helpful and resolved all my queries. However I did try to get through to your office on 2 occasions without success because of the volume of calls, despite hanging on for several minutes, so perhaps the company needs more booking staff at busy periods.

I have spoken to several people while booking the holiday and everyone has been extremely helpful.

The hoiday lived up to the expectations as described in the brochure. The travel was well organised. The guide, Alistair, was excellent. He was knowledgeable and was able to share his information in an interesting way.

Responsive to questions

I really enjoyed visiting the ancient sites and learning about the history of The Shetland and Orkney Islands.
I did feel however that the tour was crammed into four days rather than using the fifth day. It would have been much more enjoyable to have more time in Kirkwall on the last day of the tour with a later flight back to Aberdeen. The hotels and David ( our tour guide), were excellent.

Booking process was relatively easy on line. Thank you

I have already sent you a review!
I was very satisfied with the holiday,I enjoyed it immensely!
Everything was perfect!

It is good to have such knowledgeable and friendly tour guides. Both the coach driver and David the tour guide were very helpful to me as I took my rolater with me.

The website is almost impossible to use. The filters just do not work. Nothing is in a sensible order. I eventually managed to open the garden tours section but then had to trawl through several pages of tours before I located the one I wanted. Booking was not then difficult however. I hope the tour.ives up to the reviews

A brief but well organised tour of Cheshire gardens. The tour leader was excellent and the use of time equally so. We had sufficient time in each of the six gardens visited to appreciate each one with no rush.

The guide was superb, as was the driver.
All but one of the gardens were fascinating.

Easy to book & pay. Friendly person on the phone.

I filled out the “contact us” tab on your website requesting details about a holiday. There was no response so I phoned. I had to chase up for details to be sent by email and to book. I waited for a week before again chasing up my booking confirmation including a receipt for payment as I was beginning to think I had been scammed. Eventually my details were sent and I am really looking forward to my holiday. I just hope it runs a bit more smoothly.