Behind the curtain of the spiritual Islam: A glance of Saudi Arabia

Customer Reviews

• JV

  Jane

  · February 26th, 2024
  I thoroughly enjoyed the tour of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Considering this was a budget tour, the hotels, clean, comfortable rooms and bathrooms with good breakfasts. As we were only a group of 4 we travelled by car with a guide/driver. Salman in Riyadh was exceptional. What I appreciated most was the availability of Neis via WhatsApp or email. We had the odd hiccup which could be easily resolved. Great customer service. If opting for the Bahrain extension and traveling across the border by road, its very easy to obtain the visa at the border and you can even pay with Saudi currency – which is widely accepted in Bahrain. Tours in Bahrain are limited or quite costly, but we found it easy to get around to the places we wanted to see with Uber – efficient and reasonable prices. As I didn’t have global roaming I purchased an Esim in both of the countries – also simple and cheap.
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  Penguin Travel commented on this review

  Thank you for the feedback. We will be looking forward to having you on another tour in the future
  Trip date: February 2024
• GN

  Glen

  · December 2nd, 2023
  The itinerary includes some wonderful sites, particularly in Al Ula. We've given an average rating because of recurring issues around the tour plan and schedule, which wasted a lot of valuable time. We found that extremely rating every day. One example: a schedule change meant a full day travel to Al Ula. Rather than put us on a bus all day, we started with the high speed train from Jeddah to Medina (a good idea) , but once there we waited an hour and a half at Medina train station for the bus to arrive. The first stop was a Museum we could have easily gone to by a five minute cab ride but instead we wasted time which took time away from the most interesting sites in Medina, including the Mosque of the Prophet which became a frustrating 25 minute pit stop. Other examples were kiling 45 minutes at a square of coffee shops in Riyadh after we'd just had breakfast , waiting for a venue to open, Again this short changed us on more interesting venues later. In Jeddah we waited 40 minutes for a currency exchange to open because we arrived too early, again short changing us on other sites that afternoon. The Saudi guides accompanying us were efficient at meeting us at the airport but quite distant and uncommunicative and had to be prodded about the schedule so we knew what to expect, and the times involved. To their credit, their choices of restaurants for lunch and dinner were excellent. Hotels were basic and clean -- except for Al Ula where changes placed us in the Orange Hotel which was not even officially open yet. Arriving at 11:00 pm, rooms did not have towels or toilet paper, and some had no hot water. Fortunately the Al Ula site visits are the most interesting on the tour, and the guides who worked with us at those venues were far superior to the ones assigned to our tour. One definite plus was the optional tour arranged to visit the Edge of the World outside of Riyadh which was an excellent, well run tour with a local Saudi company/driver. On balance we enjoyed the trip but again we found the guides' inexperience limiting, and the Penguin Travel co-ordinator assigned to the tour, while very pleasant, had never been to Saudi Arabia before and therefore had no experience to address the poor planning from the Saudi guides.On balance, we enjoyed the trip but tours we arranged before and after in other countries in the region were far better executed and enjoyable. I would be very cautious about using Penguin Travel again.
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  Penguin Travel commented on this review

  Hello Glen, Thank you for your thorough feedback. We are sorry to hear you were not completely satisfied with our services. We are looking into the situations you have mentioned and will take your comments seriously to make sure we do better in the... Show more
  Trip date: November 2023
• SU

  Susan

  · December 2nd, 2023
  The tour was fascinating. The local guides were not good. They did not convey information or correctly anticipate timing of events, etc. Dimityr was very nice.
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  Penguin Travel commented on this review

  Thank you for the feedback. We will take your comments into consideration and make sure we do better in the future. We will be looking forward to having you on another trip with us.
  Trip date: November 2023
• CR

  Christian

  · November 26th, 2023
  The Guesthouse Orange Resort Al Ula was only basic bungalows without hot water! The Breakfast must come by catering! For the high price is this an very bad Tour!
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  Penguin Travel commented on this review

  Thank you for your feedback. We are sorry to hear some parts of the tour did not meet your expectations. We hope you still enjoyed the trip overall and enjoyed the other aspects of it. If you would like to share more details about your trip, please... Show more
  Trip date: November 2023
• E

  Eugene

  · December 14th, 2022
  A wonderful tour, pretty full on .. on the go daily. More like a glimpse of Saudi Arabia. Enjoyed Al Ula, Madain Saleh, an amazing site.
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  Penguin Travel commented on this review

  Thank you for your feedback, we're happy to hear you enjoyed your tour. We will be looking forward to having you on another tour with us in the future.
  Trip date: November 2022
• S

  stefano

  · December 6th, 2022
  Really very interesting experience in visiting this 'secret' country newly opened to tourism. I appreciate above all the Desert experience in Hegra and the stunning elephant rock. Good food and good organization resulted in a beautiful week. Our leader made every effort to get us satisfied, It's a hard work though! Personally Taif is not woth visiting, I would rather spend one more day to explore the desert.
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  Trip date: November 2022
• M

  MMosaed

  · December 2nd, 2022
  Wonderful tour and saw the sites I intended to see. I give this tour five stars solely on its price, which is at least twice less compared to other tour operators offering tours in Saudi Arabia at this time. For price alone, please consider this tour.
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  Penguin Travel commented on this review

  Thank you for your feedback, it's much appreciated. We will be looking forward to having you on another tour with us in the future.
  Trip date: November 2022
• 

  Tiffany

  · November 29th, 2022
  Overall this tour was amazing! Packed full of experiences all over the country. I recommend this tour for the iconic EDGE OF THE WORLD, I recommend Elephant Rock. The palaces, the food, the new modernized Saudi and the new Prince providing ease with travel now. I would definitely recommend this tour. The only thing that kept me from giving an excellent was that several of the tour guides had zero information for us. They did not seem knowledgeable about the land or were not trying to share. The excitement and knowledge was not there. The personalities were not adequate for quides. Other then that the tour was amazing. Do your own research before you go until the guides can fulfill that part. Take this tour!
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  Penguin Travel commented on this review

  Thank you for your feedback. We will be looking forward to having you on another tirp with us in the future.
  Trip date: November 2022
• PC

  Paolo

  · November 29th, 2022
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  Jeddah: very beautiful the old city and the mosque on the water. Ryad: beautiful the KING TOWER and the desert hike where there are rocks and the wonderful view from the top. Alalula: spectacular the Concert building with the mirrors reflecting the mountains around. Beautiful old Alalula and also nice cafes and restaurants area. It was pious to see Arab women who are more emancipated than in more fundamentalist Arab countries like Yemen or Pakistan. The extension in Barhain is worth it only because you are already close, otherwise it says nothing. Best regards Paul
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  Penguin Travel commented on this review

  Thank you for your feedback, we are happy to hear you enjoyed your tour.
  Trip date: November 2022
• A

  Anonymous

  · November 28th, 2022
  A very enjoyable tour with Penguin - Behind the curtain of the spiritual Islam: A glance of Saudi Arabia (8 Days). Highlights were the two full days spent exploring the UNESCO sites of Al Ula, and encounters with locals in and around the Old Town! The itinerary was excellent, spending the appropriate number of days in each location, yet the tour leader was very flexible in allowing the group to negotiate whether they wanted to spend more or less time in a certain location. The Penguin guide (Nesi) was very very organized and friendly, and it was a real privilege to tour the country with her! She was very accommodating and wanted to make the trip memorable for everyone. The local guides were at times disorganized, but this is quite normal for a country still young in tourism. I appreciated having the opportunity to explore such a country on a traveller’s budget, and was happy to be flexible with some of the unknowns that come with that! Accommodation was superb. I was impressed with the quality of hotels selected for the tour! Well done! The itinerary was exactly as described, and the tour was expertly organized. With Saudi Arabia opening up only recently, of course there were small issues with communication along the way, but one must be flexible and patient in these regions. I wasn’t bothered by many of the minor issues in communication. The group was quite large, but Nesi was very good at managing so that everyone had time with the group, and could also go off independently and have time away from the group. I really enjoyed my tour with Penguin, and absolutely plan on booking another in 2023! I appreciate being able to travel extremely expensive countries on a fair budget, and Penguin enabled me to do that this year! Thank you to all of the amazing staff at Penguin for organizing a great trip and for making my time in KSA one never to be forgotten!
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  Penguin Travel commented on this review

  Thank you for your feedback, it's much appreciated. We will be looking forward to having you on another trip with us in the future
  Trip date: November 2022