10 Mar 2019
Booked this tour as we had not had the opportunity to use the trains and wanted to do this scenic ride. We paid £90 for the 2 of us but that did not include entry into Hortons Plain which was another £33.
Driver was excellent and took us up some pretty tricky roads very carefully. The walk around the plains was enjoyable even if the weather didn't fully play it's part with the visibility at Worlds End. Our driver accompanied us on the walk and was helpful though not necessarily insightful.
We then set off for the train journey. On the website we were informed that we would be travelling from Nanu Oya to Ella, when in fact we were taken to Ohiya which is about half the distance / experience than expected. We arrived at 11.30, with a train due at 11.48, to be told that we could not get on as it as reservations only. This meant we had to wait 2 hours for the 13.48 train. Our driver also waited as he couldn't purchase the tickets sooner than 10 minutes before the train arrived. We were given 2nd class tickets that cost 25p each and had to fight it out in a crammed carriage, whilst another reserved carriage stayed half empty.
This is where I question the value. What i am getting in benefits for using this company? I thought at least they would be able to book an advanced ticket for us or gain some advantage, but clearly not. Couple that with the fact that we didn't even go to the station we expected, I would advise people to just get a car and driver and buy your own train ticket. You'll probably reduce this cost by 50%.