Monkeys and Mountains Hiking & Adventure Travel -

Megan S

I can’t say enough positive things about our experience with Monkeys and Mountains (and specifically with the owner, Laurel). It has been a crazy year and half to try and plan a trek, but Laurel consistently communicated with us about updates and recommendations. She was super flexible and always gave us multiple options to cancel, postpone, or try a different trip. We could tell that she genuinely cared about us being able to go on our trip.

At the last minute, we had to switch from hiking the TMB to the Via Dinarica trek since France and Switzerland hadn’t fully opened to tourists. Laurel cancelled our TMB accommodations and booked our Via Dinarica trek within several days- a lot of work on her part, without charging us anything extra. And the 10-day Via Dinarica trip was amazing! It was a little pricier since you have a private guide, but it was well worth it. The trails in that area are just starting to be marked, so we relied heavily on our guide for navigation. Another perk was that he spoke fluent Albanian, which almost everyone in the mountains spoke, so we could stop and meet people along the way and actually communicate. Our hosts in each location were so kind and generous, and we ate so much delicious food everyday. I often worry about being hungry on treks since you burn so many calories hiking, but I think I actually gained a few pounds on this one!

We are so grateful to everyone who made our trip great! We highly recommend Monkeys and Mountains and Laurel!

French with Mr Innes

My Dad and I have had two excellent treks organised by Monkeys and Mountains in partnership with local agency, Allibert. Laurel and Tiffany have been extremely helpful in organising our itinerary in advance, especially picking the best refuges with beautiful walks from one to the next. Would thoroughly recommend their Tour du Mont Blanc and Dolomites treks!

Ehud kahn

It was a great experience to do the TMB. With the detailed and comprehensive help and support from Monkeys and Mountains it was much easier and fun to get prepared for this epic trip. Highly recommend!

Steve Aldrich

Laurel at Monkeys and Mountains was fantastic to work with! We originally booked the 10-Day self-guided TMB trip in December 2019 for Summer 2020. This was after Laurel made herself available for a phone conversation to answer my questions about some details of the trip to which she followed up our conversation with a detailed email with suggestions for other bookend itineraries we could plan for our family; this level of customer service was fantastic! As COVID-19 gripped the world in 2020, Laurel periodically updated us as to the evolving status up our 2020 trip would be and as the world shut down, she gave us an option for a full refund of the trip that we had already paid in full or the option to defer our trip to 2021. We opted to defer to 2021. Again, as Winter turned to Spring of 2021 Laurel stayed in regular communication about the prospects for travel in Europe Summer 2021 and what impacts it may have on our trip. Ultimately, with some unknowns regarding travel and COVID-19 for Summer 2021 and children who are not old enough to be vaccinated, we decided to cancel our now deferred TMB trip that was to have taken place Summer 2021. Upon receiving this news, Laurel was very understanding of the difficult choices facing travelers and despite an extraordinarily difficult time to be in the travel industry, Laurel continued to honor the Monkeys and Mountains terms and conditions and will refund back all our money except our 25% deposit. This 17 months after we originally paid for the trip. I doubt Cruise lines or other large travel companies would offer such a refund unless contingent upon using it as a voucher for future travel. In short, we did not get to go on our bucket-list hike on the TMB (yet). But working with Monkeys and Mountains made this sad cancellation a very positive experience that left me feeling good about our decision and this company. Despite not having traveled through Monkeys and Mountains before, I would not hesitate at all to book with them again!

Steven Bellerose

Monkeys and Mountains did a great job planning and scheduling our trip to Mont Blanc. The hikes were amazing with really clear maps and directions. The accommodations were all terrific. Pricing was very reasonable and overall the trip was a great value. The team at Monkeys and Mountains did a terrific job answering all our questions. The packing lists and the trip blog were super helpful. I would highly recommend Monkeys and Mountains for any kind of self guided adventure travel

Jadeene Wheaton

This was our first trip with Monkeys and Mountains Adventure Travel and I would have to say it was very well organized! It was also our first self guided tour so we didn't know what to expect. The hotel we stayed in Levanto was amazing. The accommodations were more than we expected. The hotel staff were extremely friendly and accommodating. There was a shuttle to take us into and back from town. The location was set on the hillside so provided beautiful views. The meals were exceptional and we especially enjoyed the pool after a busy day of hiking and sightseeing. The directions on the self guided tour were very easy to follow and highlighted sights we should see. Although, we did run into some closed trails and had to adjust our itinerary but it was fairly minor. Overall, we were extremely satisfied with Monkeys & Mountain Adventure Travel and would highly recommend travel with them.

Daniel Dorer

Have been with Gasper and Fasil on Lemoshu 8 day track, was really a life highlight and everything from monkey support up to the local guides and porters was well arranged and organized, people were friendly and encouraging, of course we made it to the top with them and will always look back with a smile 🙂

Sibylle Westbrook

I would highly recommend Monkeys and Mountains Adventure Travel. I went on the guided tour “The Magic of Madagascar” and could not be happier with my experience. The organization of the trip was superb - our guides were all phenomenal, knowledgable, kind people willing to go above and beyond. The accommodations highly exceeded my expectations. Laurel made sure that this ecotour benefitted not only local wildlife (no pet lemurs!) but also locals who are crucial in conservation. We visited a woodcarving workshop and a zebu horn workshop and bought plenty of souvenirs there, supporting businesses of artisan tradition that provide employment for many. We got to engage with school children on our Volunteer Day and to make lemur enrichments at a Lemur Rescue Center. A part of my heart will always be in Madagascar now. All in all it was the trip of a lifetime.