Audley Travel Review 2026: Prices From £3,400, Who Owns It and a Record Score of 82

Audley Travel scores 82/100 as a company record: a private tailor-made operator founded in 1996, owned by 3i since 2016, with 13 priced trips between £3,400 and £19,750 per person, a Trustpilot score of 4.9 from 5,022 reviews and ATOL 4817 with ABTOT 5297. Below: who owns Audley and how the ownership is structured, what the trips cost, the booking terms, the support on the ground, the review record and the gaps, each line sourced and dated.

Verified 25 September 2026 · audleytravel.com protection, office and trip pages · Companies House · AITO and USTOA · Trustpilot · Skift and Travel Market Report

How Audley Travel scores: 82 out of 100

Audley Travel scores 82 out of 100: full marks for review evidence and financial protection, strong on planning, and weakest on support inside the destination. Its Power Rankings score of 79 was set on an older rubric that included brand authority; the rankings will be recalculated from these records.

Audley is strongest where evidence is easiest to check: a very large and recent review base, numbered protection in both markets and prices on almost every trip page. It loses its points in the destination, where the site describes remote planning from Witney, London and Boston and a claimed 24-hour line without printing a number for it.

The evidence record

The record holds 20 facts about Audley Travel, each with its source and grade. Grade A means the company's own site or terms; grade B means a registry, review platform, awarding body or major press. Every line was read on 25 September 2026 unless its source says otherwise.

Who owns Audley Travel?

Audley Travel is owned by the private equity firm 3i, through Boketto Bidco Limited, which Companies House has recorded as holding 75% or more of Audley Travel Group Limited since 6 April 2016.

Craig Burkinshaw and John Brewer founded the business in 1996 as Asian Journeys; it became Audley Travel in 2001. Equistone Partners Europe backed it from 2012, and 3i lists Audley as a current investment made in 2015. A detailed Skift analysis of 1 September 2026 says 3i holds 48% of the group's shares and most of about £434 million of shareholder loan notes, that it hired bankers to explore a sale in October 2024, and that it shelved the auction by April 2025 after rejecting the offers.

The two percentages describe different layers of a holding structure: 75% or more of the operating company sits with 3i's vehicle, while Skift's 48% refers to the wider group. Richard Hodgson became chief executive on 23 March 2026, succeeding Nick Longman; chairman Richard Prosser described 2025 as the company's "most successful and profitable year to date", per Travel Market Report.

How much does an Audley Travel trip cost?

Audley prices its sample trips between £3,400 per person for 11 days in the Cape winelands, flights and car hire included, and £19,750 for 14 days in Bhutan, with most trips of nine to 16 days between £3,400 and £6,750. All prices below were read on 25 September 2026 and are per person, from.

The Grape Escape page lists what the price includes: scheduled international flights, an insured hire car, four nights in Cape Town and four in Franschhoek, and 24-hour support while travelling. No season or travel date is shown beside the prices.

Audley Travel booking terms and financial protection

Audley Travel Group Limited holds ATOL 4817 and ABTOT membership 5297, and US bookings are covered by USTOA membership, which Audley joined in December 2016.

The financial protection page explains that ABTOT covers non-flight packages, and that bookings made from outside the UK are covered only when bought directly from the UK company. The US terms set the deposit per quotation and the balance normally at least eight weeks before departure. The UK booking conditions sit in a PDF that our reader could not open; the US scale is below.

Support on the ground

Audley plans trips from Witney, London and Boston and arranges local guides and drivers in each country; it claims "24/7 emergency UK support while abroad" but prints no separate number for it.

The main UK line, 01993 838 925, is staffed Monday to Thursday until 20:00, Friday until 17:00 and 10:00 to 18:00 at weekends. The Grape Escape lists "24-hour support while you travel" as an inclusion. No Audley office abroad is named, and no page says that Audley staff travel with clients.

What Audley Travel reviews say

Audley Travel holds 4.9 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 5,022 reviews, on a profile it claimed in 2014, with the newest review posted within a day of the read.

AITO's own review system gives 89% from 62 reviews, the newest dated 14 August 2026. The Boston business is BBB accredited with an A+ grade. The Condé Nast Traveller, Which? and Wanderlust awards listed on the About page were not confirmed at the awarding bodies for this record.

Who Audley Travel suits, and who it does not

Audley suits independent travellers who want a private itinerary planned by a named specialist who knows the country, travelling without a guide on every day, and who want flights and protection in the same booking.

It is less suited to someone who wants a group departure, which Audley does not run, or who wants a company office in the destination. Our safari comparison found its £3,400 the lowest published entry price of the three companies compared, and many of its trips of nine to 14 days sit between £3,400 and £4,400.

Where Audley Travel stands on Uncompromised Travel

Audley Travel appears on three ranked Uncompromised Travel pages.

Alternatives to Audley Travel to compare

The closest alternatives are Scott Dunn for private tailor-made travel with a published 24-hour number, Kuoni for package holidays, and Steppes Travel or Cox & Kings for small groups.

What this record does not show

Six things a buyer would want could not be found or verified for Audley Travel. Supplying a verifiable source closes a gap; it changes the evidence, never the rubric.

What changed at Audley Travel in 2025 and 2026

The biggest changes at Audley in 2025 and 2026 were a shelved sale, a record trading year and a new chief executive from outside travel.