Steppes Travel Review 2026: Expert-Led Groups, Prices, Who Owns It and a Record Score of 87

Steppes Travel scores 87/100 as a company record, the highest of the tour operators recorded so far: the Cirencester specialist founded by Nick Laing in 1989 is still owned by him, sells tailor-made trips and expert-led groups capped at 15, prices its itineraries with dates and named hotels, and holds ATOL 6945 and ABTOT 5488. Below: who owns Steppes, who plans and leads the trips, what they cost, the booking terms, the support on the ground, the review record and the gaps, each line sourced and dated.

Verified 25 September 2026 · steppestravel.com team, protection and itinerary pages · Booking conditions v2 · Companies House · AITO and LATA · Trustpilot

How Steppes Travel scores: 87 out of 100

Steppes Travel scores 87 out of 100: full marks for planning, pricing and financial protection, strong reviews, and one clear weakness, a 24-hour support promise without a number behind it. It is not on our Power Rankings; the rankings will be recalculated from these records.

Steppes publishes what most tailor-made companies keep for the sales call: dated departures, the supplement for travelling alone, the maximum group size and the hotels, night by night. It is a smaller business than the household names on our older rankings, and on the evidence it outscores every company recorded so far.

The evidence record

The record holds 19 facts about Steppes 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 Steppes Travel?

Steppes Travel is independent and owned by its founder: Companies House lists Nicholas Laing as the only person with significant control of Steppes Travel Ltd, holding between 25% and 50% of the shares and votes.

Laing founded the business in 1989, according to the company; the current company was incorporated in 1997 and was once called The Steppes Group Limited. Justin Wateridge has been managing director since 2012. No investor, parent company or sale was found in the register or the press.

Who plans and leads a Steppes trip

Steppes names 36 people on its team, among them former rangers, guides and camp managers, and puts named experts and hosts in charge of its expert-led group departures.

The writer Chris Aslan leads Uzbekistan in Winter: Artisans of the Silk Road; the broadcaster Kate Humble hosts a Galápagos cruise limited to 15 Steppes clients; the photographer Paul Goldstein leads trips to Brazil's Pantanal. Managing director Justin Wateridge traces his interest in travel to growing up in Zambia. Three Steppes specialists were named in Condé Nast Traveller's Top Travel Specialists for 2025, according to the company's blog.

How much does a Steppes Travel trip cost?

Steppes prices its trips between £3,695 per person for 12 days in Uzbekistan in December 2026 and £24,238 for a 28-day voyage to Antarctica's Ross Sea, excluding international flights. Prices below were read on 25 September 2026, per person, from.

Group departures publish the single supplement and the cap: £495 and 15 guests on the Uzbekistan trip, read on 24 September 2026. Tailor-made itineraries name the hotels; Galapagos Islands by Land uses Montemar, Finch Bay Hotel, Pikaia Lodge, Scalesia Lodge and Galapagos Safari Camp, and Highlights of Kenya uses Lewa Safari Camp, Kicheche Mara Camp and Kinondo Kwetu. One weakness: the Antarctica page still showed voyages dated January and February 2026, and one from February 2025, as current offers, including the Ross Sea voyage at £24,238.

Steppes Travel booking terms and financial protection

Steppes Travel holds ATOL 6945 and ABTOT membership 5488, takes a deposit of at least 30% and wants the balance 12 weeks before departure.

The ATOL number is printed in the booking conditions and in AITO's listing, but not on the financial protection page, which mentions the scheme without the number. Steppes is also an AITO member, number 5233.

A scale this steep is common where cabins and group places are committed early, as on polar voyages. Amendments cost £50 per person plus any supplier charges.

Support on the ground

Steppes promises "24/7 support while you're away" but prints only office-hours numbers: 01285 880 980, Monday to Thursday 09:00 to 17:30 and Friday 09:00 to 17:00.

The one 24-hour number on the site, 01702 811397, is ABTOT's helpline for travellers stranded by the company's own financial failure, not a line for problems on the trip. On expert-led groups, the named host travels with the group; tailor-made trips rely on local guides.

What Steppes Travel reviews say

Steppes Travel holds 4.7 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 221 reviews, on a profile claimed in 2023, with the newest a day before the read.

Travelstride shows 5 out of 5 from ten reviews, the newest from May 2018. No Feefo profile exists. The homepage also claims a 2026 Condé Nast listing, which could not be confirmed; the 2025 listing is documented on the company's blog.

Who Steppes Travel suits, and who it does not

Steppes suits experienced travellers heading somewhere specialist, from Central Asia and the polar regions to the Galápagos and East Africa, who want either a tailor-made trip or a small group led by a named expert.

It suits less well someone who wants a 24-hour number for the trip itself, or who may need to cancel late: from 84 days before departure the charge is 100%.

Where Steppes Travel stands on Uncompromised Travel

Steppes Travel is not yet on a ranked Uncompromised Travel page; this record is its first full assessment on the site.

Alternatives to Steppes Travel to compare

The closest alternatives are Wild Frontiers and Cox & Kings for small groups, Audley Travel for private tailor-made travel, and Natural Habitat Adventures for expert-led nature trips.

What this record does not show

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

What changed at Steppes Travel, 2024 to 2026

The changes at Steppes were in the product: updated terms, a new kind of China tour and a run of expert-led departures into 2028.