haztok

My wife and I are in are 50's and in good shape (exercise jog, ride bikes etc). We have decided to take a tour with nice hotels for the first time. We have travelled on our own in the past in China in the 1980's when there were few tourist but now we want a few luxuries. Could you give me feedback on any of the following tour companies

Imaginative traveller
Intrepid
Asianventure
discovery indochina
OAT
smart tours
GATE 1

We don't want to spend mega bucks on the real expensive tours.

thanks

thursdaysd

I've traveled with Intrepid, Gate1 and OAT. Intrepid (Silk Road, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia) - great itineraries, great prices, variable guides. I've done basic & original styles, and in no way would I say the accomodations were luxurious. The new comfort style is likely to be better.

Gate1 (Egypt) - mddle of the road

OAT (Thailand) - once was more than enough. Bad planning, bored guide, hotels outside town.

You might also look at Adventures Abroad, I haven't traveled with them, but they sound good. But really, for Vietnam, no need for a tour. If you traveled in China on your own in the 80s, Vietnam will be a breeze.

Kathie

I agree that you can easily do VN on your own. Doing it on your own will mean you can afford a few more luxuries as well!

rhkkmk

we used asia trails based in bangkok and they did a fabulous job for us in vietnam and it was very cheap....we did it all on the web....they have some standard tours and i used it and just tweeked it for our likes

connette

We have gone twice with Asianventures and are going with them again next month. We regard them highly. If you click on my name you will see some previous posts I have made on them. We checked with about 4 or so of their references before we used them - all good. We have referred a few others and they were also pleased. They were able to secure hotels, etc. for us for less than we could have gotten them on for on discount sites. Very reliable. We met them in person in Hanoi.

dperry

The only tour I've ever taken was to Vietnam through Friendly Planet. It was excellent. I took it earlier this year with friends. You could not get this value by booking on your own.
Because I had been to Vietnam before, I did not go on all activities with the tour, for example, I didn't see any of the other people on the tour from the time we arrived in Hanoi until we headed to the airport for our next stop.

ForgotMyNameAgain

I booked with a number of local travel agents during my two trips to Vietnam. In general, I find them to be excellent. They get you exactly what you want and often more. Places like Halong Bay offer a pretty standard experience (albeit terrific) no matter who books it. The only bad experience I had was with Discovery Indochina. We booked a 3-day Mekong Delta trip with them in Nov. The guide dropped us off at noon on the second day and that was it. We missed the other sightseeing. Called and they said for sure the guide would show up on day three, but he didn't. We scrambled and got lucky to make our onward transportation. I contacted them again afterward and got nothing but excuses. I wouldn't use them again if they were the only option.