China tour company recommendation
May 21st, 2005, 12:57 PM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
China tour company recommendation
Can someone recommend a mid price range tour company for fully escorted tours in China. We are looking for a 2 week tour with air included and four star or better hotels.
May 21st, 2005, 07:28 PM
#2
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 328
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
There are lots of good China tour companies. We have used two companies plus the government run tour company.
Several years ago, we used Uniworld. It was a fantastic trip with a guide name Angela. We stayed in 5-star places and had all meals included. It was the best trip we have had to China. Uniworld is not cheap, and your trip is scheduled from early morning to after dinner. There is very little time on your own.
Ritz Tours uses 3 or 4-star hotels and is not as expensive. Again there is very little time on your own. Their trips are fully escorted too.
The government tour was years ago right after China was opened to tourism. It used the "best" available hotel in each town. "Best" in some cases wasn't what we considered best.
Some people like Pacific Delight. We have not used them.
If you are older, look at Grand Circle Travel. But those groups can be huge.
Good luck.
Several years ago, we used Uniworld. It was a fantastic trip with a guide name Angela. We stayed in 5-star places and had all meals included. It was the best trip we have had to China. Uniworld is not cheap, and your trip is scheduled from early morning to after dinner. There is very little time on your own.
Ritz Tours uses 3 or 4-star hotels and is not as expensive. Again there is very little time on your own. Their trips are fully escorted too.
The government tour was years ago right after China was opened to tourism. It used the "best" available hotel in each town. "Best" in some cases wasn't what we considered best.
Some people like Pacific Delight. We have not used them.
If you are older, look at Grand Circle Travel. But those groups can be huge.
Good luck.
May 21st, 2005, 11:49 PM
#3
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 304
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You might look at overseas adventure travel ( OAT ). I took a trip to Egypt with them and they were great. Small groups of no more then 16.Hotels were all very good. We did a lot of interesting things that I don't think big groups can do.Like home visits.
May 28th, 2005, 05:12 PM
#4
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 235
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We are going on a two-week China tour in September with Odysseys Unlimited. They have small-group tours and stay in four-five star hotels. This will be our fifth trip with them, so you can see how satisfied we have been with their service. Their tour directors were all exceptional.
May 31st, 2005, 04:07 PM
#5
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We went with Pacific Delights and found it very good. Our guide was just wonderful,knowledge and flexable. I am not sure of the star ratings of the accomodations but it was very good. It does depend on the area...larger cities have better hotels available. Even the remote areas were acceptable by Western standards. I would highly recommend them.
Jun 23rd, 2005, 10:05 AM
#7
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 142
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Several years ago, I went with ABC Tours, and the following year my sister did the same trip. Not many people booked, and we were only six on the tour, but the company honored our reservations, so we had what amounted to a private tour! We went with two friends and made friends with the other couple, so we were like a family. Our guide was friendly and honest, and I would highly recommend. The next year, my sister encountered the same situation and also traveled in a group of six. However, this was about l0 years ago. Has anyone had other more recent experiences with this company???
Jan 5th, 2006, 06:36 PM
#9
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 72
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Looking into Pacific Delight tour to Japan and China for 18 days in October. Price seems right but concerned about group size. They told me usually no more than 16 persons. Also what is the mode of transportation while touring in the cities? Brochure does not mention this. Thanks
Jan 9th, 2006, 08:23 AM
#11
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 136
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We have just booked with Ritz Tours for an l8 day trip in April. I would love to correspond with anyone who has been on a China trip with them. I'm wondering about the amount of free time you had, how many forced shopping stops you had, any suggestions on how to make the most of our time, how bad was the food, should we consider getting away from the group at any time and doing things on our own, etc.
