We are looking to travel to Scandinavia and have received literature from a company named Smartour. I am wondering if anyone has had experience with them either positive or negative. What type of accomadations do they use and are their tour leaders, for the most part, good? We have used Insight tour company in the past and they are very good. Smartour however is less costly and I want to make sure I am not giving up too much by paying less. Thanks in advance

unfortunately your title is very vague/general.

I would re-post w/ something like "Anyone book w/ Smartour for Scandinavia?"

Smart tours is a very good company. Went to Croatia with them, and no one had any complaints. The groups are large, like up to 40 people. The hotels were all nice and the food good. They do have a lot of optionals, which does drive up the price, so be sure and take that into consideration.

I went on the Smartours trip to Scandinavia two years ago and it was great. Our guide was wonderful, the hotels were nice and well located, and the itinerary was excellent. I highly recommend it.

I have also been to South America with Smartours and that was a great trip too. Most people who travel with them go on many of their trips.

Pat: How were the Hotels and included dinners? Would you use Smartours again?
Thanks Mike and Joan, Philadelphia

We are doing the "Croatia" SmarTour in September. Most of the comments tend to be favorable. Try a search on "SmarTours" on this BB and you will get quite a few posts by past tourers--both positive and negative.

I checked with them on the 5 optionals that will probably be offered to us and the cost was about$225 USD pp. This is not out-of-line for 5 optionals and somewhat cheaper than a recent tour I took, when I compared similar types. As usual, we will probably take one or two of the offered optionals, and do "our own thing" otherwise. Ciao!!mhm

Mercy: I was looking at the literature from Smartours but can't seem to find the 5 optional tours. Do you know which ones the are .
Thanks Mike

Mike--re: SmarTour Optionals. I called the company and asked for informaton about the optionals. That info comes when you receive your final papers.

However, the person I spoke to gave me a listing of those that could (would??) be included:Kumrovec w/dinner $64 (Doing some research I found out that this is a "folk park"-type place, similar to Williamsburg some distance from Zagreb.) At Lake Bled: Lake cruise and visit to the island church $38; Slovenian Village Dinner $34. Istrian Penninsula Day Trip $49; Dubrovnik: Boat cruise to (I think) Locrum Island with wine tasting $38.

Of course, these excursions may not be operated when you go, and the prices could change. The regular itinerary has several included excursions that seem quite adequate, and there seems to be time to "be independent" if you don't wish to do optionals. Hope this helps. Ciao!!mhm

Went to Vietnam, Siem Reap and Bangkok with SmarTours this past November and had such a positive experience that We booked South Africa for this October. They gave us everything that was mentioned in their brochure. Go and enjoy!

I traveled with SmarTours to Japan in 2005, to South Africa this past Christmas and am booked for the Jewels of the Adriatic trip on July 4. A friend is on the Adriatic trip right now, so I will get the "scoop" when he returns next week. I would highly recommend them. If anyone would like any specifics about any of the ones I have already gone on, I would be pleased to answer. I also booked the Thailand trip for next February with Smartours' sister company, Friendly Planet. I find the latter's website a bit more user friendly. They also allow you to put your deposit on a credit card, which Smartours does not. For the Thailand trip they offered an option of pre-paying for all of the options ($110.) in advance.

Lorraine

Lorraine; Please let me know how your friend enjoyed her trip. We are going on Smartours Jewels of the Adriatic in November.
Thanks MIke

RE: Adriatic trip. I, too, will be interested in the most recent experiences of L's friends and her own, since we are going on the tour in September. Ciao!! MHM

To those who wanted feedback on Smartours' Jewels of the Adriatic optionals, here is some feedback from my friend who just returned. He did not do the Lake Bled cruise. The people who went said the highlight was visiting the church and ringing the bell (while making a wish.) He enjoyed the Kumrovec excursion with dinner, the Istrian Peninsula tour and the Slovenian dinner. He didn't do the sunset Dubrovnik cruise as he says you see much of what you can see on your own. He highly recommended a photography exhibition in Dubrovnik enititled War Photo. It will be there until the end of July. I'll get to see it as my trip is from July 4-17. The July 4 departure is the only one which leaves and returns to JFK as opposed to Newark (more convenient for me) and the only one, which for some reason, uses Delta instead of Lufthansa.
Lorraine

Lorraine

Mercy: How was your Smartours Croatia Tour? We are going on November 7th and wanted to know all about your trip.
Mike and Joan
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