Experience Travel Group Traveller Reviews

Good tour of colonial India. Lucknow, British Residency, Indian Mutiny. Colonial Calcutta. Excellent guides in Lucknow and Calcutta. Also went to watch cricket in Chennai.

Well organized.

We went for almost 3 weeks starting in the peaceful, gentle country of Laos before moving on to the city of Hanoi and then travelling down through Viietnam to Ho Chi Minh Cuty. We experienced a night in a beautifully appointed Indochina Junk in Halong Bay where we swam from the side as well as exploring nearby island caves and kayaking around the islands. We visited the ancient Imperial City in Hue and explored the beautiful heritage town of Hoi An. Exploring markets and taking a cookery class were highlights but probably the most exciting and nerve wracking was crossing the roads on our own. So many motor cycles and so few junctions and traffic lights! We had guides organised to meet us at each new location to show us the sights and in Saigon (as it is called locally) to even take us to a rooftop cocktail bar. We completed our holiday in the beautiful country of Cambodia. We stayed in a beautiful old French colonial style hotel in Siem Reap which was our base for visiting some of the numerous temples, including the amazing Angkor Wat at daybreak. We trekked through paddy field in Laos, visited a floating village by boat on the Mekong in Cambodia and sailed in a coracle trying to catch crabs in Vietnam. A totally wonderful experience all round.

Experience Travel arranged our holiday from start to finish. They took on board everything we said about what we wanted to do and see and came up with lovely suggestions of things we would never have thought of or known we could do. We worked through a number of iterations before we had our perfect itinerary and they chose all our hotels. These were all to a high standard and yet seemed uniquely right for the places we were in.

Although we selected the tour that had been recommended in the travel article in the Sunday Telegraph, Lauren (Boyd) was happy to spend time and effort in customising this to our requirements. The result was an amazing trip from Siem Reap, Cambodia and through the length of Vietnam. All the hotels were of a very high standard and we had a personal guide and driver at each location. All spoke good English and had local knowledge. They were unfailingly on time and the cars were air-conditioned and always clean. Our guides were always friendly, flexible and their local knowledge ensured we avoided queues and crowds as much as possible. The included tours offered opportunities to associate with local people, all of whom were friendly and keen to practise their English! Tour highlights (and I stress that none disappointed) were the night-time Vespa street food tour in Saigon (both insane and exhilarating and a long time since we had so much fun) and our street food tour in Hanoi (with Mark). Despite what they have suffered in the past the Cambodian and Vietnamese people could not have been more friendly and were themselves a highlight. Get there before everybody else finds out about the place. Use Experience Travel Group. Thanks again Lauren..........

Experience Travel Group and Lauren put together a wonderful package that exceeded our expectations. As older travellers we wanted the best of all worlds, luxury accommodation and personal guides but access to the real Cambodia and Vietnam and amazing experiences. Thanks to ETG we had it all.

We saw nearly all of Vietnam from top to bottom in a 2 week tour devised specially for us. We went to the less crowded areas and saw a great variety of sights from ancient temples and monuments; vibrant cities; bustling small towns; fabulous mountain and countryside scenery; luxury cruise on Halong bay; beautiful beaches and an eco-adventure in the Mekong Delta where we got up close and personal to local life. We travelled by car, in boats of all sizes and types and even by bike. The small, friendly hotels chosen for us by our operator were excellent and close to the sights. The tours were well organised and usually just for the 2 of us. This meant that we saved time by not having to wait for others and so we were able to see more. Many of the tours were adjusted en route to suit us. Our guides were mostly excellent.

James from Experience Travel talked to us in detail about our interests and wishes, before proposing a holiday designed especially for us (a retired couple). The holiday was truly 'made to measure' and suited us perfectly. Having a personal consultant made a big difference. The arrangements made by Experience Travel were all efficient and well organised. They gave us a lot of information in advance, which was very helpful as we had not been to Vietnam before.

We had only two weeks to spend in India, however with the assistance of Experience Travel group we had a full iitinary which gave us the opportunity to see and experience a lot more than we thought possible and this included some much needed rest and relaxation too. The first week was spent in beautiful Kerala where we chilled out at a gorgeous beach resort and gently getting into the swing of different culture, landscape, climate and food as well as venturing out on bikes to explore surrounding villages.although difficult to tear our selves away from the beach it was well worth it . The Backwaters are a must and we did an overnight cries on a rice barge boat which was the ideal way to observe life on the riverbanks as well as to carry on relaxing and being well looked after by the crew.Anither highlight was watching the rice harvest in the paddy fields and certainly will make us appreciate rice on our plates more from now on.Exploring Kochi was exciting, with tuk tuk rides in Old Town down narrow streets full of target stalls and traders, plus the odd goat or cow. A sunset cruise across the harbour was unforgettable with the old Chinese fishing nets and fishermen pulling in their conventional nets while singing a Malayalam shanty, For the second week we flew to Rajastan so that we could explore the Golden Triangle sights.As in Kerala the excellent guides and tours had been pre booked, this plus the airport pick- ups and having a driver dedicated to us made both parts of the holiday run smoothly and were stress free.. Taking an early morning cycle tour was exciting and a great way to see the Pink City waking up, we were taken to stalls for snacks, lassi and chai-yum!However the climax was witnessing a puja at the big Indian Temple .A train journey seemed like something you have just got to do in India ( we were not disappointed) so this is how we arrived at Agra. The Taj Mahal is of course unforgettable in its perfection as was the final part of our tour in Delhi. We got around by car, tuk tuk and rickshaw, depending on where we were going. The sights of New Delhi included Ghandi's house which was both humbling and inciteful. In old Delhi we were privileged to meet street children helped and rehabilitated by an NGO Trust which gave us a different kind of insight into life in the city. As well as visiting mosques and temples and other monuments , our final night in India was spent weaving through the maze of bustling lanes in Old Delhi , our senses were truly bombarded , everywhere we went in India we were especially taken by the wonderful colours of flower markets, women's saris , stalls with food beautifully laid out and piles of spices. This was more than a holiday, it was an amazing experience in so many ways.

Our operator was Experience Group Travel. We asked them to arrange a 2 week itinary for us at short notice which they did very efficiently. I was impressed that they took care to find out not only where we wanted to go, but also about our preferences of activity and accomodation . All emails gave full and clear instructions and we appreciated dealing with the same representative throughout who had good knowledge of India The General Information sheet about India contained helpful information Regarding accomodation, we stayed in both hotels and home stays . We had requested to stay in accomodation with local character and all the accomodation ( except ion Agra which was part of a large chain but perfectly ok) surpassed our expectations by a long way.Experience certainly selected well on our behalf. We felt safe at all times as we had been allocated drivers, guides and transfer pickup/ collections had been arranged for airports and train stations. It was great having everything pre booked (especially guides and tours)and paid for to make for a stress free time, also there was trouble with the currency when we were there, so had we not prepaid we would have been a bit stuck. The guides and drivers we had were all excellent.

Tour of Laos and Cambodia. we couldn't have wished for a better itinerary and the guides were both helpful and informative. They considered all our requirement and needs as my husband is not as agile as he used to be. They were prepared to be flexible with the itinerary if we need it and offered alternative suggestion to meet our needs.

The experience Travel Company were helpful from the start. Calling me to discuss my requirements and my expectations of the holiday. When they sent me the original itinerary I wanted to make some changes and this was done swiftly and without hesitation.

Amazing in all respects - the countries, the people, the food - and especially its organisation by Experience Travel. The whole holiday exceeded our expectations, but we had confidence in the outcome before we left home following the guidance and help given by the consultant. A good choice of holiday and an inspired choice of tour operator.

See above

A combined mix of history culture and natures wonders. We stayed in Cambodia and Vietnam, our tour included visits to the Angkor watt temples, truly awesome sights. We flew up to Hanoi and took a cruise overnight in halons bay a must do. A further flight took us to Saigon to take a speed boat down the Mekong delta with its markets and river life astonishingly colourful awesome experience. We further visited the cui chi tunnels and experienced the war time methods of the Vietnam people and here ingenuity, an all absorbing sights and experience, we rambled through the streets of Saigon watching how life was lived the high rise tower blocks with its famous enough helipad a great spot for a cocktail to absorb the city with fantastic panoramic views of Saigon. We further travelled onto Phan thiet Mui Ne boutique hotel a truly relaxing place that left you wanting for nothing and plenty of time to just relax. We experienced such a faultless trip which just fulfilled a holiday of a lifetime.

Fantastic service not once did we have any cause for worry or concerns would definitely use again without hesitation and recommend them to other people.

We spent 2 weeks (not long enough!!) visiting the highlights of Delhi, Agra and the Rajasthani cities of Jodhpur, Jaipur and Udaipur. We visited rural villages; saw beautiful temples, majestic palaces and forts; enjoyed the riot of colour of the saris; the exquisitely patterned fabrics; the crazy traffic (elephants, camels & cows sharing the road with our car) and meeting the very likeable Indian people. We ate at some great Indian restaurants, watered gentle elephants, enjoyed a dinner in outback India under the stars, were amazed/amused by the noise of the Diwali celebration and enjoyed a traditional Rajasthani dance & puppet show. All in all, it was a fascinating experience.

The Experience Travel Group did a wonderful job designing our itinerary for us, taking full note of our what we wanted to see and offering great advice on activities and accommodation. Their travel adviser who designed our trip had lived & travelled through India for 8 months so was very knowledgeable. Everything went very smoothly at all times during our trip. We had excellent guides and drivers and good accommodation.

James from ETG understood my health problems & tailored the holiday to suit my needs. I was surprised at how much I could do & my capacity to go on what I considered beforehand to be difficult terrain. The holiday was magical & we saw some wonderful wildlife & stayed in great rainforest lodges which had very knowledgable & enthusiastic staff, with excellent food. Everything ran smoothly & all our transfers were trouble free. After experiencing a trouble free holiday, I would highly recommend ETG

Excellent, efficient & knowledgable.