Experience Travel Group Traveller Reviews

The package was taylormade to our needs and budget. Our experience was more than what we expected. Every detail had been considered and it made it a truly memorable trip.

Professional, knowledgable and patient

We did a clockwise tour aroudn the highlights of Sri Lanka, during August with a private car and driver. We saw a little bit of everything (safari park, cultural triangle, hill country, perhara festival, beach, tea, rain forest, etc). Enough to fall in love with the country and its people.

We had a great experience in both the planning of and the actual trip itself. The accommodation recommendations were excellent and we were surprised with a couple nice upgrades due to the relationship they had with certain hotels. As with any trip some things did not go to plan but the true test of a tour operator is in how they deal with those and the fact that they were indeed little things and not many of them. In our case all the response times and remedies were immediate and without fuss.

We wanted to experience a mixture of Thai culture as well as fun for the kids. The guided elements of the trip in Bangkok and Chiang Mai fulfilled the cultural requirements and The Float House stay/ Koh Samui visit provided the fun. We experienced a huge variety of excellent food over the two weeks with no problems for any of us despite "food tours" which had us eating at many street stalls.

Having used Experience Travel the previous year in Sri Lanka, we liked the way the programme is designed around our requirements and the hotels tend to have a more authentic feel. Experience Travel were willing to change elements we did not feel would work for us and designed a programme which was full of activities which helped us to appreciate the cultural and historical background to Thailand.

Our holiday was a fantastic mixture of activity and relaxation. We started our trip with a 2 night stay at Horathapola. This beautiful, laid back residence was a fabulous way to start our break and recover from our flight. Great service, food and surroundings. The pool was lovely. We did the few tours that they offered which were fun. Our next stop was the Aliya Resort & Spa near Sigiriya. Fantastic, beautiful hotel with great facilities. We climbed the rock fortress which was fun, did a small bullock/boat lunch tour and then went on safari in the Minneriya National Park to the elephant gathering. This was a real highlight. We then went to Kandy for two nights, staying at the Secret Kandy, a absolutely exquisite hotel. We did some shopping and bargaining, went to the Temple of the tooth (complete madness) and watched some Kandyan dancing, which included walking on hot coals (worth it to just see that). We then went on the train to Ella, where we staying at the amazing 98 Acres hotel. Fabulous views and a great feeling of space, we loved our short stay here and would have stayed for longer, We did a small walk and then swam in a pool below a waterfall. Great fun. We then transferred to Mirissa, staying at the Number One Mirissa. We stayed in Mirissa as we wanted to be able to surf and visit Galle. We surfed at Weligama, just down the road using one of the local companies along the beach (all fine) and went to Galle shopping. It was very hot in Galle so unfortunatley we flagged very quickly and I so wanted to do lots of shopping. One real disappointment was that we wanted to take our driver for lunch at the Amangella Hotel in Galle to thank him for our trip but they were a little unfriendly and did not let us in. They said they were full but would not even let us go in for a cocktail. I had heard about a snake farm nearby as well, so we managed to find it with our driver. We were left alone with two king cobras, puffed out while the snakeman was talking to someone else, with the message, call me if they move. They were on the floor in front of us, 2 feet away, highly venemous. Amazing!!! Lastly we had a couple of nights in Colombo in Sri Lanka. i could easily have stayed for longer. Great shops and prices.... We had some retail therapy. We also did a walking tour of some of the historical sites and ended up flying kites at night on the Galle Face Green, which was magical. We stayed at the Ramada, which was fine and reasonable value. We were not in the hotel much. Finally our last 5 nights were spent at the Centara Grand Resort & Spa in the Maldives. This hotel was fantastic and the island was breathtaking, great all inclusive package, including food, drinks, trips and spa treatments, we all felt at home here in this luzurious part of the world. We did some relaxing but mainly activities. Snorkelling with whale sharks being a highlight, apart of course from me trying to get back on the banana boat out at sea once I had been spun off. Thank god no one had their camera.... Go to Sri Lanka, you will love it. A truely real and generous country. The Maldives are spectacular and are as you imagine only better.

Experience Travel are a very professional group of travel experts who are prepared to put in the time to ensure that you get an holiday designed around your individual needs. they have the expert knowledge that you need to be able to fully explore Sri Lanka (and other countries) but tailored with only you in mind. They truely know and love the countries that they go to. The holiday itself ran like clockwork, everything organised properly but still had the feel of something thrown together so that you felt that you were exploring on your own time etc. The hotels that they help you select are some of the most lovely that I have ever stayed in and are a major part of the holiday and experiance.

A truely fantastic tour of Sri Lanka, from Colombo, to the Cultural Triangle (Kandy, Sigiriya etc), the Tea Trails and Galle, including safaris, temples, walks, cycles, white water rafting, kanyoning, swimming, surfing and eating (and relaxing....). Amazing hotels and great hospitality throughout, awful roads, but smiling faces.

Experience Travel were awesome; easy and efficient organisation of a great trip in five centres and with great logistics and guides. Perfect.

We are so proud of ourselves - we met some challenges and had some amazing (and unforgettable) adventures, Thailand is an incredible country and Experience Travel Group organised a brilliant itinerary

See comments above, great itinerary and good customer service

We started in Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An, Mai Chau (in the mountains), Halong Bay and Hanoi. Our tour operator booked fantastic hotels as well as vespa tours in the major cities which took us to see a completely different view of how people lived, ranging from fishing villages where people lived on the sea in floating houses (or sheds as they seemed to us) to the countryside where people produced rice crackers and rice wine in extremely basic houses. We visited the Thai and Mong communities - a very great contrast. We rode bikes among the rice fields and through the most amazing traffic in Hanoi and eat incredible street food. A fab holiday.

Our tour operator Vietnam Experience (Experience Travel Group) were extremely knowledgeable about Vietnam and understood what it was we wanted to experience - whether it was a visit to museums, participation in a cookery class, vespa rides to the country to see how people worked and live or experiencing cycling in a city where the only rule appears to be "keep your eyes facing forward". The guides they used were equally helpful and knowledgeable and very willing to accommodate any tweaks we decided to make to our itinerary enroute as well as, on one occasion suggesting a very useful "tweak" themselves. The hotels were of a high standard and also met our requirements. The administration, starting with the planning and ending with the efficiency of the guides was faultless.

We're a family of 5 (Kids 14, 12 and 10) and spent 3 weeks in Sri Lanka, touring around a variety of locations, taking in wildlife, culture, cities, countryside, beaches etc. The holiday was beautifully put together by Experience Travel Group and we enjoyed every minute

The consultant at ETG was a pleasure to work with and took the time to propose and then adjust our itinerary until it was perfect for us - we never felt rushed and communication (both conversations and emails) was very good. The holiday itself surpassed our expectations - we stayed in some amazing places, we had a fantastic driver/guide and it all went without a hitch.

It was my first trip to Thailand. I went with my 3 daughters aged 23, 21 and 18. We visited Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Koh Samui. It was the experience of a lifetime!. Hotels & activites were great. We really enjoyed and are very grateful for all the friendly help and professional support given by Travel Experience

Travel Experience really understood what we were looking for. Hotels and activities were very well chosen and the local support was very professional and friendly. They were key to turn this experience into an unforgettable one

Thoughtful and considerate in the planning of the trip, good ideas and took time to fit everything together.