Reviews

We spent 20 days in Vietnam working our way from north to south. In May, the weather can be variable but we had good outcomes 90% of the time. We didn’t find out until a few days into the tour that Wendy Wu uses a company related to Flight Centre for detailed bookings and arrangements in country. It would have been helpful to have been given local contact information rather than have to speak with our Wendy Wu contact in Australia.

All of the guides we had were four star performers or better and generally we couldn’t fault the drivers chosen for daily tours.

Time frames spent in each area were decided by us and in that context, the personalised nature of the tour worked well. In retrospect, we should have chosen to spend an extra night in Hanoi en route to HaLong Bay after visiting Sapa.

We asked for four star accommodation as a basis the trip and in the main that’s what we got. However, the garden room view allocated to us at was unfortunately not up to scratch as the view was of a bedraggled part of the garden through which we had a clear view of the back end of a factory or storage shed. After speaking with the hotel, we were moved to another garden view room which lived up to its name. We were probably fortunate it was not high season.

Our itinerary was broadly Hanoi3N - Sapa2N - Hanoi 1N - Halong Bay 3 day cruise - Hoi An3N - Danang3N - Ho Chi Minh5N.

The custom for most day tour arrangements seemed to be for the guide to not stay with us on some occasions; for example, we would be put on a short funicular or train trip only to have the guide not accompany us but meet us at the other end. This appears to be a policy of the in country tour arranger (Discova). Other small groups seemed to have their guides with them full time. The one time this made sense to us was during our visit to Nui Dat, Long Tan and Vung Tau, where our main guide, exchanged places with a local who came very well prepared and well versed on the issues we were interested in.

In all areas we visited, there was a good focus on providing experiences that interacted with local people and their businesses. That added a great dimension to the tour.

On the negative side there were a couple of instances where the experience was not four star.We took a “limousine” bus from Hanoi to Sapa, as did many others except the company used by Discova seemed to have a vehicle that had seen better days and a driver with an attitude to match it. One got the feeling that Discova might have been cutting their costs without regard for quality.
The only other issue was the Ha Long Bay cruise with Orchid cruises. While the quality of the cruise was OK to Good, the boat we were on looked a bit tired. Food was fine and the staff really made an effort to please. Probably worth checking a few more options than we did before accepting the tour organisers recommendation.

The entire experience from booking the trip, the trip & return with Wendy Wu was amazing! They are always available when needed. The guide allocated to our trip was fanrastic & we will miss her. Everything was so great, every experience was incredible. I thoroughly recommend both the Discover Japan trip & Wendy Wu travel

A wonderfully organised tour taking in the most important historical sites and stunning scenery. Very knowledgeable and entertaining guides throughout the tour. Lovely hotels of a high standard and lots of amazing food. All the transport and admission fees organised in advance leaving us free to enjoy all that Peru had to offer.

Excellent service all members of staff I spoke to were polite informative and very helpful

I telephoned, there was a quick response, answered my questions and then did the booking swiftly.

Fantastic trip….Eddie our tour guide is a credit to the company….he was the difference between an ordinary trip and a special one

Very easy to book. Well informed helpful staff.

Very impressed with the professionalism of both Natasha and Ruth. They both have an inordinate amount of knowledge. All of our questions were answered quickly and concisely. The tour itself looks amazing, we are already looking forward to it.

Completed the "China Experience" tour with Wendy Wu this May visiting Shanghai, Xi'An, and Beijing. This was led by National Guide, Grace Gao, and local guides Felicity (Shanghai), May (Xi'An) and Lee/Li (Beijing). This was first trip with the company and as a solo-traveller on the tour. Met for the first day in Shanghai, as total strangers, and discovered I was the youngest (Late 30s) of a group of 16, ages on average ranged around 50–70 years old for the others.
The tour was fast-faced with a lot to see, which could make it physically demanding. Up first thing in the morning, back late at night, no real down-time or taking things at a casual pace others may entertain outside a tour company.
The tour guides were very knowledgeable, and it was good to hear their personal perspectives and experiences which shaped things for them and the changes that have advanced in modern China. It gave a very real element to the world beyond the facade of simply seeing what is in front of you. Felicity sharing as she watched the skyscrapers go up as a young girl in Shanghai, Grace's experience of when she first went to Xi'An to study before they redeveloped the city, and Lee coming in from the villages to Beijing.
The thing I found from China was that my perspective of 'big' changed. The country is so populous and so built up, it made everything back home just feeling small. The souvenir 'town' outside the Terracotta Warriors alone felt like it was the size of my hometown. Downside, you had to walk through it to get back to the bus.
That was the downside of China, the tourism felt over-commercialized and this really seemed to take a lot of authenticity away from the experience. You couldn't simply enjoy something without it being 10 trinket stalls around it, and 2 inside of it.
Though the tour allowed for some very good opportunities to witness things like the Tang Dynasty dancing, Chinese Acrobatics, and an optional Xi'an night tour which included dress up, and went to a festival filled with other domestic tourists to have a good time and lots of pictures taken of/with (Highlight event of the trip).
Wendy Wu were clearly very experienced on when and where to go to the different venues. Seeing other Wendy Wu tour groups at the same exact places shows they have a formula on how to deliver this, which is used for their other tours they host. The timings also allowed you to experience things before the crowds hit, so when you are leaving, you turn around to see a mass of people, and think "good thing we came when we did". I think that goes to sum up how these tours work, they have everything packaged in a neat box, and you pay to experience it. Wendy Wu tours are certainly not cheap in price, but it is fully inclusive, so you don't need to worry as everything is taken care for you, and they have a high calibre when it came to quality of the tour guides, hotel rooms, and choices they select. They know what they are doing to deliver the experience, from the start to finish.
I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, and the biggest cons were down to the lack of flexibility in format which is to be expected.

Very helpful
Made it easier to choose a tour
Thank you

Efficient and straightforward Easy to use website and booking procedures
Well organised offers and tour information excellent in detail and description

An excellent trip through China. Our first land tour. Our tour guide Andy was excellent, as were all the local guides in each location.
Wonderful sights throughout the journey across China.
Would highly recommend this tour & Wendy Wu Tours.

Concise and easy to book

Would highly recommend a Wendy Wu tour as a way to see China. Majestic China Tour outstanding.Extra tours along the Yangtze a must of Three Gorges tribe & Wuling mountain.
Jason our national guide was ' Awesome'. He is very committed & passionate. Jason guided our group with wit, knowledge, charm & patience. Connecting us all as a family safely through a vast stunning country. Thank you Jason for your dedication, outstanding care & attention to the details. You made my journey across China memorable  & unforgettable. I hope to meet again for more travel memories across China..Five stars 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟