Grand Tour of China
We had been to Hong Kong & Beijing before, but the Grand Tour was a whole new level of understanding of China. The trip organisation by Wendy Wu was faultless & our national guide, David He, was exceptional, showing patience & understanding where needed plus a great knowledge of China. He worked hard to satisfy Gluten / Veggy food needs – not always easy with this style of meal service. Local guides in each town were also really good. Hotels varied from good to great, with priority usually being location. The Yangshuo hotel, for example, was a bit older but we stepped straight out onto West St, and breakfast was simple but had an exceptional view. There is a lot of travel involved with 3 each internal flights & trains, but Chinese trains & airports put the UK to shame! Overall the food was at least good sometimes great. Breakfast did not always include a wide ‘Western’ selection but then we were foreigners in China - How many foreign breakfast options do UK hotels have? Bus management was brilliant – a snap of the electronic fingers & it was there. We had not done a ‘follow the flag’ holiday or used Wendy Wu before. We will definitely do both again. Thanks again David.
If you are considering a long trip in China for the first time – lessons we learned:
> Grand tour lunch & dinner is 26 days of Chinese food, with set dishes, off a lazy susan except for a few packed lunches & the Yangtze cruise. Some of the dishes may not be to your taste – be flexible.
> You will need to handle your luggage – journeys involve suitcases + escalators + airports & stations
> Out walking at night in China - this is the safest I have ever felt either at home or travelling.
> Don’t think too hard about the tip pot, it just works, saving time & hassle.
> Alipay attached to your UK credit card is super quick & easy to use if you have an active phone.
> Install Wechat to contact family in case you cannot get Whatsapp to work – basically the same (Family will also have to install).
> VPN’s did not reliably work. But they do have 30 day money back warranty. I tried Express / Nord
> If your phone accepts e-sim, get one. Ours gave us access to Western websites with no VPN and always worked.
> You may be sharing China with lots of domestic tourists – check when their major holidays are.
> The Yangtze cruise was great & we are happy we did not upgrade either room or meal options. Upgraders were equally happy with their choice - do not worry about it.
Totally recommended.
Paul & Tracy
Oct 13, 2024
Portugal Uncovered
Anna Thornton's review was jointly composed.
Oct 12, 2024
Portugal Uncovered
Each daily itinerary very well though out and delivered. The excellence of this was due to our wonderful guide Sofia, who gave great in-depth, knowledgeable information throughout, with charm, panache and joyous good humour.
Two significant drawbacks worth mentioning were:
- Lack of coach air conditioning with no opening windows; significant on hot days.
- No contingency plan on our only walking, nature day, when there was continuous, heavy rain.
Oct 12, 2024
Taj, Temples and Tigers
It was really quick and easy to book my tour. I have been on a Wendy Woo tour before. So well organised. Good value for money as well. Can highly recommend.
Oct 12, 2024
Vietnam Panorama
Very efficient and friendly
Oct 12, 2024
Wonders of China
Amazing and wonderful ‘full on’ tour - How else could you fit everything in.
Oct 10, 2024
Classic China
On this tour we covered a lot of ground and felt that we saw a huge amount. Our National guide Ivan was outstanding and worked tirelessly the whole 21 days to make sure we were happy and well looked after. The local guides were also brilliant. The hotel standards were all excellent and all the transfers were well managed and comfortable. We should have looked more closely at our flights as we arrived very late ( 11pm) after 24 hours travelling and had an early 5.30am start. We let Wendy Wu arrange the flights but I think if we had looked closer we could have chosen different flights and would have flown direct to Beijing a day earlier to help with the 7 hour time difference. The food was interesting at the start of the holiday but became monotonous as we had a lazy susan of similar dishes presented to us for lunch and dinner every day. It would have helped us all if the guides had taken us to an Italian or other western food restaurant occasionally. The 3 night cruise on the Yangtze River gave us a break from the lazy susan Chinese food and white rice but we had to pay for that as an upgrade.
The holiday schedule was very full and busy with very little time to relax, but we really saw and experienced a lot of China both on an off the beaten track. We had an amazing time with our 24 travel companions and I would recommend this holiday as great way to visit China.
Oct 10, 2024
Ancient Empires of China & Japan
Very well organised, the guides were great. The accommodation in China was a far higher standard than expected, and the foot massage in Yangshuo was fantastic! Our only criticisms would be in Japan the split of time between shrines/temples and gardens could have been different to allow more time in the beautiful gardens and a little less in the temples which all became a bit samey towards the end. The other issue for us was the excessive amount of time devoted to shopping in both countries. We felt this could be severely cut back to allow more time to enjoy the natural wonders of each country. The one other bug bear was the cost of all the additional trips in China which were far more than we had been led to believe and meant having to get more cash out on two occasions. That said they were largely worth doing.
Oct 09, 2024
Kruger to Cape Explored
Overall a very good holiday, good accommodation, good meals, and the coaches were OK but could have been newer (and quieter with better sound systems), both drivers were first class. For our first week, we found our guide Lizwe to be excellent.
The itinerary was satisfactory, but too rushed on the first day when visiting the Apartheid Museum and then travel to Mpumalanga - consequently we did not stop to appreciate view points on route and arrived at Angel's View after dark.
A separate day for Johannesburg sight seeing then travel to Mpumalanga the following day would have been preferable.
Sightseeing on the Panorama Route was spoilt due to bad weather, so it would be sensible to have an alternative sightseeing opportunity if necessary.
The Shiduli Game Reserve was a highlight (in spite of cold weather) and could not be faulted. It would have been good to have had more notice of the optional safari on the last morning so more people would have joined this.
On the Garden Route, the highlight was the Featherbed Eco Experience. We would have liked stops at view points on the route (we travelled the Garden Route but felt there was more to see).
The worst day - which needs to be addressed - was the journey from Knysna to Cape Town. The itinerary said this would take 8 hours including sightseeing, but actually took 13.5 hours even though we only had the planned times for sightseeing, lunch and comfort breaks. We had to buy food at a service station as we would have arrived in Cape Town too late to eat.
We would suggest staying overnight part way to Cape Town to avoid this excessively long journey and enable more enjoyment of sights on route.
In Cape Town the sightseeing trips were good and we included a visit to Signal Hill as there was plenty of time for this.
The queues for the Table Mountain cable car were probably well over and hour, so the group opted to pay extra for the fast track tickets - we feel this should be included as standard.
The trip to the winelands included a gourmet lunch at Haute Cabriere. The service was vey slow but the meal delicious. In the evening we went to the Gold restaurant, so had a second substantial meal - may be a bit too much in one day. We don't know how it would be best to improve this.
OVERALL we felt that an additional day at the beginning (or effectively starting the tour at lunch on the first day, since most of the group had travelled overnight) would be beneficial. Similarly, an extra day on the Garden Route is essential to ensure it is a holiday not a route march!
Oct 09, 2024
Classic China
This trip was amazing. The organisation, value, National and local guides could not be faulted. We left with a far better understanding of the social, cultural, historical and natural world aspects of China.
Oct 09, 2024
