Absolutely unacceptable. From the moment Gale contacted me, she was trying to rip me off. Rude, had a bad tone with me the entire conversation. She tried to sell me a private car via “a friend” for $1k USD. The hotel was offering for 800yen ($125usd). She has snide remarks when I asked anything.
Review by: David L, November 2017
I would not recommend this tour to others frankly._br/_ First, Unlike other tours.. you have to contact your guide first.. however.. our operator Hangtantour could not recieve my emails, calls.._br/_ and even Viator's customers service team couldn't reach them._br/_ We wanted to cancel the tour.. but Viator said that there was nothing that they could do._br/_ It was when we arrived at the hotel at beijing when we got the call. Very dissapointing and unconvinient.
Review by: abuangulo, November 2017
great guide. very professional and knowledgeable. we enjoyed every minute of this tour.
Review by: erikacoppola, November 2017
Fantastic deal overall. We were able to see and do everything on our list. We definitely would not have been able to do everything with a traditional tour. Would highly recommend!
Review by: Lady in Pink, November 2017
We again arranged this individual tour thru Viator and fortunately we got William from our first tour of Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, etc. They way it works for individual tour, William met us at the hotel and we told him what we had already seen and what did he recommend. You pay his way as well as yours to the attractions or restaurants. We told him what we had already seen and said we wanted to see the Pandas. He took us to the zoo by subway. Again William was informative, was patient with us with our questions and an overall joy to be with. He was a wealth of information and proud to explain about his country's history and accomplishments. After the zoo we went to the old Beijing where he booked us a rickshaw ride while he narrated on a rental bike from the street. We entered a house of one of the inhabitants who was so proud to show how he lived. He obtained tickets for us for the Circus which was colorful and amazing. He stayed with us the whole time and ensured we enjoyed ourselves and returned us to our hotel. It was a wonderful experience traveling through the different modes of transport with no worries. We met many folks who just wanted to take their photo with Americans. I would highly recommend Viator's individual tour if you can get William.
Review by: Faye B, October 2017
Excellent tour guide.
Review by: Felipe C, October 2017
The tour was supposed to be customized but despite the fact I sent several emails to the email register during our booking, I received response the night before the tour. So for that reason we did not have time to plan the activities we wanted to enjoy. The guide was very good but since we failed to plan the entire tour she could not give us the best services she wanted for the lack of planning. I think wendy has answer more prompt the messages so clients can plan much better the activities they want to do. I think the more critical factor here was the delay when we contacted the tour company and from there everything was destined to not comply with our expectations. I wont recommend this tour unless the company answers the messages with promptness before the tour starts, not a night before, as it was advertised 48 hours before, but this condition was not met for the tour operator.
Review by: Jim S, October 2017
gail was wonderful, customized everything to our needs...
Review by: Emma P, August 2017
We packed a lot into the day and our guide Gale was lovely. Her English was good and being able to customise the trip so we saw exactly what we wanted was perfect
Review by: Dmitri K, August 2017
It was the worth experience ever. When we payed for tour we got an email address of the tour operator. We payed 3 days in advance It was a fake. The email didn't exist. It was bouncing back!!!. Unfortunately we didn't have time to investigate as we were in Moscow and our time was limited. We hopped to contact our guide from airport by phone. In airport we got SMS from Michele What you want to do? We replay that we want him to meet us at 10am in our hotel. He replay that he want to book a car for 2000rnb to drive us around. We wanted to have a walk as our hotel was just 10 min walk from Forbidden City. At 11 am he still was at home telling us that to get to our hotel for him is 2 hours. He didn't want to do the job. He just wanted us to pay for car what we didn't want. So after 1 our of unpleasant communication we told him that we are not required his service. We have a day on our own. The Beijing is not a city that you can see on your own. We have just 3 days and 1 was destroyed by Michele. Very very unpleasant experience. I would not recommended it to anyone.
Review by: Dmitri K, August 2017
It was the worth experience ever. When we payed for tour we got an email address of the tour operator. We payed 3 days in advance It was a fake. The email didn't exist. It was bouncing back!!!. Unfortunately we didn't have time to investigate as we were in Moscow and our time was limited. We hopped to contact our guide from airport by phone. In airport we got SMS from Michele What you want to do? We replay that we want him to meet us at 10am in our hotel. He replay that he want to book a car for 2000rnb to drive us around. We wanted to have a walk as our hotel was just 10 min walk from Forbidden City. At 11 am he still was at home telling us that to get to our hotel for him is 2 hours. He didn't want to do the job. He just wanted us to pay for car what we didn't want. So after 1 our of unpleasant communication we told him that we are not required his service. We have a day on our own. The Beijing is not a city that you can see on your own. We have just 3 days and 1 was destroyed by Michele. Very very unpleasant experience. I would not recommended it to anyone.
Review by: lcleve, August 2017
Our tour guide was great. Started out seeing the pandas at the zoo than traveled to summer Palace._br/_ Her English was easy to understand.and gave us history on the Summer palace. Unfortunately my husband _br/_ became ill and we had to go back early to the hotel. She was very kind to my husband and very caring. would highly recommend, Linda
Review by: John M, August 2017
Our guide, William, met us at the agreed upon time and was our buddy for the day. No other way to describe it. He's there for whatever you need and has a ton of knowledge to share on both the history and current state of China. Great day of sightseeing and conversation!
Review by: Gina S, July 2017
Tour guide was very respectful, knowledgeable, flexible, and patient. He did take me to the places I wanted to visit and recommended additional places for shopping and gifts. Some of the shops were pushed a little but I only did what I really wanted to do and spent time where I wanted to go. I always knew were my guide was and felt safe traveling alone as a female. I highly recommend the to add the car ad driver to have more time or more places to visit. The price for it was very reasonable. I highly recommend this over the rigid tour because it gives so much more to your interests with the time you have in the location.
Review by: Lynn S, July 2017
We planned this private tour to complement missing components of our group China tour. John contacted us the evening before at our hotel. We visited the beautiful Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace at our request. Glad we did not miss them. John was knowledgeable and pleasant although sometimes difficult to understand. John also shared something of his life so we could better understand life in China. We used taxi cabs for transportation so have cash for these. Also admission is not included so be prepared with cash as well for admissions. John also took us to the silk museum. After a short presentation we were pressured in the pleasant Chinese way to buy something. It's very difficult to refuse. Would prefer not to be subjected to these tactics as a way to generate more revenue. We enjoyed our day overall except for this.
Review by: Curtis J, June 2017
I highly recommend using this tour because its not rushed like more organized tours. Your able to pick and choose where you want to go and see in a more relaxed setting. I highly recommend our tour guide coralin Li. She was was excellent!!!! We told her what we wanted to see and go and she planned it out and offer suggestions to places that not even offered in the excursion section. However you'll have to pay for a driver and fees to get into the tours. But its worth it!! Your not sitting on a bus with 40 other people. Try this! I don't think you'll be disappointed. Remember should you booked this tour asked for coralin LI.
Review by: Nirvana S, May 2017
Great choice! Just be aware that you will be responsible for transportation for both you and your guide. However, Beijing has a fantastic subway system. Also, our guide was able to call cabs through the Chinese Uber-type system, in which we just paid her back._br/_ With this tour we were able to see all of the things we wanted to see, and avoid the sites that didn't interest us. Also, we were able to move at our own pace and choose our own foods to eat. Having a guide in China is a must since many people do not speak English. Our guides were super helpful!
Review by: Shimaali G, May 2017
This was the BEST thing I did! I had actually booked a tour through another company that was a disaster. I booked this tour less than 24 hours before it began and Cora Lin delivered beyond my wildest expectations. When booking I mentioned what we had not seen so Cora Lin tailored the day for us. We visited the Hutongs, Temple of Heaven and Bahi Park. The rickshaw ride at the Hutongs combined with a visit to a local family and seeing the unique glass bottle paintings were fun but then we also visited the Bell and Drum Tower. While at the drum tower we had the added bonus of watching a drum performance. Cora also took us to a local restaurant for a Hot Pot lunch of lamb stew that was delicious. She was informative, her English was fluent and we could totally understand her and she filled us in on Chinese history and really connected the places of interest with her culture and heritage. Thank you Viator!
Review by: new, April 2017
Our guide Jackie Lee was helpful, knowl dgable and incredibly knowledgable. We attend d all th main tourist attractions but Jackie knew how to avoid the crowded enterences and back ways. Lunch with our group was fun as was the entire day touring in Beijing.
Review by: ggonzalez, April 2017
It was a packed day. Gale was very knowledgable, understood we had a short time to see many things and powerwalked us around Beijing. Definetly worth it, if you have time I suggest splitting Beijing into two full days and The Wall and Summer Palace into a third.
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