Name: smarTours
Address: 500 7TH AVE, 8TH FL, NEW YORK, New York
Rating: 4.42

“I have been to Ireland 4 times (adore it!) and wanted to share it with my sister. (Her first trip.) (I have traveled with smarTours on many occasions and have always been pleased.) I was happy this tour included places I had not been before. We both had an absolute blast! My sister has special dietary needs and Paul, our tour director/driver, helped her out really well. She was able to easily get the food she needed. This was a major stumbling block to going overseas and it was taken care of beautifully. If anyone is hesitating because of dietary needs, you needn't worry. For one thing, vegan and vegetarian offerings are everywhere. (Her needs were more specialized.) I love Ireland for her amazing history, literature, art, music, and dance, but I had forgotten just how gorgeous she is as well. And Paul made sure we had great spots to take photos. Another thing I had forgotten is that everyone is incredibly friendly. If you have a 15 minute conversation with a stranger they are likely to invite you to dinner! I have been fortunate to travel many places in this world and Ireland is my very favorite place. And the Magical Ireland tour with smarTours was fabulous. It was great but it was the little things (like jumping up and down on a peat bog! It is really cool!) that were added bonuses. One drawback to the tour (and we will be in the minority) is that it was heavy on eating and drinking. We prefer seeing the sites and learning history. Having said that, I also have to say there was a good balance of free time and guided time. However, you do have to remember, with a tour like this, it is going to be rushed. We chose to skip meals sometimes so we had more time at the sites. I do highly recommend this tour to anyone considering a trip to the Emerald Isle. The tour included all the major places a first time visitor to Ireland should see as well as places someone who has been there before may not have seen. I am ready to go again!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Great time, learned a lot- Our 2 Tour Directors Granville and Nina made Greek History come alive. We ha enough down time and enjoyed every minute. The optional tours were worth it and should not be missed. This is my second SmarTour trip and will do it again”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Great time, learned a lot- Our 2 Tour Directors Granville and Nina made Greek History come alive. We ha enough down time and enjoyed every minute. The optional tours were worth it and should not be missed. This is my second SmarTour trip and will do it again”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“The trip was amazing from start to finish. The bus driver was so great. Peter gave us so much history and country info and made you want to learn about it. He's very personable and good. The hotels and meals were all great. The things we got to do were fun and entertaining. We would take this trip again and recommend Ireland to anyone. Beautiful country and people. It was my first trip outside the US and it was a great experience.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Our tour to Bali and Java with Smartours was very enjoyable and more relaxing than other destinations that we have traveled. Our tour director "Jack" spoke excellent English and was able to answer all of our questions. All of the hotels exceeded our expectations and probably had the best included breakfasts of any of the many guided tours we have taken. After seeing the somewhat chaotic traffic particularly in Java we were thankful to be in a comfortable motor coach with an experienced driver. Two highlights: the worlds largest Buddhist temple, Borobudur, was amazing at sunrise. Shortly after sunup the small crowd disappeared and we stayed long enough to have the massive temple to just the Smartours group to explore in detail. Secondly, the whitewater rafting optional tour near Ubud is not to be missed. Rafting in the tropical waters of Bali is so much more comfortable then the snow melt filled rivers of the Colorado Rockies.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------”

smarTours 4 star review on 17th June 2019

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I really had a great time during my stay in Spain. Most of the tour guides wow very professional and knowledgeable. As a whole the did an excellent job. Hotel accommodations as well as the foods were great. Thank you for making the trip very agreeable.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I had a wonderful trip to Ireland & my tour guide, Paul Kealy, was not only knowledgeable but very entertaining! I recommend both SmartTours but Paul for your trip to beautiful Ireland!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I especially appreciated our Tour Guide, Mery's, extensive knowledge of Turkey's history and culture. She also had a wonderful sense of humor as well. The tour included a very good variety of western Turkey's cities both in the interior and along the coast lines. Accommodations were excellent with the exception of the Dinler Hotel Urgup (good)which may have been the best of the Cappadocia area. Food stops and city restaurants were quite good with choices of regional food which I enjoy! It was a happy adventure.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Trip of a life time. Saw more than I expected. River cruises were especially nice. Getting off the Li river boat was much too crowded. Could give a little more free time.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“We had a wonderful tour - there were only 7 of us and 5 of those 7 were family members and the other two were very compatible. Our tour guide Ana was terrific - very knowledgeable, pleasant, helpful, funny, and courteous. The other onsite tour guides were also wonderful. Definitely will do a Smartour again!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“In general we had a wonderful time with many thanks to our tour guide Renata. The sites we visited and the information that was shared with us by both REnata and the local guides was very much appreciated. A few minor issues. Though we had no difficulty with the walking aspects of the tour, a few of our fellow traveler who were "older" were not aware that there would be so much taxing walks up and down stairs and on cobbled streets. I suggest your brochure fore warn prospective travelers of this requirement. When we received final documentation we were advised that optional tours that we would sign up for with our tour guide would have to be paid in cash. I contacted the smartours office to express my concern for having to carry almost $1000 in cash in lieu of paying by credit card when we took your South Africa tour 3 years ago, I was informed that it the policy for the Eastern Europe tour to only accept cash. Lo and behold the first day of our actual tour Renata our guide informed us that we could sign up for optional tours and pay in cash or Credit Card. When I told her that we were advised we could only pay in cash she expressed surprise since Compass Travel for whom she works has always accepted credit cards for Smartours clients. You need to get your NYC team in sync with the folks who are actually conducting the tours for you. Many of the people on the tour shared our concern for having to carry cash when in fact your documentation advised us to be cautious of pick pockets!!!. I recommend that you change your policy and make it possible for travelers to use credit cards where ever.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Tour director extended some of tours and we had very long days She is short walked fast and used her fold-up umbrella for us to follow Unfortunately she would take a turn and disappear in the crowd and the small umbrella was not visible There was too long between bathroom stops to and from Suzdal it was over five hrs to get there and she did not know buildings where our assigned rooms We had a map that was unclear and finally found an employee driving a golf cart around who showed us which of the seven buildings we were booked We had to take our checked luggage up the stairs in our bldg and one of the other tour travelers insisted on helping us up the stairs with the luggage Suzdal was very unique but not unique enough to take over ten hours round trip to ride. In Moscow tour director left meeting place with an inaccurate count and two women were left behind She didn't have anyone's cell numbers to call and we didn't have the listen of the other passenger's name The group finally realized which two women were not on the bus. She sent the local guide back to meeting place to find them. Neither the guide or traveler's knew what each other looked like”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Tour director extended some of tours and we had very long days She is short walked fast and used her fold-up umbrella for us to follow Unfortunately she would take a turn and disappear in the crowd and the small umbrella was not visible There was too long between bathroom stops to and from Suzdal it was over five hrs to get there and she did not know buildings where our assigned rooms We had a map that was unclear and finally found an employee driving a golf cart around who showed us which of the seven buildings we were booked We had to take our checked luggage up the stairs in our bldg and one of the other tour travelers insisted on helping us up the stairs with the luggage Suzdal was very unique but not unique enough to take over ten hours round trip to ride. In Moscow tour director left meeting place with an inaccurate count and two women were left behind She didn't have anyone's cell numbers to call and we didn't have the listen of the other passenger's name The group finally realized which two women were not on the bus. She sent the local guide back to meeting place to find them. Neither the guide or traveler's knew what each other looked like”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Tour director extended some of tours and we had very long days She is short walked fast and used her fold-up umbrella for us to follow Unfortunately she would take a turn and disappear in the crowd and the small umbrella was not visible There was too long between bathroom stops to and from Suzdal it was over five hrs to get there and she did not know buildings where our assigned rooms We had a map that was unclear and finally found an employee driving a golf cart around who showed us which of the seven buildings we were booked We had to take our checked luggage up the stairs in our bldg and one of the other tour travelers insisted on helping us up the stairs with the luggage Suzdal was very unique but not unique enough to take over ten hours round trip to ride. In Moscow tour director left meeting place with an inaccurate count and two women were left behind She didn't have anyone's cell numbers to call and we didn't have the listen of the other passenger's name The group finally realized which two women were not on the bus. She sent the local guide back to meeting place to find them. Neither the guide or traveler's knew what each other looked like”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Total attention to detail. All very well scheduled. Went to the right places. Safe!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Our Eastern European trip this May with Renatta in charge was just outstanding, our 6th trip with SmarTours!! Everything was extremely well planned, we learned so much and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Thank you again Renatta and SmarTours for making sure we had so many wonderful experiences on this trip.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I really enjoyed the Best of China tour from Smartours. It was a trip of a life time. The guides were very helpful and knowledgeable about the area. They took great care of us and made us feel right at home. The hotels that were selected were amazing as well. The itinerary was jammed packed w/ a lot of activities to do. Ever since I returned back from China, I've been telling everyone that they should absolutely visit. In fact, I hope to return again some day! My only complaints are the following: The optional tours: I strongly recommend that Smartours changes their policies and allow for people to pay for optional tours in advance. I took a certain amount of money out for spending, but most of it was used to pay for the tours and I had to go back and forth to the ATM, which was a hassle. It would be nice to have an optional to pay for the optional tours online, so that way when you go on the trip you can use your money for gifts/other items to spend on. Itinerary: At the beginning of the trip, there were a lot of activities to do. However, as the trip went on it seemed that there wasn't many things planned and if it was 'planned' it was an optional tour. I think that should be included in the overall cost and more activities should be held in Shanghai. Shanghai/Beijing connection flight: This was a HUGE setback. We had a missed connection flight from Shanghai to Beijing, which ultimately forced us to stay in Beijing for another day. My recommendations are the following: If the tour ends in Shanghai then the tour group should fly directly out of Shanghai to JFK/SFA. Shanghai is an international city, there's no reason for us not to have flown directly home. Even if it came down to cost, the additional cost would have been worth the convenience. More importantly, even though the trip was 'over' we still 'paid' for that day and should of had a tour director/guide stay with us until we safely made it to our flight. We were practically abandoned at the airport in Beijing during the end of our trip and didn't know what to do/where to go. Smartours should have provided a guide to be available to help us until we've successfully flown out. Even if it's not Smartours fault that the flight was delayed, your company is still responsible for us as we paid for the service. If you have any follow-up questions about my concerns feel free to email me at stepgr89@gmail.com. Overall, the trip was wonderful. The ending just sucked.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Excellent tour thru China. Mark our guide was the BEST! Our 2nd tour with Smartours. Will book another tour with them. Next tour,Russia. Thanks Smartours!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“The cities of eastern Europe were excellent choices although being so near, it would have been great to see Bratislava as well. Sadly, our hotel was much too far from the center of Vienna to allow for serious sight-seeing there. Great waste of precious time trying to get around. Some people could not walk anywhere at all, and a group of 15 joined us after the trip was well under way expecting Spanish to be spoken and complaining about the food before most of them left on their own. Very disturbing. Meals and lodging were superb, the guides cheerful and informative. I'm pleased I went.”

Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Under An Hour
Customer Service	3.8 out of 5

smarTours Reviews