Impressive Vietnam & Laos in Luxury 14 days - Private Tour

We traveled as a young senior couple through Vietnam and Laos from Jan. 14 through Feb. 2, 2023. We started planning our trip in October 2022, researching travel companies based in Vietnam. After communicating with 2 different companies, we decided on Best Price based on their knowledge and price point.… More We traveled as a young senior couple through Vietnam and Laos from Jan. 14 through Feb. 2, 2023. We started planning our trip in October 2022, researching travel companies based in Vietnam. After communicating with 2 different companies, we decided on Best Price based on their knowledge and price point.

We chose their prepackaged Vietnam and Laos in Luxury 14 day tour, then modified it to take out places that did not interest us and add in complete new locations and activities that were important for us. Our contact person was Ms. Kate, who worked tirelessly to accommodate all our changes and question, telling us when it was not possible to fit everything in. It takes a special person to have the patience to respond to each and every E-mail that we sent. We ended up with a 20 day tour that fit our interests completely.

THE GOOD THINGS ABOUT THIS TOUR
1) You can start your tour any day of the week, allowing total options arranging your flights to starting location
2) Ability to modify agenda
3) The total support of your contact person all the way through planning, arrival and during the tour
4) If your tour starts in Hanoi, your contact person will personally meet you to go over your agenda. (We don’t know what happens if you start in other cities)
5) All day tours, drivers, guides, listed transportation (flights, bus, taxi, boats, trains), admission fees, meals listed in itinerary, hotels are arranged and prepaid by Best Price.
6) Day tour pickup times are mostly on time.
7) Tour payment is easy and secure by Credit card or final payment by cash on arrival. NOTE! There are transaction fees applied when paying by credit card.
8) We chose the 3 star hotel option. All Hotels were satisfactory with several better than expected. All included breakfast. (We did request several hotel changes before we booked the trip, for location purposes.)

THINGS THAT ARE NOT MENTIONED AS OFTEN IN REVIEWS
1) Road trips between locations can be long. Hanoi-Halong Bay 4 hrs. Hoi An-Hue 4 hrs. HO-CHI-MINH to Cu Chi tunnels 2Hrs.
2) Customs and Visa process varies depending on location. In Hanoi airport turn left before you approach the custom booths to apply and pay for your visas, Cambodia there are 2 stops on the river when you take the speed boat and Laos airport fairly quick just follow instructions. Visa costs depend on what Country you come from.
3) Tipping is a question that is hard to answer. Tips are accepted everywhere but not necessarily required in most situations. In most hotels and other locations there are tip boxes. Tour guides and drivers spend a lot of time with you and we feel that they deserve a show of appreciation. Remember you are in developing countries where the standard of living for a lot of the people you meet is quite low. SUMMARY! On a tour like this there are many people that you encounter who could use your generosity. If you plan to tip make sure you monitor and maintain your small denomination currency. 4) If your agenda is very busy with long days, we recommend, if time and budget allows, to plan several unscheduled days where you can relax and spend time by yourself.
5) Do not worry if your pickup person is not there when scheduled. They will show up soon. It is more important that you are ready when they arrive. In the large cities in Vietnam, the tours send a big bus to a central location, then send out people on foot to each Hotel to walk you to the bus. That bus then takes you to a transfer point where you are directed to the actual tour transportation that you have booked. The system works very well. Other parts of the world could take a lesson from Vietnam tourism.
6) Learn how to cross the street in Vietnamese cities. If you don’t you will never get across.
7) If you plan to have custom made clothing made in Hoi An, make sure you schedule enough time to choose the Tailor, have measurements taken, come back for a fitting, then allow for 1 or 2 alterations. We recommend that you research and decide on 2 tailors before you travel, get prices from those 2 and then decide. There are hundreds of Tailors in 3 block square.
8) Study the history and culture of the Countries you are going to before you arrive. Tour guides all speak English, but some are a little hard to understand. It helps to at least know some of the history that they are talking about.

SUMMARY
When we started planning this trip we were told by several people, that we should plan and book everything ourselves, because it would be much less costly. We decided instead to work with Best Price. This was by far the best decision. We did not need to waste hours booking Hotels, tours and drivers from the hotels or travel companies that are on every street corner of the cities, and then wonder if the information they got was correct. We met one tourist during our travels who had taken the time to plan his itinerary independently and found that our tour was less money than if he had self-booked everything.
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