Reviews

Great tour for first time visitors to India. Ample time spend at all the major sights and tour guide was very informative. Bus not of the same standard as what European travellers may be used to but still comfortable. Accommodation by and large average to good but meals very average at best with very little variation. Regardless we had a great time and can definitely recommend this tour.

Wendy Wu Japan Undercover - October 2024


This was my 5th holiday booked with Wendy Wu over the past 14 years and found some aspects of the Japanese holiday disappointing.

The size of the Japan Undercover tour group was 27 travellers in total which was far too large for a very busy tourist place like Japan. Plus with some within the group finding it difficult to visit some of the planned places of interest listed in the Wendy Wu Japan itinerary, because a large proportion of the group were limited in physical ability or stamina in so many ways.

This had several repercussions when visiting sites of interest listed in the itinerary like the spectacular Kiyomizu Temple, which was cancelled at the last minute and the group was given the option of going shopping with the Tour Guide or going on their own to find places of interest for the next few hours until rejoining the group again. As a keen amateur photographer of over 55 years I was absolutely furious as this was meant to be one of my highlights to capture behind the lens. I did not pay all this money to be offered a shopping trip as some means to compensate! I was not alone in feeling this disappointment . I do not think on this occasion that the Tour Guide made the right decision.

The slow moving group of 27, generally had less time in visiting sites of interest listed in the itinerary and on one occasion with limited time when visiting the snow monkeys, a large proportion of the group walked to the entrance gates at an average walking pace and paid for their own admission fee’s instead of waiting for the Tour Guide bringing the slower members of the group to the entrance gates. This give me and others valuable time to take photos.

Visiting Mount Fuji was also very disappointing with only 30 minutes visiting time allocated from getting out of the coach and returning back to our seats. It was a cloudy day ( not in anyone’s control) and waiting for a break in the clouds to see the peak was near impossible with the time allocated, with only a very few of the group managing to see the summit. Again a major disappointment for me. I shared the same view with others on the Tour that Kiki had not planned our departure time adequately . We were told that morning that the evening meal at the hotel was booked early, “at 6 o’clock” which left little time to return to the hotel from Mount Fuji .The hotel evening meal was rushed with plates taken away before some had even finished their food. We had to leave the table before the next Wendy Wu Tour group was arriving at 7 o’clock. Why on earth was a meal at the hotel at such an early sitting even considered versus the opportunity to see Mount Fuji. The food and service weren’t even worth rushing back for. This was not acceptable and I was not alone with feeling so let down by Kiki’s poor planning.

Sometimes the itinerary felt like a tick box exercise without having adequate time given to enjoy the sites of interest. It was apparent that too much time was allocated for midday food (lunches) and shopping within tourist traps. As stated before why come all this way to Japan at such an expense to be offered such a poor rate itinerary on some days.

On a positive note it was wonderful having a Wendy Wu representative meeting me at Osaka airport with a friendly face and being very helpful by looking after me and my travel cases for an hour until the hotel coach came to collect me.
Also the professional friendly coach drivers with their clean and comfortable coaches was really welcomed .
Our Tour Guide Kiki was also very friendly, helpful and hard working with such a large group in a very busy environment. In my opinion it was unfair of Wendy Wu Tours to expect such a large group of diverse ability to be managed fairly and equally by Kiki. It was evident that although Kiki did her best to manage the dynamic of our group, she did on occasions struggle with the challenges presented to her, by this inequity of the group composition.

However, I would like to balance my feedback and share that Kiki’s spoken English on the odd occasion was a little confusing, but her knowledge of the sites we visited and information provided to us was very good.
At this point I would like to point out that Wendy Wu Tours had promised that for groups larger than 10 people , the group would automatically be provide with both an international guide ( Kiki) and a local guide. We were not provided with a local guide for this Tour and an explanation was not given. This was not acceptable and once again this Tour was not cheap.

For our last night, the river and dining cruise was well received by my group with everyone had a wonderful time.

In summary, overall the contents of the itinerary was good but had we been given more time at the dedicated sites would have made the trip more memorable.

The hotels chosen, with their locations were generally of a high standard.

The lunches provided were not of a good standard, however on most evenings the hotel meals provided were good.

I believe for me this is now the right time to say goodbye to Wendy Wu Tours and to find an alternative travel company that better suits my needs and expectations .

It is sad that this last tour has not lived up to my expectations as the last four tours were great when I visited China, Vietnam & Cambodia, Myanmar and India . These were memorable for all the right reasons.

With sincere feedback I close with these comments… I truly believe that if Wendy Wu plan to maintain their status in this highly competitive worldwide travel industry ,that you need to seriously consider the size and make up of the dynamic , ability and age of the groups . Putting profit before quality is not in my opinion the way forward,

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to read my feedback.

Lovely adviser Matt

We added an extra day cut out the,night flight which was a big start.
18 days of the best experience of India an a ton packed tour of life and history of this beautiful country.

However not for the faint hearted. A lot of walking and long bus rides so you need to fairly fit as the temperature was also around 33 degrees + most days.
Highlight. Varanasi where my father came from. To "To tread the boards" where he was born was magic.

Twilight. There really was not one in this vibrant land.

We saw some wonderful sights and enjoyed our adventure. You have to “embrace” India, it is very, very busy and lots of honking of horns!

We would rate the physical aspect of the tour higher than 2, at Jama Masjid in Delhi there were over 20 very steep steps to get into the Mosque, at Varansi the steps at the ghat again are very steep and you have to be able to get on and off a small boat onto mud banks, there is also a lot of walking. In addition you have to be able to get on and off very busy trains with your luggage that only stops at the station for a few minutes. Hemal our guide was brilliant with some less physically able guests and on two occasions sorted out for our luggage to be driven to the next hotel.

It is a non stop tour, lots of very early starts and late back to the hotel in the evening but we booked this tour as we wanted to see a lot of India and it didn’t disappoint.

Fab holiday except for trains number two and three. Dirty and very shabby ..
first and last train on itinerary were clean and comfortable .

This is my third trip to India and have done trains before but this was a different experience .

Toy train in Shimla is tiny and cramped .
Two seater seats suitable for two slim sized people .
Shabby interior .
Myself and four others from my group were put in a carriage with locals . they had luggage piled in every available bit of space . It was cramped , no room to move .
Man opposite me kept scratching his nether regions , I chose to stand !
No room in other carriages .
Other group members had a more enjoyable trip as they weren’t in a crammed carriage .
Train journeys are not romantic if that’s what you’re hoping for .

Taken to train Station at 6am for an 8am train .some stations are dirty with disgusting toilets ., very few seats .
26 people in tour group , far too big , tour guide could t cope .
Lack of porters . Had to cross and walk down railway lines with our luggage .
Not for elderly or unfit .

Horrendous early starts .and late arrival back at hotel in the evening ., 7pm ish .
Only had time to wash hands then go for dinner
. No socialising due to next morning early starts , usually around 6am .

Hotels were all really good with good Indian food . Don’t expect an English Breakfast .

Some wonderful restaurants for lunch , most memorable one in Shimla .

Jam packed itinerary , no free time for anything which was a shame , but what we got to see and do was superb .

Had a fantastic time but it’s full on .

I’d recommend this holiday 100% if the train was ditched .

Great insight to a totally different culture and see the great historical sights.

An awful lot of travelling but, sad to say, South Korea just doesn’t have enough to make it worthwhile. Vietnam, Cambodia and India offer so much more to the traveller. However, fair play to Wendy Wu for offering this holiday. Not many companies do.
Unimpressed with the administration. Had to chase for final documents 10 days before departure and was told it would be emailed that day with hard copy to follow. Email duly arrived but hard copy sent to the address of my next of kin. No one waiting for me on arrival in Seoul and had to wait twenty minutes for the driver to show up.
I followed a competitor’s tour which I had considered but chose Wendy Wu because of the inclusion of DMZ visit. Competitor routed passengers London to Frankfurt and then 12..5 hours to Seoul. Much better for sleeping than 8 hours to Dubai and then another 8 hours after stopover.
Local guide gave long winded information and was difficult to understand so I tended to lose the thread.
Food generally edible but unexciting. Best meals were in Chinese and Japanese restaurants. Local restaurants generally unprepossessing.

My wife has long tried to get me to go to India. I eventually agreed, and I didn't know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Our tour manager was very knowledgeable and guided us around the different sites we visited. We never felt threatened; in fact, people wanted to talk to us, and they asked if we liked India, and they were very friendly.
The Tour was hectic, but we would not have seen so much if we had tried to organize it ourselves. We enjoyed it so much that we are thinking about another tour of South India.

We had a fantastic experience and saw an incredible number of interesting and historic places. It was very hectic though and is not for the old or immobile.
Hotels and food were amazing but we did not have any downtime to enjoy the facilities.
To get a 5 star review the tour holiday should be a day longer with more downtime in the hotels and perhaps fewer very early starts.
Our group was of 26 people. Three needed assistance or wheelchairs at times. I would suggest a maximum of 20 people and the grade should rise from level 2 to level 3.

Saying all that we really loved the holiday and would recommend it to like minded friends.
Finally our guide Hemal was excellent as were the local representatives.

Fantastic holiday, great tour guide (Mr B). Overall good hotels and food. Very good flights with Virgin, recommend the upgrade as it is a long time in the sky. Coach transport throughout the three weeks was in a fully a/c modern vehicle with drivers mate keeping us well supplied with water etc.
If you wanted a relaxing break, this holiday is not for you but if you want to experience all India has to offer, sights, sounds, smells and everything else, GO!!

excellent, with a few exception on food

Extremely informative and easy to deal with. The booking experience was no problem. This will be the second Wendy Wu booking having been on a previous tour with this Company, although booked as part of a cruise package through another Company. That included a visit to China. The guides were excellent on that tour hence booking directly this time. Keith and Natasha are a credit to Wendy Wu

I wanted to vary the extension and change to different flights. Natasha was really helpful and sorted everything.

Dealt with sales consultant Arti who could not have been more helpful.
After several different attempts, with her help we managed to tailor make a guided tour of Rajasthan to meet our requirements.