Easy booking process. Helpful advice on the telephone. This is our 5th tour with them and all have been very good.

Saw some amazing sites and enjoyed travelling through three very different countries. Our guide in Malaysia was fabulous and really made the trip for us due to his enthusiasm for the culture and food of Malaysia, his never ending energy, and his brilliant organisation - he also added in some extras such as the boat tour on the mirror lake number 2 which was a beautiful hidden world and should be part of the core trip in my view. However the trip was heavily mis-sold as it was not a rail trip at all - whenever we were on the train our bags were being taken by the coach to the next stop (and often getting there much quicker than we did), so for those booking a rail trip for environmental reasons this was disappointing. The Thailand part of the trip was not good at all, with a number of excursions detailed in the itinerary being cut short or not possible due to lack of time, not helped by the Phuket hotel being on the opposite side of the island to the excursions, resulting in the requirement for 3-4 hour round trips each day and multiple very early (5am, 6am, 7am) starts and late finishes on consecutive days resulting in the group rebelling and adjusting the itinerary and a number of people being so exhausted they opted out of a couple of days trips to sleep and recover. Finally, the FAQs stated an average age range of 40-65 but all but 2 travellers were over 70 so may be an important consideration for some younger travellers.

Having booked this tour on 2 other occasions only for it to be cancelled, we were very excited that this tour was now running until we saw the reviews from the previous November 2024 tour. We contacted Wendy Wu to query the issues the reviewer had raised regarding the flight changes and the poor roads to the Plain of Jars and frankly the Wendy Wu representative was completely unhelpful and was either unable or unwilling to answer any of our questions /concerns regarding this tour.
We approached the tour with some trepidation; the stay in Luang Prabang was OK but as with the majority of the hotels throughout the tour the breakfast was very basic for the Western palate and the hotel was not centrally placed. Due to the tour group being split between 2 mini buses (due to UNESCO restrictions on size of vehicles) you did not always have access to the guide.
The real issues started on the journey to Phonsavan, yes Wendy Wu had warned us that the roads were not in the same condition as Western roads but not in my wildest dreams did we imagine that the journey would be this bad. For the majority of the 11 hour trip in a mini bus there was no road surface, you were basically driving on sand and rubble with regular potholes that really tested the suspension and safety of the vehicle. We wondered if we were on an episode of the World’s Most Dangerous Roads! The journey was extremely tiring and very uncomfortable. A 4 by 4 would have made the journey more comfortable and safer. It was telling that on this road to a UNESCO site we only saw one other tourist mini bus. Unfortunately having endured this journey, 2 days later we were back on the same road again for a further 7 hours.
The last 5 days of the tour were very rushed with only one night stops. We understand that this was due to an itinerary change as Lao Airlines stopped flying from Pakse to Bangkok in 2024 but why wasn’t this adjusted on the Feb 2025 tour?
In addition there was a major issue with internal flights although fortunately we were not directly affected.On 2 occasions there were no tickets on the internal flights for 9 of fellow travellers, on the first occasion people managed to fly on a standby ticket although 4 of the tour plus the guide had to endure a 14 hour minibus journey to the hotel arriving at around 5 am next day then had to do a day of touristing. Despite the guide checking with his head office and given reassurance that all the tour had tickets on the next internal flight, the same 9 passengers again had no tickets for the flight. Yet again they had to wait for standby tickets and 1 person had to go to Thailand to catch a flight to Bangkok. The end of the holiday finished on a low and the farewell meal was not enjoyed.
Fortunately our guide Pet was extremely knowledgeable and very calm despite all the challenges of this tour.
Whilst we acknowledge that on some occasions itineraries need to be changed at short notice Wendy Wu were fully aware of the issues this tour suffered in November 2024 yet allowed our February tour to go ahead with the same itinerary. Due to Wendy Wu’s inability to address our concerns and provide information when we contacted them prior to the tour and the inefficiency of the local company used in Laos we would be very unlikely to book Wendy Wu again which is a shame as this was our third trip with them.

This was an excellent tour but don't agree with Wendy Wu stating quality hotels located centrally on website when you book only to find the last 5 nights in LAOS are not central. Either too far to walk or unsafe to walk. 3 nights in a hotel that did not provide western breakfast cold fried eggs and using a microwave to try and do toast. Last day we were free from breakfast until 18.30pm when we were being taken to airport and nothing to do and nowhere to go and out of our room by 12 noon. Guide did not give any suggestions. Waste of our time. When we arrived in LAOS was dropped at hotel at 14.00pm and told free time until 18.30pm no options of what we could do. If we wanted to travel independently would not be booking group tour. Too much free time in LAOS and wasted time that could have been spent more constructively. We don't expect to pay the money we did to Wendy Wu to find hotels costing £30 a night when hotels with facilities were centrally located for £70 abd were available. Wendy Wu has got too greedy since we went to China in 2016. Won't be using them again. Guides were saying the tipping money was too much they did not know what to spend it on. Wendy wu has lost the plot.

An excellent holiday , the group was the correct size 14, and we all got on well after a couple of days. The guides were excellent and put in the extra effort that was appreciated by everyone. The venues were good , though the first day in. Bangkok was hard work after a long flight and getting used to temperate and humidity. Thailand was amazing I saw places that were exceptional. Laos was much more 3rd would and the hotels were a bit remote. Apart from the one on the river section. A super holiday which I would like to do again but to a different part of the planet !

It was the worst holiday ever

Online booking friendly and eficient

A fascinating trip though northern Thailand and Laos.
There are an awful lot of temples and buddhas involved but many of the temples are very special.
There's quite a few days when you're just traveling (2 days in a boat on the Mekong feels a bit pointless)
The people we met were lovely and if you just learn how to say hello and thank you then they are all amazing.
This is an all inclusive trip - if you like going out to find your own meals then this is not a good choice.
My favourite part of the trio was our time in Luang Prabang - a beautiful city.

The standard of guides was very poor as all of us on the tour had great difficulty in understanding them. The restaurants we were taken to were also sub-standard and the meals were of poor quality, lacking in variety and tepid. there was too much time spent on coach/mini-buses in heavy traffic. Wendy Wu needs to improve their administration skills as things did not run smoothly. All in all, this tour was a huge disappointment and was not good value.

We had a small group and loads of activities organised for us, a perfect basis for this superb holiday experience. The pace of the tour was just right, the weather brilliant and the food mostly superb. Our Thai guide Mr Chai had poor English when it came to understanding what we said, but that didn't detract too much. Our Laotian guide Bee was professional and lovely in all respects.
My only real complaint was our first dinner in Thailand when we had just arrived in Bangkok, which was chicken and mash - how this happened, we do not know!
This was my first experience of Wendy Wu Tours and will undoubtedly not be my last. The attention to detail was greatly appreciated.

I enjoyed Thailand and the itinerary was good, but for me the holiday was spoiled by the tour guide whose communication and organisation were poor. Also we missed seeing the Doi Tung Palace and Mae Fah Luang Garden as they were not on the tour guides itinerary.

Well organizational, guide Nick was simply the best, accomodation excellent, altogether a truly great experience.