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smarTours Reviews

4.4 Rating 1,658 Reviews

86 %

of reviewers recommend smarTours

Company Reviews

Product Reviews

4.4

Based on 1,658 reviews


Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Under An Hour
Customer Service	3.7 out of 5

About smarTours:

smarTours is a leading provider of direct-to-consumer, affordable travel experiences to exotic global destinations. The Company offers travelers curated, pre-packaged itineraries to over 50 destinations across the globe. By offering tours directly to consumers, the Company provides premium-quality experiences at value prices, and as a result, has cultivated a highly passionate and loyal community of repeat travelers. More than 200,000 travelers have taken a smarTours trip since the founding of the Company in 1996. smarTours is… the smarter way to see the world.

Phone:

800-337-7773

Email:

info@smartours.com

Location:

500 7TH AVE, 8TH FL,
NEW YORK
New York
10018

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smarTours 5 star review on 21st April 2024

smarTours 5 star review on 21st April 2024

smarTours 5 star review on 13th April 2024

smarTours 5 star review on 13th April 2024

smarTours 5 star review on 8th April 2024

smarTours 5 star review on 7th April 2024

smarTours 4 star review on 1st April 2024

714

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 4 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“Overall the trip and the sightseeing was very good but I had several issues, first was that being allergenic for onion and garlic I wasn’t taken care. Our director slacked in this as is he was very busy with 3 people in the group. At one place I didn’t have anything to eat. On the end of tour meal as well , I only had salad where as they all had fancy meals. He didn’t once come and ask me throughout the trip if I was ok. Secondly as I said he was only looking out for 3 people on the trip, whenever they had an excursion, he would shorten our time so see what is on our itinerary, like we didn’t get the to experience the diamond journey and our time at the V and A was shortened because they were getting late for their excursion. We asked if we can just stay there, he said no we all have to go back to the hotel and get a Uber to come back. So unnecessary. The second time when we visited the Kirstenborsch gardens, he gave us just 15 mins. We were interested to see all the plants, again they were rushing for an excursion and we had to suffer. So some of the things which made our experience not so great.”

smarTours 4 star review on 2nd January 2023

Posted 1 year ago

Thank you for your feedback Rekha. We will pass your comments along regarding the issues you encountered to our tour team. Thank you for joining us.

Posted 1 year ago

“This was our first experience using smarTours and it did not disappoint! Everything was planned perfectly and our guide was so knowledgeable of the country and the sites that we visited which made it very enjoyable.”

smarTours 4 star review on 3rd December 2022

Posted 1 year ago

Thanks for traveling with smarTours!

Posted 1 year ago

“The tour was well organized overall except the following need to be improved. 1. Our vegetarian meals for long flights from LA to Hochiminh City were not ordered even though we had indicated that right during registration. Even after filling out the mid trip survey and requesting the tour director to get it done for the return trip, it did not happen. 2. The Mekong Delta optional trip should have included couple of open public markets but the tour director promised inclusion at the outset but did not really deliver on that. 3. Tour Director collected $25 from each couple for tipping hotel and restaurant staff. Is this something that the management of the company approves of? Tips for driver and local tour guide in Cambodia were not included in this. How do we know where these tips are really going? 4. The Company needs to change its tipping policy of it being $6 per day per traveler anywhere in the World. Depending on the country and US dollar to local currency exchange rate, this amount may be too generous. For 24 of us on the trip, $6 per day per traveler for 11 days of the tour amounts ot $1,584 total tip amount for the Director. This is about 5 to 6 times the average monthly income in Vietnam for 11 days of work. Is the company not being too generous at our expense? Do Smart Tours pay them any salary or tips are their only source of income? the management needs to look into this and change its tipping policies. 5. The travel from Hanoi to Siem Reap was handled poorly. We spent the whole day for this trip with two airport changes for a distance of 750 miles and I think this is a mis-management by the company in handling the logistics of this last part of the travel out of Vietnam. Bipin and Rekha Shah”

Posted 1 year ago

Hello! Thank you so much for your valued feedback! We are always looking at ways to improve our tours and comments like this help so much with altering our itineraries and creating a wonderful experience! Thank you for traveling with us!

Posted 1 year ago

“While the weather and places were awesome, the smartours organization was often confusing. Gina was great, Stratos okay but impersonal.”

Posted 1 year ago

Hi Pamela- thanks for your feedback! We're happy to hear that you enjoyed Gina. We will further investigate the issues you mentioned. Thank you for joining us!

Posted 1 year ago

“I have now been on 14 Smartours and will leave for Portugal and the Azures in 2 1/2 weeks with Smartours. This trip was not my favorite. There was a lot of concern about who was going to meet us at each stop or how were we going to board the cruise ship from Stockholm to Helsinki. Even our guide (the poorest one we had) had no idea he had to pick up our boarding passes to get us on board the ship. He was making many calls and apologizing and saying he was going to have to go to church and pray a lot. I just flowed with the punches but others were really concerned and complained and worried, etc. I hope my next tour is better or I will be looking for another tour company.”

smarTours 4 star review on 29th July 2022

Posted 1 year ago

“The Ireland trip was overall great. My issues were the included dinners. There was a set "tour" menu, which was very limited. The regular menus in each included restaurant had other similar-priced entrees but many more options. None even had Irish stew, lamb or salmon which is what Ireland is known for. I would have skipped the included meals had i"d known. We should have had the flexibility to order off the regular menus. Also, the substitute Irish dinner which was cancelled and rebooked moved to a pub due to cancellation was a complete rip off. You charged $60 per person for a 25 dollar meal. Every pub in Ireland has free enterainment already included. This should have been cancelled and refunded since the original event was cancelled.”

Posted 1 year ago

Hi Ashton! We're happy to hear you had a wonderful time in Ireland! Thank you for your feedback regarding the food options. I have brought this to the attention of our tour development team to reassess both the restaurant and dinner choices. We truly value comments like yours so we can continue to curate tours that provide top-notch experiences for all of our travelers.

Posted 1 year ago

“Enjoyed our trip to Alaska. Had a most unique, fun and well versed tour guide. Made our experience all the better.”

Posted 1 year ago

Happy to hear! Thank you Margaret!

Posted 1 year ago

“Although free time is a great thing. I found this trip had way too much free time. Our guide was wonderful and knowledgeable. She went out of her way to ensure all our needs were met and even arranged the side trips we requested. Hotels were great comfortable and very clean.”

smarTours 4 star review on 27th June 2022

Posted 1 year ago

Thank you for your feedback! We will pass your comments along to our tour team.

Posted 1 year ago

“The tour itself was very good. The number of flights and layovers (especially the return trip) was unacceptable.”

Posted 1 year ago

Hi Karen! Thanks so much for your feedback! We are happy to hear you enjoyed the tour. We apologize that you felt the flight schedule was excessive and will forward your comments to our tour department to assess future tours.

Posted 1 year ago

“This was my first trip with SmarTours, but fourth for my parents, whom I went with. I had a great time in Peru and felt like I got to see everything I wanted to with this tour. Our guide, Enrique, was excellent in showing us the sites, giving us the history, and explaining how it all shapes Peruvian culture today. There were some bumps on the road with train issues and flight cancellations, but Enrique and SmarTours took care of us and found alternate passage at no expense to us. In the case of the flight cancellation, the airport was shut down, so SmartTours arranged an alternate flight out of a different city, chartered a bus to get us there, and booked hotel rooms in that city. They even arranged a box dinner for the trip. Other than the sudden long bus ride, the itinerary was barely affected. I don't know what we would have done if we were on our own, so I'm grateful that Smartours took care of us. My main complaint, is that Lima and the Nazca extension had other people guiding us, and they were not as good as Enrique. Our Lima guide was fine, but I feel we were practically left on our own for Nazca. Transport was arranged, and things went smoothly, but it felt like we were just told be ready at a certain time and someone would pick us up. For most of the trip, our guide helped us with check-in and made sure there were no problems, but for the Nazca extension, we didn't have anyone. Nothing went wrong, but it was a contrast to the rest of the trip. However, otherwise the trip was great and I'll be considering Smartours for future trips.”

Posted 1 year ago

Wow! Thank you for your thorough review! We are so happy to hear you were able to enjoy time with your parents in Peru! We will pass your feedback along regarding the guides to our tour department. We're so happy to hear that even when things didn't go according to plan, we were able to quickly resolve any issues. We hope to host you and your parents again soon!

Posted 1 year ago

“After three years of planning, cancellations and repositioning funds, SmarTours exceeded all of our expectations - especially with our tour guide, Renata. The Great Cities of Eastern Europe tour from May 21 - June 4, 2022 included stops in Warsaw and Krakow, Poland, Vienna, Austria, Budapest, Hungary and Prague, Czech Republic. The accommodations were phenomenal as were the daily, morning breakfasts. We also enjoyed six group dinners. We enjoyed the history, the main attractions and beautiful cities and we had ample free time to explore on our own. We are already looking forward to planning our next tour with SmarTours.”

smarTours 4 star review on 13th June 2022

Posted 1 year ago

Thank you for sharing your feedback, Alan! We're glad to hear you had a great experience! We do hope to see you on another tour soon!

Posted 1 year ago

“We had 33 in our group and it was really too large for everything we had to do. Several of us tested positive the day before we were to leave and our guide Marina got annoyed. She left us at the testing sight and continued on with her scheduled tour. Leaving us to fend for ourselves. It was like running a race. Not enough time to take in all of what you were seeing and doing. The tours were beautiful, but crowded and no masks. The food on the ship was the same buffet everyday for lunch and breakfast. Some Greek food would have been nice. The food was just fair. This was my first tour with SmarTours and probably my last. It’s better to pay a bit more and have time to enjoy the culture and your surroundings.”

Posted 1 year ago

Thank you for sharing this candid feedback. We're so sorry to hear that you got covid - we hope you are recovered and back to good health. We're following up with our team in Greece about the handling of covid positive passengers and quarantine assistance, and also taking your feedback on the food and pacing into account as we look to make improvements to this itinerary. We appreciate you taking the time to share.

Posted 1 year ago

“Our tour guide in Croatia “Danko” was fun!”

smarTours 4 star review on 2nd June 2022

Posted 1 year ago

Thank you for sharing these wonderful photos! It was a pleasure to host you!

Posted 1 year ago

“Some hotels were too far out of town. Our guide Edith was great. Provided dinners and lunch were lackluster. At two dinners we were served the same entree.”

Posted 1 year ago

Thank you for your honest feedback, David. We are always looking for ways to improve our itineraries, so the feedback on the hotels and meals is much appreciated.

Posted 1 year ago

“We were disappointed that 2 of the 3 optional tours were canceled due to lack of participation and our tour guide was not allowed to help us find substitutes. It would have been better if we had been notified of these cancellations before we departed from the USA - we were told the first day of the trip, so I know SmarTours knew in advance. Disappointing to say the least! The food in the hotel was not very good either. However, it was a great trip and our guide Diana was extremely knowledgeable and considerate.”

Posted 1 year ago

Dear Anonymous, we are glad to hear you had a great trip, and your guide lived up to expectations. We are so sorry for the last minute cancellation of the optional tours. Sometimes it's difficult to get out ahead of the messaging when things change, and we know we fell short this time. Guides are not restricted in any way from making suggestions for free time. We will follow up to be sure that is clear for any future departures. Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback.

Posted 1 year ago

“Great selection of hotels and excursions. Excellent commentary from our guide Johnathan! Small group allowed us flexibility. Great mix of wildlife, culture, and history.”

Posted 1 year ago

Thank you for your review!

Posted 1 year ago

“When I called Stephanie 2 weeks before departure to ask about the Travel locator form for the Azores, she said she would get back to me.(The link did not work!) She did. While we were driving, in traffic, on our way to the airport. Too late!! The transportation was wonderful. Drives were adept and punctual! Tour guides provided lots of useful information.”

Posted 1 year ago

Thank you for your feedback! It was a pleasure to host you!

Posted 1 year ago

“After 2+ years waiting and 5 different bookings we finally went on the Spectacular Greece trip. We really enjoyed the history and amazing sites that Greece and the islands have to offer. If you are an archeologist at heart this is the trip for you. Emirates airline was certainly a step above other airlines as far as service and amenities, especially in the economy cabin. At the airport we were greeted by Mama Gina our tour director for the first half of the tour. She was amazing. She made sure we knew where to be and at what time. She also made a point to know all our names. The only part that was disappointing to us was the cruise. The food was not what I would have expected. Secondly, going to 6 islands in 4 days was too much. We would have rather arrived in the morning at an island, spend quality time there...do a tour, shop, eat..or how about relax!!! The rest of the tour was fantastic and we are planning a trip back to Greece for our 30th anniversary in a few years. And I do want to say that Gina is the G.O.A.T... Greatest Of All Tour directors. Thank you Gina for a great time.”

Posted 1 year ago

Thank you for your feedback, Scott! We’re sorry to hear that the food on your cruise was not as expected and we have addressed this issue with the cruiselline. We understand that the pacing for the cruise is quite fast and have added a new version of the tour that includes three nights in Crete allowing for that slower pace in the Mediterranean Sea that you’ve mentioned here. We’re so glad to hear the rest of your experience in Greece and with your tour director, Gina, was amazing! We hope you’ll join us again soon!

Posted 1 year ago

“4 stars, great , knowledgable , caring and wonderful tour guide. unnecessary tour of olive oil and carpet factories, would have appreciated more turkish and authenthic food.”

Posted 2 years ago

Thank you for your feedback!

Posted 1 year ago

“Overall the tour was excellent, but the tour guide was beyond terrible. He mocked people on our tour and acted like a schoolteacher with unruly students, which was not the case. Please see my email for details”

Posted 2 years ago

Hi nancy! Thanks so much for your feedback. Your email was passed to our tour operations team.

Posted 1 year ago

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smarTours is rated 4.4 based on 1,658 reviews