I'm looking for Viator reviews.
I know TripAdvisor owns the company. I realize they are brokers and arrange tours and may not conduct the tours themselves. I booked 2 tours to smaller tourist sites in Ostia Antica and Herculaneum in Oct. The reason I booked Viator is that we were looking for small group, shared tours, and I could not find any company offering this option.
If you have any personal experience using Viator please share.
Viator doesn't conduct any tours, so I'm not sure why you're asking for reviews of Viator. If you provide more details about the tours you've signed up for, perhaps someone will recognize one of them as something they've done. In addition, it has been suggested on this forum that Googling key phrases from tour descriptions sometimes allows you to find the company actually running the tour.
Thanks for your input. We booked our Viator tours to Ostia Antica and Herculaneum.
I used Viator in 2015 for a winery tour when we were in Portugal. The tour started in Lisbon.
It was a small group - maybe 5 or 6 people. The company that provided the tour did a great job. They were on time at a central location with a comfortable mini van, and the driver was the tour guide too.
He was very informative and a lot was packed into the day. Lunch was not provided but he suggested places for lunch.
Then I booked a couple tours with them for my trip to France in 2017 and got the same excellent service from the provider in Paris.
A couple of my colleagues have also used them in Amsterdam and London without any issues.
We booked our Viator tours to Ostia Antica and Herculaneum.
Yes but can you link the actual tours you booked? There are oodles of tours to those two places on the net. Without seeing what you signed for, there's no way to try and figure out what company - which won't be Viator - is actually conducting the tours or if reviews out there are legitimate (I personally wouldn't trust just those on the Viator websites).
Just as a for-instance, this tour appears on the Viator site:
https://www.viator.com/tours/Rome/Ancient-Ostia-Small-Group-Day-Trip-from-Rome/d511-3731OSTIA
But with some not-difficult tracking, it also appears on the TA website with the name of the provider (City Wonders):
I'd pretty much discard reviews from one-time posters as they are most likely to be fakes.
Kathy and others. Thanks for trying to help. Here are the links to tours we have reserved:
OSTIA ANTICA
https://www.viator.com/tours/Rome/Ancient-Ostia-Small-Group-Day-Trip-from-Rome/d511-3731OSTIA
HERCULANEUM
https://www.viator.com/tours/Sorrento/Herculaneum-Express-Tour-by-Local-Train/d947-14822P20
You can pretty easily find out who the actual tour operators are and book directly with them. Rates will only be a little cheaper but the main thing is that you won't run the risk of getting your tour cancelled (has happened before especially if the tour operator oversells) and if there are any problems/issues you can deal directly with the operator - they will not deal with you if you book thru Viator but will direct you thru their customer service That being said, they are a legit tour aggregator
Looks like the Ostia Antica tour is by City Wonders and the Herculaneum Express tour by Belmare Travel
OK, the Ostia Antica one is the same as I'd linked above: the one offered by Viator is the same one offered by TA and is listed on TA as conducted by City Wonders.
But I've no way to tracking down the operator for the Herculaneum tour. As with Ostia Antica, both are listed on Viator and TA:
https://www.viator.com/tours/Sorrento/Herculaneum-Express-Tour-by-Local-Train/d947-14822P20
TA lists the provider as Pompei & Herculaneum Express Tours & Guides, and the VERY few reviews on TA (see the reviews attached to the Herculaneum tour linked above) are responded to by a manager at Belmare Travel. It describes itself as an "incoming agent", which usually means one which sells services they've negotiated with local businesses. So, the actual conductor of this tour could be any number of their resources.
Whatever the case, you'll likely be fine. That said, Ostia Antica and Herculaneum are pretty easy to do without a tour; I'm guessing most folks on the forum have done them that way.
Have had good luck on the actual tours themselves which we booked in Germany and Spain. Must say the customer service is a mixed bag. We had a tour operator in Bermuda cancel a tour we scheduled through Viator because her minimum number of people for the tour was not met. Only problem was that she cancelled the tour the week of and per Viator's policy we were not eligible for a complete refund due to the timeframe. The first phone agent I called stuck to the letter of the law with the policy and actually hung up on me when the conversation became a little heated. Once I calmed down a bit (lol...only slightly) I did call back and got a second agent that was more empathetic and gave us a refund. For our upcoming trip we are spreading it out and trying some local tour guides like Walks of Italy and The Roman Guy.
I have no experience with Viator, but the tours we booked in Rome run by City Wonders were great. You can book directly from their website. I know Viator does work with City Wonders, but sometimes it is hard to see who the actual tour is through until you book it.
I have booked tours through Viator. Your end experience will depend on the operator providing the tour. Some tour companies and smaller tour providers are better than others. Some individual guides are better than others.
I have always received what I booked through Viator; however, some of the tours were just better than others due to the locations and the people who were the on site tour providers. I would use Viator to book tours again
One thing I always try to do is research as much as possible prior to booking, especially when there are several, similar tours being offered. What specifically does each tour cover? Is there anything I want to see which is covered better on one tour over another? Are there additional costs? Is there a break to purchase snacks/beverages or is there a meal provided? (On a long tour, this question may be useful to answer in advance so that you can know if you need to carry your own water and snacks.)
Hope you have a wonderful trip!!
We have used Viator all over the World. Yes, the firm is a middle man between you and the firm conducting the tour.
However, I have found that when researching for tours, there are times when the tour company wants cash or there is no way to pay for the tour in advance. Also, I have found in some places, that the tour companies are hard to find with an internet search.
We prefer booking directly with the tour firm, but when we use Viator, we are always happy with our tours. Also, I have found that Viator's cost for tours tends to be near the same as the tour company's cost.
Do your own research and compare, but Viator is a good option.
Since TA is no longer only crowdsourced opinions, but instead a reseller of lodging and tours, you can’t count on it for reliability. The sellers have to pay to be listed. So that’s what you are getting.
This is why others are drilling down to find the true vendor. Viator is nothing more than a Ticket Master for travel.
