We’ve recently got back home to Australia, after taking the Tourradar 10-Day Turkey Highlights with Troy & Gallipoli, and we have to say that we had an awesome time with this tour. Mr Serkan Demircan was the local organiser responsible for making sure our Turkish tour ran smoothly, and I must say that it did. He did a splendid job in making sure everything went well and we had a terrific time. He was very attentive and just about every day he would contact me through WhatsApp and ask us how our day went. I have nothing but praise for the guides he organised for our tour (Erdem, Sabiha, and Sevda). They were all awesome, friendly, knowledgeable, and made the difference between an outstanding trip and an average one. They really looked after us well. All the accommodation we stayed at were nice 4 start hotels, our nicest stay was at the Charisma Hotel at Kusadasi, lovely location and facilities (omg their dessert section in the buffet was unbelievable!). The most central location was the Arden City Hotel in Istanbul, about 250 mts away from the Hagia Sophia Mosque and Topkapi Palace. So central… The most interesting one would have to be the Kayakapi Premium Caves Hotel at Cappadocia, the hotel suites are caves on a side of a mountain with a courtyard outside your front door, the facilities were very good. We thoroughly enjoyed Turkey (Turkiye), the countryside and the people we encountered were all lovely and we had a great time with lots of wonderful memories. Very glad we took this tour.

A really good tour! The team were so helpful organising extra days after the tour for us to explore on our own and everything was well organised and laid out for us. The team also were flexible around our requirements (changing days to suit our slightly different schedule and such like!) Our tour guide in Osaka was particularly amazing - we would highly recommend Yoshi as she had a really friendly aura and knew a lot about the cities we visited and offered cultural and historical context. Our guide in Tokyo was lovely and helped guide us around the city, although we did spend what felt like a very long time just on trains getting around the city and figuring out what trains to take. The day in Fuji was cloudy but would have been perfect otherwise. Thanks for a great trip :) Japan is beautiful and we will for sure be returning to explore more!!

We had a fantastic time in Madagascar. It’s a fascinating place to visit…. Not just for lemurs, though they are adorable both close-up (at Palmarium and Lemur Island) and on day and night ‘safari’ to find them in their truly natural habitat, where they are harder to see but you feel that you are experiencing them in the wild. We saw about 12 different species from the biggest (Indri) to the smallest (mouse lemur). The ones you see depend on the areas you choose. The east side (drive from ‘Tana) proved best for lemurs. The west side (fly from Tana) also had good lemur experiences…. on safari. The west was also an eye-opening cultural experience, seeing and meeting the friendly Madagascan people in their challenging environment. We had no problems with theft or hassle. The scenic sites made the west side trip, notably the Tsingies and also the baobabs. On the organisation, Agate Travel planned, organised and supervised the trip very well. Questions beforehand were answered overnight. The two pairs of guides/drivers were absolutely excellent. In the east, Fafa and Niner were top class despite the tricky roads and traffic. In the west, Martin and Hari ran everything equally well. Both guides (Fafa and Martin) were extremely personable, knowledgeable and strong in English, and they sorted any issues seamlessly. The 2 drivers were professional and kept us safe in demanding conditions. Things ran well to time. Ask for them!! The local guides they selected were also extremely good without exception- all speaking decent English. We met some independent travellers who were managing alone, but as experienced travellers ourselves, we felt that it was a place where the advantages of tour guides were significant and we were glad we didn’t try DIY. By booking fairly close to time, we were unable to get one internal flight arranged which necessitated a two day road trip…. But this had some benefits of seeing more of the country. Long car trips are a necessary evil for holidaying in Madagascar…. if you want to see multiple locations, which I recommend. The 4x4 was comfortable and up to the job. (We we’re just 2 plus the guide and the driver.) On the admin, the accommodation was 3* as advertised and was universally well-chosen. The actual standard varies as some is of necessity lodge-style and some is hotel. Our only gripe was that the Kiridi lodge, where there was really no other option, was a bit run-down and could improve itself… and we had most of one day there. Generally the food was decent enough. Choice isn’t massive but it was generally wholesome. They select local restaurants for lunch that are suitable for tourists. If you’re of a sensitive disposition, you might plan to carry your own lunch meals? Also, you’ll be well away from any medical cover so take your own tummy medicine. Living costs are cheap. We changed $100per day into local currency at the airport and this covered lunches, dinners, drinks, souvenirs and tips… well, nearly anyway…. Depending on your outlay on the last two. We didn’t try exchanging at hotels, or paying in dollars/euros or paying by card. Try to get some smaller notes than the wad of 20000s (approx ~$5) you’ll get at the exchange. Otherwise tipping gets expensive! It would be nice if the travel company offered a ‘small change’ pack for purchase on arrival to overcome this problem. We found that Agate were good at being flexible in tuning the trip to our timings and desires. I noted that many companies were limited in dates offered, while Agate offered considerable variability. However, I would say that they were responsive rather than proactive when it came to information about the trip and Madagascar once we had confirmed. They answered all my questions but I felt a lot of them were obvious questions and could have been covered in an info sheet at the start. Overall, it was a great experience; well-delivered by the company and their people on the ground. Madagascar is a wonderful destination for many reasons - but it’s big, so you spend a lot of time travelling. It was well worth it.

Fabulous trip in Cambodia. Mr Chet and Mr San were both excellent knowledgeable guides. Our itinerary was great and accommodation was all very good.

We did a 9 day Ecuador tour with our tour guide, Ivan F. The tour exceeded our expectations. Ivan was extremely knowledgeable about Ecuador. We started in Quito, then the Otavalo Market, Cotopaxi National Park, Banos, Cuenca and Guayaquil. We loved the places we went and left with amazing memories.

Organization was very good Our guide was knowledgeable, always on time, very accommodating and befriended us. Car was comfortable and the guide, Raymond, drove carefully. Accommodation was comfortable and in convenient areas. Jungle trek was challenging. Would recommend the trip to anyone.

We had a great time in mongolia with a great driver and tour guide! Mongolia is an absolute stunner!

it was eye opening where we get to see the nature and wild animals so close to us. The guide and driver are really awesome. I am a city girl who first time join this Mongolia Tour, thus I may have a lot of request when i reach Mongolia. Like food i wish to have and also requesting camps that comes with attached toilet. Our guide Billy really had tried his best to accomplish what my request for me. Really appreciate his effort.

Guide: Bam was a great guide, friendly and knowledgeable. Had good recommendations on the food and treats we should try. Attractions: Of course there were temples on the itinery and the ones we went to were definitely worth our time for the artwork and/or scenic views (White temple is a must-see). Also a fun boat ride along the Mekong seeing Laos and Myanmar. Lodging: Really nice resorts for both cities: The Rim Resort Chiang Mai on the west side of the Old City (inside the moat) and the Legend Chiang Rai right along the River Kok. Both are a bit far from the night market but it's a cheap cab/tuk tuk ride or a decent walk to walk off the meal. Meals: dinners weren't included but that's actually a positive because it gave us the opportunity to venture out to the local night markets where all the tourists went about.

I was slightly wary initially of booking with a foreign tour company entirely over email without some of the UK protections eg ABTA; I need not have worried! The whole trip ran really smoothly. Everything was in place, excellent itinerary and fantastic local guides. Hotels were very good, internal flights were straightforward too. This trip really gives you an overall feeling forThailand and its history and culture. We had an extra day in Chang Mai and one less day in Phuket which worked fine for us, though with hindsight we should just have added an extra day to the whole holiday! I was especially impressed that the elephant sanctuary we visited, Elephant Nature Park, was genuine and fully ethical, no washing or riding these gorgeous animals. Be warned, not all are despite their advertising blurb!
Finally, customer service from Agate was superb, all email queries were answered quickly and effectively.
Overall, highly recommended. We shall certainly use their services again.

My experience with this company has been EXCELLENT! Starting with my travel coordinator, Emily Xin, she did an excellent job and addressed every question or concern immediately. With our private trip, she had numerous suggestions of how to adjust the itinerary to meet our requirements. She is a professional. As for the time in the country, I was continually amazed at the quality of the sightseeing and guides. The guides were always early for our scheduled tours so there was no waiting for them to arrive.

I was most impressed by guide and driver in Sucre. The guide Elvira, was especially good and she interacted with us as if she was a longtime acquaintance. The driver Nick, wow, kudos to his driving and keeping us safe! He didn't say much but he always greeted us with a warm smile, and a few times we were able to make him laugh with my husband's snoring. haha! The hotels were great except for the Ecolodge La Estancia. It kind of let us down.

All in all, I want to THANK YOU for the wonderful job you did. We had a great family vacation in Bolivia and would recommend your service to our friends.

I chose agatetravel because my best friend Amy recommended this company to me. From the first contact for our 9 days trip to Brazil the replies have been almost immediate and very informative. I was extremely happy with the whole trip from start to end. Hotels were excellent, tours well organized and informative and the food at the special restaurants was delicious (very pleasantly surprised). I like the idea of changing guides at each location as it adds local expertise, different personalities and different insights to the journey. All guides were exceptional especially Liz in Iguazu - she was warm, bubbly and lots of fun. Arthur in Salvador was also very helpful. He took us to a local restaurant. It was quite to our taste, both in terms of atmosphere and food. It was a good memory for both my husband and I.

We were lucky the weather was good when we stayed there and we enjoyed the tour very much. The Christ the Redeemer Statue on top of the mountain was the highlight. Even though I knew it was huge, I was still shocked when seeing it. I strongly recommend this company for their efficiency and absolutely wonderful tour.

Due to the restrictions from the Japanese government, we could only travel in Japan with a travel agency. We googled and luckily found agatetravel. The booking process was simple and the replies to e-mails prompt.

We had a 9 days tour to Tokyo, Mt. Fuji, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka. I like Kyoto the most. The shrines and temples there reminded me of scenes from anime and I was excited about it. Our guide Mika was really helpful. Her command of English was outstanding and her smiles beautiful. We took public transports for the entire trip and she arranged everything well and took care of all the details. She has become a friend of us and we will miss her.

As we all love Japanese anime very much, we specially left half day to visit the theme mall and I bought a lot of garage kits. This made me high!

We had travelled with Agatetravel before to Vietnam and this was the second time we travelled with them. Given our first experience, we were not worried at all and they certainly didn't disappoint us. The guide, car, accommodation and all of the sites visited were fantastic. Enjoyed every moment and all was well done.

Special thanks to our guide, Bilguun!! VERY helpful guy. When in Ulaanbaatar, I accidentally lost one of my favorite hats and I was very upset. When Bilguun knew it, he helped contact the places we went to that day and finally found it in the restaurant. Really nice of him~

The cultural program was accompanied by a German-speaking qualified Egyptologist. It is no longer possible to be more highly qualified. Through the in-depth knowledge of our guide, we were introduced to the mysteries of ancient Egyptian culture. The times were well chosen. A varied program with time for photos and your own explorations.
Visiting Muslim Cairo with its beautiful mosques, bazaar and old town was also unforgettable. A visit to the coffee house in the favorite bar of the famous Egyptian writer and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature Nagib Mahfuz was not missing.

Dear Ashley,

Can I just thank yourself and your colleagues at Agate/ChinaTravel Guide for our excellent recent holiday in Thailand. We had a wonderful time, everything ran very smoothly and seamlessly. The guides and drivers were first rate. We were very pleased with the choice of hotels and the range of visits especially the Elephant Nature Park; it is absolutely right that thoroughly ethical and charitable places are chosen rather than fake sanctuaries where elephants are still exploited for human entertainment.

I was also very impressed with the level of customer service from yourself even we are only in email contact. I can thoroughly recommend your company for future vacations!

Best wishes

We had a wonderful tour in Lebanon with Agate Travel this April. The whole process went so smoothly that we can’t wait to travel with them again. Our travel consultant Vera was exceptional. She adjusted the itinerary professionally to meet all our requirements and answered our questions patiently. Communication with her was effective and pleasant. She also provided us with lots of useful information, which made us feel secure before we set out.

Our guide Elie was knowledgeable and considerate. He knew almost everything about Lebanon and brought every story to life, adding a lot of fun to our trip. We are history buffs, so we were very happy to see many ancient buildings and relics, like the Phoenician Alphabet, ancient Phoenician cities, Egyptian Port and Roman necropolis and hippodrome. These left a deep impression on me. We also enjoyed our hiking adventure in the Holy Valley, which was a highlight.

Elie also gave us many advices on meals and we have tried a lot of delicious Lebanese food. I loved Kibbeh most.

It beat every expectation we had going into the trip. From the beginning to the end we felt very well looked after and always felt safe. We would highly recommend your services.

Here is our review for the Istanbul portion as we are currently experiencing the rest of this itinerary. Nothing like arriving to Istanbul after a long international flight and have a private transfer waiting for you at the exit to take you to the hotel. Agate chose an excellent Hotel (Hotel Fer) which is centrally located in Istanbul old town and has excellent breakfast. We are very happy with the services of our private guide, Mehmet, who gave us a unique perspective on the historical sites visited. Thanks to his explanations, we understood well the Islamic rituals carried out during prayer at the mosques visited. We also got a very good understands of each site visited by his explanations. Mehmet also took us to try authentic Turkish cuisine as the restaurants we visited were not touristy at all, but places where the locals eat. Our drivers also did a great job I getting us to evening activities and airport transfer on time measuring well the local heavy traffic. Agate’s local travel partner is contacting us daily through WhatsApp to ensure all tours and transfers are proceeding smoothly. Thank you Agate Travel, Serkan, Mehmet, Mustafa, and the other drives for their excellent service. I highly recommend Agate Travel’s Turkey Tours. Will post review for the rest of the itinerary as we complete it.

Just returned from our trip to Botswana. We saw a great number of wild animals and it was an exceptional safari experience. First of all, I have to compliment Abbey Cheng for her professional work of arranging such an amazing tour and her patience and replies to my many questions. Second, I want to mention our representative, Mark, excellent and very personable. He has a great sense of humor and is easy to talk to. He was very accommodating for us and made the tour a memorable experience.

We spent 10 days in Botswana and 6 nights camping. It was better than we expected. Highly recommended!

My fiancé and I went during the Mid-Autumn festival. Brian, our tour guide was knowledgeable, laid back, and was always ready to answer a question no matter how insignificant it was.
If you go to The Great Wall, I highly recommend that you pick the option to slide down the toboggan at the end.
We are so glad that we decided to go with a tour guide. It made everything so much easier and we didn’t miss out on anything due to a language barrier. 😊

Many thanks for a wonderful tour in Kenya and Tanzania. This has been an exceptionally well organized trip - from my first email to your company, to our final departure from our last hotel in Zanzibar. I have only praise for all the people who worked so hard to make our visit so memorable. It has also been exceptionally good value. The hotels and safari lodges we stayed in were from good to excellent. The vehicles we travelled on were clean and in good condition.

Of course I have to mention our driver guides, Ezekiel and Abu. They both were friendly and knowledgeable. Ezekiel in Kenya had a gift of spotting animals. He often pointed out some animals hard to notice to us. We were excited about it. Abu in Tanzania was talkative and he told us a lot about wild animals. All in all, they were both excellent!!!

It was once in a lifetime experience and we were really lucky to see the Big 5. No regrets!

I planned to go to China this May, I contacted the tour agent from Sept. They are very helpful and very fast to respond my request. I particularly asked several things because I will be travelling with children and also elder persons.

When the covid19 got worse, I had to cancel the trip because the flight was cancelled by the airlines. The process went smoothly. It took only 3 days for my money to be refunded. I would like to recommend this tour for others also. Actually, I plan to use them again if we can make this tour on Dec.

We had a complete itinerary Plan for our vacation trip to China.
Unexpectedly the COVID19 showed off and all airlines and hotels started to doubt and our Plans did become uncertain and risky
Your Company was the first one in attend our solicitude and make a full refund, we really appreciate your warmth words and your prompt refund.
No doubt is left in our minds to choose again a serious Company like yours as our first-hand experiences to discover in our next year travel to China

We were unsure what Agate Travel would be like as we found them on the internet and had never come across them before. However we should not have worried as they delivered exactly what they promised showing us all the sites promised. We had 3 separate guides who were all friendly and knowledgeable and 1 main driver Anand Singh who looked after us and was great company. Would certainly recommend Agate Travel.

Paese veramente interessante. In un tour di nove giorni si può vedere il nord il centro ed il sud. Tre posti diversi anche per mentalità e cultura. Stupenda la baia di ha long.

Our first visit to India and wanted to learn the history of the local street food in addition to tasting the many flavors, so we booked a 4 hour walking food tour.

Naresh was our guide and did a fantastic job. We ordered a Uber from our Airbnb and got dropped off in an area unfamiliar to where we thought we would end up. Naresh waited patiently for us and even assisted us hego get the culture of Delhi. The activity on the street was exciting and the food was amazing. We tasted main dishes and deserts.

Naresh did a wonderful job. Nice introduction to the City of Delhi and the local street food.

We'd like to thank Linda our travel consultant for her great arrangements of our recent trip to India! We exchanged over twenty emails to finalize all details, and Linda was patient with us, always answering our questions thoroughly. The trip went out smoothly and enjoyably. The hotels, guides and drivers were all nice. We will definitely use Agate Travel when we travel to Asia again!

We registered for this day tour only two days before, but Agatetravel made everything perfect for us from the beginning to the end of the trip. We had a very early start for the train to Agra and had breakfast on train. Upon arrival, we began our visits to Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. Wonderful sites, rich history and culture. Our knowledgeable guide provided detailed explanations. We really enjoyed the tour. Highly thanks.

11 Day small group tour to China with a 3 day add on to Thailand
Amazing tour was arranged by Abbey from Travel China Guide. She was so helpful, friendly, and accommodating when we wanted Thailand added to our 11 day trip. I travelled in Oct 2019 with my family of 5. We requested a no shopping, small group tour. The tour more than exceeded all our expectations. The small group of 16 got along so well that we dubbed ourselves Linda's Family after our guide Linda in Beijing. The hotels, meals, and tour guides from Linda in Beijing, Tracy in Xian, Sid and Joan on the Yangtze river cruise, Ocean in Shanghai and finally Kat in Bangkok were all first class. The tour was executed seamlessly. I would highly recommend using Travel China Guide as your tour operator if you are thinking of touring China. Thank you TCG for an unforgettable amazing trip !!!

As a single traveler, I joined the group day tour with Agate Travel. The tour is really exceeded my expectations. Guide picked me up at my hotel in time and offered the excellent service during the visit. He was courteous, knowledgeable and went out of the way to meet the needs of the group. Everything was clockwork. I highly recommend the tour for all without hesitation.

Eleven unforgettable days in Vietnam and Cambodia
Twenty years of guiding groups afford me some instruments to judge the professionalism and quality of the tourist products
Don't miss the excellent tailor made tour organised by Agate Travel Tour in Vietnam and Angkor.
Except the famous attractions (Halong bay cruise,Hanoi, Ho Chi Min city and of course the magnificent temples in Angkor),Mrs Emily Xin has managed to add some original destinations.
So in Da Nang we have visited the beautiful Cham Museum and in Hoi An we have taken part in making a lantern, a unique occasion to meet the so sympathetic Vietnamese people

All guides and drivers, without exception,were excellent: full of knowledge and of good will to help (I am handicapped).
All internal flights were punctual and the thought the the guide and the driver wait you after landing to welcome you, is very encouraging.
Hotels were not only very good but centrally located.

Last not least,during the preparations of this trip we got the impression of being Emily's unique customers.........

Our tour was with Travel China Guide. It was well organized, everyone spoke very good English, the food was great, visited lots of places and we had a great time. Our tour was in May so it was rather hot but not as many tourists and crowds to deal with. We had six of us on a private tour and that is the only way to go. It is so nice to travel in a small group.

Since we had a small group we could adjust the schedule when the weather was to hot, especially the first few days. We went from Alberta, Canada with 15 C to Bangkok 35 C and high humidity. It took us a few days to adjust.

This is our second trip with Travel China Guide, we also did China two years ago on a Small Group Tour. Both trips were amazing and I would recommend Travel China Guide for any trips to Asia.

Private tour to Vietnam with "Travel China Guide" (Agate Travel)
Not just China!! ...We had a very successful trip with Travel China Guide in China last year, so when planning this years trip to Vietnam we decided to use Travel China Guide again. In March my wife and I completed a excellent private tour of Vietnam from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi (Including Mikong delta and Halong bay cruises). Once again Wendy was professional and responsive when arranging and also during our trip.

A picture is suggested but you don't want to see a picture of me ..... so how about one of the beautiful "spring roll holder" we were presented with during one of the many excellent Vietnamese meals we enjoyed.

My wife and I recently took a quick tour of India. As our time was limitied we hit the Golden Triangle, New Dehli, Jaipur and Agra. From the moment we landed we were in good hands, we were met at our flight, (which was late, but the driver waited for us) taken to our hotel, and then began our tour the next day. The entire trip we had the same driver, he was sooo good. If there was a choice spot to park, he would find it. He was also always on time and very courtious. At each of the cities we visited, a local guide would show up with the driver in the morning and we would be off to tour the area for the day. The sights were fantastic, we always seemed to be in the prime locations and ahead of the lines. This was a great tour, we seen more than expected and were treated very well.

I am in the second week of my Private Tour. I would like to say thank you WENDY, my Private Travel Consultant from Travel China Guide.
Thanks for your attention and patience with me. I changed the itinerary so many times and you always with quickly reply.
I've already needed your help in this trip and you were there ,by WeChat, to help me.
Congratulations WENDY, you are an Outstanding Private Travel Consultant.
I am so Glad to have you as my Travel Consultant.
Once again, Congratulations.