We did the six hour Vancouver tour. Our tour guide, Sam, was knowledgeable and a great driver. We…read moreenjoyed seeing Stanley Park, had a blast at Capilano Bridge and going to the island followed by the Vancouver Lookout. It was wonderful to be able to enjoy the sites of Vancouver. We were able to go back to see Gastown and Sam's knowledge helped us to enjoy our time on that street.

Since the Victoria tour picks up the Richmond guests last and drops them off first, my day was only…read morefrom 9:30am to 8:45pm since the Holiday Inn Express is one of the stops. Still a long day but I enjoyed all of it. Alex the tour guide was really funny and attentive. He made sure we weren't too warm or cold during the trip and was always on time. Each van sits about 30 people so it's not one of those huge buses. Comfortable seats but no window curtains or charger for your phone. You'll be able to charge on the ferry though. Check their website for promo codes.

So, Tod. M. really did a great job describing the train and the service. We had the Concierge at…read moreour hotel make the arrangements and we took the 'coach' car up to Whistler and the 'first class' car back. To start out on our adventure, a nice new bus took us from a local hotel to the train station and back again. For a one day adventure, I am not sure I would recommend this due to the price, but again, it was quite the adventure. When we arrived at the train station, we promptly boarded our "coach car" and were treated to coffee, tea and juice. Once the train pulled away from the station we were given a boxed breakfast that had a sandwich (fresh made on a croissant) and cut up fruit. I did not eat the sandwich as it was my very worst nightmare of all things I don't eat (mayo, ham and hard boiled eggs), but the husband enjoyed his. The service on our train was stellar and the views were spectacular. There is an open car where you can take pictures and really get a sense of what being off the highway has to offer. Once we arrived in Whistler (it was about 3 hours later) we had a 2.5 hour long time in Whistler Village (enough time to have lunch and walk around). The bus that took us from the train to the village was too crowded and seemed less organized than the bus trip from the hotel to the station. Whistler was a total waste of time for us other than the fact that my in-laws (brother/sister/nephew) drove up from Bellingham just to have lunch with us here. It was a total tourist trap without enough signage as to how to get around the small village and an incredibly mediocre amount of bathrooms. We were happy to get back onto the bus to take us back to the train station and have our first class experience. This car was bigger, the seats a little more plush and there was high tea and booze served all with real glass, silverware and cloth napkins. The service again was stellar, the tea itself tasty and it was a lot of fun. The train trip itself was one of the highlights of our vacation (cost and all) and to be honest, there was no need to "upgrade" as the coach car (sans the nasty sandwich) was perfect in and of itself.

This is a daily-run train that goes from North Vancouver (with pickup at downtown hotels) to…read moreWhistler on a very scenic route. There are two service levels -- $109 (special) for coach and $250 for "dome car" service. First, the service is very good. Organized pickups and luggage handling, friendly staff on board, interesting tour-guide material without it being too in-your-face. The real star here, though, isn't the train but the spectacular views along the way. But their marketing materials is a little bit more, er, enthusiastic than reality. For one thing, the "Glacier Dome Car" sounds great but, in fact, is not in a dome car at all. To be accurate, it should be called a "Glacier Tall Windows Car." And while you do get fed hot food in the Dome Car (as opposed to cold food), there's really not that much difference between it and the regular coach class. Same sized seating and legroom from what I could tell, access to the same heritage car, reclining seats, assigned seating, and so on. Save the $250; go with the cheaper $109 "Classic Coach" version instead. The train company promised "fully reclining seats" on the Dome car and, as I knew I would need to rest, this is partially why I opted to go with the train rather than the bus. In fact, the seats do NOT fully recline. While they recline more than coach seats in an airplane, if you're expecting to be able to lie down (that *is* what fully reclining means), you'll be disappointed. Ticketing went well. Through a snafu, they had my directions reversed but it was taken care of quickly. The tickets are not refundable in any way, though you can move unused tickets to a later date in the year. For a change fee, natch. And finally, the train arrived 30 minutes later than scheduled which seemed to be the norm. There didn't seem to be any unusual delays -- after all, there aren't traffic jams on the rail tracks -- just seemed to be a bit of lasse faire. Didn't affect me, but might be a concern for people with a tight air connection who expect to arrive when scheduled. Overall, despite feeling a bit misled by some of the promises (dome car, a big differences by paying more than double, and "fully" reclining seats), the trip was smooth and enjoyable. Bring your camera!!

The trip was just wonderful. Sanna our driver was engaging, knowledgeable and his driving was top…read morenotch. The schedule was so well planned, we had enough time to visit the sites without being rushed or having too much downtime.

Whistler is one of our favorite destinations for skiing. You don't really need a car while in…read moreWhistler and driving there on Hwy 99 could be quite dicey, so we usually just take a bus to/from the Vancouver airport. In the past we always used Perimeter Pacific Coach, but it no longer operates, so yesterday we tried a Pacific Coach (due to the name, I strongly suspect it's the reincarnation of Perimeter). First, the positives: - the bus left on time and everything at the airport (incl. tagging your luggage at the counter) was very well organized. - the bus was very comfortable, once again, I think these are the same buses that Perimeter had. - the driver was amazing, there was a mix of rain and snow and the last 50km of the road (Hwy 99) it was pure ice. We saw a couple of cars in the ditch and my husband was very happy we didn't rent a car and he didn't have to drive in such conditions. Could be improved: - Logistics in Whistler. When we arrived to Creekside, they distributed people to small shuttles to take to their hotels and condos. This was really disorganized and took almost half an hour. The drivers were deciding who goes where ad-hoc, even though they had all the lists of passengers/destinations and could prepare in advance. We were eager to get to our condo as soon as possible as, due to road conditions, the bus was late and we needed to pick up our tickets for the week before the ticket office was closed. Unfortunately, due to this delay with distributing passengers to minivans, we were late and couldn't pickup our tickets on time.

G Adventures was top notch in our tour starting with a fun group, who were much younger. The guide…read morewas excellent and had tons of experience. The accommodations were well chosen and the food was well prepared and plentiful. I would highly recommend G Adventures for this, and other tours. We definitely plan to use them again in the future.

How about a tour to the vodoo lands of Togo, Tanzania and Burkina Faso? Or better yet, how about…read morean expedition cruise to Antartica or a voyage to the Galapagos. GAP Outdoor Adventure Travel has been in business, offering these tours since 1990 and specialize in green, sustainable and super cool travel ideas for groups or lonely travellers seeking adventures. Wildlife encounters, cultural journeys, going off the beaten path is their expertise, so if you need a rush, a different sense of travel, you need to check them out.

If you are looking for an efficient and affordable way to travel between Vancouver and Nanaimo,…read moreHullo is an excellent choice. The Vancouver terminal is easy to find right behind Canada Place, just past The Drop the large blue art sculpture. ​The onboard experience is incredibly comfortable, which makes the roughly one-hour sailing fly by. The ride itself is fast but smooth, though it is worth noting that sitting backwards against the direction of travel might make you feel a little queasy, even if it is tolerable. For convenience, there are luggage racks located right by the entrance doors. The seating layout features a table for every four seats, making it easy to share space, and there are handy charging ports located at the side of each table. The vessel is also equipped with washrooms and a cafe bar for coffee and light snacks, and safety is well-covered with life vests stored right under every seat. ​Once you arrive, the trip stays seamless thanks to a free shuttle service that picks you up at the Nanaimo terminal and takes you straight into Downtown Nanaimo. It is a fantastic, hassle-free crossing that I highly recommend.

Parking before boarding the ferry between Vancouver and Victoria…read more.. This - unfortunately - was not the correct place to board the ferry. I just trusted my GPS to find a ferry, but didn't check to make sure that it went to Victoria. Shucks! It happened to be a terminal for cruise ships only. No cars allowed on the ships either! Uhg! Passengers only! (We're thought that we could Uber around Victoria without the car since could not take the car with us.) I paid by credit card in advance and will have to contact to Parking Company later to get a refund. Lesson learned.

Perfect day / even in the rain!! But of a mixup on our reservation & Jason drove us all the way to…read moreWhistler to catch the tour bus!! So it became a private tour for half the day! The rerun bus was clean & comfy - the driver was informative & funny! A great visit to Vancouver!!

The tour per se was excellent; went to Whistler Village. But…read morethere was a bit of confusion in payment for the gondola ride on the way back to Vancouver. This lead to a mistaken overpayment made for the ticket. I contacted the company via email and they were very responsive and refunded to me the over-charges. I was much impressed with the great customer service.

We recently completed our 22 day tour Highlights ofJapan and China and wanted to say a thank you to…read morethe Laurus team. The arrangements were perfect, hotels amazing and the tour guides exceptional. Laurus has exceeded our expectations and we will be sure to recommend Laurus to any friends planning a vacation in Asia. A special thank you to Helen and Heather of the Vancouver office. Your patience during our planning stage was appreciated. Katie, our tour leader in Japan, was fantastic. Her enthusiasm and caring for our every need was amazing and she helped make our trip a success. Hiro; the local guide in Tokyo, provided valuable information that assisted our understanding of Japanese history. We also appreciate that Laurus honored our reservation in China and provided us with an individualized tour even though we had reserved a group tour. Jacob, our tour leader in Beijing, was exceptional. Full of knowledge and a great personality that welcomed us to China. Jacob has excellent people skills and over meals he provided us a glimpse into day to day life in China. Paul, in Xi'an, was warm and helpful. He is very kind and helped us to appreciate his hometown. Very energetic and enthusiastic with deep knowledge of his subject matter. Luna, in Chengdu, was also a great Laurus representative. You can tell she loves what she does and we will always remember her joy at seeing the pandas. Each member of the team contributed to making this the trip of our lifetime. Thank you! Scott and Sabina S.

17 Day China Golden Route Tour with Laurus Travel, Vancouver, BC…read moreWe just returned from a truly memorable trip made possible by the professional and caring staff of Laurus Travel. We are seasoned travellers with little experience on group travels. We had chosen Laurus from the flawless on-line reviews. We never regretted the choice. From start to finish, we felt coddled and never once anxious. The itinerary was well executed by their professional tour leader (Jacob Wei), the knowledgeable local guides in the respective cities, and the cautious drivers who navigated often congested traffic with skill and caution. The hotels were first class and the food plentiful. The trip exceeded our expectations. We would not hesitate to travel with Laurus again.

First of all, I would highly, HIGHLY recommend this for all! Specially if its your first time in…read moreVancouver or have not been around the harbor! This was our first time in Vancouver, and whats not a better way to experience it than by taking a boat tour! We honestly planned this boat tour super last minute, so we called a few places, but they were all closed. Fortunately, Sea Vancouver still had tours going out until 7pm which was the last one! The lobby is located in the Westin hotel and the ride is 90 minutes long, which takes you all around the harbor of Vancouver to the English Bay! There was so much to see at the waterfront and we even saw a few dolphins along the ride! We were hoping for orcas too but maybe next time haha. Overall the boat tour was absolutely amazing! Terry our captain, made the experience super educational a fun! Love that guy! Thanks Cap! And thank you Sea Vancouver!

Very bad business practice…read more We booked a 3pm tour. It was the last day that we are in Vancouver, we would be flying home that night. At 1:45pm, after we have planned our whole day around the excursion and checked out of the hotel in preparation of this tour, Sea Vancouver office called and said they are cancelling my tour because they "need a minimum of 4 people and only 3 people booked". I explained that we are leaving the city that day, and we planned our whole day around this, and if there is anything they can do. It is unreasonable to only notify me 75 minutes prior to departure time - we were already on the way to the departure point! The only thing they said was that they will refund me in full (I'd better hope so since you cancelled it with incredibly short notice!) I understand that it may not be economical to operate a tour based on fixed cost, but this was NOT written anywhere when I booked it on the official website, but they were happy to take my money when I booked. The confirmation email stated "We reserve the right to delay or cancel a departure for events beyond our control (e.g. adverse weather conditions, technical or mechanical issues, etc.)" -- well, operating a boat when there are "only" 3 paying customers is definitely in their control, they just choose to screw over their customers. This has put a really sour taste on my trip to Vancouver. I would encourage everybody to stay away.