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.

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.

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!

Everything was just perfect on this free walking tour. The weather, the sites, the information,…read morethe tour guide! Monica, our tour guide, was a pleasure from start to finish. She made everyone feel so welcome, she answered every question, was so incredibly knowledgeable and never once sounded like she was reading a script. The path we walked was filled with so much history and so many facts about Vancouver and was for just the right amount of time that it definitely makes it worth doing. Signing up for the tour on the website was super easy and absolutely free, unless you want a guaranteed spot and at the end make sure to give a generous tip for the guide (the website suggests $30 per person, but give what you feel). The tour overall was really and truly amazing and we ended up in spots i would have never known to see or look for. Highly recommend!

Good easygoing tour with a professional guide I recommend…read moreyou this tour to see the sights of Vancouver. During comfortable route you'll find interesting city spots and know information about the city. Our tour guide Daniel was very cool: he smiles during the whole excursion, tries to show many things about Vancouver and Canada and lead the group professionally. After the excursion you'll receive a list with many different recommendations (where to go/not to go, interesting places, restaurants and etc).

Everything went spectacularly! Glenn did a terrific job. It…read morewas super to learn so much about the area. Especially, the story behind "Gassy" Jack and how Gastown got its name. Thanks for bringing the history to life.

We enjoyed the Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tour, Lost Souls of Gastown with guide Amy Lee. Not…read moreonly was it informative it was interactive and theatrical, providing a background, context and history of this complex area of Vancouver. It was great for our 16- and 13-year-olds along with mom and dad. The tour was about 1 1/2 hours and we walked over most of Gastown. A great way to spend an evening in Vancouver.

Not only can you not lose because this is a FREE tour...but you will gain so much interesting info!…read more I'm sure hopping on and off a bus would be just fine, but for us, with just one short day in this vast city, we were looking for a quick connection, and that's exactly what we got on this recent Sunday. We met our tour guide, Ali at the designated time (11am) at the designated place, and 20 or so of us enjoyed an incredibly interesting walking tour of Chinatown. There is no way we would have gotten the feel for this city had we not taken this tour. Several folks were repeat tour guy visitors, so they must have enjoyed those as well. Our group had folks from several countries. It is a relaxed tour at a pace that is just right...not too fast and not too slow. Seriously, just right! And absolutely everyone in our group was happy to hand over generous thank you tips. Well-deserved. Ali was kind enough at the end of the tour to guide anyone who wanted dining suggestions or directions. For us, he was even kind enough to let us walk along with him since we were heading in the same direction. As a result, we were fortunate enough to get an extended tour, as he remained a wealth of Vancouver info as we went along. Highly recommend!

I love FREE, Culture, history, and having a tour that rolls all 3 together…read more We took the Free Downtown & Chinatown Tour with Alex. She pointed out some places of interest, told us the history of Chinatown, took us to a herbal store, and ended the tour at the Chinese Gardens. The tour was over 2 hours, and she gave suggestions for lunch. I love these type of tours because they are given by people who have lived there for a good amount of time, and who are passionate about what they are presenting. She was no exception.

Awesome bicycle tour of Stanley Park!…read more I had an amazing 3+ hour bicycle tour with Zack around Stanley Park. As a history major and as a Vancouver native, his knowledge of the park's history, plants, trees, animals and the indigenous people was vast and interesting. Everyone in our group was engaged and appreciative of all the sights and sounds during our tour. There were even people not on our bike tour who listened in on what Zack had to say. The bikes were outfitted with a pouch to carry wallets, keys, phones, and small cameras and or binoculars. There's also a cage for water bottles. We often stopped to see notable landmarks, sculptures, and monuments. For the nature enthusiasts, Zack showed us blue heron nests, Beaver Lake and forest. Everyone enjoyed learning about the various trees (we even spotted a woodpeckers!) I highly recommend this company for a bike tour of Stanley Park!

JT was a fabulous tour guide, and the day was very pretty. It's amazing how close nature is to the…read morecity of Vancouver. Extensive ride that lasted 5 hours with a stop off in Granville Island for some food. Thanks JT!

This was the first time I've been back to Vancouver since 2012 so my niece and I decided to play…read moretourist and take the "Hop On Hop Off" trolley. Pickup was on Cordova Street, a short walk from Canada Place where we just finished looking over the four cruise ships in port. We had a friendly and knowledgeable tour director and driver (didn't get his name but he was a middle aged local Chinese man) who kept us entertained the entire tour. We started at the west end of Vancouver, highlighting the expanded Westin Bayshore Hotel and the yachts docked on the waterfront, leading to Stanley Park, which is a world in itself. The beauty and abundance of flora and fauna, totem poles, the sea wall where folks bike and walk and get away from the world. From Stanley Park we drove back through the West End via Denman Street to English Bay, then up Robson and Davie Streets. Once we hit the Burrard Street Bridge we went through the Museum District, then on West 4th in Kits to Granville Island where we hopped off. We thanked our driver and tipped him (darn, I didn't take a photo or get his name) and made our way through Granville Island to find food.

We saw much more than if we had taken the big red bus. You also get a guided tour of Vancouver,…read more which was so cool. This bus tour is very interactive between the guide and the visitors. It is also much cheaper than the other busses.

An unforgettable experience! We were lucky enough to see multiple pods of orcas followed by two…read moremajestic humpback whales. Pascal was knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and clearly passionate about marine life. I picked the open air vessel since I wanted the option to move around the boat. Will book again the next time I'm in Vancouver.

Had a great time with Wild Whales. I went on an afternoon zodiac trip. It was a really fun, and a…read morebit wet, ride. Tess, our naturalist, did a really great job throughout our trip to educate us about it the whales. Our captain was excellent. We saw Big Mama and her calf (2 humpbacks) and spotted the Northern Residents (orcas) on our ride in. I wish we had better encounters with orcas, but that's out of anyone's control. I would definitely recommend a trip with Wild Whales.

Had a great tour of the Granville Public Market with Michael. There was an awesome variety of food…read moretasted from a Thai Entree, to pickles, to charcuterie, and plenty of desserts. Michael was friendly and did a great job of being informative, friendly, and keeping the tour moving/not holding up traffic. I will say compared to some of the other food tours we've been on, we didn't walk away as full as anticipated. We definitely got an entree to share between our group of three afterwards, but thanks to the food tour we knew where we wanted to go fairly quickly. All in all a great trip and a super efficient way to check out the market.

I'm a firm believer that the best way to get to know a city is through its food, and the Granville…read moreIsland Market tour definitely delivered! It was super fun, and in just two hours we learned a lot and tasted even more -- time flew by. Our tour guide was knowledgeable, friendly, and made the whole experience engaging. I highly recommend it to anyone exploring the city (we even had some local Canadians on our tour, which says a lot!).