Spring is here (almost … well not quite) in the northeastern United States. And that means it’s high time to wipe the winter sleepies from our eyes and head off to parts unknown.
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Now, I’ve never been a fan of organized, group tours for obvious reasons. Let’s be honest, I’m sure these young ladies are nice enough:
© shira gal
… but I don’t wanna spend the better part of a day stuffed into a tour bus (sans bathroom) with them. Imagine a grueling, full day slog through a series of 90-second photo opps at every “must-see” tourist spot in said destination. Not fun.
But we’ve been fans of the tour-providing folks at Viator for years now because, well, first of all they’re just cool people – real travelers who “get it”. But also because they deliver something completely different. Their goal is to make you “feel like you’re traveling with an insider, everywhere you go, every time you travel.” So their tours are more like this:
… all “jumping for joy” and whatnot. Which is why we’ve partnered with them for 2014 as an official Viator Ambassador (say it out loud – it has quite a nice ring) to personally experience and share some of their best tours with you. While we haven’t yet decided which tours we’ll be taking part in, these look promising, no?
- Learning to make empanadas in Buenos Aires
- Getting into the Sistine Chapel before it opens to the public
- Checking out the filming sites of the Game of Thrones in Croatia
- Holding a baby panda in Chengdu
- An exclusive tour of the Corona brewery in Mexico
- Flying a fighter plane in Las Vegas
- Playing ninja for a day in Tokyo
Wait … “ninja for day”? Seriously?! If that doesn’t sell you, how about a few salesy bullet points (in lieu of my usual PowerPoint presentation) about why Viator rules:
- Tours available in more than 1,500 destinations worldwide
- Every tour is pre-vetted for quality and service – only the best, most memorable experiences are featured on the site
- Providers that don’t meet expected service levels are removed
- Activities are supported by more than 500,000 verified customer reviews, photos and videos posted by real travelers
- Every tour is backed by a low-price guarantee
In short, watch this space as we tour the world with Viator in 2014 and bring you a new firsthand tour experience each month. Some seriously awesome travel experiences to come!