Cultural vacations are often the best way to see the the main highlights of a country & immerse yourself in it's culture. All of these cultural tours are with tailor made operators so you are traveling with just your party, not in a group with people you don't know.
These full and frank independent Tailor made cultural tours vacations reviews are from travelers who have booked directly through responsibletravel.com. They are not edited by us or any of the companies we work with. Find the real story, from real travelers below.
There were several highlights. The Golden Temple at Amritsar, Jairpur's Amber Fort & Palace, the backwaters of Kerala and our homestay in the Nilgiri Hills.
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The highlights were coming across a flock of Sri Lanka Blue Magpies feeding noisily in the Sinharaja Rain Forest and seeing the nesting Painted Storks with chicks in Yala National Park. (more)
On leaving our room at Serendip which led out straight onto the front veranda... we saw that the garden was full of fireflies. We were then led to our table out the back by the plunge pool where we would be eating dinner. The manager had arranged and lit dozens of tea lights around the garden. Priceless.
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So many highlights it is difficult to seperate out just one.... it was a great trip all around ! 10 out of 10 (more)We were really impressed with the genuine warmth of greeting from this Bedouin based community project, the welcome tea drink, the sunset walk with more tea around a camp fire! The candle light, with candle made by local Bedouin women was enchanting. (more)The desert camp and seeing the turtles were amazing...A fantastic family adventure with great contrasts. (more)We thoroughly enjoyed our two weeks... The knowledge and hospitality of the tour leaders, Suraj and Ravindra, made this a particularly memorable trip - by the end, we really felt more like we were with friends than on a 'tour'. (more)Jerash was incredible as was the site of the Baptism of Christ. The countryside of Jordan an all its aspects.
(more)The vacation was full of memorable experiences from our first day when we met our fantastic driver/guide, Kapila. He seemed to really enjoy sharing his knowledge of the history, culture, flora and fauna of Sri Lanka. He was also really good fun and so caring about our enjoyment and welfare - he became a real friend and we will keep in touch. (more)
Thanda Game reserve has to be the most memorable although it was hard to pick a specific part of it. It was fantastic and we couldn't have been treated better or had a more pleasant experience ... we will be back. (more)
The good memories started from our very first contact with responsible travel. They put us in touch with Mark and his wife and the wonderful chateau they live in which became our B@B for 3 nights. I felt we were visiting friends at the wineries because of Mark's relationship with the small vintners. (more)
The accommodation was the most luxurious, most welcoming, most helpful place we have ever stayed in; and the walks through the tea estate with idyllic views of the reservoir and surrounding hills, both relaxing and inspiring.
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Most memorable were going inside the Great Pyramid, sailing down (up) the Nile in the Dahabiya, Hadeel, instead of the big diesel monsters they have for most tourists, El Tahrir square and the bazaar. The staff on the Hadeel were fabulous. (more)
Our most memorable experience on the trip was our overnight stay in a village, with a Minority tribe... This was an incredible opportunity to really observe how the people live, and and to appreciate how different their lifestyle is! (more)
Arriving in Mysore after flying into Bangalore gave us a wonderful introduction into the bustle and atmosphere of a relatively small Indian city; we loved the amazing market - brimming with flowers, spices, fruit and vegetables and the sumptuous Palace. (more)
Most memorable was the Taj Mahal. It's everything it's claimed to be. A remarkable building that shows little sign of age. We visited in the afternoon then went back at dawn. It's well worth two visits (more)Easter Saturday night in Lalibela churches was the most memorable part...A must for the ones that want to discover different cultures, people and places.
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We were really excited to see the Ethiopian wolf! Bisangari lodge was beautiful... watching the sunset over the lake, watching the sea eagles and pied kingfishers fish and playing cards with our guides in the tree bar. (more)We invite every traveler who books a vacation via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the vacations they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same vacation can have different views!
Few of us enjoy the feeling of sticking out like a sore thumb when we are on vacation. We giggle about the strange habits of overseas tourists here in the UK, but maybe it’s them laughing at us when we are away on vacation? However sometimes cultural faux pas are no laughing matter. Although our intentions might be good some of our behaviour can inadvertently cause great offence in destinations. For example, that little pink mini skirt which looks great in Brighton or Miami can, when worn away from the beach in Muslim countries, cause offence. The same types of culture clashes happen in conservative Christian communities in Polynesia, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. Beyond causing offence to individual people tourism can impact on the culture in entire destinations. The tourism industry packages up and sanitises religious rituals, dress, ethnic rites and festivals to conform to tourist expectations. Once a destination begins to see itself through the eyes of tourists it begins to lose its sense of itself and its identity (and pretty quickly the reason why tourists came in the first place). Read more about tailor made cultural vacations in this cultural vacations article.
