Review: G Adventures

G Adventures is a travel company with tours all over the world. They specialize in sustainable tourism and community outreach. Their tours can be anything from hiking Machu Picchu to sailing through the Greek islands. You can further narrow down your tour options by picking an age range and/or activity level you would feel most comfortable with.

We went on the Cambodia on a Shoestring tour in December of 2017. There were 8 people in our group total (the limit for a G Adventures tour is around 12). We started in Bangkok (only for a day), then traveled through Cambodia, and ended our tour in Ho Chi Minh City. The "age range" for our trip was 18-to-thirtysomethings and the activity level was rated a 2 out of 5. It was a total of 10 days and cost $900 a person, with no "extras". The price included a local tour leader, accommodation, most activities, all transportation (excluding airfare), and some meals. We did have to pay extra for certain activities, tips, and meals that weren't covered.

This was one of our private buses.

We knew we wanted to go to Southeast Asia, and we especially wanted to go to Vietnam and Thailand. We weren't super interested in going to Cambodia, but when we found this tour it seemed like a good deal, and we're so glad we did it! We were nervous about transportation, communication, and traveling alone in remote regions, so we began researching tour options. We chose G Adventures because they support local businesses, contribute to the communities they travel through, and don't focus solely on "tourist attractions".

Local home-stay meal in Can Tho, Vietnam

Pros:

• Tour Leader - Our tour leader, Bin, was awesome! He taught us local history, exposed us to new foods, and always tried to get the best tour guides possible. He was really good at facilitating group activities and bringing our group together. 
• Authentic Experiences - Because G Adventures uses local guides for all attractions, we got a really good understanding of each destination, as well as personal stories about growing up and living in the places we visited.
• Organization - It was really nice to pay for the tour upfront and get sent an itinerary, without having to do all the planning yourself. We knew where we would be staying, when we would be where, and what we were doing at each stop.
• Community Outreach - We liked that G Adventures partners with Planeterra to provide jobs and education for youth in the local communities (Sieam Reap Planeterra restaurant pictured below). We also really liked that they supply water fountains at most places we stayed, so we could fill up our reusable bottles, and also help give clean water to people in the communities we were in.
• Budget Friendly - We think the price we paid was well worth it for everything that we got out of the trip. G Adventures has many different budget options for tours, so there is something for everyone.
• Activity Options - We always had alternative options if we didn't particularly feel like doing the group activity for the day, or if you just wanted to hang around the hotel and relax that was always an option.

Cons:

• Slightly Restrictive - We're not used to travelling in groups, with a schedule made by somebody else, so in some places it was hard to do everything that we wanted to do.
• Group Tour - The group we were with was great, but we were co-touring with another group that did not get along the best. We were really lucky, but will definitely keep this in mind when looking at group tours in the future.
• Check-in Process - The process to check-in for our tour was a little confusing. We arrived at the hotel in Bangkok and didn't really have much instruction. Everything worked out fine, but we think more information about check-in prior to arrival would be super useful.

We would definitely recommend G Adventures and we plan on touring with them again in the future. If you have any questions about our experience, let us know in the comments!