All was great. The walking food tour was top notch. The guide was very knowledgable and the pace perfect. Got to see streets and alleys I never would have found on my own. Halong Bay is stunning. Even though weather was uncooperative it was still amazing. The boat was nice and a great staff. They accomadated all food preferances of the tourists. It would be nice if wifi was in more than just dining area especially during Olympics but I realize the views is where your eyes should be.

Our South Vietnam trip with A Taste of Hanoi was simply perfect – we honestly couldn’t have asked for a better experience. From the very first planning steps to the final day of our journey, everything was flawlessly organized. The hotels were beautiful, charming, and exactly to our taste. Our guides were incredibly friendly, knowledgeable, and always helpful. You can truly feel how much care and passion goes into every detail of the trip. The selected destinations were fantastic – authentic, diverse, and full of special places we most likely would never have discovered on our own. A very special thank you to Brian, who was available via WhatsApp at any time and handled every request quickly and efficiently. That level of service gives you such a wonderful sense of comfort and security while traveling. This was already our second privately organized trip with A Taste of Hanoi – including a private guide, private driver, and carefully selected boutique hotels – and we would choose them again without hesitation. If you want to explore Vietnam independently but with perfect organization and personal support, we can highly recommend this agency. Absolutely outstanding!

We also booked a wedding photoshoot in Vietnam through A Taste of Hanoi, and it was absolutely wonderful! Everything was perfectly organized, from the location to the photographer and the timing. We wore our wedding outfits, and the entire experience felt so special, relaxed, and beautifully planned. The team made us feel comfortable at all times, and the results exceeded our expectations. Once again, everything was seamless and professional. We couldn’t be happier – highly recommended!

My husband and I were very happy with the private shore excursions Brian and his company “A Taste of Hanoi” arranged for us on our recent Asian cruise aboard the Celebrity Solstice. We enjoyed two day-long guided tours, one of Hanoi and another of Hue. In addition, Taste of Hanoi booked a private driver for us who picked us up at the cruise dock at Laem Chabang Port, drove us to Bangkok, dropped us off at the Royal Palace, and returned us to the port late that evening. (We toured Bangkok on our own.) Several things especially impressed us about Brian and his company.  First of all, he worked carefully with me over several months designing itineraries that would include the sights and activities we were most interested in.  For example, when we were in Hanoi we visited two breweries and went on a five-stop street-food tour, activities that appealed to our love of beer and new food.  In Hue, the upscale restaurant where we ate lunch was very enjoyable and the set menu included a wide variety of dishes.  Secondly, the guides he provided were personable men who spoke excellent English.  It was a pleasure to spend all day with them.  Finally, Brian was very conscientious about the details of each port making sure that our travel plans would fit the regulations of the cruise ship.  We never had any concerns about returning to the ship on time or any other details; he took care of everything. While booking tours through Taste of Hanoi is somewhat more costly than booking ship excursions, it is money well spent.  Cruisers on ship excursions complained about big groups, rushed visits, and inaudible guides.  Our experience was nothing like that.  One problem with taking a cruise to Vietnam and Thailand on a big ship is that the ports are all at least two hours from the cities you want to visit (Hanoi, Hue, Saigon, Bangkok.) And even if the cruise stop is overnight, the ship excursions return to the ship in time for dinner on board.  You just don’t get much time in the cities you hope to visit.  By booking excursions with Taste of Hanoi, we were able to maximize our shore time in these great cities. (We chose not to go ashore in Saigon since we had recently spent a week there, but Taste of Hanoi could have arranged a wonderful trip to Saigon too I’m sure.) There is really only one thing I would do differently.  As I wrote earlier, we decided to forego a private guide in Bangkok and just get a driver.  I now wish we had allowed Taste of Hanoi to book a guide for us.  We wasted a lot of time in Bangkok traffic getting from place to place on Grab (Asian Uber).  A guide probably would have taken us around Bangkok using public transportation, and we would have gotten to see and do more.  But I was impressed at the end of the evening because we wound up far from our original agreed-upon pick-up location. We texted the driver, and he came to where we were to pick us up.  And we still got to spend ten hours (plus transportation time) in Bangkok whereas the ship “on your own” excursion would have allowed us only four hours (plus transportation time). For us, it was really nice to work with only one company for all our shore excursions.  It simplified everything.  It felt a little risky to put all our trust in a company we had never used.  But it was trust well-placed.  We live in Asia and will definitely use Brian and A Taste of Hanoi for future trips when friends and family come to visit us.

The trip was great. My driver and guide were very friendly and did an excellent job of showing me the sights and getting me safely to and from Ninh Binh.