Travel Agencies in Beijing

[Vladiza]

Hi members!In July me and my sister were planning on visiting a few cities here in China,

so i've contacted two travel agencies here in Beijing. One is CCTS (China circulation travel service)

and the other one is CYTS (China travel deport ) in Dongzhimen. They have both e-mailed me complete and

well-organized itineraries but the ccts favoures group travel and the cyts has organized prive tours.

Have you ever availed yourself of one of these travel agencies( or both)?

What do you think is best: a couch tour with a group of other travelers or a private tour?

thanks!

[Friedrich]

I met the guy who runs http://www.red.travel/ once and he seemed like a nice and competent person. I never took them though as I am not much of a tour group person. If you ask me, get yourself a phrase book, fly to China and everything else will follow. Finding out how stuff works is half the fun.

[driftman]

I guess the advantage of a group tour that it is most likely a lot cheaper. If thats not the case, then they are probably booking you into some cheap hotels ;)

That said, I would always prefer an individual tour over being herded around with a tourist group. But as mentioned above, why dont you just do it yourself, especially as it sounds from your post that you live in China already?

[jbradfor]

What do you think is best: a couch tour with a group of other travelers or a private tour?

You must be crazy to ask this. Why would you want to be stuck on a huge bus with a bunch of no-doubt annoying people, every place you go being crowded and rushed because you are with a large group, and spending half your time waiting on the bus for the last person to finally show up?

Personally, I see the advantage of an private tour over going it alone. Having someone explain things to you can make sites more interesting and educational. Having someone take care of the transportation makes the trip less stressful and more efficient. And it can be a good way to learn about other activities to do. Not all the time on individual tours, but some of the time.