We enjoyed touring many destinations in Vietnam with Asia Pioneer We visited Vietnam with stays in three locations, Ho Chi Minh, Central Vietnam , and Hanoi. Kata prepared an itinerary with tours in and around these locations for our family of two adults and two teenage children. What we liked about her itinerary was that it did not just cover the main tourist sites but also included “unique experiences” such as bike riding in the Mekong Delta, lunch at nunnery in Hue, street food tour in Hanoi. We were very pleased with how well organised the tours were. All guides were punctual, knowledgeable and helpful. The drivers were all safe in their driving. We have no doubt that the knowledge of the guides about the sites we visited as well as the general information provided by them about the Vietnamese culture and people, enhanced our enjoyment of the trip. We were also very happy with the restaurant/meal choices which were not only a tasty meal but also often an education of the food of the region. Kata was easy to work with, updating details of our itinerary as required and answering my many questions. We thank Kata and the Asia Pioneer team for a fabulous touring experience in Vietnam.

Visited 25 December 2015 – 02 January 2016 (9 days)

We (2x family of 9: 5 adults & 4 parents) engaged Asia Pioneer Tour for our 9 days stay at vietnam. It is our 1st time to Vietnam and we weren’t really sure of what will be coming till we land in the good hands of our tour guide, Mr Lam. =)

Transportation: 5/5
The 24 seater air-conditioned bus was crazily nice & clean: very comfortable and seats could be recline. The bus smells fresh always! +points
Recommended by Mr Lam, we took Fanxipan night train to Sapa and it was a memorable experience. Highly recommended.

Tour Guide: 5/5
Mr Lam is easy-going, flexible and knowledgeable. It is our honor to have him as our guide throughout the 9 days. He provides suggestion of places to visit and even bring us on a food on foot trip while in hanoi. Here’s some of the street food we’ve tried: Bánh Cuốn (Steamed Rice Cake), Baguette (Bánh mỳ), (Gỏi Bò) Papaya salad with pork liver, Chè (Sweet Desserts and Puddings) and more.. Note: please start your food tour with an empty stomach as we were so so full thereafter @.@

Hotel / Cruise Arrangement: 5/5
We were delighted to get some of the rooms upgraded during the trip, we were wondering if it’s our tour guide who has helped with the arrangement. Nevertheless, we were really appreciative for the surprises. All stays throughout the trip were well picked and recommended by Mr Lam, no signs of dirty bedsheets/insects. Bathrooms were clean and spacious too.

In summary, the places we had visited were absolutely breathtaking with stunning views, what more could we ask for with all the good food and great company!

Highly recommended to groups and families as Asia Pioneer is flexible and have the ability to handle group requests! When I eventually do return to Hanoi, I will absolutely use Asia Pioneer again. Money well spent!

Visited 25 December 2015 – 02 January 2016 (9 days)

I can’t speak highly enough of this company – it was truly one of the best trips we have taken (Turkey and Africa – with other tour companies – being the other two).

Four of us went on a 3-week private tour of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos all arranged by Kata, the representative who helped us. We had an excellent experience, including the sights, the guides (Rom in Siem Reap and Thuy in Saigon were fantastic), the hotels, and the restaurants (yep, that’s the whole shebang!). We loved every other hotel and every meal with two exceptions. The Chateau Restaurant = Restaurant Chateau in Saigon wasn’t good and the Moonlight hotel was nice but El Dorado in Hue might have been better – although others seem to love Moonlight).

Kata answered a kajillion questions prior to the trip with patience and reassurance. The itinerary was very flexible; we could add and eliminate activities as we pleased – even when we were there. You won’t realize certain things until you’re there, so you may want this kind of flexibility. A couple of the guides suggested a few additional activities that were fantastic.

A couple of side notes: Vietnam Airlines is the best of the worst, so if you’re flying within the country or to Laos or Cambodia, be prepared for changed flight times. The planes themselves were fine. If you start playing with the itinerary, keep hotel check-out vs. flight/drive times in mind (unless you don’t mind sitting around for a while with nothing to do). And do a street food tour with one of the guides – or two! Our street food tour with guide Duan in Hanoi was wonderful.

Lam organised a 3 weeks trips for our extended family (grandparents, 2 couples and kids) through South Vietnam. He was great to work with during planning and accommodated all our specific desires. He lined us up with great guides, full of enthusiasm and local knowledge (and having studied tourism). Lam stayed vigilant and available all the way through which was a great bonus for any small changes we needed organised.

I’m happy we chose him and the rest of the Pioneer team!

Our contact at Asia Pioneer was Kata who helped put together a great private tour.We could always contact her during the trip and whilst in Hanoi she also visited us at the hotel to say hello.This kind of service is so important to independant travelling for peace of mind if problems arise.We will use Kata again for our planned Myanamar tour .

On the recommendation of friends & relatives who’d had the Vietnam experience, our family of 8 decided to visit North Vietnam for a week in late December 2015..
Being totally unfamiliar with this country, we needed someone in Hanoi to organise the entire trip for us.& to hand-hold us through all the activities.
We selected Asia Pioneer Co.because of the rave reviews seen on tripadvisor..
We were pleased to receive very prompt e-mail replies to our queries from the officer-in-charge Ruby.Since there were old folk and very small children in our group we needed the tour to be custom made for us . We needed to travel by boat and road transport to the maximum, and yet see the best of North Vietnam.. Accordingly Ruby organised visits in Hanoi to the key museums, restaurants and cultural programs . And excursions through the countryside and the waterways .of Cam Toc & Halong Bay.. A guide was at our disposal from the start to the end of our trip . All hotel bookings , transport , tickets to attractions , & meals were included in Ruby’s package which we found quite reasonable . She even assisted us in obtaining entry visas to Vietnam..
Our first excursion to Vietnam was smooth and incident free , thanks to the very personalised service given to us by Ruby and her team . I have no hesitation in recommending Asia Pioneer to any first time visitor tho Vietnam .. .

We found Asia Pioneer through Trip Advisor and decided to try them. I had contacted another company that I had used previously but their response was not the trip we wanted to plan.

Kata replied to my request with excellent communication and seemed to understand what I wanted to plan (because she did). Kata happily made some adjustments to our itinerary before we locked in the final version, which was exactly what we wanted. Additionally, it was all within the budget we’d set. We also had a say in the accommodation but those selected were excellent choices and we were happy to go with their recommendations.

Our trip was from Hanoi to Hanoi over 15 days. From the moment we were picked up at the airport to the moment we left the service was exceptional and everything went smoothly even when we asked for changes mid-trip as a result of sickness. I emailed Kata about making the changes and in a short time she was phoning to make sure we were fine and let us know what action she was taking. This was very reassuring.

Our guides throughout were wonderful, with strong communication skills and knowledge, and a sense of humour, they made our trip a pleasure.

Thank you for all the hard work putting together our trip and ensuring everything ran smoothly.