Viator anyone used?

[wwbill4]

While in Venice I found Viator tours of Murano, Burano and Torcello Half-Day Sightseeing Tour. Has anyone ever used them, what is your experience?

Any other torus a Must to do in Venice?

We are there the first week of June on the Carnival Sunshine.

Thanks,

Bill

[mapleleaves]

I've read positive reviews of Viator tours on Tripadvisor so if you prefer a tour they should be fine. We hopped on a water bus to Murano on our own and wandered around for a few hrs with our Rick Steves guide book. Info on self guided island hopping in this link:

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-islands-tour.htm

 

That web site is great for all kinds of Venice info so go to the ' Home (with index) '. They partner with Viator so that's another good sign.

[John Bull]

Viator is a booking agency, not a tour operator.

The advantage of dealing with a respected international organisation rather than an unknown foreign operator, especially if up-front money is involved. Also useful if you're lazy & want to check out tours all on one website, though with the help of google you can usually figure the operator

But although you have more chance of recompense in the event of a problem, Viator don't control the excursion & depite monitoring there will understandably be a mix of good excursions & poor ones. You'll pay more than if you book direct with an operator - but usually only around 5% to 10% because they also get commission from the operator.

 

A kinda half-way house between a ship's tour & one booked with an operator.

Used them once - front money required by either Viator or operator due to visa & I preferred to risk my money with Viator. No problems, & they reminded me of the pick-up by text & by phone call to my hotel.

 

JB :)

[cruisemom42]

As JB points out, they are a consolidator, so they are only as good as the individual tours offered (by different agents, so varying quality).

 

I've not used them in Venice but have done so in Rome and Lisbon. The tours I took were very average, and two of them were given in multiple languages (meaning a longish wait for the guide to cover everything twice -- and on the Lisbon tour three times).

 

Also, the tour operator cancelled one of my scheduled Rome tours without letting me know until I showed up at their office, which was out of my way. They made no effort to contact me in advance -- I had both my cell phone and my laptop with me so I'd have seen any email or phone call. And they really didn't want to refund my payment; kept trying to sell me a tour they said was "equivalent" but did not at all cover what I wanted to see.

[rdtsmith1234]

We did one of their airport shuttles in Rome. Of course we had to wait an hour for others to show up to fill the van, and yes, Viator is just a booking agency. Sometimes they do have coupons and deals...you have to google for those.

[agabbymama]

I have used viator dot com quite a few times. Booked a 48 hr Ho Ho pass for Rome with them, as well as our FCO to Rome Hotel transfer. Then in Venice I used them for a "Ghost Walking Tour" plus another "Daytime Walking Tour that ended with a Gondola ride just at dusk.

 

As everyone else has said, viator is NOT the tour operator. They are a 3rd party booking agent. That said, I have been very pleased with their service. When I booked the transfer in Rome, I looked at their listing of hotels and thought I saw my hotel on the list, so I booked the transfer at $23 pp in US dollars (it was a shared shuttle, but there was only 1 other couple on the van with us). After booking, I was re-checking and saw the name difference, close to our hotel name, but not quite. I was so worried, I called viator, she put me on hold, checked with the vendor and came back to me and said that while my hotel was not on the list, they could still accommodate me.

 

I have used viator for tours here in the US as well. I like that you can use your credit card, pay in US dollars and know it's paid for well before you arrive at your destination. The voucher they give you has to be turned in with the vendor for your actual ticket.

 

We purchased a vaporetto 72 hr pass at Piazzale Roma and went to Murano, Lido and back & forth to San Marco Piazza, didn't use viator for this. We didn't make it to Burano as the Lagoon was to rough, windy, rainy.

 

Check out the website provided by mapleleaves, it has lots of great info.

Have a great trip!

[ms8654]

I've used Viator many times in many countries since 2005. The only time we had an issue was on a tour in London. I wrote to Viator when I returned home. I requested a $50 refund which was a partial refund. Most of the tour was great, but some of what the tour was supposed to include it did not. Viator refunded to full tour price which was over $100. I highly recommend them. They are the first company I look to when researching tours.

 

 

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