Transformative Tours & Trip Packages

Transformative Tours & Trips

634 Transformative trips. Tours from 209 tour companies. 1,503 reviews. 4.8/5 avg rating.

213 trips exactly matchall of the the filters you selected.
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Asia
15 Days – Incredible Natural Wonders
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5/5 Excellent
24 reviews
Private Guided
Lodging level
Standard - 3 star
Physical level
Easy
Trip pace
Flexible schedule

Visits

Ha Long Bay, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Hoi An

Highlights

  • Experience Halong Bay Cruise
  • Discover Hanoi
  • Visit awesome Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park
  • Explore Hoi An
  • See the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay

Themes

Cultural, Local Immersion & Homestays, Transformative

What travelers are saying

"My way travel is an excellent service if you are looking for a custom trip at an affordable price. We loved their service."

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Halong Bay And Red River
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4.6/5 Excellent
9 reviews
River Cruise
Lodging level
Premium - 4 star
Physical level
Easy
Trip pace
Flexible schedule

Visits

Ha Long Bay, Hanoi

Highlights

  • Visit Hòa Bình, Viet Tri and Hanoi
  • Experience amazing island scenery by sailing in Halong Bay
  • Sail in Thai Binh river and enjoy water puppet show
  • Explore the nature in Hòa Bình Province

Themes

Cultural, National Parks, Nature & Wildlife, Singles Travel, Transformative

What travelers are saying

"We joined the RV Mekong Pandaw in Kampong Cham for a 3 night cruise to Phnom Penh. I wish we had booked for 7 nights! Amazing staff, gorgeous staterooms, a welcoming and comfortable sun deck and saloon bar. The ship is beautiful and was the perfect place to relax and watch the world go by. Thank you Pandaw for a truly fantastic holiday experience. Your staff are courteous, hard working and lots of fun to be around. Brilliant."

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Bhutan And The Brahmaputra
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4.6/5 Excellent
9 reviews
River Cruise
Lodging level
Premium - 4 star
Physical level
Easy
Trip pace
Flexible schedule

Visits

Himalayas, Punakha, Thimpu

Highlights

  • Visit Khamsum Yulley Namgyel Chorten, a newly built stupa.
  • Visit Wangduephodrang famous for its bamboo products, slate and stone carvings.
  • Explore to the Simtokha Dzong
  • Visit Kaziranga National Park
  • Visit to the distinctive Ta Dzong and Rinpung Dzong

Themes

Cultural, National Parks, Nature & Wildlife, Singles Travel, Transformative

What travelers are saying

"We joined the RV Mekong Pandaw in Kampong Cham for a 3 night cruise to Phnom Penh. I wish we had booked for 7 nights! Amazing staff, gorgeous staterooms, a welcoming and comfortable sun deck and saloon bar. The ship is beautiful and was the perfect place to relax and watch the world go by. Thank you Pandaw for a truly fantastic holiday experience. Your staff are courteous, hard working and lots of fun to be around. Brilliant."

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Classic Vietnam 9 days
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5/5 Excellent
9 reviews
Private Guided
Lodging level
Premium - 4 star
Physical level
Easy
Trip pace
Flexible schedule

Visits

Cu Chi Tunnels, Ha Long Bay, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Hoi An , Notre Dame Cathedral

Highlights

  • Explore Ho Chi Minh City
  • Visit some famous attractions such as Reunification Palace, Municipal Theatre
  • Explore Hue Citadel
  • Visit the Temple of Literature then having a walk around the Sword Lake
  • Enjoy the sunset cocktail while the boat is cruising to Cong Do area

Themes

Cultural, Transformative

What travelers are saying

"Very professional and will help orchestrate a wonderful tour designed just for you!"

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Myanmar & Vietnam Highlights 19 days
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5/5 Excellent
9 reviews
Group Tour
Lodging level
Premium - 4 star
Physical level
Easy
Trip pace
Balanced schedule

Visits

Bagan, Da Nang, Ha Long Bay, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Hoi An , Mandalay, Mekong Delta, Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon

Highlights

  • Explore Yagon and visit the famous Shwedagon pagoda, one of the wonders of the world
  • Visit the Shwezigone pagoda, home to the Frontlet Relic of Buddha followed by the Gubyaukgyi Vemple
  • Discover Mandalay the cultural heart of Myanmar, founded in 1857
  • Visit Hanoi and visit most interesting sights, including the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
  • Visit the incredible Cu Chi Tunnels

Themes

Cultural, Local Immersion & Homestays, Transformative

What travelers are saying

"Very professional and will help orchestrate a wonderful tour designed just for you!"

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Get Lost
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5/5 Excellent
16 reviews
Self-Guided / Independent Tour
Lodging level
Basic - 2 star
Physical level
Strenuous
Trip pace
Flexible schedule

Highlights

  • Totally disconnect
  • Find that true sense of achievement - alone or with a group of friends
  • Use your wits (and skills you may not know you have) to find your way through the unknown
  • Become the explorer
  • Discover uncharted and unknown territories

Themes

High Adventure, Hiking & Walking, National Parks, Nature & Wildlife, Transformative, Digital Detox

What travelers are saying

"My wife and I booked a trip to South America (Peru / Chile) with Black Tomato from December 20th 2021 - January 9th 2022. Unfortunately my wife came down with COVID for the Chile part of our trip which we are not blaming on Black Tomato - that was out of their control. What we are reviewing below is the quality of the Peru trip, value of the trip, quality of customer service, and how they handled our situation on the ground. We booked our trip with Tom, Grace and Oliver was communicating with us from the time we found out about our COVID situation to our feedback call. We have not heard from Tom since we have made these comments to the Black Tomato team. I want to make this clear - this would have been a 3 star if not for the way the team has handled our issues after finishing our trip. The team is not taking accountability and blaming the customer (my wife and I). Definitely not representative of a luxury service. However, the main issues with this agency is the fact that they organise cookie cutter trips at an insane markup without clarifying, asking or understanding what their customer wants. Main overarching issues: - Lack of understanding what we really wanted with our trip - No transparency with costs. Not only do they not provide an itemised invoice for your trip, they will not check on where you are willing to spend your money. The team did not double check what type of rooms we would want, but just charged us blindly for the most expensive rooms. - Just lack of a luxury experience when we were on the ground vs what we paid for. Specific examples: - We were super clear that we didn’t want guides - yet we got a guide everywhere we went. This completely changed the tone of our trip. Yes it’s nice to not have to think about transport but the guides don't need to be there with us 24/7. For example - our guide sat with us at lunch, would not stop talking on our romantic hikes. We have no issue with the guide, what we were angry about was that we communicated that we were independent travellers to the Black Tomato team and they STILL put us with one without double checking which changed the entire feel of our trip. Just because it worked for other clients, doesn't mean it will for us. They just did not listen. - A breakdown of all the prices is a non-negotiable in this day in age. We trusted Black Tomato to show us a general breakdown of hotels vs activities and we ended up getting a trip we just didn’t want because of possible extra charges (more expensive rooms, paying for the guides etc). We never asked for the fanciest rooms and they ended up booking rooms that were $3,000 more expensive than the rooms we could have gotten. - Stress of having to tip the guides —> Because there was a guide on the ground with us, we had to stress about tipping them. We are always super generous but the Black Tomato team should have communicated this to us before our trip OR included petty cash in our overall price. Again lack of communication before the trip. - We communicated we do not like fancy restaurants with tiny courses at the very beginning and without asking they booked us the most fancy restaurants in Lima (probably because their other clients ask for this). Again - just because it worked for others, doesn't mean it will for us. If we didn't double check our restaurants we would have been stuck with those reservations. We like good/nice restaurants with great vibe and ambience and food. The team clearly did not listen to us and if we didn’t check with them beforehand, we would’ve had these fancy restaurants books. Again, example of just not knowing their client. Could be fixed with a survey? - Wait time for travel —> Machu Pichu to Cusco was such an unorganized day. Too many transport transitions and too much waiting. If this is the only way then at least brief us beforehand. Also, if this is such a luxurious trip - then they should have made it super easy for us to get from point A to point B. - We made it clear we don’t like touristy stuff. Why is our one day in Cusco supposed to be with a guide viewing cathedral - we ended up cancelling the guide in Cusco the day of which stressed us out. - The team planned to have us n quarantine for New Year’s Eve (when we planned to be in Santiago)? There was no thought that went into this planning. Although we didn't make it to Chile - who would think this was a good idea? Again DO NOT TRUST THEM to give you the best itinerary - if you use them YOU should be making EVERY decision and just tell them what to do but then again, what is the point of a luxury travel agency if you have to do that? - Without giving us good options on the ground once we had COVID - we ended up getting stuck in Peru paying for a US$400 / night quarantine room. They did not give us good options or help us as we were navigating the COVID situation in Peru. We ended up figuring this out on our own after we got quarantined during New Years. Again, us getting COVID was not the issue - it was the way they handled it. If we did not use Black Tomato we would have had a better experience post COVID because they just made things worse. - We were paired with an organizer (Tom / Grace) who was off when we were on our actual trip? The first rule of customer service is that there should be someone working with us end to end. We had to contact someone else (Oliver) who we had to re-explain the situation to."

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Kingdom of Bhutan
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4.1/5 Great
10 reviews
Group Tour
Lodging level
Premium - 4 star
Physical level
Moderate
Trip pace
Balanced schedule

Visits

Kathmandu, Punakha, Thimpu

Highlights

  • Enjoy a full day tour of Thimphu, Bhutan's bustling capital
  • Explore the picturesque Punakha Valley
  • Horseback ride to the iconic Tiger's Nest Monastery
  • Meet students at the famous 'Painting School'
  • View ancient Buddhist texts in Thimphu
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Themes

Cultural, Family Friendly, High Adventure, Local Immersion & Homestays, Transformative

What travelers are saying

"Straight forward to book on-line. Any problems are dealt with on telephone & the staff are very helpful."

Trip dates & details
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Vietnam Bespoke Luxury 11 days
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5/5 Excellent
9 reviews
Private Guided
Lodging level
Luxury - 5 star
Physical level
Easy
Trip pace
Flexible schedule

Visits

Ha Long Bay, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Hoi An , Mekong Delta

Highlights

  • Explore Hanoi get an opportunity to experience local immersion by visiting Ancient village
  • Drive to Halong Bay via the Red River Delta then start cruising through Bai Tu Long Bay
  • Explore Thien Canh Son Cave, located at the center of the World Heritage Area- Halong Bay
  • Excursion to Mekong Delta revolves much around the river, most of the villages are often accessible

Themes

Culinary & Wine, Cultural, Local Immersion & Homestays, Transformative

What travelers are saying

"Very professional and will help orchestrate a wonderful tour designed just for you!"

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213 trips exactly matchall of the the filters you selected.
My selections:
Asia

Transformative Reviews & Ratings

4.8/5  Excellent
1,503  Reviews
See all Transformative tour reviews
Excellent
1,188
Great
316
Average
1
Disappointing
2
Terrible
10
T

Tour-the COVID tour

May 2020

Written on

How to not go tour Morocco

I booked with G Adventures over a year prior to the tour. The primary reason was the 100% guaranteed departures and 24 hour communication. 1 week before I was to lea...

S

Selfish and Lacking Integrity

Apr 2020

Written on

Its my money not yours. No service means no pay!

I am so fully disheartened and disgusted by the handling of G Adventures with this crisis. We paid over 7,000 for our honeymoon tour in Morocco. It was fully paid fo...

E

Emma

Oct 2015

Written on

Extremely well organised, great mixture between organised

Extremely well organised, great mixture between organised and free time. Great travelling by train

J

John

Oct 2015

Written on

The format of the trip enabled two

The format of the trip enabled two significant factors to coincide to make the entire experience overwhelmingly positive. 1. Our trip guide - Yuri Awanohara, made th...

F

Fenella

Oct 2015

Written on

Great introduction to the country. Variety of

Great introduction to the country. Variety of activities and all well planned by guide Yuri

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Transformative Tour Selection Trips

  • Transformative travel may sound like a lofty term, but it really is one of the best ways to describe certain tours. Keep an open mind!
  • These kinds of tours are often challenging emotionally. You may find yourself in the midst of poverty, or learn about some devastating effects on local wildlife due to human activity.
  • Discovering and learning about different cultural perspectives is a key component of transformative travel. Ask a lot of questions and listen closely - you may be surprised as your perspective begins to shift.
  • Being out in nature is another key component on transformative tours. Reconnect with your soul on a fundamental level through outdoor meditation and invigorating activity.
  • The world today is very individual focused. Particularly younger people are used to maintaining their own world from their palm - across social media platforms and other apps. Transformative travel will present you with the unique opportunity to challenge this way of life and participate in a community atmosphere off the internet - both with your tour companions and with the people you meet.

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