viator tour ratings

Here's what it's like to to book an adventure abroad through Viator, Trip Advisor's tour and excursion booking platform

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• While in Croatia with my family this year, I used Trip Advisor 's activity-booking platform Viator to book boat charters abroad. All operators are pre-vetted by Trip Advisor to guarantee credibility and safety. Excursions range from $15 for a walking tour to thousands for luxury experiences.
• Booking independently through Viator saved me significant costs compared to using a travel agency, and helped me plan my vacation in advance, with clear pricing and reviews from past guests.
• I had a great experience with Viator and would use it again — but with a few changes. Next time, I'll make sure to ask more questions first, so I don't face any surprises. Here's what you should know to do the same.
• Read all Insider Picks travel reviews here.

I'm a lifestyle journalist with a focus on travel and trot the globe frequently with my husband and five-year-old twins. So I think of myself as pretty savvy when it comes to calling upon Internet resources (not to mention intuition earned through experience) to make bookings, even in places I've never before been.

This summer, I went on a two-week vacation with my family in Europe, hitting Greece and Croatia, plus bordering countries along the Dalmatian Coast. We spent a fair amount of time off the beaten path and there were a lot of moving parts. But I felt confident, and competent, that I could independently plan our trip, without the help of a travel agency. I know my way around search engines for flights, hotels, and deals.

But there was a blind spot. How would I book tours and excursions such as chartering a speedboat for our family to Croatia's famous islands?

I was relieved when I stumbled upon the activity-booking search engine Viator , which is owned by Trip Advisor. After reviewing various offerings and reading reviews, I booked two separate boat charters through the company. Both boats were clean, comfortable, beautiful, more or less as advertised, and operated by companies I would not have known how to access without Viator. 

I'd recommend the platform, especially to anyone staying at an Airbnb without a concierge like I did, or looking for cheaper options than what a hotel or travel agency might suggest. But I'd offer a caveat from my own experience: savvy travelers must make sure to cover their bases to avoid potential pitfalls such as the one we experienced. 

What is Viator?

Viator is Trip Advisor's platform for booking all kinds of activities during travel. Consider you might find 4x4 and camel tours in Dubai, a skip-the-line tour of the Colosseum in Rome, or a tour of the Grand Canyon by helicopter from Las Vegas.

Really, you'll find just about anything. The search engine includes options for a truly whopping 200,000 bookable activities in places all around the world making it unlikely that you won't find what you need. All operators listed are pre-vetted for credibility and safety backed by Trip Advisor .

Importantly, the site also aggregates millions of reviews, like what you'll find on Viator's sister site, Trip Advisor, so you have a pretty good sense of what you're getting. 

How is Viator priced?

Naturally, price points on Viator range dramatically based on the location and the excursions' complexity. A basic walking tour might cost under $20 while a day-long excursion or charter could cost hundreds more. The more expensive of the two trips I booked came in under $1,000, and the rates on the site can soar depending on what you're booking.

The site is optimized for mobile booking, offers around-the-clock customer service in multiple languages, a lowest-price guarantee, and a 24-hour cancellation policy, which makes the financial risk in booking feel low. 

In fact, I made use of that cancellation policy a few times to cancel and rebook similar activities when I changed my mind on the specifics, and also to flatly cancel a sightseeing tour I'd booked for our first day in Greece when I realized we'd all be too jet-lagged to bother.

I made both Viator bookings using my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card  — both in U.S. dollars — and faced no trouble making these changes.

What did I book through Viator?

I'd never been to Croatia, but knew I wanted to see its beautiful islands. We were staying in an Airbnb apartment (a rare choice for me) instead of a full-service hotel with concierge, so I was on my own for finding out how to do this. 

Poking around on the Internet for tours, I discovered Viator , which was previously unknown to me. I appreciated that like its parent company Trip Advisor, Viator heavily incorporates a review system, and the Trip Advisor backing gave me confidence. I booked two tours, each about three weeks ahead of our arrival.

For our stay in Dubrovnik, I booked a half-day private speedboat tour to the Elafiti islands , which earned an impressive five stars overall, with over 100 reviews on Viator. The trip for four people for four hours came in just under $400 after I used a 10 percent discount code. 

Then, for the portion of our trip in the northern area of the country, Split, I booked an all-day private sightseeing tour with five proposed stops , including the famous Blue Cave and Hvar island. This trip also had an overall five-star rating on Viator, but with far fewer reviews, just 27 as of the time of this writing. The eight-hour trip for four people on the private speedboat charter cost $873 after the discount code.

These prices might seem steep, but consider that it's priced for four people, as well as the alternative. When I briefly felt overwhelmed with planning, I reached out to a Croatia-based travel agency. The land-only quote for a week in the county for our party of four was 12,000 euros. Booking on my own — including these two-day trips through Viator — cut our expenses to less than half.

My booking experience with Viator

After so much planning, our trip was at last underway. We spent a morning at a Dubrovnik beach club before our scheduled boat tour for the afternoon. That same day, the highly responsive tour company reached out through WhatsApp and email to coordinate transportation for us to the marina, where we'd be meeting our skipper and the boat.

They called a rideshare at their expense to meet us at the beach club and we arrived at the marina to find an impeccably clean boat and friendly skipper.

As promised, the boat was just for our family with amenities like shade cover and a USB port to charge up phones and stay ready for photo taking. 

We set out for the afternoon on the Adriatic and were able to customize our itinerary, checking out bays, beaches, and caves at our own pace. The skipper snapped family photos and offered snorkel masks and drinks.

At the end of the afternoon, our skipper called us an Uber to take us back to the hotel. Overall it was a successful, fun day. And at under $400 for four people, felt like a great value for all we were able to do.

Unfortunately, it didn't foreshadow the more challenging experience we had on our next excursion, which was the full-day boat charter from Split.

For that trip, I had more difficulty communicating in advance with the operator, who was less responsive. I didn't get all my questions answered before booking, and miscalculated by making some critical assumptions that turned out to be false.

We arrived at the marina to find a boat that exceeded our expectations. It was a rather luxurious looking speedboat with room for 12 and was larger and fancier than our previous boat in Dubrovnik.

It was also more powerful, at 250 horsepower. While some people might appreciate that, the speed of the vessel scared our young children right away.

Our skipper was a devoted and experienced older brother, so he was well equipped with strategies to help calm our kids and took pains to make them comfortable. He even let my son "drive" the boat and honk the horn, which was a huge hit. 

But my daughter was still uncomfortable as the boat sped through the open ocean. Off the bat, I wondered if this was something any ambitious American traveler would attempt with such young children had they known how rough it would be.

The skipper warned us that the Blue Cave would be backed up and crowded, and the timing might correspond to a bumpy afternoon sail. So we opted against it and chose a custom plan to mitigate the intensity. I appreciated that we were able to change the day's itinerary to better suit our needs.

Our skipper took us to a gorgeous, remote beach on the island of Vis, which was a true highlight with crystal clear water and a sense of true isolation. We swam from the boat to the beach, snorkeled, and took lots of pictures.

Afterward, we sailed to glamorous Hvar island, where we passed an hour or so with lunch in Hvar Town.

But it was after that, on the way back to the harbor in Split, when our challenges started in earnest.

It was squarely afternoon by then, and the winds had picked up; the open ocean was very choppy. That is to say, our boat caught full air and slammed back down — over and over again. There was nothing the skipper could do as this was the nature of the boat and typical conditions.

Although my kids (mercifully) don't suffer motion sickness, they were terrified. Anyone with young children and those who do suffer from motion sickness should inquire about conditions before booking any similar boat ride as I wished I had.

My son could be placated by heading back to his post as the boat's "driver," but my daughter was miserable for the full 75 minutes it took to get back to the marina and the waves soaked our family. Making matters more concerning, there was only one kid-sized life jacket on board.  

I was regretful that I'd gotten us in this position. I hadn't adequately confirmed that this was the right trip for our family.

And although I generally feel like a diligent and capable planner, I'd continued with the booking despite not waiting for the answers I needed: Would there be child-sized snorkel masks? Would there be two child-sized life jackets? Was the water likely to be rough? Will we get wet or seasick?  

The bottom line on Viator  

Overall, I wouldn't trade either of the stunning boat excursions I booked through Viator . They made for essential sightseeing experiences for any visitor to Croatia.

The operators on both experiences were professional, and the services were provided as advertised. I also found the prices to be reasonable, much more so than if I'd booked through a travel agency.

I'll book through Viator again, but next time, I'll make sure I'm asking more questions and getting the specific answers I need first.

If a particular operator is vague or reluctant to respond to the specifics of an important matter, like child-sized life vests, or typical water conditions, I will move on to another operator.  

As a now-seasoned Viator user, I'd say: book with confidence. Just make sure you ask a lot of questions specific to your needs and make sure you get them all answered explicitly before you show up on the day of your booking.

With the sheer number of bookings available on Viator, you should have plenty of options to keep moving onto another suitable tour operator until you find one that gives you all the answers — and confidence — you need.  

Book a Viator excursion, large or small, anywhere on earth .

You can purchase logo and accolade licensing to this story here . Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at [email protected] .

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Reviews 4.3.

219,320 total

Most relevant

Sunset Sailing the south shore of Sao Miguel

Sunset Sailing the south shore of Sao Miguel with Sail4Ssiling was an unforgettable experience. Vasco and Mora were wonderful hosts. The views of Ponta Delgada, Sao Roque, Lagoa and Villa Franca from their 39 foot sailboat were spectacular. Food and wine was delicious, local and plentiful and the dolphins Swimming along side the boat were a bonus!! Obrigada Sail4Sailing

Date of experience : 10 September 2024

Great tour, awesome tour guide!

This was the absolute best decision I made all weekend! We only had one day to do sightseeing as the rest of the weekend was meant to be moving my nephew into his first apartment. This tour allowed us to see all the highlights around Los Angeles in one day. There's no way I could have organized it and done the drive myself. It was wonderful to sit back and relax and let someone else take us to each destination, while providing great information along the way. Great tour, awesome tour guide!

Date of experience : 14 September 2024

Good as expected

Good as expected, and easier to use than another travel site (starts with an 'E'). However, many of the travel partners listed give a 'single person' price in the heading, which isn't stated so until you click and select 'how many people' on the next tab. Bothersome, because it entices you to the trip with a lower price than a single person, which it isn't necessarily so!

Date of experience : 07 September 2024

Great way to get to know the Istrian region

Dalibor was knowledgeable and shared lots about the Istrian region. The trip was well paced and we got a good overview of the region from Dalibor’s narration and guiding. The Istrian region is beautiful. The group was also very nice, good mix of friendly, mature and sensible adults. Very enjoyable day trip.

If you have just a day in Banff

We had just one day in this beautiful place and wanted a taste of the star places to see so we booked the Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Emerald Lake and Yoho NP day trip. Our guide Jackson was both knowledgeable and super friendly. It’s a lot of territory to cover in one day but it was made so easy!

Date of experience : 18 September 2024

This was my first time using Viator.com…

This was my first time using Viator.com and it was a great experience. We booked a personal tour guide for our stay in Taipei and it couldn't have been a better experience. Everything was exactly as described, the driver was simply perfect and we created memories for a lifetime. Thank you!

Date of experience : 27 August 2024

We had experiences with both groupon…

We had experiences with both groupon and viator and I had no problems with Viator. Everything was easy to find and easy to get vouchers for. I didn’t have to worry about my information getting lost and the places not knowing where my tickets were. Just an overall great website/app to use for tourists!

Date of experience : 11 September 2024

Until it all goes wrong . . .

Meeting location and time - as late as the day before - were wildly off, showing the location as "Palermo", then a street address copied from another, unrelated event. Start time changed from noon, to 3:00 pm, and finally 6:00 pm. Phone calls to Viator's "Customer Service" department were a real chore and the phone rep was rude to the point of being insulting, even when they grudgingly admitted that they were repeatedly sending incorrect event vouchers. Viator is OK when there are no exceptions, but after that it seems very hard for them to put things right. Top Tip: Too risky. Look elsewhere, there are plenty of other tour companies

Date of experience : 08 September 2024

A dream come true!

I absolutely loved it! I have been wanting to do a Duck boat tour for years. To be able to share the experience with my 22 year old son made it even more special. The tour guide, Pat was exceptional! She was so knowledgeable about Boston’s history and had a wonderful personality. I even got to “drive” the Duck boat!!!!! A++++ experience

Date of experience : 09 September 2024

History and Food in Philadelphia

We had a wonderful food tour with Maggie today, September 18, in Philadelphia. Maggie really upped the experience with historical details and stories. We loved all of the food stops and left super full. I highly recommend the food tour of Center City and the Reading Market with Maggie.

Perfect Mall Overview

The sites covered and the ability to hop on and off were perfect for a one day introduction to the Mall area of Washington DC. Our driver Lamar was especially informative and entertaining. He was also a trip saver when I left my cell phone in the trolley!

Amazing trip

We had an amazing trip on the Aegean Sea! The crew was fantastic and provided great details about each location. We swam and relaxed and had a perfect afternoon. They also prepared a fabulous meal for all to enjoy! Would definitely do this again!

Date of experience : 06 September 2024

Worked out beautifully!

We easily found the area where the tour operator Bucintoro Viaggi was located at the Marco Polo Airport. They had our reservation and told us which zone to wait at by the pier. My husband has mobility issues on his right side. I was worried how he was going to get on and off this swaying boat. When our boat arrived (we waited about 30 minutes); the gentleman driver didn't seemed worried at all but helped my husband on with help of an assistant without a problem. We shared the water taxi with about 8-10 others. The water taxi pulled up right in front of our hotel (Hotel Rialto) only steps away. I was so happy. The nice passengers offered to help my husband off the boat. It all went really well and was worth every penny having the peace of mind it would take us directly to our hotel with minimal walking, especially with luggage.

Date of experience : 04 September 2024

The tour was poorly paced

The tour was poorly paced - the guide spent most of the tour wandering around an area nobody was interested in and by the time we got to the beautiful palace and gardens we had to rush through and the tour ended. Also, the tour did not feature the highlights of Alhambra, only a couple of secondary areas. It was also pretty hard to understand the guide's spoken English.

Viator Definitely Worth Using

We were very happy using Viator. We took a total of 6 excursions on our trip from Rome - Kusadasi and back, four of them thru Viator. All were quality cruises with good guides and no worry about getting back to the ship on time. We saved about 20% over the cruise line and would definitely use them again.

All you need to know about Birmingham in a nutshell

The walkingtour was relaxt and Pete told us a lot of interesting story’s about Birmingham in a funny nutshell. Although we visited a lot of hos tips,we have to come back to explore all the great tips hè gave to us. We had a so much fun, tnx Pete!

Jed was fantastic. We had a great day—easy meet up, nice ride with helpful stops for coffee/snacks/bathroom. Saw wildlife and hiked a trail that worked for the group. Jed has a deep understanding of the history and ecology of the area and led our group thoughtfully.

Wonderful Experiene

My wife and I enjoyed all the information and insights provided by Damien, our driver. The stops along the way were very interesting and full of photo opportunities. The staff is very professional and friendly and will definitely recommend Wild Atlantic Way Day Tours to our friends.

Date of experience : 17 September 2024

Taormina private tour

Diamanté was an excellent guide who took us on a private tour to Taormina. She was good at anticipating our different needs and adapting accordingly. A great time had by all 6 of us!

The River Trip/Castle Combo Ticket…

The River Trip/Castle Combo Ticket failed. Downloaded and printed combo ticket purchased. Did the river trip, given a confirmation receipt then went across the river to the Castel S'Angelo but was refused admission at the entrance as quote lot of fake tickets about.

Date of experience : 03 September 2024

Reply from Viator.com

Hi D Powell, We are sorry to hear about your negative experience. We have reviewed your booking, and have emailed you directly. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to assisting you in the future. If you have any other concerns, please feel free to visit our site at https://www.viator.com/help. Kind Regards, Viator Social Engagement

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Getyourguide.

Viator.com   Reviews

In the Travel Agency category

Visit this website

Company activity See all

Write a review

Reviews 4.3.

219,320 total

Most relevant

Sunset Sailing the south shore of Sao Miguel

Sunset Sailing the south shore of Sao Miguel with Sail4Ssiling was an unforgettable experience. Vasco and Mora were wonderful hosts. The views of Ponta Delgada, Sao Roque, Lagoa and Villa Franca from their 39 foot sailboat were spectacular. Food and wine was delicious, local and plentiful and the dolphins Swimming along side the boat were a bonus!! Obrigada Sail4Sailing

Date of experience : September 10, 2024

Great tour, awesome tour guide!

This was the absolute best decision I made all weekend! We only had one day to do sightseeing as the rest of the weekend was meant to be moving my nephew into his first apartment. This tour allowed us to see all the highlights around Los Angeles in one day. There's no way I could have organized it and done the drive myself. It was wonderful to sit back and relax and let someone else take us to each destination, while providing great information along the way. Great tour, awesome tour guide!

Date of experience : September 14, 2024

Good as expected

Good as expected, and easier to use than another travel site (starts with an 'E'). However, many of the travel partners listed give a 'single person' price in the heading, which isn't stated so until you click and select 'how many people' on the next tab. Bothersome, because it entices you to the trip with a lower price than a single person, which it isn't necessarily so!

Date of experience : September 07, 2024

Great way to get to know the Istrian region

Dalibor was knowledgeable and shared lots about the Istrian region. The trip was well paced and we got a good overview of the region from Dalibor’s narration and guiding. The Istrian region is beautiful. The group was also very nice, good mix of friendly, mature and sensible adults. Very enjoyable day trip.

If you have just a day in Banff

We had just one day in this beautiful place and wanted a taste of the star places to see so we booked the Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Emerald Lake and Yoho NP day trip. Our guide Jackson was both knowledgeable and super friendly. It’s a lot of territory to cover in one day but it was made so easy!

Date of experience : September 18, 2024

This was my first time using Viator.com…

This was my first time using Viator.com and it was a great experience. We booked a personal tour guide for our stay in Taipei and it couldn't have been a better experience. Everything was exactly as described, the driver was simply perfect and we created memories for a lifetime. Thank you!

Date of experience : August 27, 2024

We had experiences with both groupon…

We had experiences with both groupon and viator and I had no problems with Viator. Everything was easy to find and easy to get vouchers for. I didn’t have to worry about my information getting lost and the places not knowing where my tickets were. Just an overall great website/app to use for tourists!

Date of experience : September 11, 2024

Until it all goes wrong . . .

Meeting location and time - as late as the day before - were wildly off, showing the location as "Palermo", then a street address copied from another, unrelated event. Start time changed from noon, to 3:00 pm, and finally 6:00 pm. Phone calls to Viator's "Customer Service" department were a real chore and the phone rep was rude to the point of being insulting, even when they grudgingly admitted that they were repeatedly sending incorrect event vouchers. Viator is OK when there are no exceptions, but after that it seems very hard for them to put things right. Top Tip: Too risky. Look elsewhere, there are plenty of other tour companies

Date of experience : September 08, 2024

A dream come true!

I absolutely loved it! I have been wanting to do a Duck boat tour for years. To be able to share the experience with my 22 year old son made it even more special. The tour guide, Pat was exceptional! She was so knowledgeable about Boston’s history and had a wonderful personality. I even got to “drive” the Duck boat!!!!! A++++ experience

Date of experience : September 09, 2024

History and Food in Philadelphia

We had a wonderful food tour with Maggie today, September 18, in Philadelphia. Maggie really upped the experience with historical details and stories. We loved all of the food stops and left super full. I highly recommend the food tour of Center City and the Reading Market with Maggie.

Perfect Mall Overview

The sites covered and the ability to hop on and off were perfect for a one day introduction to the Mall area of Washington DC. Our driver Lamar was especially informative and entertaining. He was also a trip saver when I left my cell phone in the trolley!

Amazing trip

We had an amazing trip on the Aegean Sea! The crew was fantastic and provided great details about each location. We swam and relaxed and had a perfect afternoon. They also prepared a fabulous meal for all to enjoy! Would definitely do this again!

Date of experience : September 06, 2024

Worked out beautifully!

We easily found the area where the tour operator Bucintoro Viaggi was located at the Marco Polo Airport. They had our reservation and told us which zone to wait at by the pier. My husband has mobility issues on his right side. I was worried how he was going to get on and off this swaying boat. When our boat arrived (we waited about 30 minutes); the gentleman driver didn't seemed worried at all but helped my husband on with help of an assistant without a problem. We shared the water taxi with about 8-10 others. The water taxi pulled up right in front of our hotel (Hotel Rialto) only steps away. I was so happy. The nice passengers offered to help my husband off the boat. It all went really well and was worth every penny having the peace of mind it would take us directly to our hotel with minimal walking, especially with luggage.

Date of experience : September 04, 2024

The tour was poorly paced

The tour was poorly paced - the guide spent most of the tour wandering around an area nobody was interested in and by the time we got to the beautiful palace and gardens we had to rush through and the tour ended. Also, the tour did not feature the highlights of Alhambra, only a couple of secondary areas. It was also pretty hard to understand the guide's spoken English.

Viator Definitely Worth Using

We were very happy using Viator. We took a total of 6 excursions on our trip from Rome - Kusadasi and back, four of them thru Viator. All were quality cruises with good guides and no worry about getting back to the ship on time. We saved about 20% over the cruise line and would definitely use them again.

All you need to know about Birmingham in a nutshell

The walkingtour was relaxt and Pete told us a lot of interesting story’s about Birmingham in a funny nutshell. Although we visited a lot of hos tips,we have to come back to explore all the great tips hè gave to us. We had a so much fun, tnx Pete!

Jed was fantastic. We had a great day—easy meet up, nice ride with helpful stops for coffee/snacks/bathroom. Saw wildlife and hiked a trail that worked for the group. Jed has a deep understanding of the history and ecology of the area and led our group thoughtfully.

Wonderful Experiene

My wife and I enjoyed all the information and insights provided by Damien, our driver. The stops along the way were very interesting and full of photo opportunities. The staff is very professional and friendly and will definitely recommend Wild Atlantic Way Day Tours to our friends.

Date of experience : September 17, 2024

Taormina private tour

Diamanté was an excellent guide who took us on a private tour to Taormina. She was good at anticipating our different needs and adapting accordingly. A great time had by all 6 of us!

The River Trip/Castle Combo Ticket…

The River Trip/Castle Combo Ticket failed. Downloaded and printed combo ticket purchased. Did the river trip, given a confirmation receipt then went across the river to the Castel S'Angelo but was refused admission at the entrance as quote lot of fake tickets about.

Date of experience : September 03, 2024

Reply from Viator.com

Hi D Powell, We are sorry to hear about your negative experience. We have reviewed your booking, and have emailed you directly. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to assisting you in the future. If you have any other concerns, please feel free to visit our site at https://www.viator.com/help. Kind Regards, Viator Social Engagement

Viator Tours Review [2024]: Are Their Tours Any Good?

I always find that tours are the hardest thing to book before a trip, so you want to make sure you're using a reliable website to find the best tour options. If you're looking for tours during your travels, you've likely come across Viator before and are wondering whether to book with them. I've put together a well-researched review so you have more confidence about whether to spend your money, or not, on Viator tours!

One of the best parts about planning a vacation and making a travel plan is deciding all the fun, exciting things you're going to do while you're there.

I get that it can also be one of the most stressful parts, though.

Some cities have so many things to do it can be hard to decide which one fits in your itinerary.

Trying to decide which tours, sights, or areas to see, which food to eat, which places to visit… it can get challenging to pick!

Viator claims to help solve your problems by providing you with a platform for you to find the perfect itinerary. But is Viator as good as it sounds? Is Viator worth it compared to other travel booking sites?

Don't go away so that you can discover all the important info about Viator before making your choice.

What Is Viator?

Viator is a TripAdvisor company that pulls together experiences from all over the world, allowing you to book through them. Viator's focus on memorable experiences will enable you to make the most of your travels while having the flexibility to make plans as you go (or well in advance). 

Viator was bought by TripAdvisor in 2014, so you'll notice similarities in how reviews work. With TripAdvisor being Viator's parent company, you can feel better if you trust TripAdvisor's reputation.

Check out Viator tours here!

How Does Viator Work?

Viator works by providing tours, tickets, experiences, and more worldwide at competitive prices. Tours have detailed descriptions, and you can search availability for your party size.

One of the things that makes Viator tours so good is that their description page offers ample information to help you decide whether that tour is for you. 

You'll find an overview, including departure and return information, what to expect, additional info, cancellation policy details, an FAQ section, and reviews from fellow travelers

What more could you want?

Booking with Viator

To make any bookings with Viator, you'll have to have an account. You can sign up easily using your email address, use either a Google account or Facebook account, or sign in with your Apple ID. From there, you can easily access all your bookings in one place.

Viator also has an app available on the Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store. 

Let's check out the two major features Viator has to offer.

Viator's Major Features Explained

Unlike online travel agencies (OTAs) like  Travelocity , Viator specializes in tours and experiences. This means that you'll be able to find walking tours, site visits, day trips, and more. You won't find anything about hotels, restaurants, or other aspects of travel.

Instead, Viator is there to fill your days while traveling. 

When you search for a destination on Viator, it'll give you long lists of tours available in and around that destination. You can sort through tours by style. For example, food, outdoors, likely to sell out, etc. The site also gives you the ability to filter tours by price point, duration, and time of day.

I love that flexibility! And it'll really make searching for the perfect excursion more hassle-free.

You can even sort by "deals and discounts" to see what's running on sale to save some money!

Things to Do

In addition to providing loads of tours, they also have dedicated pages to several cities outlining the top things to do and how to plan your trip there. 

Here's their detailed page for things to do in London , and  here's  another for Vancouver, Canada, as references! To get to these pages, simply enter the city of your choice into the search bar, and then find the link to the "things to do in (city)" page at the top! Or scroll down to the bottom of the home page for some options. 

If you're someone who prefers things being planned out for you, why not explore doing a group tour with  Contiki  or  EF Ultimate Break ?

How Do You Contact Viator's Customer Support?

Since Viator is used for booking tours and experiences, you'll want to know how to contact them if you have any difficulties with your booking or questions. 

Finding Viator's contact information on their website is a bit of a challenge. It is only easily accessible through an existing booking. Beyond that, they don't actually publish their contact information anywhere, so asking any pre-booking questions can be rather difficult. 

They claim to be there for customer support 24/7, but this seems to be only after you've made a booking. 

Viator's Cancellation Policy

One of Viator's biggest perks is that they offer a free, 24-hour notice cancellation policy. They advertise that many experiences are fully refundable with at least 24 hours' notice. 

It's important to note that not every Viator tour/experience is refundable at least one full day before the experience, so double-check your booking carefully. Some experiences have stricter refund policies (requiring more notice), and others never allow for a refund due to a cancellation. 

Viator Reviews: Is It Legit?

If you've taken a look at Viator reviews, you can tell how polarizing they are. Let's dissect them to find out why thats the case.

Viator reviews online currently hold an average rating of 4.3/5 stars. However, on review sites like Yelp, they hold a low average of 1 to 1.6 average rating out of 5.

On their own website, they've also ranked themselves as 4.3/5 stars with over 3600 reviews.

Why Are the Numbers So Polarizing?

I believe that quality fluctuates between the different tours offered on Viator. With the massive collection of things to do and tours on Viator, their reviews naturally are polarizing.

In general, the latest Viator reviews are positive about the tour experiences and most users recommend using Viator. Some travelers weren't impressed with Viator's ticketing service or, in extreme circumstances, were allowed to book tickets after events no longer allowed entry.

Many negative reviews speak to less than enthusiastic guides, crowded venues, or subpar meals, factors outside Viator's control. 

Is Viator Worth It?

On a while, we believe that Viator is worth it to find fun and different experiences for your next destination of choice! Viator has various things from which to choose and have detailed descriptions, so you know what you're getting when you book.

Since you're not booking through the tour companies themselves, though, be aware that any communication from them might go through Viator and can cause miscommunications or problems.

You could always use Viator for research and try to book directly, but many tours exclusively use Viator.

We would recommend it as a resource for tour booking, though!

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Reviews 4.3.

219,320 total

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Tyrone was wonderful

Tyrone was wonderful! Picked us up at our hotel and got us going a little early so we would be just ahead of the other busses and avoid lines. He knew all the information at all of the stops. His personality was so upbeat and fun!

Date of experience : 08 September 2024

This tour was enjoyable. The guide was informative and very personable. The places visited were quite good. The convenience of being picked up and dropped off at convenient locations was a bonus. Bruny Island was quite picturesque.

Date of experience : 13 September 2024

Well orginized tour

It was a well organized tour and the guides Max and Aldo made the trip to a great expirience. First of all we saw mantay rays, dolphins and turtles. The guides were present at all time and we felt really save at all time. There were two snorkeling spots in the moring and three in die afternoon. In between we had a rest in a beautiful restaurant and went to Klingkling beach. Perfect mix :-)

Date of experience : 11 September 2024

Odyssey of the Secrets of Santorini - A 3-hour Private Tour

My tour of Santorini was awesome! What a beautiful island to explore. My tour guide Zina was phenomenal ❤️ There was a mix up with the location pickup but she waited for me to arrive and I got the best tour guide In Santorini. Book this tour and ask for Zina you won’t be disappointed.

Date of experience : 17 September 2024

The guide was difficult to understand

The guide was difficult to understand, she had a heavy accent and talked too fast.She seemed knowledgeable but couldn’t understand most of her presentation. This was aided because she repeated everything in Spanish should have been an all English group,

Date of experience : 09 September 2024

Reply from Viator.com

Hi David, Thank you for bringing your experience to our attention. Viator takes all customer feedback and concerns about their experiences seriously. We strive to ensure that our suppliers are providing high-quality experiences and products to our customers. Each supplier's customer satisfaction ratings are reviewed and addressed directly with that supplier. We thank you for sharing your feedback with us. If you have any other concerns, please feel free to reach out to us by phone, email, chat or through Facebook/Twitter. Kind Regards, Viator Social Engagement

We loved the cruise

We loved the cruise. The staff was friendly, but needs more training, as twice my drinks were taken before I'd finished them and they were expensive. The food was nice, but there could've been a bit more seafood, as I was limited in what I was able to eat - but it was all delicious though. The drinks were much expensive, maybe offer a drink package add-on? Of course, the scenery was amazing - it's Sydney! Overall, the cruise was wonderful and a great way to spend one's birthday with friends.

Date of experience : 07 September 2024

Great service

The day of our advent we could not download our tickets. I was able to reach a Viator representative by phone and they resent the ticket in time for the performance. I have used Viator for tours in several countries and have found their tours to be well-run.

Date of experience : 16 September 2024

The guides are always very…

The guides are always very knowledgeable and pleasant. The sound equipment works great. Also, this time you showed extreme flexibility around the 24 hour cancellation rule due to weather.

Date of experience : 12 September 2024

Great way to book tours.

I liked the easiness of the site and booking the tours. People were very helpful with answering questions that I had and making sure everything was done correctly. I liked the notifications of the tours and the charges. Would definitely use this site again.

Date of experience : 31 August 2024

The tour was disappointing.

The tour was disappointing. The driver was very negative, pointing out homeless, trash, etc. He refused to stop for photos and we were instructed to take pictures thru the dirty glass “like everyone else does.” We did not stop at key places and only had a quick drive by. He seemed focused on getting home on time. We spent much time on freeways instead of taking quicker routes. (Avoiding tolls?) He drove too fast with only one hand on the steering wheel, careening in out lanes. I would not recommend this tour to anyone.

Hello Mike, Thank you for bringing your experience to our attention. Viator takes all customer feedback and concerns about their experiences seriously. We strive to ensure that our suppliers are providing high-quality experiences and products to our customers. Each supplier's customer satisfaction ratings are reviewed and addressed directly with that supplier. We thank you for sharing your feedback with us. If you have any other concerns, please feel free to reach out to us by phone, email, chat or through Facebook/Twitter. Kind Regards, Viator Social Engagement

Viator Rewards

I had Viator Rewards, that were not applied. When I called Customer Service, they said they cannot do anything about it. I had to cancel my upcomong trip and start all over again, I was travelling that day and it was a bit late to do all this. Very disapointing , I feel like being cheated with false advertisment.

Hi MP, Thank you for bringing your experience to our attention. Viator takes all customer feedback and concerns about their experiences seriously. We strive to ensure that our suppliers are providing high-quality experiences and products to our customers. We thank you for sharing your feedback with us. If you have any other concerns, please feel free to reach out to us by phone, email, chat or through Facebook/Twitter. Kind Regards, Viator Social Engagement

Day trip to Instagram Halstatt

Well organised, Lidia was helpful and very informative. We were lucky to have a sunny day in September so there was a good view of the lake from the top of the mountain. I would actually have preferred the bad weather option of the boat trip as it took an hour altogether to wait in the line for the funicular up and down and the line to get the position for the photo of the village below. The village was full of tourists but that is not in the control of Viator. The restaurants and facilities we stopped at on the way were great with a good selection of souvenirs and food.

Date of experience : 06 September 2024

Amazing Morning on the Food Tour!

What a great time we had on the Food Tour in Civitavecchia, Italy! Paola was very knowledgeable about the history and has a passion for her home city. The food tastings were very good! She lead the walking at a good pace for the group of 17 people. This is a must do tour if your in the port city prior to your cruise or just want to do something different than Rome. We attended the day prior to our cruise departure and it was a fun day!

Date of experience : 02 September 2024

The most fun!

My friend and I had the best time on the rum and reggae tour! The host were so easy going and friendly and FUN! They were accomodating when weather didn't cooperate and took us to a great local place to eat. Would definitely recommend and do it again!

The only reason I'm giving this tour 3…

The only reason I'm giving this tour 3 stars instead of 1 is because I felt bad for the tour guide. The entire experience was disorganized. Viator mistakenly booked our reservation for October instead of September, and we had to wait 45 minutes before being allowed inside. We all sympathized with the tour guide, as none of this was her fault. Additionally, the audio equipment is in serious need of an update. I could barely understand the guide due to poor sound quality. Overall, I’m very disappointed with Viator.

Because of the clouds there was no view…

Because of the clouds there was no view at all, and that was very disappointing. Wanted to see the Valley of the Nuns but saw almost nothing. Also would be nice to give out one bottle of water for the passengers because of the heat, I don't think it is too much to ask for. We have another tour booked for tomorrow, hope it will be not disappointing!

Date of experience : 06 August 2024

Hi, Thank you for bringing your experience to our attention. Viator takes all customer feedback and concerns about their experiences seriously. We strive to ensure that our suppliers are providing high-quality experiences and products to our customers. Each supplier's customer satisfaction ratings are reviewed and addressed directly with that supplier. We thank you for sharing your feedback with us. If you have any other concerns, please feel free to reach out to us by phone, email, chat or through Facebook/Twitter. Kind Regards, Viator Social Engagement

Shockingly bad experience.

We have been charged in full for an excursion due to occur tomorrow but Viator have not sent a booking confirmation or reference number. They claim they have no record of the booking despite the fact that the money has been deducted in full from the bank account. Therefore we cannot go on the tour!

Date of experience : 18 September 2024

Amazing customer service

Amazing customer service. Very professional. Consider using her. She will not disappoint. Always finds the best deals and works within your budget. FIVE ⭐️ STARS

We had a wonderful time on this 3 hour…

We had a wonderful time on this 3 hour tour. Ken told us so much about Martha's Vineyard!! It was very relaxing and interesting, We would recommend it to anyone interested in visiting Martha's Vineyard!!

Date of experience : 10 September 2024

Too little too late!

Kavan tours could improve by using cruisemapper to find out where they need to go pick up their customers from cruise port. That way they would go to correct port and not be 3 hours late. Also we had an excellent driver but would not call him a guide. His English was very limited and did not tell us anything about any of the places we visited. Due to our late start we were unable to visit all stops on our itenary.

Hello Kimberly, We are sorry to hear about your negative experience. We have reviewed your booking, and have emailed you directly. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to assisting you in the future. If you have any other concerns, please feel free to visit our site at https://www.viator.com/help. Kind Regards, Viator Social Engagement

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Reviews 4.3.

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Sunset Sailing the south shore of Sao Miguel

Sunset Sailing the south shore of Sao Miguel with Sail4Ssiling was an unforgettable experience. Vasco and Mora were wonderful hosts. The views of Ponta Delgada, Sao Roque, Lagoa and Villa Franca from their 39 foot sailboat were spectacular. Food and wine was delicious, local and plentiful and the dolphins Swimming along side the boat were a bonus!! Obrigada Sail4Sailing

Date of experience : 10 September 2024

Great tour, awesome tour guide!

This was the absolute best decision I made all weekend! We only had one day to do sightseeing as the rest of the weekend was meant to be moving my nephew into his first apartment. This tour allowed us to see all the highlights around Los Angeles in one day. There's no way I could have organized it and done the drive myself. It was wonderful to sit back and relax and let someone else take us to each destination, while providing great information along the way. Great tour, awesome tour guide!

Date of experience : 14 September 2024

Good as expected

Good as expected, and easier to use than another travel site (starts with an 'E'). However, many of the travel partners listed give a 'single person' price in the heading, which isn't stated so until you click and select 'how many people' on the next tab. Bothersome, because it entices you to the trip with a lower price than a single person, which it isn't necessarily so!

Date of experience : 07 September 2024

Great way to get to know the Istrian region

Dalibor was knowledgeable and shared lots about the Istrian region. The trip was well paced and we got a good overview of the region from Dalibor’s narration and guiding. The Istrian region is beautiful. The group was also very nice, good mix of friendly, mature and sensible adults. Very enjoyable day trip.

If you have just a day in Banff

We had just one day in this beautiful place and wanted a taste of the star places to see so we booked the Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Emerald Lake and Yoho NP day trip. Our guide Jackson was both knowledgeable and super friendly. It’s a lot of territory to cover in one day but it was made so easy!

Date of experience : 18 September 2024

This was my first time using Viator.com…

This was my first time using Viator.com and it was a great experience. We booked a personal tour guide for our stay in Taipei and it couldn't have been a better experience. Everything was exactly as described, the driver was simply perfect and we created memories for a lifetime. Thank you!

Date of experience : 27 August 2024

We had experiences with both groupon…

We had experiences with both groupon and viator and I had no problems with Viator. Everything was easy to find and easy to get vouchers for. I didn’t have to worry about my information getting lost and the places not knowing where my tickets were. Just an overall great website/app to use for tourists!

Date of experience : 11 September 2024

Until it all goes wrong . . .

Meeting location and time - as late as the day before - were wildly off, showing the location as "Palermo", then a street address copied from another, unrelated event. Start time changed from noon, to 3:00 pm, and finally 6:00 pm. Phone calls to Viator's "Customer Service" department were a real chore and the phone rep was rude to the point of being insulting, even when they grudgingly admitted that they were repeatedly sending incorrect event vouchers. Viator is OK when there are no exceptions, but after that it seems very hard for them to put things right. Top Tip: Too risky. Look elsewhere, there are plenty of other tour companies

Date of experience : 08 September 2024

A dream come true!

I absolutely loved it! I have been wanting to do a Duck boat tour for years. To be able to share the experience with my 22 year old son made it even more special. The tour guide, Pat was exceptional! She was so knowledgeable about Boston’s history and had a wonderful personality. I even got to “drive” the Duck boat!!!!! A++++ experience

Date of experience : 09 September 2024

History and Food in Philadelphia

We had a wonderful food tour with Maggie today, September 18, in Philadelphia. Maggie really upped the experience with historical details and stories. We loved all of the food stops and left super full. I highly recommend the food tour of Center City and the Reading Market with Maggie.

Perfect Mall Overview

The sites covered and the ability to hop on and off were perfect for a one day introduction to the Mall area of Washington DC. Our driver Lamar was especially informative and entertaining. He was also a trip saver when I left my cell phone in the trolley!

Amazing trip

We had an amazing trip on the Aegean Sea! The crew was fantastic and provided great details about each location. We swam and relaxed and had a perfect afternoon. They also prepared a fabulous meal for all to enjoy! Would definitely do this again!

Date of experience : 06 September 2024

Worked out beautifully!

We easily found the area where the tour operator Bucintoro Viaggi was located at the Marco Polo Airport. They had our reservation and told us which zone to wait at by the pier. My husband has mobility issues on his right side. I was worried how he was going to get on and off this swaying boat. When our boat arrived (we waited about 30 minutes); the gentleman driver didn't seemed worried at all but helped my husband on with help of an assistant without a problem. We shared the water taxi with about 8-10 others. The water taxi pulled up right in front of our hotel (Hotel Rialto) only steps away. I was so happy. The nice passengers offered to help my husband off the boat. It all went really well and was worth every penny having the peace of mind it would take us directly to our hotel with minimal walking, especially with luggage.

Date of experience : 04 September 2024

The tour was poorly paced

The tour was poorly paced - the guide spent most of the tour wandering around an area nobody was interested in and by the time we got to the beautiful palace and gardens we had to rush through and the tour ended. Also, the tour did not feature the highlights of Alhambra, only a couple of secondary areas. It was also pretty hard to understand the guide's spoken English.

Viator Definitely Worth Using

We were very happy using Viator. We took a total of 6 excursions on our trip from Rome - Kusadasi and back, four of them thru Viator. All were quality cruises with good guides and no worry about getting back to the ship on time. We saved about 20% over the cruise line and would definitely use them again.

All you need to know about Birmingham in a nutshell

The walkingtour was relaxt and Pete told us a lot of interesting story’s about Birmingham in a funny nutshell. Although we visited a lot of hos tips,we have to come back to explore all the great tips hè gave to us. We had a so much fun, tnx Pete!

Jed was fantastic. We had a great day—easy meet up, nice ride with helpful stops for coffee/snacks/bathroom. Saw wildlife and hiked a trail that worked for the group. Jed has a deep understanding of the history and ecology of the area and led our group thoughtfully.

Wonderful Experiene

My wife and I enjoyed all the information and insights provided by Damien, our driver. The stops along the way were very interesting and full of photo opportunities. The staff is very professional and friendly and will definitely recommend Wild Atlantic Way Day Tours to our friends.

Date of experience : 17 September 2024

Taormina private tour

Diamanté was an excellent guide who took us on a private tour to Taormina. She was good at anticipating our different needs and adapting accordingly. A great time had by all 6 of us!

The River Trip/Castle Combo Ticket…

The River Trip/Castle Combo Ticket failed. Downloaded and printed combo ticket purchased. Did the river trip, given a confirmation receipt then went across the river to the Castel S'Angelo but was refused admission at the entrance as quote lot of fake tickets about.

Date of experience : 03 September 2024

Reply from Viator.com

Hi D Powell, We are sorry to hear about your negative experience. We have reviewed your booking, and have emailed you directly. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to assisting you in the future. If you have any other concerns, please feel free to visit our site at https://www.viator.com/help. Kind Regards, Viator Social Engagement

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Gloomy TV ratings hang over LIV Championship, PGA Tour fall debut

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Jon Rahm's LIV Individual Championship win came in front of an average audience of 89,000 viewers, per the SBJ.

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Most of the time, TV ratings require nuance.

Anyone can read the numbers, but the numbers don’t always tell you everything you need to know. A favorable time slot, pre-broadcast audience tailwinds, or a lack of alternative options can boost a good rating in much the same way a scheduling snafu, extra opponent, or changed timezone can influence a bad one.

But the numbers from this weekend’s professional golf tournaments — the LIV individual championship and the PGA Tour’s Procore Championship — need no such context. They were bad by any objective measure, raising the latest warning of a TV audience exodus driven by years of division and confusion in the pro game.

We’ll start with the PGA Tour, which recorded 69,000 average viewers during Sunday’s final round at the Procore Championship in Napa, less than a quarter of the audience that tuned into Sahith Theegala’s final round victory in the same event last fall.

The Procore Championship (formerly the Fortinet Championship, Safeway Open and Frys Open) was not aided by the same Netflix star-winner support it received in ’23. Instead, PGA Tour journeyman Patton Kizzire seized a five-shot win over a light field. The final round aired opposite the NFL on Golf Channel, which reaches a far smaller audience than most traditional PGA Tour broadcasts on NBC and CBS. Still, the final number was paltry even by Golf Channel’s diminished viewership standards, considering it ranked beneath the August average for a Golf Channel telecast of any kind ( 76,000 ).

Kizzire’s win kicked off a FedEx Cup Fall Season refashioned by the PGA Tour to serve as a feeder series for the big tour. The Tour shifted away from its “wraparound schedule” to amplify its biggest events during the spring and summer months when sports TV competition is comparatively light. But the downside of that shift is that it risks ceding the fall months to the NFL and college football entirely — a change that could further harm the rest of the Tour’s diminishing TV ratings.

The situation was just as dire across the street at LIV, where only 89,000 average viewers tuned into Sunday’s final round of the league’s individual championship in Chicago, less than one-third of the 286,000 viewers that tuned into the league’s first event on the CW in Mexico last February.

LIV’s ratings were closer to its averages, but the league didn’t have the PGA Tour’s built-in challenges of a journeyman winner, a weaker point in its yearlong schedule or an event that aired exclusively on cable. Rather, LIV’s averages — which fall safely below the August averages on such cable channels as Great American Family, Disney Junior and Up TV — came from the final round of what might be its biggest event of the year, with one of the league’s highest-priced stars claiming a big-money victory on the league’s typical broadcast network home, the CW.

We’ll point out here that LIV and the PGA Tour faced lots of competition in the sports world this weekend, including a typical bludgeoning from the NFL’s TV behemoth and a pair of in-house competitors, the Irish Open and Solheim Cup. These items no doubt combined to steal market share from the two major pro tour telecasts, but it’s also fair to ask if, even given these headwinds, telecasts from the two largest pro tours in the world should be capable of producing viewership larger than a combined 158,000 average viewers.

Tempting as it is to focus on these questions, or more specific issues with either league’s television and competitive products, another gloomy batch of ratings raises bigger concerns about the health of the sport’s TV product more broadly.

LIV’s intrusion into the sport has made pros fabulously wealthy and infused billions in new investment, but it has cost golf dearly in terms of public goodwill. Scores of casual golf fans have reported tuning out of pro golf after being angered by the sport’s partisan rancor, turned off by its lack of week-to-week star power, disinterested in its new competitive formats or confused by the on-again, off-again state of peace talks between the two sides, which have now stretched to 15 months without any clear solutions.

Over the last nine months, executives at both leagues and several networks have slow-walked concerns raised about the state of the TV audience, but the growing number of questions surrounding sagging ratings underscored a deeper truth: the numbers were dropping.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves when it comes to the ratings stuff. It’s early to be worried,” CBS Sports chief David Berson told GOLF in May , a point echoed in later months by executives at NBC, LIV, and more recently, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.

At the end of the 2024 regular season, SBJ’s Josh Carpenter quoted one PGA Tour network partner as having faced a year-over-year ratings swoon of 15 to 17 percent, far outpacing the dips faced by other sports properties as cord-cutting continues to proliferate.

“I think when you look at 2024, it’s important to note, and I’m going to note it, that overall consumption across our platforms in aggregate is up,” Monahan said at the Tour Championship last month . “That’s a really good sign for the PGA Tour and the engagement that we have with our fans.”

Consumption data is good for optics, but ratings are still where sports leagues and networks make their money. The value of a sports TV deal is tied intrinsically to the size of the audience and the volume of advertisements sold — without either, a deal isn’t nearly as valuable.

This is why LIV has struggled to gain a noticeable foothold with advertisers and corporate partners, and why it has entertained extending its agreement with the CW despite those same audience development struggles. It’s also why the PGA Tour is spending the fall looking for innovative solutions for its telecasts, including its curious influencer pilot program, the “Creator Classic.”

None of this is to say that pro golf is headed in a hopeless direction, or that the losses of the last several years are unfixable next to the combined financial might of golf’s two major pro tours. It is to say, however, that the problem of television ratings in golf is real, and that each of golf’s stakeholders bears a piece of the responsibility.

After the latest round of ratings, it’s okay to be blunt.

Like what you read? Subscribe to James Colgan’s Hot Mic Newsletter and get the scoop on golf media news in your inbox before it lands on the web.

You can reach the author at [email protected] .

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James Colgan is a news and features editor at GOLF, writing stories for the website and magazine. He manages the Hot Mic, GOLF’s media vertical, and utilizes his on-camera experience across the brand’s platforms. Prior to joining GOLF, James graduated from Syracuse University, during which time he was a caddie scholarship recipient (and astute looper) on Long Island, where he is from. He can be reached at [email protected].

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Entertainment | Sting shoots for 3(.0) and scores, while…

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Entertainment | sting shoots for 3(.0) and scores, while opening tour at the fillmore detroit.

As the title indicates, the trek returns the multi-hyphenate British rocker to a trio configuration for the first time since the Police’s 2007-08 reunion. (It was also his first metro area appearance in eight years and his first as sole headliner since a 2011 date at the Fox Theatre.)

As such, the hit-filled 20-song, hour-and-45-minute was a testament to the open flexibility of Sting’s songwriting and to the chops he and his trio mates — longtime guitarist Dominic Miller and drummer Chris Maas — demonstrated in pivoting lushly produced recordings such as the Police’s “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” and Sting’s own “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You,” “All This Time” and “Desert Rose” into Spartan and still — and perhaps even more — powerful arrangements.

Sting was well aware of just where he was as he launched this phase of the tour, which played Europe during the summer.

Earlier on Tuesday he name-checked Detroit’s music heritage, specifically Motown and the MC5, in a social media post. Early on he recalled the Police’s Nov. 5, 1978 stop at the long gone Bookie’s Club 870 — “When I was 12,” the 72-year-old quipped — and losing his voice while attending a Tigers baseball game during the summer of 1983, which forced the postponement of a Joe Louis Arena concert.

And as the trio made a rhythmic change on the back end of the Police’s “Roxanne” during the encore, Sting told the crowd that “a sophisticated town like Detroit, you should get this.”

Primarily Sting and company — following a captivating half-hour solo piano set by Elew — reveled in the space afforded them in the trio configuration, attacking the uptempo fare with a balance of punky Police exuberance and years of experience, and filling quieter pieces such as “Fields of Gold,” “Mad About You,” “Why Should I Cry For You” and the show-closing “Fragile” — during which Sting switched from bass to acoustic guitar — with subtle but impactful nuances. Miller in particular took free reign throughout the night, pushing the arrangements with soaring textures and occasionally letting rip for a hot solos on the Police songs “Driven to Tears” and “So Lonely” and ushering out “Never Coming Home” in a muscular jam with Sting.

The trio’s brand new song “I Wrote Your Name — described by Sting as “a romantic song…also quite noisy” — went over well with a crowd that spent much of the show on its collective feet and responding with gusto every time Sting orchestrated a call-and-response from the stage. In fact, he said the aforementioned Bookie’s gig was where he created the “little improvisation” during the Police’s “Can’t Stand Losing You.”

And things were already pitched high when the trio launched into a breathless non-stop run to close the main set, sandwiching “Desert Rose” between Police favorites “Walking on the Moon” and “So Lonely” on one side and “King of Pain” and “Every Breath You Take” on the other.

It was the kind of night — world-class performers, and performance, in an intimate space — that gets talked about for years, not unlike that Police show before a handful of people at Bookie’s. As fans left the Fillmore on Tuesday one was overheard saying, “I spent a s***load of money for these tickets, and it was worth every penny!”

She’d have been hard-pressed to find anyone to disagree.

Sting and Elew perform again Wednesday, Sept. 18, at the Fillmore Detroit. Doors at 7 p.m. 313-961-5451 or thefillmoredetroit.com .

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Viator overbooked the ride

We booked VIP tickets for CartZilla through this site for 9.15.24 at 7pm. Viator overbooked that time and ours had to be rescheduled. The owner of CartZilla was wonderful and made it right, but due to the time change we did not get to see the lights. I would highly recommend CartZilla, but Viator needs improvement.

Date of experience : September 15, 2024

The company offers many tours

The company offers many tours, but they should have more tours (Floremce and Venice) that offers more than one place. They are too seperate in each city. Others they personnel are very helpful and friendly.

Date of experience : September 11, 2024

The Four Wonders of Alsace From Colmar…

The Four Wonders of Alsace From Colmar Tour was excellent from start to finish. Our guide, Didier, was very knowledgeable and made the tour very interesting.

Date of experience : September 04, 2024

We booked a tour of Cape Britton Island…

We booked a tour of Cape Britton Island with Viator. We got off the ship and couldn’t find a kiosk or a representative. There were two other couples waiting as well and we are all were looking around for someone from Viator. We sent them a text from the number we had from our confirmation and no reply. That’s not true, we got reply an hour after our tour. The driver showed up at half hour late. Nice fellow, but didn’t seem to know much about the island. He was just showing us churches and some other sites. He was more of a taxi driver than a tour guide. Not faulting him he’s just trying to make a living. The tour company should be educating them or getting people who know the history and I have knowledge area. I Wouldn’t really recommend Viatour again.

Date of experience : September 18, 2024

Reply from Viator.com

Hello Javier, Thank you for bringing your experience to our attention. Viator takes all customer feedback and concerns about their experiences seriously. We strive to ensure that our suppliers are providing high-quality experiences and products to our customers. Each supplier's customer satisfaction ratings are reviewed and addressed directly with that supplier. We thank you for sharing your feedback with us. If you have any other concerns, please feel free to reach out to us by phone, email, chat or through Facebook/Twitter. Kind Regards, Viator Social Engagement

Very easy to browse and book…

Very easy to browse and book excursions. Nice to have all booked excursions in one spot and to access the directions to meeting points right from the app

Date of experience : September 08, 2024

Alex , our guide was very personable, very knowledgeable of all the areas in Rome and even bought us some gelatos for the group😊!!!!!

Simon, our guide for the Acropolis tour was fantastic. He remembered each person’s name and was very informative. I would recommend both the tour and Simon

Date of experience : September 07, 2024

Tour guide was nice but not…

Tour guide was nice but not informative. No real details. Kind of just went through his regular life. Very, very expensive for what we got. I got more details and history from the bus ride to the beach the following day.

Hi, Thank you for bringing your experience to our attention. Viator takes all customer feedback and concerns about their experiences seriously. We strive to ensure that our suppliers are providing high-quality experiences and products to our customers. Each supplier's customer satisfaction ratings are reviewed and addressed directly with that supplier. We thank you for sharing your feedback with us. If you have any other concerns, please feel free to reach out to us by phone, email, chat or through Facebook/Twitter. Kind Regards, Viator Social Engagement

Bali vacation activities

Recent activities booked for my recent Bali vacation went smoothly. Each activity was exactly as billed and all providers were reliable.

Date of experience : September 10, 2024

Great service

Great service from both tour operator as well as the platform itself. Will definitely use it again on other trips.

Guatapé tour

Our guide Stiven was great. We enjoyed seeing the town of Guatapé and climbing El Peñol. We do wish that the tour included more of the history behind El Peñol. Also, the breakfast wasn’t very good.

Array of tours available.

Array of tours available. However, Please also make "tickets only, without a Guided Tour" options available, for most of the guided tour options

Viator is a trusted travel partner

We have been using Viator to help us with travel choiices all over the world for many years. I recommend this company to friends and colleagues all the time

Best ever Montmartre.

Loved our tour guide CC. She explained everything so well and so interestingly. She made sure the walk was doable regardless of the hills. Lots of rest stops. Took us of a really interesting route. Thank you so much. We loved this tour.

Excellent Programs for foreigners

Excellent Programs for foreigners, easy to book schedules and easy to follow. Our tour guide Ferran is very knowledgeable and excellent in conveying his knowledge to us. The Sunset view from Albufera is fantastic and unforgetable.

I booked Arrival Fast Track & Private Van Transfer. And I am very satisfied with their services. It took me less than 50 minutes from getting off the plane to the car with all of my 5 suitcases.

It was easy to book our tour of the…

It was easy to book our tour of the Colosseum. However our guide talked a lot about actors & movies instead of giving us pertinent information.

Date of experience : September 06, 2024

We had been using Viator for many…

We had been using Viator for many years. The staff on our tour was always friendly and knowledgeable on place we visited.

Fantastic service

Fantastic service, and communication for all my tours booked for Krakow. Can thank them enough for the help and service they provide.

Our tour guide Ornella was just great

Our tour guide Ornella was just great. Ashe was informative, gracious and fun. Highly recommend her. Thank you

Date of experience : September 17, 2024

Viator Review: Is It Legit to Use for Tours?

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Written by Kyle Kroeger

What’s the best platform for booking travel excursions, activities, and things to do? Many seasoned and first-time travelers use Viator , a global tour and attraction booking company based in San Francisco. Viator is certainly not the first or the only existing booking site for consumers, but it has certain benefits that many travelers find appealing.

For first-time travelers, using a booking company to plan excursions to places they’ve never been is the best way to travel stress-free. Companies like Viator make planning and embarking on trips much easier, whether traveling solo , with a partner, or with the whole family.

Whether you’re new to traveling or you’ve been all over the world, Viator claims to offer a marketplace of global tours that will satisfy every adventure along the way.

Before you decide what travel booking site to use, it’s important to do your research. We’ve compiled this honest review of Viator to help travelers decide whether to use the service on their next trip.

What is Viator?

Viator is a TripAdvisor company that helps its customers plan and book tours all over the world. Using Viator, travelers can browse from over 300,000 city tours, day tours, sightseeing tours, excursions, and much more.

Viator strives to provide its users with the most exciting, educational, and unique tours in cities all over the globe. The booking website is designed to support travelers in making plans on the fly or far in advance, depending on their preferences and itinerary.

On the business side, Viator partners with local tour guides and connects them to people planning trips to their area. It helps small. Local businesses find customers without having to do any heavy digital marketing to attract customers themselves.

How Does Viator Work?

Rather than researching individual tour companies in a city, they’ve never been to. Travelers can browse tours at their destination and book the attractions that catch their eye.

On the Viator website , users can browse sightseeing tours, tickets to museums and historical sites, and many different experiences that local tour companies list.

How to Book Tours on Viator

Booking tours on Viator is relatively simple, as their website is easy to navigate. Users can search for their destination and enter the dates (tentative or not) they’ll travel in the area.

You can then browse all the tours; it’ll probably be a lot, especially if you’re heading to a popular area. You can also filter by type of tour, attractions, and nearby locations.

Each tour or activity has a detailed description that provides valuable information about what guests can expect, from various sights and sounds to places the tour stops during the day. As you browse, you can filter your search based on the availability of your party size, the dates you’ll be in town, and the dollar amount you’d like to spend.

The search results page on Viator, pictured above, will provide basic information about each tour, from price to duration of the trip, and a brief description.

As you can see in the image above, clicking on an individual tour will take you to its unique page, with photos and details about what to expect, what you’ll see or do on the tour, what’s included, the name of your tour guide or company, departure and arrival details, and much more.

Users can also see the cancellation policy for the tour, along with other refund details. If you’d like to see and read the latest reviews of the tour, keep scrolling past the tour details and information.

At the top of the page, you can fill in your travel dates and party size to check the tour’s availability. Selecting the date and desired time of the tour, then clicking Check Availability will take you to the checkout page or allow you to select from the tours available (some tours have add-ons you can select or opt out of).

See Related : GetYourGuide Review: Is it Legit?

Viator Review: Key Features

The features that set Viator apart from its competitors are the filters, search functionality, and suggested tours based on traveler interests.

These key features help travelers find tours that will improve their trip and provide them with unique experiences in cities where they may not otherwise have had the means or knowledge.

Let’s discuss the key features of Viator that keep travelers booking time and time again.

Tours & Information

Viator offers over 300,000 tours in cities all over the world. From touring the Colosseum to a private tour of Stonehenge and Windsor Castle , embarking on a dinner cruise in Paris , or swimming with turtles in the stunning blue waters of the Caribbean, travelers can choose from an impressive variety of unique tours, no matter where their destination is or what their budget limitations are.

The details provided for the excursion and activities listed on the Viator website are likely why so many people are attracted to this site. As mentioned above, the information you get from clicking on an individual excursion through a local tour operator is far beyond what other travel booking sites offer.

When clicking on an excursion, you’ll see an overview of the trip, which includes all the stops throughout the day, the full itinerary, tour guide information, the meeting spots and endpoints, information like what meals are included or what expenses you’ll be expected to cover additionally, an FAQ section, reviews from other travelers, and more.

Fellow Traveler Reviews

With more than 100,000 reviews, travelers get the full picture of what to expect when booking a tour on Viator . This puts travelers back in the driver’s seat rather than having to trust the suggestions of a travel agent without knowing much about the tour or excursion they are paying top dollar for.

That’s not to say there aren’t brutally honest reviews on Viator; trust us, there are! Travelers do not hold back and explain in detail their bad experiences, disappointments, and other parts of the trip that they dislike.

Reviews benefit people new to the area who don’t know what to expect. With these honest reviews, both positive and negative, you can decide what tours best suit your tastes without wasting any money.

Filter & Browsing Options

Viator’s filter and browsing options will open travelers’ eyes to the possibilities of their destination. Let’s use Naples, Italy , as an example.

When you type “Naples” into the search bar on Viator, the search results page comes up with pages and pages of things to do, attractions, and excursions. This is one way to find things to do, but the filters Viator offers are the secret weapon of this site.

At the top of the Naples page, you’ll find clickable options for relevant, popular types of tours in the city. These vary by city and country and can help travelers prioritize what activities are meaningful for them in each city they travel to.

For Naples, these tour options include Walking Tours , Cruis e s & Sailing , Shore Excursions , Cooking Classes, Bus Tours , Historical and Food Tours, Underground Tours, Archaeology, Ports of Call, and more.

Clicking on one of these options will take you to the highest-rated tours of each category. Then you can browse the options and make an informed decision from a generous selection of activities.

Additionally, travelers can browse through popular filtered options, including tours with limited interaction with other people, kid-friendly tours, and experiences with increased health and safety measures.

You can filter and organize tours by price, ranging from high to low-priced activities and budget-friendly tours. Filter out the activities outside your price range and focus on the ones you’ve allocated a budget for or want to splurge on.

You can also select only to view tours and attractions that offer deals or discounts to find the lowest price and best bang for your buck!

Shoppers can select to see tours likely to sell out, new additions to Viator , offer free cancellation, skip-the-line tours, or private tours for a more intimate experience.

If you have time constraints on trips, filters can help you find tours that fit your time frame. Filter by the duration of the tour, including 1 to 4 hours, 4 hours to a day trip, 1 to 3-day tours, or 3+ days.

You can book tours depending on the time of day, like morning, mid-day, or evening tours, that meet your travel needs and handle any jet lag you may experience while abroad.

Lastly, suppose you rely heavily on user reviews. In that case, you can filter Naples travel activities by fellow traveler reviews, whether high or low, to see what people loved or found unsatisfactory about each tour.

See Related : Best Apps & Sites Like Expedia For Travel

Viator: Pros and Cons

Like any tour company, there are pros and cons to using Viator to book tours when traveling domestically or abroad. Here are the pros and cons of using the Viator website to plan your travel itinerary.

Pros of Viator

Viator does many things well and has many happy repeat customers worldwide. Traveling can be stressful, and if you have a terrible experience with a booking company, the chances are you won’t give them your business again.

It seems clear, though, that this company is doing something right. Let’s explore the pros of Viator.

Worldwide tours available

You name the city and can likely book an activity there on Viator. From popular destinations in the Middle East and Africa, like Dubai, Jerusalem, and Cape Town, to Asia’s hotspots, like Tokyo, Bangkok, and Singapore, to Central, North, and South America, Australia, and all over the Pacific, there’s a tour for nearly every destination on your bucket list .

The types of tours you can book on Viator include:

• Walking tours
• Museum admission tickets
• Site visits and other tours
• Helicopter trip or private plane
• Boat trips and snorkel trips
• Airport transfers, car service, or other transportation
• Private local tours
• Food and beer tours
• Wine tastings

Helpful search features

The search features that Viator provides on its website are a major selling feature for repeat and future customers. Planning a trip to a foreign country and its cities can be overwhelming. Fortunately, Viator makes destination-specific recommendations that help travelers narrow down the activities they want in each destination and prioritize which excursions are worth splurging or passing on.

Reputable company

As a travel booking site owned by TripAdvisor , Viator is a credible, reputable company that protects its customers’ financial data and personal information. Viator uses SSL Encryption to keep customer information private and secure.

This level of security is essential for booking sites; customers must know their information is safe from hackers and data breaches to feel safe enough to enter their credit card information online.

Free cancellation policy

The Viator cancellation policy is generous — travelers will receive a full refund if they cancel at least 24 hours before most tours. This cancellation policy does not account for every single tour; it’s important for guests to double-check their booking and the rules of the local tour operator. Verify this by reading the Terms and Conditions of any tour you book on Viator’s website .

Viator’s mobile app is convenient for travelers and nomads on long-term trips and doesn’t get many opportunities to sit down at a computer to book trips. The Viator mobile app offers exclusive discounts for app users and offers instant booking for nearby attractions.

The app features in-app messaging with your tour guide, simple payment via PayPal, and easy modification or cancellations if your plans change.

Download the Viator app for iPhone or Android .

Cost savings

Rather than booking with a travel agency, which often charges an arm and a leg for booking attractions, Viator offers affordable pricing on excursions, along with budget trips and higher-priced tours. It’s up to the traveler and how much they would like to spend on a tour.

Viator also offers a Low Price Guarantee, meaning it guarantees the lowest price on all the experiences on the site if you find the same tour or excursion at a lower price within three days of booking or while at your destination, Viator will refund the difference.

Another handy feature, Reserve Now & Pay Later, allows travelers to secure spots on tours they don’t want to miss while staying flexible to their evolving itineraries and not losing money if plans change.

See Related : Best Websites for Cheap Flights and Hotels

Cons of Viator

The drawbacks of Viator center around its customer service, certain internal policies, and lack of communication between travelers and tour operators. Read on for more about the cons of Viator.

• Poor communication

As a third-party travel booking site, Viator facilitates booking tours for travelers and connects them with local tour companies for excursions during trips.

Because Viator acts as the middleman between travelers and the tour company, the communication goes through both Viator and the local tour operator. Many Viator users have experienced miscommunication through Viator, or a lack of communication entirely, from the local tour group or Viator.

Any miscommunication with tour operators isn’t necessarily the responsibility of Viator . However, the frustration is still understandable, particularly when travelers are in a city they’ve never been to, may not speak the local language, and aren’t sure what to do.

When booking a tour on a reputable travel site, travelers expect some form of communication leading up to the tour. So, when it falls short and affects the tour and their experience, travelers are understandably upset or disgruntled.

Viator claims their customer service team is well-versed in handling communication problems as they arise, whether within their team or the tour group operator’s team. Still, some past users of Viator say otherwise.

Customer service

Viator offers 24/7 multilingual customer care and support for their customers. The customer reviews that described bad interactions or experiences with the customer service team at Viator included unfriendly reps, continued escalations without anything solved, and issues while booking tours.

The Viator website offers an online help center with common questions and answers about booking, receiving refunds, delays, cancellations, and more.

This forum is helpful if you have a basic customer service issue, but anything more complex than that is more effectively solved by using the customer service line, live chat, or email options.

Negative reviews

Viator reviews are relatively controversial; on the one hand, many people rave about the tours and the memorable experiences they’ve had through Viator. Alternatively, the negative reviews cause concern; past users of the booking site have various issues and negative experiences.

Negative reviews of Viator include :

• Substandard customer service
• Having a refund request denied or trouble receiving refunds

The majority of negative feedback and reviews about Viator ultimately speak more to the local tour company that travelers interacted with. Experiences like grouchy or unprofessional tour guides, overly crowded sites or venues, and unsatisfactory food or beverage tours are entirely out of Viator’s control.

Viator Ratings

The main factors influencing travelers to use a booking service include ease of use, features, customer service, and value for the money. Let’s discuss how Viator measures up.

Ease of Use — 4.5

Whether on a computer or mobile app, Viator makes it extremely simple to search for a destination and filter based on personal preferences, budget, time of day, and other factors. Booking is straightforward; travelers can cancel or modify trips if their plans change.

Features — 5

For a travel booking site, Viator offers a great experience for customers. You can filter search results by destination, the types of tours you want to embark on and read plenty of fellow travelers’ reviews to select the best excursion for you and your party.

Customer Service —3

Customer service is the area where Viator seems to need the most improvement. While many users have had productive interactions with Viator’s customer service department, most negative reviews include a bad customer service experience.

From rude, unhelpful representatives to a lack of initiative to solve issues related to booking, refunds, and tour issues, customer service is where Viator can step up their game and provide a better customer experience.

Value for Money — 4

Viator offers a wide assortment of tours for all budgets compared to other booking sites. From simple self-guided walking tours around a city to elaborate, private tours for couples, there’s an excursion or tour for everyone.

Viator also offers discounts and deals on certain tours, depending on when you book and where you’re going. This allows customers to save a little money and get the desired experience at their chosen destination.

The Final Verdict: Is Viator Worth It?

For new travelers and seasoned veterans, Viator is worth exploring for adventurous tours worldwide. Travelers should do their due diligence and read the fine print, ensure they’re satisfied and comfortable with the terms and conditions, and know the details about the tour before they book.

If you research, read reviews (considering that many scenarios are circumstantial and may be out of Viator’s control), and know what you’re paying for, Viator is definitely worth it.

Is Viator a credible website?

As a TripAdvisor company, Viator is a reputable website that consumers can trust to keep their personal information and data safe. They offer free cancellations within 24 hours of a tour and work to ensure customers are satisfied with their experiences.

Can you get a refund on Viator?

For most tours and excursions, Viator customers can get a full refund if they cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start of their trip. Each excursion on the website has information and details about the cancellation policy, so users can be informed about the tour before they book.

Is Viator a third-party site?

Viator is a third-party broker, not the tour operator itself. Viator facilitates booking for travelers by connecting them to local tour operators in their chosen destination, but Viator does not host the tour.

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