Find solution
How are travel guidebooks useful in planning a trip?

Rick Steves has brilliant Europe travel consultants available by phone. Where can I find the same for China trip planning?

  • I used Rick Steves' service for planning an Italy trip and it was brilliant. (See http://www.ricksteves.com/about/consulting.htm) It was the best $75 I've ever spent to plan a trip; my 30-minute consultation and follow-up email were excellent. Now I'm planning a trip to Shanghai and Beijing and need a similar service. Is there such a thing? Even though I already have my airfare and hotel, am I trying to hire a travel agent?

  • Answer:

    I traveled to China last December, right before Christmas. I did do some ground work on China before actually going there but, honestly,  the experience was so much greater than what I had expected. I got great trip planning advice from Makayala Travel Service providers (http://www.makayala.com/) for a reasonable price. They charged me 7$/day for international trip planning and so, I spent 56$ for 8 days. They suggested great places to stay in Xi'an, Beijing and Shanghai cities; that were unique, well within my budget and the best stays I have had in recent years. They made my life so much more easier by providing prompt answers/solutions for all my concerns. I stress on the last part because I am of Indian origin and I am on a work visa in the US. So, I had some visa related questions which they were able to provide clear details on and that helped me narrow down on my decisions pretty fast. It may or may not be of much relevance to you but I thought it was worth a mention. They also hooked me up with an online travel agent in China who arranged for my internal flights. I must say that these guys are fairly new in the business (probably a year old) but they sounded knowledgeable. They are very friendly to approach and the consultation they provide is mostly based on personal experiences. Anyways, down to the facts - they were able to crank out a completely customized itinerary in less than 3 days (and that included the time I took to respond to them). Some of the highlights of my trip were: the awesome food and sights in Xi'an (other than the terracotta warriors), Beijing's great wall visit - they offered me a couple of choices that were non-touristy and I picked the middle-of-the-road one, which was a very good choice, some neat sights in Shanghai - including the cheapest bullet train ride.  I wouldn't have had the slightest idea to do some of these things if it weren't for Makayala's recommendations. Those were my two cents for what it's worth. Good luck with your planning and hope you enjoy your trip as much as I did.

Prathna Sekar at Quora Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

Travel agents these days make a significant amount of their money from hotel room commissions, so if you have already booked your hotels, you are taking a lot off the table.  Nonetheless, there are agents who specialize in China who will probably help you for a fee.  Conde Nast Traveller magazine maintains such a list although you may have to be a subscriber to see it.

Dick Karp

No need to hire a travel agent. If you know the specific cities you want to visit in advance, you can use http://www.couchsurfing.org to connect with nice travel minded people who are already there both Western and Chinese. They know what to do, and want to help you out. There are other considerations to take into account when traveling to China that may be better talking with a long term expat over the phone similar to Rick Steves' service. http://bit.ly/WohJCM I'd be happy to share my knowledge and contacts.

Anthony Paglino

Hi, I just returned from my 6-month vagabond and spent a month in China, traveling from the North (Mongolian border) to the South East where I exit to Hong Kong. How long do you plan to spend in China? Do you want to go anywhere else beside Beijing and Shanghai? China is very interesting country for me, full of history, culture, etc... First I used the Lonely planet guide to plan my trip. Marked down a lot of place but ended up visiting a fraction of them  b/c China is HUGE. We all know that China is large but only once you're there, you'll realize how large. But I enjoyed nonetheless visiting the place where I went. You can check out my travel stories/photos here to get an idea on where to go. http://www.traveljo.com/tag/china I happen to advise people where to go, what to do, etc.. Did a lot for friends and now I do it on-the-side. Why don't you contact me and see what I can do for you. Guarantee satisfaction :-)  I will even up the one-on-one consultation to 2 hours by phone or Skype video. http://traveljo.com/travel-services Cindy

Cindy Dam

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.