“I recently came back from doing the Thai adventure trip that ran from June 29th - July 27th. Booking with Gap360 was very easy and the staff are incredibly helpful, friendly and genuinely seem like they want to help. The flight team, I personally was served by Kali, was exceptional. Kali stayed on the phone with me and my travel buddy for ages and really helped us with our options and found the best flights for us. I always received a helpful reply to any questions that I sent to my travel coordinator and they really helped to put my mind at ease. I'm naturally an anxious person but booking with Gap360 took away all of the stress and worry that would normally come with doing a trip like this. Our transfer from the airport to our accomodation was very smooth and easy and we were very grateful to have someone there to meet us. The accommodation was in a very convenient place in Bangkok and breakfast was included for our stay which was also very convenient. Chang Mai was one of the highlights of my trip, however the trek was not. I found myself feeling very ill due to not being acclimatised yet and the trek being much longer and harder than expected. We were advised incorrectly for the trek as many people said they'd been told trainers would've been fine before the trip started, when in the actual circumstances they weren't. I took walking boots and would definitely reccomend taking them. The trek was mainly uphill and a lot longer than expected so make sure you have walking boots and lots of water! The coach journey between Bangkok and Chang Mai was fine as it was on a private coach with lots of stops. The journey between Bangkok and Koh Samui was horrendous as it was on a public coach and boat and took around 16 hours. The island itself was nice but the volunteering we took part in was pointless- building a dam was fun and rewarding but painting a wall for two days was not. We got to the community centre, painted the first coat, painted the second coat and then left after less than 2 hours and then did the same thing the next day. The trip to Koh Tao on the boat was very disorganised by the boat company and it took a long time to get everyone off of the boat and to collect bags. Koh Tao itself was amazing and definitely another highlight of my trip and I think time there should be extended. Koh Phangan didn't have anything going on there at all, the Full Moon Party was average. It was a good experience but I wouldn't go again. After the party, the island pretty much evacuated and became incredibly empty. There was not very much to do there other than sit by a beach/pool or drink. Koh Phangan didn't end the trip on a high and it really gave you the feeling that you had wasted your money doing four weeks instead of three. I would reccomend to others to do the 3 week option and travel to Koh Phangan to the full moon party independently, as its really easy to get the boat, before flying home so as not to waste your time/money for the rest of the week. The coach journey back to Bangkok from Koh Phangan was again a public coach and peoples bags were broken into and stolen from, something that is apparently common on coaches in Thailand. This really put a dampener on our last night as we felt completely let down. If possible, it may be a better idea to spend an extra £50 and get a flight between Bangkok and Koh Samui and then just get the boat between the two other islands. The trip other than the points I have highlighted has been fantastic and one of the best experiences I have had. Our guides, Pentor and Mod, were exceptional and really took care of us and showed us the best ways to have fun and I will miss them both a lot. The elephant sanctuary is an amazing experience and I would've loved to have spent longer there. I would definitely reccoment this trip to anyone.”
“Thai adventure 4 weeks- I have just come back on I what I can 100% say was the best month of my life, every moment was amazing and it was all down to the hard work and kindest of our guide chai. He honestly went above and beyond to make sure we enjoyed every second of our time away and truly got to experience all aspects of Thai culture, chai made us feel safe at all times and if anyone was ill he'd do all he could to make sure they was better. He took us to some of the most amazing places and really made the whole experience unforgettable. My only criticism would be in terms of some of the accompadation how ever this was expected and you really have to just go with it.”
“This trip was amazing and would deffenetly recommend it to anyone thinking about traveling or are a first time traveler. I have made friends for life and seen the most amazing things. Honestly though it was our tour guide chi who made the trip for me, always going above and behond for me, Helping us with what ever we needed and making us all feel very safe. He really did make the trip what it was for me and I couldn't of asked for a better tour guide if I'd tried, thank you chi”
“The voulenteering with children placement in ghana is such a lovely one that im in my second one as I type .. just 3 weeks into my second two month stay... that should be a good enough selling Pont for you maybes but if not just know ghana is safe and friendly as long as you use common sence and are polite to the culture diffrences you will be supprized how beautiful the outcome is for both you and those you gain the plesure to meet . Be a Nike supporter ..... JUST DO IT”
“I went on the South Africa Monkey Sanctuary Volunteering trip in june for 2 weeks, I had an absolutely nightmare journey nearly missing my flight running round the whole of heathrow trying to find the check in desk after being stuck in stand still traffic for 5 hours on the motorway. Your team member Kali was absaloutely fantastic, he really is a credit to your team he stayed on the phone to me out of working hours on the coach and running round the airport while I was a mess on the phone. He gave me options and reassured me, luckily I made it through, typically there was a delay on the plane which meant I missed 2 flights in south Africa but your team was able to rearrange my transfer for me. I am booked to go to Thailand at the weekend and I am really excited, you guys really are a fantastic team and I will continue to go around the world with Gap 360. Thanks for amazing trips! :)”
“Exciting trip to China. Was well prepared by Gap 360 prior to arrival, partner was suitable and followed the itinerary reasonably well. Cheapest supplier of the trip.”
“I booked the Amazon Wildlife Rescue trip through Gap360. Having never travelled outside of Europe before, I was quite nervous about the trip, but the team were absolutely great in reassuring me that it was all going to go smoothly. They told me what I needed to pack, what to expect, and what I needed to prepare myself for, and were there every time I needed them for a question or problem. The project itself was absolutely magnificent. The staff at the centre became some of my greatest friends, and I met so many other incredible volunteers too. I couldn't recommend the project highly enough, I spent 4 weeks there and was in tears when I left as it had begun to feel more like home than home had. I'd do it all again tomorrow!”
“This company is amazing for first time travellers. I was so nervous about what would happen to me when I arrived, but all the staff were so informative and nice that it made the thing a lot easier. Booking all my activities and accommodation was easy too, all the reccomended hostels were always good and in a great location!”
“The trip was very worth while. We were able to see the main sights of China in a relevatively quick time. Most of the activities were optional and therefore, more money is needed but they aren't too pricey. The tour guides were exceptional and very helpful - they even organised events for us that weren't on the iternery. Superb!”
“I loved the gap 360 trip and our leader alissa was great. I would 100% do these trips again! There was only one thing that really left me upset and disappointed me and that was the animal welfare on gili t. I'm a huge animal lover and as soon as I got onto the island and saw the horses I wanted to leave and couldn't bare to watch the horses suffer ever day I was there. I found myself having to try and ignore what I was seeing because otherwise I would've just had to stay in the villa room every night. I saw the amazing things that bali intro has done, especially with the home stay visit that was part of the trip. If bali into could potentially start to look at trying to help out the animal welfare on the island it would make a big difference. I hated feeling part of the problem even though we didn't use the horses and only witnessed it. I spoke to a lot of other members on the trip and they all hated what was going on. Overall I had the best time ever on the bali intro trip and I am so glad I was able to be a part of it, I have absolutely no issues and think that it was great value for money. I just want to ask again if you as a company would be able to help in any way that would be great.”
“Just finished my 2 weeks of volunteering and cannot wait to go back. An absolutely amazing experience being able to be up close to many of South Africa's native wildlife. Helping to maintain the animals enclosures and building new accommodation, also being able to help maintain all the animals on a day to day basis. Would recommend this to everyone with a love for animals :D thank you to all the volunteers and coordinators for making my stay an unforgettable one”
“Everything was great in the build up to the trip. The transfer from the airport to the hotel was smooth. I found I had a lot of time to do my own thing. There could maybe be more to do on the city tour, I understand it is an external company that conduct the activities. The only thing I wasn't happy about was the hotel. The hotel is quite run down. So currently they are doing renovations which meant at half six every morning I was woken by noise that continued throughout the day. The hotel also had the bare minimum of facilities. Other than that I enjoyed the trip.”
“The last two weeks were so amazing that the first day waking up at home was quite sad, I already miss my tour family, napping on the coach, seeing new cities and hearing different languages, tasting new foods from their birthplace and learning new histories! My tour leaders were amazing and my friends and I are closer than ever! Two weeks was not enough! But I will cherish them for the rest of my life without a doubt!”
“The Vietnam Intro with Gap360 was a very cultural experience. Travellers looking to be taken to live in homestays with the white Thai and muong tribes who are looking to stay on a mattress on the floor should book on to this tour. There are 2 separate nights spent staying with the vietnamise tribe people. This tour is an unforgettable cultural experience. The best part of this tour is to Halong Bay to monkey island. Monkey island is beatiful with palm trees, beach huts, fantastic food and monkeys can be found by kayaking to the beach around the corner (free kayaks from the hotel). Monkey island and Halonf bay are the best parts to Vietnam Intro trip. I think the trip could include Ho An so you would get to see more of Vietnam in the 11 days but apart from this a good trip overall.”
“I knew that I wanted to start seeing the world but was not sure where, when or how much I wanted to spend. I looked on the gap360 website and was instantly able to talk to a representative on the instant chat. From a five minute chat I knew that I wanted to go to Thailand and gap360 were able to accommodate this.
As soon as I had chosen a date to go, gap360 did the rest. They organised my flights, insurance options, helped me arrange further activities. The support they provided was very helpful and made organising and preparing for my trip a lot easier.
After booking my trip with gap360, I was relaxed that I was travelling on my own and soon became friends with many people on my buddy list.
The accommodation throughout was to a high standard, the food provided during the elephant camp and trekking was very good, traditional Thai food.
Overall, I thought the trip was a complete success and was organised to a very high standard. Thank you!”
“My experience with GAdventures doing the Indochina Discovery for 30 days was a life changer. I have made great new friends and had the best time. However, I would like to get the bad things out the way first:
GAdventures messed up on the itinerary price list - a lot of the stuff that was supposed to be cheap had the price upped. I also printed it out the day I left so it should have been updated to the most recent price. They also annoyingly make it so when you arrive to all your hotels, you have to wait around 3-5 hours before you can check into your room, so our luggage is just packed around the lobby and you aren't able to refresh yourself or shower. Considering we're paying a lot of money to them for the trip, they could at least give us an early check in so that we're not waiting around. Also, some of the stuff that the trip says it's 'included' sometimes lies. You might have to pay some more money towards it or certain things that come with it, you have to pay separately (which isn't said in the itinerary at all). Some of the restaurants you go to can be a bit more expensive so budget your money well. I feel like I've spent £800 on this trip.
Also, I think this trip is fun but very tiring due to them cramming everything in such a short time period. If this trip was longer, it would be so much better than it already is.
Our CEO, considering the language barrier, was amazing. At first we struggled, but we pulled through together and got to know each other and understand each other. I'd like to thank Jamie for being so caring and always there to help organise optional activities, even if we wanted to do different things. She made this tour an experience to remember and was so kind enough to give permission to contact her for suggestions and recommendations if we ever came back to South East Asia. She also reminded and informed us everyday, 3 times, about what there was to do, what we would/could do tomorrow, and so on.
The people in my group were my family for a whole month, some left early and some joined half way or nearer to the end of the tour. I can honestly say I couldn't have had a different group - considering the different age groups, it didn't stop us from having a conversation or even partying.
So I do recommend GAdventures to do a travelling tour or even as a starter before you go off on your own/in a group to travel and explore more.”
