We selected Cheryl's crystal mountain - mount rainier private SUV tour. Cheryl piked us up at pier…read more66 shortly we disembarked our cruise ship. It was a very scenic drive up to the ski resort with a stop along the way for coffee. We rode the gondola (included in the tour price) more than 2,000 feet to the top of the mountain upon arrival at the resort. Even with some haze and smoke the views of Mount Rainier were stunning. That was followed with lunch at the Summit House restaurant. The food and views were both excellent. The drive back to the airport included a stop for huckleberry ice cream. Cheryl is a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm for her community and kept us entertained the entire time. Best tour experience ever.

We did a private tour of Whidbey Island and came away very impressed with the knowledge of Cheryl,…read moreour guide, as well as her level of customer service. We visited state parks with breathtaking views, Fort Casey and its historical sites, and several quaint little towns that we totally enjoyed walking around. She was quite flexible and tailored the tour to our timeframe and interests. We strongly recommend her.

Chef Will led us on a tastebud teasing tour of Pike Place Market that was far more than just a…read moresampling of some goods. We were taken to specialized shops where we heard from the experts about their history, their craft, their passion for food, and then also got to try the treasures. Cheese, gelato, truffles, chowder, salmon, pizza, chocolate, and more. This was both informational and also very entertaining! We loved the interactivity that Chef Will fostered as well as the foods he shared with us. The grand finale was my husband getting to catch and toss a fish at the most famous part of the market. So much fun! We absolutely recommend this tour and would happily return for another round.

I used to scoff at food tours. Didn't really see the point of paying someone to show us around…read moretourist traps and tell us where and what to eat. Yeah, I was being a cynic. Then my wife signed us up for a food tour of Pike Place Market through Eat Seattle Tours. By the end of this experience, my whole perception of food tours had completely changed. Let's back up a bit. The evening before the tour, my wife and I strolled through Pike Place Market. We tried out food from a couple of famous spots, and called it a day. Quite honestly, I didn't get what all the fuss was about and didn't have high expectations for the tour. It turns out I was completely wrong about Pike Place Market too. It had more to offer than I could have ever imagined. And I have our tour guide, Chef Nels, from Eat Seattle Tours to thank for this. Nels, a former professional chef, led our group on an excursion through the marketplace, which turned out to be much larger than it looked. Besides the main area where the famous fish market is, it extends several levels below and stretches across the street, and includes a number of narrow alleyways. All told, it covers like 9 acres! Along the way, we learned some unique and interesting history behind Pike Place Market. For example, did you know that the most photographed spot in the entire marketplace, a Starbucks, is not the original location, contrary to popular belief? We also sampled lots of delicious food, of course. Highlights included: -A cheese biscuit that was buttery and crumbly (don't remember where Nels got it); -Clam chowder from one of the most famous clam chowder shops in the country, Pike Place Chowder-it was easily the best clam chowder I've ever had by a country mile, primarily due to the fresh clam meat; -Cheese curds and lentil soup (Nels offered us the famous mac and cheese or lentil soup-we went with lentil soup since we had their mac and cheese the day before) from Beecher's Handmade Cheese. The cheese curds were my favorite things I tasted during the entire tour. They tasted like fresh string cheese. I would have never thought to try this out at Beecher's. -Chocolate-covered cherries and nuts from Chukar cherries. Loved these so much that we went straight to the shop after the tour to buy some more for ourselves. Each thing we tasted was perfectly portioned. We tried over half a dozen things and I felt neither overly stuffed nor hungry when it was all over. Nels, who is officially licensed to provide tours at the marketplace, appeared to have a great partnership with all the businesses we tried food at. He would zip in and zip out of each establishment with a tray of samples. I do have to say there were a couple of items I tasted that were disappointing. First was the carnitas taco at Maiz. I wanted to like it since Nels talked it up so much. He described it as incredibly good and a tour favorite. However, I found both the tortilla and carnitas to be overly dry. It was borderline inedible. It could have seriously used some sauce, avocados, or something to add juiciness and flavor. That being said, I did like the little story Nels gave about the restaurant itself, how it was inspired by a two-year-old Maiz tortilla that the business owner found and tasted. The second item I did not care for were the arancini balls at Friends of Carmela. They were pretty bland-tasting and nothing to write home about. All in all, it was a wonderful and memorable experience. If I could give this review more than five stars, I would. Hats off to Nels for the fantastic job he did. I could tell he has a passion for his job and a genuine interest in sharing his knowledge of the food scene at Pike Place Market with locals and visitors alike. He truly opened my eyes to what food tours could offer, and has inspired me to seek out more food tours in other cities that I plan to visit in the near future.

Went to Fort Nisqually for the Queen Victoria's birthday celebration. The weather started out fine…read morebut turned into a rainy day complete with hail, lightning and thunder. We took up shelter in Store #2 which has the blacksmith shop currently. We had the chance to talk to many of the volunteers and staff during our visit. I have a little of knowledge regarding the local history, which I tend to keep to myself, and was shocked by the sheer volume of historical information provided by the volunteers and the staff, all was accurate to what I knew (I have read some of Dr. Tomie's diaries and the book "Company of Adventures" among other local historical books/ information. I questioned the blacksmith on one of his statements based on a historical reference I had read. Long story short, he was aware of the reference, and we discussed how accurate what I had read was. I was honestly shocked to find out he was a volunteer. This type of interaction was not unique to one volunteer. There was an individual with a straw top hat who was also incredibly knowledgeable, the carpenters were first rate just hitting on the tip of the ice berg here. Overall, phenomenal place to visit, I wish the more volunteers and staff were present during non-event days as well, but I will be going back. I understand they have a list of people volunteering and staff available in the gift shop so one can determine who is there before paying to enter. Couple of thoughts: - depending on when you go through, remember some of the staff/ volunteers may have something they are working on. If they ignore you when you first show up in their "space", remember they may have something happening that needs immediate attention. Don't be impatient. Watch what they are doing and ask questions. This is supposed to be an interactive experience, not necessarily an entertainment. - "Be curious" to quote Ted Lasso. - Depending on who is in Store #2 (blacksmith shop), ask about the "family courting candlestick". Interesting story there - I failed the "Blacksmith IQ test". See if you can do better...

This is a fun way for the kids to learn about a very narrow and specific part of the history of the…read morearea. Of course, it is not a very important or interesting part of local history. It's always disappointing to see European intruders' subjection of land, animals, and people glorified in this way. But, if this type of history interests you, they've done it well. We took our 5 and 8 year old and had a discussion about the fort in the wider context of history and whether it represents changes that were positive or negative for the people living on this land.

Don't waste your time here people!!! Used Marti the owner,…read moreto make arrangements for a trip to Italy for my husband, myself, and another couple. Needless to say, the whole trip was a complete disaster. From horrible flight issues, to low grade hotel rooms, with no working showers, to finding bugs in the bed, this trip was exhausting and a lot of mental work!!! I could go on and on..... Wanted to let everyone know that working with this company was just not a good experience. I'd say, save yourself the headache and book your own trip or better yet, find another agent!!! Good luck!

I rarely use travel agents, as I'm well-versed on finding & booking travel on the web, and I've yet…read moreto see any real "package savings" using an agent. However, for a friend's milestone birthday celebration, I was pressed for time and felt the need to resort to a travel agent. I found Anderson Travel on the internet and chose them because they purported to being experts in the South Pacific (original destination intended) and Hawaii (actual destination). Terry, my agent, was only moderately helpful in the booking process. Mostly she didn't really bother to get to know me and my preferences and so couldn't make any informed recommendations. She actually gave me too many choices, all of which I had to look up on the internet in order to make a decision, which I could have done on my own in the first place if I had the time. We went to three islands, and her recommendation for condo rental on Maui was spot-on. We stayed at the Maui Hill (ResortQuest, I believe), which was great. After that, everything went down hill. She incorrectly printed our connecting flight times to The Big Island, so we ended up missing our flight. Our splurge resort there, which Terry highly touted, was a complete disaster. Kona Village was a superb location with lovely hales, and truly horrid service. We even had to call Anderson Travel while there in order to resolve an issue with a dinner reservation, of all things. In Kauai, I requested something a bit cheaper to offset the cost of Kona Village. Mind you, Terry did stress that we'd feel a big step down after Kona Village, but we're used to staying in a variety of types of quality lodging, so we weren't concerned. Unfortunately, Terry's recommendation, The Best Western Plantation Hale, was perhaps the worst hotel I've ever seen at over $100/night. The room was very dusty and musty - the windows clearly hadn't been opened in years - the furniture was essentially plastic, the unit hadn't been remodeled since it was built in the 60s, and the bedroom and deck faced on a busy road so was very noisy. We literally checked in, used the phone long enough to locate another place, and checked out. The place we found in Poipu, across from the beach, was gorgeous and not that much more than the Plantation Hale. When we returned and had to deal with Terry for our refunds on unused hotel and tour, and the issues with Kona Village, she was extremely UNhelpful. She was happy enough to take our money, at almost $5k/person for the trip, but she couldn't even tell us how much our refund would be. She indicated she was "not privvy to that information." She did nothing to sort the issues with Kona Village and generally acted like she just wanted to get us out of her hair. Needless to say, if I'm ever pressed to use a travel agent again, it won't be Anderson Travel.

An excellent tour, tailored perfectly for our needs, it was a lot of fun, and very informative!…read more Don was a wonderful host; he was knowledgeable and friendly, and the time flew by. He took us around to both small and large batch distilleries My husband and I have been on a lot of tasting tours over the years and can say, hand on heart, that this is one of the best one we have ever been on. Don picked us up from our house and we spent the day touring bourbon and whiskey distilleries. We discovered a world that we didn't know existed, and we've been living in Seattle since 2004! We got to sample a LOT of different bourbons and whiskeys and ended up bringing some excellent ones home, after learning about the different varieties of each kind. All in all an excellent experience!

I am so happy that we found Taylor Tasting Tours to be apart of our sister trip in Seattle. The…read moreowner, Don was amazing to work with from the very beginning. He has an immense knowledge in the wine industry and made our tour very fun and personable. I would highly recommend Taylor Tasting Tours if you are in the Seattle area, you won't be disappointed.

Go Travel has forever changed the way I, well, go travel. After my experience with this company, I…read morewill never doubt the need for travel agents again. This is the second time we've booked hotels and flights with them and we are thoroughly impressed!! Our first trip was to Las Vegas in December, and Sofia (the lovely, dedicated owner) managed to find a deal for the W in Vegas (a 5 star hotel) for three nights, a concert ticket, and flights to and back from Seattle for under a thousand dollars. Upon arrival, we were greeted with champagne and free appetizers because this was their opening weekend. Apparently, we had gotten a beautiful (new) suite with all the amenities and two coupons for cocktails as well. Not what we were expecting for $150 a night! It was a phenomenal trip, which could not have been possible without Sofia's help. We checked back later, and found that our room would have normally gone for $300 a night! Our second trip was to Cancun in January, and she managed to score another 5 star hotel (all-inclusive, with drinks) for five nights, flights, and two day tours for under two thousand dollars. We had a private beach, beautiful room, and amazing views--but no outrageous price tag! When you book with Go Travel, you eliminate the stress of traveling and just get to enjoy the experience. We simply told Sofia our budget, goals for the trip, and preferences for flight seating and hotel style. Within an hour we had our tickets booked, itinerary ready, and a list of useful suggestions on where to go/eat during our stay. She even sent us reminders, made sure everything was ready upon arrival, and checked in on us during the trip to make sure we had no concerns. We saved at least 50% on travel costs, and a priceless amount of time and energy in booking with her! Never booking without Go Travel again!! Thank you!!!

This was our second time visiting Seattle, last time we did a wine tour it was a few boutique wine…read moretasting rooms, the Snoqualmie Falls and a chocolate factory (fun). This visit we decided to go with Bon Vivant, the price was reasonable and the wineries we were visiting (Chateau Ste. Michelle, Patterson Cellars, Martedi Wines and Pondera Winery) were excellent. We knew up front that each wine tasting (and lunch) was not included in the price (if you buy a some wine from the winery, they usually waive the tasting fees). But what made the trip was our driver Peter, (request him if you can) he was/is a walking encyclopedia of all things wine, as he put it a "total wine nerd". We learned so much, how you should drink wine to maximize the flavors, the science behind different types of grapes and how it makes the different wines, why we like certain wines. He made all the information accessible to understand without making us feel like newbies. Thank you, Peter and Bon Vivant.

Ugh... I don't like writing reviews like this…read more This is a tasting room tour but, I get it... Pick up was late. So everything ran late. Half of the time we didn't know what was going on. When we were leaving. Etc. The driver seemed scattered. I definitely wouldn't do it again.

After sinking untold time into a Kafkaesque international travel booking and failing to resolve it…read moremyself, I called Elizabeth Holmes travel in desperation. Brynn resolved the issue same-day and was amazingly helpful throughout the entire process. Highly recommended when you run into one of the nightmares that today's online booking systems sometimes create.

Elizabeth Holmes Travel agents have been booking my trips for years. They have taken me through…read moremost of Europe and we are currently working on a trip to Japan. Depending on where you want to go, somebody in the office knows what you should do and how to maximize your time. They have been able to tailor each of my trips based off of what I want to do and how much I want to spend; utilizing useful travel best practices that I was usually unaware of. During the planning phase, the EHT team is very responsive and are incredibly capable whether I just need flights booked or need an entire itinerary for the trip. I am finally writing a review because I would have been hosed on my most recent trip to Norway without Brynn's help. An error made by the hotel I was booked at resulted in my room being given away. I arrived at 12:30 am local time and was unable to get into the building. Despite the late hour, Brynn was able to get a representative from the hotel to let us in and upgrade our room for the troubles. The whole issue was resolved in less than an hour. Long story short, if you need capable travel agents to plan your trip, book your accommodations and/or fight to resolve any issues that arise, I cant recommend Elizabeth Holmes Travel enough.