140 Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T. Tours) Reviews & Ratings
96% Recommend
Tour Reviews
J
Joan
I thoroughly enjoyed the Enhanced! Japan's Cultural Treasures tour. January 2020
- Value 5.0
- Guide 5.0
- Activities 5.0
- Lodging 5.0
- Transportation 5.0
- Meals 5.0
L
Leslie
Stunning scenery, lots of Penguins January 2020
- Value 5.0
- Guide 5.0
- Activities 5.0
- Lodging 5.0
- Transportation 5.0
- Meals 5.0
A
Andrea
This was a wonderful trip January 2020
- Value 5.0
- Guide 5.0
- Activities 5.0
- Lodging 5.0
- Transportation 5.0
- Meals 5.0
The trip was well-organized and was a good balance of activities and free time. We went to beautiful and interesting places, and had lovely accommodations. The food was always excellent, with enough variety that I never got tired of the same thing. On our free time there were always good suggestions of options for us to consider. I loved seeing the landscapes, the historical sites, and cultural/religious spaces. I loved Angkor Wat at sunrise! However, the times I most enjoyed were the immersive and personal contacts with local people. It is clear that OAT has an excellent network of people willing to share their lives with us. This allowed us to have the most personal experience possible with the people, who were so open and generous to us. We talked with village chiefs, Buddhist monks, a Viet Cong soldier, artists, dancers, and puppeteers, a woman who hunts for tarantulas to sell (and to eat!), local craftsmen, a rural midwife, a school teacher and her cute students, and a middle class family. I really had a sense of how the people live, work, learn, create, and worship. I was not sure I wanted to hear the dark side of the histories of these countries, but I find that as I tell people about my trip those are the stories I share the most because we met such special individuals who shared their personal stories, and answered whatever questions we had. I developed an awe and appreciation of the resilience of the human spirit, even in the worst of circumstances such as war and even genocide, and what beliefs and attitudes help one survive such trauma and yet still maintain a gentle, warm, generous and loving spirit.
A
Arthur
Antartica's White Wilderness January 2020
- Value 5.0
- Guide 5.0
- Activities 5.0
- Lodging 5.0
- Transportation 5.0
- Meals 5.0
I
Ilana
Fascinating trip! January 2020
- Value 5.0
- Guide 5.0
- Activities 5.0
- Lodging 5.0
- Transportation 5.0
- Meals 5.0
R
Richard
This trip combined amazing sights January 2020
- Value 5.0
- Guide 5.0
- Activities 5.0
- Lodging 5.0
- Transportation 5.0
- Meals 5.0
FAQ
Do I need Travel Insurance?
There are many options for travel insurance, and most tour companies require that you have it prior to traveling. OAT offers their own protection plan, which you can purchase conveniently through them, and covers cancellation. Even if you choose to purchase your airfare separately and not through OAT, you can still purchase their protection plan.
What is the Average Group Size?
What is the age range?
Is there a Single Supplement for Solo Travelers?
What kind of luggage should I bring?
Can my grandchildren join me on the tour?
Yes! However OAT cautions that transfers are frequently long and young travelers may not enjoy this. Additionally there may not be other children on the tour, as the primary age group is 50+. The minimum age requirement is 13.
Are O.A.T. Tours handicap accessible?
Most Overseas Adventure tours and not wheelchair friendly, because accessibility in each destination cannot be guaranteed. On those tours where this is not the case, you must provide your own portable and collapsible wheelchair.
OAT advises that travelers should be relatively physically fit, and able to walk between 3-6 miles a day. Days are usually filled with activities and sightseeing, and you’ll be moving and active for 6-8 hours.
From Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T. Tours)
Overseas Adventure Travel offers unique small group adventures worldwide to Americans over 50. By land and sea, we explore on—and off—the beaten path with a resident OAT Trip Leader, immersing ourselves in local cultures, sampling unique modes of transportation, and staying in authentic lodgings that reflect the essence of your destination. Grand Circle Small Ship Cruises serves both our GCT and OAT brands with an award-winning fleet known for exceptional value and high-quality experiences in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. Custom-designed according to our travelers’ specifications, our fleet includes 50+ small river and ocean-going ships that we own or privately charter.
Grand Circle Corporation is a global enterprise—comprised of a family of travel companies—committed to changing people’s lives by offering high-impact experiences to our travelers and building local communities through philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, and volunteerism.
Simply by traveling with OAT, you support the work of the nonprofit Grand Circle Foundation, which was created with the mission of changing people’s lives through travel—both those of our travelers, and of the people who welcome us so warmly into their homelands.
Journey with the Leader in Adventure Travel and Watch Your Dreams Take Flight: It is the stuff of dreams: gazelles bowing to lap at a glassy pool in the Serengeti as the vast sky turns purple with night, the tiered splendor of the Himalayas, rising behind a Tibetan monastery. Dreams like these are everyday realities for OAT travelers, thanks to the principles which ground every OAT adventure: value, choice, discovery, and carefully paced itineraries.
Our Value puts your travel dreams within reach: OAT can help you realize your travel dreams for a lot less than you thought possible. Together with our regional offices located throughout the world, we’ve been able to establish long-term relationships with many local vendors and hotels. Buying direct brings down our costs—and allows us to pass the savings on to you. And negotiating directly for hotel space also allows us to secure as many single room allotments as possible for our solo travelers. That way, we can also extend our great value to solo travelers. In fact, we offer the best value for solo travelers, guaranteed.
The Choice is yours: You’ll always have plenty of choices with OAT. We offer you a breadth of awe-inspiring travel destinations—from the peaks of the Andes to the sweeping desert sands of the Sahara to the rugged natural beauty of Iceland. You'll also enjoy more trip extension choices than ever before—like hiking to ancient monasteries in Bhutan or discovering the Moai monolithic rock statues on Easter Island. You have plenty of choices within each adventure, too, including several interesting optional tours. And the free time we’ve woven into our itineraries allows you plenty of opportunities for independent exploration. You can shop, unwind, perhaps linger at a sidewalk café, visit an interesting gallery or museum, or explore a cobbled street that caught your eye earlier in the day. You can do as much or as little as you want on an OAT adventure—the choice is yours.
OAT Difference
Adventure Travel: Adventure travel with OAT is a journey beyond the familiar, one that takes you into the very heart of a destination—to meet people where they work and live.
OAT Advantages: Journey with the leader in adventure travel and watch your dreams take flight, thanks to the principles which ground every OAT adventure: value, choice, discovery, and carefully paced itineraries.
Small Groups, Big Discoveries: When you discover the world in an OAT small group, you’ll journey off the beaten path to the places the big tour groups miss—and enjoy an intimate, discovery-filled adventure filled with personal connections, shared experiences, and treasured memories.
Trip Leaders: No matter where in the world you venture with OAT, you'll have one of our resident, expert Trip Leaders by your side. All are fluent in English and possess the skills, certification, and experience necessary to ensure an enriching adventure.
Airport Transfers: We’ve listened to your feedback, and will now offer international airport transfers to and from your hotel to our travelers who choose to purchase their own airfare on OAT adventures as part of our Personalize Your Trip program, which allows you create the OAT adventure that's right for you.
Personalize your trip: OAT travelers have long expressed the desire to decide exactly where they’re going, how they get there, and when they wish to leave. That’s why we developed a variety of choices that enhance the value of every trip we offer, allowing you to create the adventure that works best for you.
Traveling solo? Enjoy your own room or cabin—at no extra cost: You’re in control of your travel dreams—and we’re making them more affordable than ever: Maybe you prefer the freedom of solo travel—or maybe you and your usual traveling companion can’t agree on a destination. Whatever the reason, you don’t have to put your travel dreams on hold. When it’s time to go it alone, you’ll never pay a Single Supplement to have your own room or cabin with OAT.
Awards:
Highlights
- Visit the seventh-century Asakusa Kannon Temple
- The trip to Hakone, located about 50 miles west of Tokyo.
- Hakone is beloved by the Japanese for its hot-spring resorts, mountains, lakes, and historical sites
- Visit Hamamatsuya, a workshop specializing in wooden handcrafts.
- Visit one of the many houses of Kanazawa where the samurai—Japan's famed class of noble warriors—once lived
- Visit the history and culture of Gokayama
- Enjoy a traditional dance performance
Highlights
- Explore the cultural and historical sites of Cuba
- Discover local Cuban culture and family life
- Explore Havana and Cienfuegos
- Discover Cuban customs
Highlights
- See the floral market at Pakklong Talad
- Visit the Royal Barge Museum
- Enjoy a tour of Bangkok
- Visit to Bangkok's oldest temple, Wat Pho
- See the colossal statue of the reclining Buddha.
- Visit Kanchanaburi's War Cemetery and have a chance to walk on the original bridge on the River Kwai.
Highlights
- Enjoy an exclusive glimpse into the archives of the Savitsky Museum
- Visit the opulent 18th-century Bolo Hauz Mosque and the Chashma Ayub Mausoleum
- Visit with a local ceramic master and learn about the centuries-old traditions of this ancient art form.
- Exploring Samarkand, one of the oldest cities in the world
- Including by the troops of Alexander the Great, the Arab Caliphate, and Genghis Khan.
