Testimonials

Usha customizes your trip based on feedback she gets from you about the activities that you and your family enjoy. She takes lot of effort to research unique experiences when you are on your vacation. She not only saves us money and makes the planning process easy and convenient, she has our back if we run into issues during our trip. For example, my husband ran into issues on his trip to Peru, Usha was there to help because she works with vendors in that area. She has built relationships with vendors over the years, which help her to pass on the wonderful experiences to us. I used to plan my family vacations but after meeting Usha, I spend my time packing and dreaming about my relaxing getaway, instead of worrying about it

The tag line for Rao Travel is: Your vacation, Personalized. Usha works very hard to make these words true and succeeds. Each accommodation in which we stay, every tour on which she books us is wonderful! She meets with us, looks at our budget, and takes into account our desires to make certain that these vacations fit our family perfectly. There are no schedule slips, missed connections, or services which we find wanting. Her research is thorough. Also very important for us is that she gives us the gift of time. Though I very much enjoy doing my own research before an excursion (and do so), Usha takes all the tension out of the process. We are in her capable hands as she navigates the best rates and tours. What would we do without Usha? My family would not have experienced an exciting whale watching trip in Victoria, BC, nor climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower at twilight, nor gazed at the verdant Scottish Highlands. Without her help, we may have only viewed such sights on our computers and sadly dreamed of being there. We come back year after year because she’s simply the best at what she does.

Hi Usha It was a spectacular vacation. Everyone is back home. I will be back in the US on the 29th and will give you a blow by blow. Till then, thank you and best wishes for a happy new year.

India is a destination that all should experience. Having guides and drivers and traveling to the four distinctive areas was super and worth the time and effort. It was tiring at times but never ever dull. I would not change a thing. It was an adventure, not just a vacation. Leaving out any part of what we did would not be good in retrospect. I would recommend it to anyone with an open mind and desire for seeing another way of life on space ship Earth. Your here is not there. The whole trip was a highlight of highlights and it was on planes, trains, cars, jeeps, taxis, buses, three wheel rickshaws, camels, and elephants – all transportation methods ala India. Our trip was a success because of you, Anand and Usha, the families at the wedding, the tour guides, the drivers and the people of India. It had to be altogether to be the success that it was, so I am not sure that anything should be changed or something would be lost in our particular adventure. I have said it before but it was a trip of a lifetime to us. Thank you.

Rao Travel has planned and booked our recent vacations. We are extremely happy with the outstanding service we have received. All the arrangements exceeded our expectations. Our recent two-week vacation in Northern India was a great combination of adventure and relaxation, and involved stops at seven different locations. The arrangements by Usha Rao made the journey very smooth, and our family enjoyed it very much. We even saw tigers in the wild!

The trip planned for us by Usha was just about perfect. She got to know us and our likes and dislikes and then went ahead and planned a wonderful trip to India. We covered as much of India as we could possibly cover in three short weeks. Our itinerary was exciting, educational, fun and full. The accommodations—the activities—all the guides, drivers and vehicles were perfect in every way. She attended to every detail which made a very smooth trip.Usha packed enough into the three weeks to keep us very busy and also planned restful activities as well. We are world travelers and as such have gone on many types of trips but this adventure was truly the best planned and best executed one we have ever taken. We would certainly not hesitate to book a trip with Usha again.

We had an awesome time. I cannot thank you enough for arranging such an awesome vacation.

If you need a haircut you go to a barber If you need your appendix cut- you go to your surgeon. Point is you go to the right expert to get the right service. I followed my own advice and sought the services of Usha from Rao Travel. Usha is very compassionate, thorough, meets us where we are- she always takes time to chat to ensure what we would like out of the trip and makes it all possible at a budget you set! Go to Usha for a relaxing, experiential travel service! You will only spend time making memories and not stress!!

We had a wonderful time for the entire Vietnam stay and Cambodia, and this was greatly due to all the arrangements that were made by you. You did an outstanding job.

TY so so much for putting together our wonderful trip. Enjoyed every bit of it. A very Memorable family trip.   

We had a wonderful trip and got back safely without any problems. Service on Turkish Airline was excellent and food was really good. The hotel was very good in Istanbul. People there go out of their way to make you comfortable. It was off season and weather was a bit cold. Both the tours were very good. The Wednesday afternoon tour had about 10 people and we went in the commercial big boat and the view on the Bosphorous channel was spectacular. On Thursday, our tour was great and the guide was excellent and we were the only two in the group!! Thanks a lot for your excellent services.

Thanks to you, we had a wonderful time. The trip was great. Flight was good.The hotel in Rome was OK. The location was perfect. It was not worth the money. The tours in Rome were excellent. The guides were very good. The first class coach was great. The hotel in Florence was the best for the money. The room and service were really worth the money. WE had the best guide to see DAVID. The trip to Pisa was flawless. We got the ticket to the tower and the view and the experience on the leaning tower was superb. We had the best food and wine everywhere. I want you to know that you are the best.

We had one of our best vacations to Italy. You choose ideal rooms for the three of us. Every tour was arranged to perfection and every ticket and detail was in our package. We did not stand in line for anything. Thanks for doing a great job and if you are asked for a reference ever please ask them to e-mail me. Good luck

We had a really great vacation visiting Paris and Italy. Paris was awesome. Visited Eiffel tower twice and enjoyed climbing the tower to the second floor. Didn’t expect Paris to be so windy the day we landed. Ended up buying Paris sweatshirts for all of us(became our Paris souvenirs 🙂 ). Loved Venice. An awesome experience. Was reminded of my birth town, Arsikere so much because of the small “gallies”. Enjoyed the gondola ride. Loved the train transportation in Europe. They are so efficient with time and very convenient. Kids loved Firenze the most. Driving to San Gimignano was fun. We drove to Volterra and that was really beautiful. Spent the whole day there. Rome was awesome. Thanks for the good planning, good tips that we used throughout the trip. On the whole we had a great trip.

Usha, had a great time! Ronda is really a lovely city. The travel arrangements worked out really well! I really appreciate all of your assistance in putting the plans together, finding the hotels, etc. We’ll certainly get in touch when we have future travel plans. All my best, and thanks again.”

Usha has planned multiple trips for our family. Most recently, she planned our honeymoon to Greece which included a stay on the island of Santorini, a few days in Athens and an AMAZING week at sea on a sailing yacht. We worked with Usha on our budget and expectations and she made it work. The locations of our hotel’s were breathtaking and just what we were looking for as far as accommodations offered and value. We will always work with Usha for our travel plans. She’s personable and professional. The other thing that really separates Usha from all the rest is that she takes into the consideration the safety factor when traveling. She’s planned a trip for a friend going to South Africa, and she was very thorough in her research of the locations she chose for hotels and excursions. Usha is great to work with and we will definitely be working with her again.

Got back last night. Srilanka trip was very nicely done Thankyou. Overall a very nice trip and I would very much recommend to your other clients. Srilanka is a beautiful country where they have invested in developing tourism post civil war. Your local partners seem accommodating and hospitable. Thank you again for organizing the birthday cake. All went well

Our time in Barcelona and Granada have been spectacular! Loved both these places... The Alhambra is just magnificent - I’m fascinated by Islamic architecture, totally love it! Thank you, Usha, for all the detailed planning.

Usha planned the perfect cruise to Alaska for us. We were a large group – from 8 to 78! It was the first cruise for most of us. She took the time and effort to make sure everyone’s quirks were addressed. We all had special food and accommodation needs that Usha made sure were taken care of which made our cruise a wonderful experience. We were a very demanding group, but Usha handled all of our concerns with patience and humor, with the result that everyone was very, very happy. Thank you Usha, and looking forward to working with you for our trips to China, Spain, and the rest of the world!

Things have been fantastic so far. We are at Alhambra palace. Gorgeous.

Thanks a bunch for everything. You are a very organized and patient person and a joy to work with and you were thorough and gave the whole booking of the trip a personal touch.

Hi Usha Thank you for the lovely E card. We will gather our feedback and get it to you in the next week or so. We can definitely share that we had the most amazing trip! Every detail was so thought out. The guides were incredible. The hotels were incredible. The overall experience was incredible. We will definitely use your services again, will tell others how great your services were and would be happy to be a reference, if you ever needed one. Thank you!

We returned last night after an amazing trip and wanted to take this opportunity to thank you.  All the pickups, drop offs and flights were on time.  The hotel selections were perfect from both the style of the hotel as well as the location.  Everything was within walking distance and even if we chose to spend time in the room the views were better than we could have imagined.  We thoroughly enjoyed all the tours.  The guides and tour selections were well worth it. Thank you again for giving us such a memorable vacation.  Will be in touch when we do our next big trip!  Still mulling over your Rajasthan idea!