Sunshine Travel - Boston, Massachusetts

Maria C. I.

I took a very nice tour with Sunshine Travel to see the fall foliage in New Hampshire. The bus was comfortable, clean, and the tour guide was humorous and helpful. The tour schedule was good and the experiences with White Mountain and farm apple picking were fantastic! New England is gorgeous to visit during fall season, I really recommend it for everyone!

Jacy S.

I went to Niagara Falls with Sunshine in Dec. So cold out there, Maid of the Mist closed for the season, but the tour guide was so passionate which made me very happy all over the trip.

Yuting L.

I been to Sunshine couple times. They helped me get the visa quickly, and found me a great deal for the air ticket during the peak season. I also booked a Canada trip for my family few days ago. The tour guide was professional and knowing lots of background information for the places that we visited. She organized the whole trip well, we have enough time for every attraction. We had a great time with the tour guide and the group.

Ninad V.

Review 1/4
The trip that I took was a four-day tour of the country of Canada. This tour included destinations such as Niagara Falls, Toronto, Thousand Islands, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City.

Before Boarding the Bus and drive to Canada
This tour company is money hungry and will do anything for extra cash. We realized this immediately as we had two grandparents coming on the trip originally but there was an incident in which they were not able to make it just less than 24 hours before. Our tour guide told us that since we had not notified the company 24 hours in advance we were to be fined (a higher amount than we had expected) and we agreed but instead of fining us, but the tour guide suddenly had a brilliant idea which forced us to participate in every activity even though we badly didn't want to (this ended up costing us more money, but he did this since he needed the extra cash and because he knew we didn’t want to deal with a fine) Luckily though he saved us through the horrors of the restaurants that had been chosen for the tour to eat (everyone had that privilege). The bus the subpar to say the least. It was filled with dust, which caused my allergies to dust to activate. There were pieces of gum on windows and curtains, which is absolutely disgusting.

Place 1: Niagara Falls

So at Niagara Falls it had been originally planned that once we took the boat ride (which was good) we would go to the hotel immediately (they don't tell you the name or address of the hotel until you reach so you will not be able to figure out how bad the hotels are until you are too tired to care) but our tour guide looked to make some extra cash and forced the whole tour to watch the fireworks but the money was only It o go to him and the driver not to the company. We didn't understand why we had to pay them (by the way it was 10 dollars per person for 10 minutes of free fireworks for all other tourists) when we didn't want to go. The hotel was a joke. Our room didn't even have a working TV and some lights were broken. The bed was pretty comfortable, but that is where the positives end. Niagara Falls is overrated and a Tourist Trap.

Evo L.

Nice and patient staffs. Joined the New Hampshire 2-day tour, can't complaint with these affordable price.

Amy Q.

Oh my goodness I cannot believe how horrible this tour company is! Literally the worse I’ve ever been on and I’ve been on my tours I can count. They are the biggest rip off! I booked two tours and they were both awful! In Maine we were given only 1 option to eat and that was a Chinese buffet where me and my husband both got sick! The hotel was the worse I’ve ever stayed- it couldn’t have been more than 2 stars. The free breakfast was moldy bread... seriously. The tour was in English and Chinese. The tour guide didn’t know the answers to anyone’s questions. She had no idea what she was doing. I tried to get a refund for the second tour I booked to Martha’s vineyard but they refused. I spent all this money and the tour guy had us walking outside all around the island in 90 degree heat! He was speeding coming back and the van overheated and we were stranded on the side of the road in the heat with no water for almost 2 hours!!! I asked if the company would just pay for us to take an Uber back but of course they wouldn’t. This company is so cheap!! They charge just as much as everyone else but make you pay cash for additional things not included. Like everything. Nothing is optional as it says. It’s all mandatory. This company is a scam and a rip off!!

Alice I.

This review is in regards to our recent experience on the 2-Day Boston Maine (Acadia) bi-lingual English/Chinese tour, booked online through Take Tours website.

The only redeeming part of this whole trip/ordeal was that the weather was nice at the national park. Our group was a mix of families and individuals of various ages and ethnicity. Most people were nice and mindful of time, but maybe a quarter of the group were always late or doing some socially unacceptable things like smoking near bus/playing loud music/on the phone with speakers on. Its always a gamble who you will get as travel companions....

What we ended up doing and the amount of time spent is really not worth the cost at all. Keep in mind the cost you pay to book the trip (I have seen it fluctuate between $165 - $180 per person) is just for your seat on the bus and for a place to sleep in (which they don't tell you until you are on your way there). You have to additionally pay over in cash when you board, the cost of admission to all the "optional" activities (they really are not optional as there are no alternative things to do if you do not participate) and fees "to the government" (?), service fees to the guide and drive ($10 per day), fees for parking at sites. The whole tour, the guide really struggled (she was nice but was not trained) to provide much useful information for the current tour, talked mostly about things to do in the fall.

Day 1 - The company had booked more travelers than the bus can seat. Also, the bus was not checked to make sure it was in full working order. We had to stop at several places so the bus driver (who has been arguing on the phone or texting on the phone with someone from the company the whole time) could try and fix the bus. Some problem with the gears and it not being able to have enough power to climb hills efficiently. We made it to our first stop at the lighthouse (which we had to each pay $5 for), to walk around for an hour to look from afar the lighthouse. Not sure why we had to pay fees as I don't think the company had to pay any for the bus tour to park at all. We then spend the next several hours on the bus driving at or under the speed limit through local roads and sometimes on highway with hazards on to a truck stop for a very late lunch (had to pay ourselves), and sent to our hotel, which was a White House themed Best Western in the middle of nowhere. The hotel was so out of the way the only place that delivered to there was Domino's from further out into town. This was the only option for those who wanted food. We were all stuck at this cheap hotel from late afternoon until next morning.

Day 2 - The company had sent a new bus the night prior, which we had to board very early to make up for lost time. The trip and activities that we were supposed to have done in the previous day to Acadia and the final stop in Bar Harbor downtown where we took a 2 hour boat tour (narrated in English so for the folks who only spoke Chinese they looked miserable the whole time and cold) and late lunch (on your own) were got to, finishing abut 5pm. We had to skip out on the random stop to Salem that was on the original itinerary. Someone got a minor scratch and we found out there were no first aid kids on the bus.
The ETA for getting back to Boston was going to be about 10pm. About an hour and half left to the end, several travelers decided that it was a great time to start confronting the tour guide about refunds and start a fight. Mind there are young children on board. At one point, several travelers managed to calm down the angry individuals and the stopped the guide from calling 911 and throwing the individuals off the bus in the middle of the highway.

This company obviously does not provide proper training for their employees for their job, does not maintain their vehicles or provide the drivers adequate support, does not have contingency plans if anything happens.

At this point, I am just glad we made it home and nothing worse happened. This was an extremely stressful and unfortuante trip for all involved.

suling T.

An over 30 years experienced travel agency & tour company, they sell discounted international air tickets, cruises and asian tours. They also runs own bus tours to Washington DC New York etc. Bus charter available. Very Good service!!!Helped me get a tourism visa. Took less than 2 weeks and was a bit cheaper than a few other agencies in the area. Hopefully there will be no issues when I actually use it.