Eastogo self-driving tour review
Disclosure: This article is a review of a trip that we did as a collaboration with Eastogo. The costs of the trip were partly covered by the company.
Our verdict
Eastogo is particularly well suited to independent travellers who want to explore parts of China in places where public transport becomes impractical, but don't necessarily want a traditional guided tour. Their itinerary planning was excellent, and our English-speaking driver was the standout part of the experience. The main thing to understand is that their self-guided tours are driver-led rather than fully guided, so you'll still explore many places independently.
Who is Eastogo and what kind of tours do they organise?
Eastogo is a relatively small tour operator based in Chengdu, Sichuan. For that reason, their expertise in Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou regions is the most comprehensive, but they have already expanded their offer to other regions.
They specialise in experiential, private and small group travel.
If you want to learn more about the regions they cover and trips thy offer, you can do so on their website:
The trip we booked
We decided for quite a big 14-day trip around Western Sichuan, ending in Xining in Qinghai province. We picked this trip mostly because this is an experience impossible to travel the way we usually travel China — with railway.
The other reason was that temperatures in the mountainous region of the Tibetan Plateau are very moderate in the summer compared to the rest of China, making it a perfect detination to escape summer heat.
The trip covered some of the most spectacular landscapes we have seen, and as soon as we went past Litang, where most tourist start heading towards Lhasa, the roads were pretty much empty along the way and the region was very sparsely populated and not at all touristy.
If you want to read about the trip itself, I cover it in a separate article.
Magda Sawyer
Planning the trip
When we decided to take part in the trip, we were connected with a trip designer, who adapted the trip to our needs. She was able to arrange an overnight stay with the nomads, as well as a very special experience to visit Sichuan Opera behind the scenes.
The plan prepared included all places, hotels, and approximate driving times.
During the trip
Every day we have received a WeChat message from the trip designer with the plan for the next day, including suggested departure time, restaurants to eat in, and weather conditions.
However, most of the day to day details we discussed with the driver himself. We often opted for leaving much earlier than suggested, so that kids can sleep in the car and we can have more time to relax at the destinations.
As we travelled, we were able to amend the itinerary twice to accomodate to spend more time in one place and avoid stopovers that were there just to break the journey.
Our driver
For us the driver we had was the biggest differentiator from all tour companies we know.
Our driver was knowledgable, pleasant to talk to, speaking very good English. On top of that, he was an adventurer himself — skilled at caves exploration and working part time as a disaster resqueuer. This made traveller with him and conversations much more interesting. I cannot guarantee that all drivers are the same – but by the end of the tour, we had a feeling that T.K. was more a friend than just our driver.
We travelled in a comfortable electric car with high standard, there was always water in the car, everything felt really well prepared.
If you want to have the same experience like us, ask for T.K.
How flexible was the itinerary?
We had a lot of flexibility planning itinerary – and on that stage, pretty much everything that is accessible for tourists should be possible to arrange.
Along the way, you can decide yourself on the departure times, how long you want to stay at different attractions, or if you want to skip something completely.
You have some ability to modify the hotel bookings — we were able the stopover cities twice at no extra cost.
However, as travel agents do take responsibility of your safety and making sure all arrangements are confirmed, it is not possible to change the trip completely along the way or keep it spontaneous.
Hotels and other arrangements
Hotels are prebooked and included in the price, same with attraction tickets.
Your driver is available throughout the trip also in the evenings (although in cities where that was possible, we often opted for just taking a taxi/DiDi/walk to go out if that was possible).
Highlights of the trip
Definitely if you decide to visit Western Sichuan, the highlights are the views. They are simply stunning. And for us, because we don‘t travel a lot with the car, it was also a great experience to actually be able to pull up or slow down to take photos.
Overall experience
We really enjoyed the trip with Eastogo. We would have never been able to put together this itinerary by ourselves — this area of China simply requires good understand of driving times between locations, all villages and towns along the way, what is worth stopping for etc.
The trip was organised with attention to details and standard of the hotels was very good, despite remote locations. This only means they pay attention to the details.
Our kids also enjoyed the journey — which surprised even us given that there were many monasteries to visit and not that many playgrounds.
How to make the most of the trip
It is important to understand that Eastogo has in their offer the so called „self guided tours“ and you can understand those as private tours with the driver.
The driver is not a guide, and in some attractions he might enter with you, but some of them he will drop you off to, and pick you up from. A lot of the exact arrangements will depend on your own preference and relationship with the driver. We noticed that at the beginning of the tour we spent less time with the driver, and later we ate together more etc (but not always).
If you are an inexperienced traveller or rather have someone take care of the whole trip, you can absolutely trust the knowledge and itineraries put together by Eastogo.
They are a team of young, educated, enthusiastic people who have themselves travelled a lot and understand the needs and interests of Western tourists. If you pick one of their itineraries, you will not be disappointed and you will see the highlights and lesser known destinations of the region you choose.
While Eastogo have their „standard“ suggested itineraries, they can absolutely adapt them to your personal travel needs. This is what they did for us — e.g. we were interested in staying overnight with the nomads in the grasslands, and they facilitated that. Because we travelled with kids, we also asked them to break down the journey accordingly.
There is some flexibility to change the itinerary slightly along the way e.g. stay somewhere longer, or skip, but it depends on the flexibility of the hotel and itinerary itself how easy it is to change. So I would advice you to still examine the itinerary beforehand as much as possible.
If you are looking for a fully spontaneous trip, where you just define a start and end point, this is generally not easy for a tour company to organise, but maybe it is worth asking if they can put you in touch with an English speaking driver.
How much did it cost / was it good value?
The 2 week trip we booked without the discount, for a family of 4, including hotels with breakfast, a car with a driver, some experiences that required a guide, was around 3800 EUR.
I think the price was fair for the standard of the hotels and the car, and a driver who spoke very good English.
Who Eastogo is best for
I would say that Eastogo is a perfect partner for both first time and experienced travellers, who want to see China beyond the standard itinerary. The private tours they offer can be tailor made and allow you to explore places that you might not be able to find yourself.
Would we travel with Eastogo again?
Yes, definitely. If we were planning a trip that needs to be done by car, and experienced travel planners to help you make the most of it, booking a trip with Eastogo would be our first choice.
