Tour Group Operators

Old Jul 30th, 2014, 06:41 AM
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Tour Group Operators

How do the various tour group operators (Trafalgar, Rick Steves, Globus, etc.) compare on European Tours with a focus on Italy? We have a group of 4-5 couples (ages in mid 60's) planning to go in Spring 2015 and want to see a lot of sites and have a great travel experience.

Thanks,

Tom
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 07:12 AM
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Not many people on this forum will have taken tours with two or more different operators, so it will be difficult to find anyone who has a basis for comparison. In fact, most of the people on the Fodors forum are independent travelers.
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 07:27 AM
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Globus is low end and I do not recommend them.

Since you're in your mid 60s, you would have a better experience going on your own. Decide on what towns/areas you want to see, plan an itinerary, then come back here and post for review/comments.

If you've definitely decided on a tour check Road Scholar as they're one of the best. Also Collette and Tauck.

Read all the tour information carefully. Review daily itinerary and location of hotel. Check to see what is included and what is optional. The cheapest tours often end up being expensive as there are fewer inclusions; inexpensive base pricing is used to lure customers.

Note that tour food caters to the masses and tours need to use restaurants that can accommodate groups therefore not the best food (think banquet type food).

Watch for 1 or 2 night stops and broad itineraries as that means lots of bus time and less sightseeing time. Most tours only give a superficial overview of each location.

On a tour you definitely get what you pay for in terms of food, hotel, tour guide.
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 07:28 AM
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I travel independently but my (Canadian) girlfriend did the Insight Tour of Italy( only)in April 2014 and raved about the trip. Food, hotels, guides all excellent. I believe she said that Insight is the "deluxe" division of Trafalgar? Some good information here from past posts on Trafalgar vs Insight.http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...s-463346-2.cfm
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 07:37 AM
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I have traveled with Insight but not to Italy and I think they are very good. I would check out their website.
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 08:03 AM
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I suggest you check out Rick Steves and see if it works for you BUT be aware there may be more walking, hotels without elevators or being respons. for your luggage than other tours. Make sure you can be a part of a group like that. His tour groups are smaller than many of the others and I think he really strives to schedule enough time at the different stops and the food is local in family restaurants, not cr.p for american pallates. I've never been on one of his tours (I've researched themtho) but my impression is that his are better, maybe even more than Tauk that advertise as "high end".

Have you considered a cruise? - there are some that are very heavy on Italy like from Venice to Rome - you don't have to pack / unpack and can do daytrips to the main sights. Might be a nice option.
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 08:39 AM
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Tauck is nothing like Steeves. Steeves is for a more casual do it yourself traveler who wants basic lodging and meals and expects you to deal with your own luggage. You do tend to get more time in one place but I see that as the only benefit.

If you know what you want to see/do you might be better off with a package than a tour. That way you buy airfare and hotel (of your choice/location) for as many nights as YOU want. And transfer between cities as needed by train. Avoids very long days sitting on a bus and many one night stops - which IMHO are just hell. Gate 1 offers these and I'm sure there ar other options.

IMHO tours spend to much time on stops for "shopping", herding people around (much slower) and little time actually seeing the major sights. And hotels - unless you go for very upscale - are often the notel motel out by the highway - instead of in the center of town so you can do/see something after dinner.
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 09:52 AM
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Remember the tour rules: "See" means just that, you don't go in. "View" may mean even less time. "Visit" can be short tour of highlights, or much more, or maybe a photo op and get back on the bus. Any phrase that implies optionality means do-it-yourself or a paid add on. A tour is only as fast as the slowest packer, bus-boarder, bathroom-user, stair-climber etc. in the bunch. You will spend a lot of time on the bus, and half of you will not have a window, and half will be in the back of the bus. The food will be inoffensive but edible, with blandness being a must as there is always someone who will not eat anything that tastes "foreign." If you are sick, or need help, or lost your passport, there will be a tour leader who will be there for you, but the tour will go on even if you can't. Have a nice time!
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 10:25 AM
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Actually:

View - means a sight of the outside of something - often from the bus window

Stop - means a photo op outside the front gates (usually 5 minutes)

Visit - mean you go inside - but check to see what they includes - it might be the short tour of the inside of the castle, not the longer one and no time to look at the gardens or sculptures of whatever

And on every tour there is someone:

Who will be late for everything
Who will not like (or can't eat) any of the food
Who thinks everything extra costs too much
Who loses something vital (like a passport)
Who has a medical reason why they have to sit in the front window seat every day
Who can never remember where or when to meet - or when luggage has to be outside the door (7am - I thought it was 8 - I'll just be a few minutes)
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 11:08 AM
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OK just sayin' - this is from a (somewhat) elderly traveler, there is a group of them and they want to see alot of sights so just maybe a tour is not a bad idea. Really, I can't think he wants to coordinate lodging, transportation, guides, timed entries for this group. It is good to give them a "reality check" on how tours work to help him evaluate but feedback on tours you or friends have taken would be more helpful than the stock answer of "tours stink". For a first trip to Italy, you do maximize time, esp. if you get to enter sights by pre-arranged times set up by the tour operator. And I don't think Rick Steves takes his groups to the kick-back shopping opportunites.
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 11:18 AM
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>

The OP has not defined what this means. To me, a lot of sights means 20 things in Rome. The OP does not say to see a lot of towns. The OP also wants a great travel experience. That means not changing hotels every day or two and zooming through Italy at breakneck speed.

Not every tour goes shopping. I've done GCT tours where there is no shopping or perhaps a 20 minute stop. There was no shopping on my Globus tour. The tour in Turkey was a shock with 4 major shopping experiences. I quickly learned to bring my book and head for the tea garden at the exit of the shop.

I don't think that Road Scholar does shopping trips. They're more focused on learning.
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 11:31 AM
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I think a major issue not described is what "have a great travel experience" means ostensibly as well as intrinsically to the participants. The interpretation can be so broad to give any meaningful guidance. A "great travel experiences" can be:

1. just any cheap trip
2. one that people get to talk to each other a lot
3. one that does not require getting up before 9 AM.
4. quickly take snap shots and lounge for the rest of the day
5. having drinks by beaches
6. one that people can brag once back at home
7. one that does not require walking
8. one with a lot of shopping opportunities
9. one that allow exploring specific interests,
etc.

Often times, what people say before the trip on what they want to experience before the trip vs. what they really start doing once the trip starts are different.
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 11:43 AM
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Hi OO2808,

Is this the first time that you and "a group of 4-5 couples (ages in mid 60's)" will be going to Italy? In that case, I would suggest a tour with INSIGHT, ROAD SCHOLAR or other reputable company.

IMO, for one couple to assume responsibility for selecting hotels, tours, activities, train schedules while factoring in different people's clocks and food preferences could end most unpleasantly. Especially, if that couple have not been to Italy themselves.

And let's not forget the sharing of expenses which can be basically eliminated on a tour. If a couple pulls out at the last minute, the expense is theirs.

If you read some of the trip reports on this forum, you can see how much dissention can arise with only a few folks traveling together regarding the above matters.

Adding on a few days in Rome or Venice at the beginning or end of the tour could also be considered.

Good luck!
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Old Jul 31st, 2014, 07:27 AM
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I am writing as one who has traveled both with tour companies and independently in Italy. I have enjoyed both types of travel, as have a number of friends who have also done both types in the past few years.
The most recent bus (coach) tour I took started in Rome, stopped in Pompeii, then went to Capri, Sorrento, and finally Sicily. We stopped at all the major sights and had a fair amount of free time to visit places such as the Amalfi Coast, Taormina, Mt. Etna, and the ruins of the Greek temples in Sicily. My wife and I loved the tour and would recommend it.
Using a tour or traveling independently are two different types of trips. IMO, neither is inherently “better” than the other. What is important is for you to understand what both involve, and then to decide for yourself which type best meets your needs.
Coach tours allow you to travel with a minimum of preparation and without having to deal with making hotel reservations, deciding on travel arrangements, and then having to either drive or get to public transportation on your trip. Luggage-handling from hotel to coach is provided as part of the tour cost, as are many of the meals. In addition, tour guides give you a lot of information about the country generally and the sights you are visiting in particular. Finally, being with a group can also provide company as well as give you the chance to meet and make friends with people from both your country as well as others.
Before committing yourself to a coach tour, you definitely do need to read the itinerary closely (they generally will not do anything not in the itinerary unless it is an “optional” excursion) and find out how a particular tour company defines words such as visit, see, and view. In Italy, cities of interest are generally close to each other and you won’t spend much more time on the coach than if you went by car or public transportation. When on the coach, the tour guide will often tell you about the places you see, or provide you will information about the country in general. In addition, time on the coach allows you see the countryside, visit with other tour members, write a journal, and/or even take a nap!
The differences between “high-end” (Tauck, Insight, Perillo), “middle-of-the-road” (Trafalgar, Globus) and “low-end” (TrafalgarCostSaver, Cosmos) generally involve hotel quality and location; the quality of the “included” meals; and the extent to which things are included as part of the trip cost vs. being offered as optional excursions. Having done all three types, my experience has been that the three do not differ in terms of the quality of the tour guide. In fact, the best (as well as the worst) tour guide I have had came from a low-end company.
So, my suggestion would be: Be aware of the pros and cons of both types of travel and then decide which best suits your needs. If you decide on a coach tour, then compare carefully the itineraries, the quality of the hotels, and whether a sight is included or is offered as an optional.
FYI, here is a link to a trip report of a coach tour to northern Italy.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic..._Lombardy.html
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Old Jul 31st, 2014, 12:32 PM
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Thanks for all the responses and insights that you have shared thus far. We are so looking forward to the trip and will us your input to help us decide the best approach to make it a memorable vacation. Thanks!!
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Old Jul 31st, 2014, 05:48 PM
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We have been to Italy probably a dozen times in the past 14 years and have mostly traveled independently. Twice we were on a cruise ship (Oceania) and took their "Rome in a day" optional offering -- simply a bus ride into Rome and walked around (getting lost) but we survived. We have also taken the ship's optional tour of the Vatican that was excellent. So we have had good experiences using tours.

However, the majority of our trips have been independent; this spring we were in Rome for a week after 5 nights in Amsterdam. The good about independent travel is that you do what you want to do, and the bad thing is that you have to decide what you want to do. If your group consists of really good, understanding, laid-back friends, then you might do OK...but who is going to plan what to do and then arrange for entrance times and buy the tickets.

A couple of years ago, we went to Italy with some long-time friends who had traveled extensively, but for whatever reason, had never been to Italy. They are as I described above -- laid-back, not impressed with themselves and really good friends. In spite of all this, my wife and I felt just a bit responsible for their enjoyment of the trip. It worked out fine and we had a great time, but there was just a little bit of angst about how things would work out.

As mentioned above, we have some other friends who used Gate-1 to arrange their air, hotels and trains within Europe and they had a delightful time. Of course, they had to figure out the museums and entrance times. Their trip was wonderful and they would do it again.

You mention that your group is 60-ish; that means that they probably have the energy for long days. I passed that milestone a bit ago and devote more of my trip budgets now to taxi fare!

Good luck; hope all the advice makes sense!
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