redroses4me

Hi, my daughter & I are planning a trip to Europe in 4 yrs when she graduates high school. I know that's a long way off, but I'm looking for opinions on doing tours versus seeing and booking things on our own. I'm thinking 4 to 6 weeks, we've never done anything this big before and I'm tempted to let the tour company take care of the transportation, and accomodations, but I'm worried we won't have time to do things on our own. I've been checking out Rick Steves tours and they have a lot to offer. I'd appreciate anyone's thoughts.

2Italy

Many of the people on this forum are do-it-yourselfers. We've never used a tour company, we've always done it on our own.
We like to pick our itinerary, hotels, restaurants, etc. We don't want to be herded on the bus, into a site, etc.
If you want to see what you want, when you want, and IF you want, do it yourself. There are lots of people on this site and others who will help you.

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fmpden

Steves tours are very good. You might consider taking one of his two or three week tour and then going on your own to areas he didn't visit or circle back for some thing you might have missed earlier. We do a lot of trips where we travel for week, do a ten to 15 day cruise in the middle and then travel for another week to ten days. It is nice to break it up some.

Aramis

I don't mean to be rude but
DO IT ON YOUR OWN

The rewards you get from the small and great discoveries you will make in planning and doing this by yourself are far more valuable than the convenience of signing over your person for several weeks.

Look at it this way - do you want to 'see" Europe, or "feel" it?

chevre

You can still make small and wonderful discoveries on your own with the right tour. Rick Steves tours are very good. I have been on three of them. I now travel on my own but wouldn't hesitate taking another tour if it fit what I wanted to do.
They have a great 3 week tour of Europe that starts in Amsterdam and ends in Paris. (Tack on London for a week at the end?) It is well paced, and there aren't a bunch of one night stands. On the this tour there will be families and many tour members will be first timers to Europe. They are rigorous tours in that you'll carry your own bags and there will be a lot of walking. It has been my experience on every tour though that you can decide for yourself if you're up to it. The tours are not about shopping and free time is built into every day. Another reason I would recommend Steves' tours is that while expensive you will be much more likely to have tour members both your age and your daughter's age. You are likely to see many anti Steves as well as anti tour comments. Planning is fun but there is something to be said for the effeciency of a good guide in planning the details when you're new to this kind of travel.

suze

I think Rick Steves is an excellent company.

You won't get an unbiased consensus using Fodor's, because the entire purpose of it (mostly) is helping self-planners, plan their trips. It is very weighted in favor of do-it-yourself. Which may not necessarily be the best answer for your particular situation.

tcreath

I have never done an organized tours but I admit that I looked into them for our first trip to Europe. I'm glad I didn't go for it. Honestly, Europe isn't as daunting as you are probably imagining. Its quite easy to get around, and with a little (or a lot!) of help from fodors planning can be half the fun. Can you tell us where you are interested in visiting?

Tracy

GBC

We've traveled mostly on our own but we've also done some tours. There are advantages to each.

Traveling on your own is the most challenging, it takes far more preparation and planning, but it can be more rewarding.

When you travel with a tour group an awful lot depends upon who else is in your group and how competent your guide is. We've been lucky but we have friends who have been disappointed.

I would guess that a big advantage of a Rick Steves tour for you would be that you would likely find people on it who are close in age to both you and your daughter. On our last tour (with Overseas Adventure Travel) the youngest of the group (14 people) was probably 60 years old and one lady was over 80.

Most of us view the planning as part of the fun and that explains why we participate in this forum. You and your daughter might also enjoy it and thereby greatly increase your travel experience.

zwho

I have only gone on organized tours as day trips. Honestly, as convenient as they seem, on your own is far better for 100's of reasons. The biggest is you stop when and where they want - not when YOU want. If a tour wants you to spend 1 hour at a souvenir shop on the outskirts of no man's land, you have no options. Many places that are interesting you may just drive by, but if you were on your own, you could adjust your schedule to your whims. Finding great little restaurants or having a close encounter, good or bad with locals are sometimes the best tales you bring home. On a tour, most of your encounters are premeditated and no suprises are going to occur. The tour co. reputation depends on consistency. If you are both healthy and can move around, you'll have more fun and if you do the research your agenda will be much more meaningful. Just my opinion.

dgassa

Last year we did 7 weeks on our own. My thought would be that 4 to 6 weeks would be a long time to be with a tour. You can read how we did it here:

http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/tripreport.asp?tripid=1259

eliza3

Personally we would never go on a tour - or until we were 80 plus perhaps. But it depends on what you prefer. We simply could not bear being with other people for any period of time and being forced into group meals, site seeing etc. Our idea of a nightmare.

We did 7 weeks in 2003 and made all arrangements ourselves, primarily over the internet. This was primarily Italy, but a little time in Switzerland and Germany and a week in London.

It may to an extent depend on what where you want to go in 4 - 6 weeks - how many places you want to see. Obviously the more you want to move around the more stessful you might find that on your own - and the more you may need to organise in advance.

How do you plan to get around - car, train, plane - again that may influence your decision.

Finally, it doesn't have to be all or nothing - you could always do a small tour(s) as part of a much longer trip.

jamikins

I did a tour my first trip to Europe as I thought it would be easier and I was on my own and 24. Did a Contiki tour, which is geared towards young people.

Ever since I have been planning my own adn think it is almost as fun to plan as it is to travel!

With the help of people on this forum I think you could do it yourselves if that would work for you. Public transport in Europe is fantastic for hte most part, and driving is easy in most parts of France and Italy (I havent driven anywhere else).

You and your daughter could have ea great time planning this trip together!

Beatle

I replied to the "addicted to Fodor's" post, and commented on this. I too am a big fan of doing your own planning. Since you are 4 years away from going, and you want to go for 4-6 weeks, imo your own trip is the only way to go. What a great comment about "seeing" Europe or "feeling" it.

justretired

Margie and I have always planned our own travel, taking maximum advantage of all the good advice we get on the Fodor's Forum.

But I wonder if any Fodorites have had any experience with some of the less standard tour companies, which might be good for a first trip. For example:

"Untours" says they leave you to travel independently, after they handle all the details like where to stay, transportation, and so on:

http://www.untours.com/

Cross-culture Journeys promotes tours that they say produce a more in-depth view of the places visited:

http://www.ccjourneys.com/

We've never used either of these, but have been somewhat curious about them. Anyone have any first-hand knowledge of these?

- Larry

traveller1959

What to expect from organized tours:

- You will spend most of your time in buses.
- You will spend considerable time with boarding the bus, deboarding the bus, and facility stops.
- You will hop from destination to destination, never going into detail. You get the "it is Thursday, it must be Belgium"-syndrome.
- You will spend the whole time with the same bunch of people from your home country.
- You will be pressed into a tight time schedule.
- There will be nothing unexpected, surprising or adventurous.

A compromise between organized tour and DIY might be a cruise. Onboard, you are pampered and the shore excursions you can do on your own (and save a lot of money).

And: travelling Europe on your own is SOOO easy!

ira

Hi R,

You have 4 years to plan this trip.

Much will change in 4 years.

You can certainly do it on your own.

A week in London, a week in Paris, a week in France and 2 weeks in Italy would be a great "Grand Tour".

Come back in 3 years with an itinerary and let us help you improve it.

Enjoy your planning.

j_999_9

I'm a do-it-yourselfer, but maybe you want to consider some kind of hybrid -- part organized your, part on your own. especially since you're going to have a lot of time.

Spend a couple of weeks on the tour, and couple on your own. Maybe that way you won't find the whole thing so overwhelming.

Mimar

traveler1959 exaggerates a bit but forgot "sitting in the bus waiting for that lady who's always late."

Depending on the tour a lot of the sights may be drive-bys. "See Westminster Abbey." Ha!

That said, everybody I know who's taken a Rick Steves tour has been happy. He has smaller groups and no planned souvenir stand stops.

But Rick Steves started with books about how to travel Europe on your own. (And only began doing tours after much demand.) Why don't you read his Europe Through the Back Door. It's a good introduction to independent (but not-too-expensive) European travel. You can borrow all sorts of travel guidebooks from the library to get a better idea of where to go and what to see.

Luisah

<<What to expect from organized tours:

- You will hop from destination to destination, never going into detail. You get the "it is Thursday, it must be Belgium"-syndrome.
- You will spend the whole time with the same bunch of people from your home country.
- You will be pressed into a tight time schedule.
- There will be nothing unexpected, surprising or adventurous.>>

Not true. There is a wide variety in tour offerings. Many are geared toward special interests, could be music, food and wine, walking or biking through Italy or Switzerland, etc. or focused on art and culture with lectures from local experts. Many also feature home-hosted lunches or dinners so you meet and eat with locals. Some cover a lot of territory and on others you may stay in one or two hotels in two weeks and make day trips.

I do both independent travel and tours, depending upon where I'm going. In Italy our group had a private evening tour of the Vatican Museums and a private concert of Puccini arias; on another our group visited a ranch in the Camargue and had dinner with the family, something you would not do on your own unless you knew someone there. We also had ample free time to explore the cities on our own.

There are definitely "surprises" and discoveries and sometimes adventures.

You have plenty of time to plan and decide whether to find a tour that fits, do it on your own or do a combination.

ekscrunchy

There is a middle ground between taking an escorted tour and doing it on your own. You could make your own travel arrangements, therefore go from place to place on your own. But at each stop, you could arrange for private tours as an introduction to the various destinations. This would allow you to choose your own guide as well as your own hotels. With all of the help available here, why not price this option once you have decided on where you want to go?

So, therefore, you would for example, fly to Rome and be met at the airport by a driver who would take you to the hotel of your choice. Next day you would meet your guide for a private tour. You could do this for as many days as your budget allows, and then have some days on yourr own for shopping and wandering, visiting sights that do not require a guide, or sights where you will be provided with a guide for a small fee (ie, Scavi tour, Borghese).

Then transfer to the train station, travel to the next place, perhaps Florence. Transfer to your hotel, meet your private guide, etc etc....