Tours

Guided Tours

Guided tours are a good option when you don't want to do it all yourself. You travel along with a group (sometimes large, sometimes small), stay in prebooked hotels, eat with your fellow travelers (the cost of meals is sometimes included, sometimes not), and follow a schedule. But not all guided tours are an if-it's-Tuesday-this-must-be-Belgium experience. A knowledgeable guide can take you places that you might never discover on your own. Tours aren't for everyone, but they can be just the thing for trips to places where making travel arrangements are difficult or time-consuming. Whenever you book a guided tour, find out what's included and what isn't. A "land-only" tour includes all your travel (by bus, in most cases) in the destination, but not necessarily your flights to and from or even within it. Also, in most cases prices in tour brochures don't include fees and taxes. And remember that you'll be expected to tip your guide (in cash) at the end of the tour.

Special-Interest Tours

Art

Abercrombie & Kent (800/554-7016. www.abercrombiekent.com.)

Context Travel (888/467-1986. www.contexttravel.com.)

Biking

Backroads (800/462-2848. www.backroads.com.)

Butterfield & Robinson (866/551-9090. www.butterfield.com.)

Ciclismo Classico (800/866-7314. www.ciclismoclassico.com.)

Culinary

Epiculinary (888/380-9010. www.epiculinary.com.)

Tuscan Women Cook (815/717-7295. www.tuscanwomencook.com.)

Toscana Saporita (www.toscanasaporita.it.)

Divina Cucina (www.divinacucina.com.)

Faith Willinger (www.faithwillinger.com.)

Culture

Exploritas (800/454-5768. www.exploritas.org.)

Travcoa (800/002-2005. www.travcoa.com.)

Italian Connection (800/462-7911. www.italian-connection.com.)

Context Travel (www.contexttravel.com.)

Hiking

Backroads (800/462-2848. www.backroads.com.)

Country Walkers (800/464-9255. www.countrywalkers.com.)

Shopping

Shopping Safaris Tuscany (039/339-574-8922. www.shoppingsafaristuscany.com.)

Take My Mother Please (323/737-2200. www.takemymotherplease.com.)

Volunteer Programs

Exploritas (800/454-5768. www.exploritas.org.)

Wine

Food & Wine Trails (800/367-5348. www.foodandwinetrails.com.)