We're leaving April 20th on a Ritz Tour of China. This is our first time doing a group tour and we're a little apprehensive. Would appreciate any tips on how to maximize our enjoyment of this experience. We love to be active and hope this won't be at too slow a pace for us. If anyone has experience with this tour company, would love some comments.
Cheri

Hi Cheri,
I think you should have at least one reply!
Have a good trip!
Judy

best advice....sit back and make the most of it....go with the flow....don't be afraid to leave the tour or take a day off on your own...just make sure the leader knows exactly what you are doing....don't over schedule yourselves with side tours....some can be done on your own and sometimes cheaper....

Just returned from a 13 day tour with China Focus Travel: an amazing inexpensive, loss leader event.
You'll be more active than you might think (we live at 6800 ft and climb hills daily here in central MX).
The climb up the Great Wall was pretty stressful and I was the on;y one to reach the "top end".
Buen viaje.
M

We did a Ritz tour to China a few years ago. We did not have any free time to speak of. They are a wonderful company known for excellent guides. Our main guide was so great, we will never top him. We were busy night and day. In fact, a favorite saying of his that we still laugh about to this day is - just go to your room and wash up just a little bit. Later you will have time to wash thoroughly. Does that give you an idea of how busy you will be? We love happening vacations and don't really like relaxation vacations ourselves. So it was perfect for us.

We were at first apprehensive about Ritz because their prices were so much lower. But by happenstance we met two different people who had gone with them and gave them rave reviews. We felt the same way after we got back. Unless they have changed, they did not offer any optional tours. Everything was included with no time for optional tours.

I would have to agree with connette about there being little, if any, free time. I went on a Ritz China tour about 5 years ago (geez, has it been that long already?). We were up and going at the crack of dawn and wouldn't stop until we got to our hotel, often as late as 9p. If anything, being too rushed and not having any "down time" was our biggest complaint. Our shopping for gifts to bring back home was limited buying things on the run (literally) as we were walking from one place to the next and to hotel gift shops, if they were still open when we checked in. We'd be gone the next morning before they'd reopen. Some people in our group ended up buying gifts at the Inchon Airport (Korea) where we had a layover of several hours.

Then again, we did get to see an awful lot. But, I guess it wasn't entirely my cup of tea. I made sure that the next tour I went on had a good mix of sights/activities and leisure time to do some exploring on my own.