I know, I know... a tour isn't probably they way most of you like to travel. But I have never been to Europe as an adult and I'm pretty nervous about getting around and being able to communicate. There are so many different travel tour companies it is hard to pick through them, so any suggestions are very much appreciated!

*It will be my husband and I traveling

*We are in our late 20s

*We aren't "partiers" and are perfectly happy if most everyone else is older than us (better that than younger!!!!)

*We would like a comfortable trip (better hotels, better transportation, etc)

* We haven't discussed a price point, but we rarely get to travel (my husband is pretty much constantly deployed) so since we have time to do it, we want to do it RIGHT! We will be celebrating his return from his 5th time to Afghanistan... so I want this to be a treat for him

Thank you!!! -- Annie

It's quite easy to get around Europe on your own and most people dealing with tourists speak English. I really think if you're in your late 20s you won't be happy with an escorted tour. I've traveled both ways and prefer traveling on my own.

I can recommend Grand Circle Travel - most people will be in their 70s. It's a leisurely tour company that allows multiple night stays rather than packing up almost daily. They mostly do river cruises in Europe and have limited land tours.

Other companies which I have not used but are very reliable are Tauck and Collette.

My opinion is to steer away from Globus and Cosmos as they are a low end tour company whose guides are not top rated. Their trips are fast-paced and offer 1 and 2 night stays.

Contiki is a tour company geared to the 18-35 age group. Some tours are party tours but others have serious travelers. Of course, you can choose not to party and to go off on your own during free time.

I believe Rick Steves' tours are some of the best ones out there...a little spendy, but worth it. I took a tour with his company several years ago and the other tour members (small group; less than 28) ranged in age from 25 to 70, but we were all VERY compatible!

Try Tauck Tours ... They do a great job, but might be exspensive. Maybe you can ask if they give any discounts for the military. You never know. Alot of people posting here often
suggest to travel on your own. I think there is nothing wrong with taking a tour on your first time to europe. That is what I did and now when I return I make the arrangements myself.
Hope it works out for both of you.

I agree that you can get around on your own very easily, but, if you are both adventurous/athletic (or even semi-athletic) I think you will really enjoy Backroads. I took my first tour with them in July to Norway. Loved it. Well executed, great food, and the hotels were very nice.

They aren't cheap, but I wouldn't say they are expensive either. 5 nights/days (Sunday noon meetup to Friday noon end) came to 4500 bucks with trip insurance. For Norway, a very spendy country, that isn't bad. Airfare extra of course. A couple would be less per person because you won't pay the single supplement.

I agree with azzure...I've been on 6 Rick Steves' tours and have enjoyed each one. I'm 42, and my first RS tour was when I was 37. Some of the tours I was the youngest, some I was somewhere in the middle. If you click on my name and pull up my trip reports you can read about the tours I've done, Eastern Europe, Turkey, Rome, France, and the Basque Country of Spain. I will mention though that on each of these trips I incorporated time either before or after (or in some cases both) the tour where I was on my own, sometimes just a day or 2 sometimes as much as 10 days. If you can do this, the tour is a nice way to introduce yourself to an area or country and then the time on your own may not seem as challenging.

Will he still be on active duty when he returns? If so, how much leave will he have and how much time do you want to spend on your trip. Do you live anywhere within a few hours of a major AF base or a civilian airport that is a military gateway e.g., BWI? I am asking this because of the possibility of using the military Space A system. The advantage is that it is free so you can save a bundle. The disadvantage is that is well... space available, so you might not get out or return on the day that you want. Depending on the departure point you might end up a a plane that is the same as a regular commercial airliner rather than a military transport. If you use that system you would arrive at a AF or Navy base and they have travel offices that will make discounted hotel arrangements, offer tours etc.

I prefer to travel independently and have traveled throughout Europe on my own countless times. As Adrienne says above, it's very easy to do on your own, but can be intimidating the first time out. But my husband prefers to go with a group, so when we travel together we almost always go with Rick Steves' tours. He loves them and I find them well done and enjoyable also. Fifteen years ago when we first started wit RS, the accommodations were a bit dodgy, but they've really upped their game in that area in recent years.

With RS, there is a large selection to choose from, ranging throughout Europe, some covering a lot of ground, others concentrating on a small area or even just one city. Some are indeed very expensive, others less so. Many tours average $250-300 per day, which is quite a bit higher than you could do the same itineraries for on your own. But the trade off is that the arrangements are all made for you, your transportation within the area of the tour is taken care of, you have a well-trained guide to point you in the right direction so you make the most of your time and money spent, and you have a pool of for-the-most-part congenial people to travel with.

The British Isles, France and Italy average over $300 per day, as do the tours which try to hit the highlights throughout Western Europe, called Best of Europe. But there are also My Way tours which provide transportation and lodging and leave you to explore on your own when you get to a destination.

Most average 26-28 people but some go with as few as 20. You will find all ages represented, perhaps clustering around ages 45-55, but almost always with a sprinkling of younger travelers too.

Check RS tours out at http://tours.ricksteves.com/tours/

With tour copanies you get what you pay for - if you're lucky. the less expensive ones you stay at the end of hell and gone, food is mediocre at best (and mostly extra) and many things aren't inclued. Very early starts and long day son a bus.

If you want nicer, more central hotels, not have totpay for so many extras and get decent food for the included meals you need to go for a company like Tauck - but they are very pricey. Much cheaper to do the same trip on your own.

I haven't tried them but many rave about untours www.untours.com.

And I meant to mention whether you take a tour or not (and if a tour whether or not a Rick Steves tour) you might benefit from his book "Europe Through the Back Door". It has good chapters for planning a trip on your own and even a chapter about how to get the most if you do a regular guided tour. Have fun planning your trip! (And our most grateful thanks to you and your husband for his service.)

I'd strongly recommend against a tour company of any sort given your situation. You can do a more financially sound trip on your own, a big consideration given that the US military doesn't pay much, and certainly mere fractions of what the troops are worth.

First, decide where you want to go. That means pick a country or region, not eight cities in 14 days (typical tour). From there, determine what general areas you'd like to see. Our general idea, which worked well before we had hobbits, was to pick two or three cities or areas to stay in and take day trips as we wished from there.

For example: 5 nights Loire Valley, two nights Normandy, three nights (yeah, too few, but part of being an American with short holidays) Paris -- this was one itinerary. Similarly, six nights Madrid, five nights Barcelona was another.

Consider a London-Paris trip where you spend a week in each city. You can get an apartment that's comfortable for less than an equivalent quality hotel room. Each has train connections throughout the country (Paris to Normandy can be a day or overnight tour - the train connections are less good). You won't need cars in either city (and shouldn't have them). Similarly, a Venice to Rome trip in Italy where you spend three nights in Venice, 4-6 in Florence and 4-6 in Rome or a Spain trip that has you spend a few days in each region would work. This is a lot more relaxing than waking at 7 to get breakfast, pack your stuff and hop on the bus for a six-hour ride to some small town that won't register on your consciousness five years from now.

Language barriers should not be an issue. If your hubby can manage dealing with locals of questionable friendliness in an area where he's not only not fluent but also illiterate, you both can handle being in Europe where the letters are familiar, you're on holiday and lots of the terms are self-explanatory. And in major cities other than the UK and Ireland, the second language is English - this is reality and you don't need to know a word of French, German, Italian, Czech, etc. to thrive.

I too say do it yourself, with our help, of course, BUT I will add that my mother has taken several Perillo Tours of Italy and has been happy with them. She has chosen the tours with the most central hotels, somewhat upscale, and has never complained.

Again, if you want to do it yourself, the folks here will help you every step of the way. If not, you have some good recommendations.

A lot of us here like to go more frequently and many of us are living later in our travel lives. We have found ways, with the help of boards like this, to go to Europe easily, frequently, and less expensively.

But you're in a position where you are trying to get that one trip squeezed in. In your case, I would go for the top tour you can afford, if you decide to go on a tour. If you are thinking in terms of just one trip to Europe (for now) I think you might want to get the biggest bang out of it that you can.

Wishing you the very best. Bless your husband who is at war.

You all have been so helpful! Now that I have found this great site and forum we may try to be more adventurous and do it one our own. I did just took a quick look a the Tauck website and the tours do look pretty nice. Though the idea of us just being able to go at our own pace and do our own things sounds really nice as well. I'll have to chat with the husband about it all. I'm sure when I bring up the cost savings of doing it on our own he'll listen! We do have to watch what we spend, but this trip will be a very big splurge for us. We never even took a honeymoon 10 years ago, because of a deployment to Africa (just a quick jaunt to the Justice of the Peace!)

I will have to say if I take your advice that you'll probably get sick of me coming on here and asking questions

Thank you again for all your input and your lovely words of support. --Annie

I recommend booking a package or hosted tour that allows you independence. Several airlines and tour companies offer packages that include airfare, hotel, transfers to/from airport, and some general sightseeing tour(s). The rest of the time you are on your own so you can eat what/where/when you want, and visit sights on your own time.

This way you can have someone take care of the transportation logistics and hotel selection - both for which you should have input or else choose another company. Then for the rest of the trip you may have an overview city tour for a few hours and maybe select other excursions so you may or may not be part of a group, and spend most of the trip on your own based on your own wants/research/time/mood.

You can find these packages on various airlines websites under vacation packages or www.affordabletours.com which works with several tour companies and offers independent and group tours.

It's about time for your honeymoon!

I am doing a package arranged by Costco travel in a few weeks. It's Rome, Florence, Venice and Paris, and we will be gone about 2 weeks. Costco arranged the airfare, intercity travel by train, and the (excellent) hotels (some sightseeing is included as well), and the price was VERY reasonable. I'll report back in mid-November!

cheapertravel.com We have used this company, Pavlus Tours and booked our tour with Tauck last year. Usually get 5% off. I will tell you that Globus, Trafalgar were in some of the same restaurants, at the same time as we were with Tauck, last year in Scandinavia. We had good food and I asume that that the folks with the other two tour groups also had good food. In addition, they stayed at some of the same hotels as Tauck. What happens is, we probably were in superior rooms and they probably were in standard rooms. We have only been on six group tours. The guide on Globus in the western US was the best. The Tauck guide was also very good. From our limited experience with group tours, we have found they have all been good. Good luck with your decision. Richard

Our neighbors highly recommend Girosole Walking Tours in Italy. We considered using them on both of our trips but in the end decided to do it on our own.
Peruse their website and see if it appeals to you. The groups range from 2 - 6 people (you choose), you can choose the accommodation level (luxury to budget), they arrange your tours, move your luggage from place to place, and provide meals. Sometimes you eat in restaurants and sometimes your tour guide's grandmother cooks for you.
http://www.girosole.com/