Cheap Europe Tours
 

I am looking for cheap Europe tours. Any suggestions?

Plan your own trip. Go independently. Don't take a tour. Is my best suggestion for a cheaper trip.

There are good reasons for buying a tour. When my mother was in her 80s, she & her cousin on her last legs wanted to go to Europe together & couldn't have done it on their own. A tour was the only possibility. Or if the budget needs to be fixed a tour will be that. Or if you can't or won't do your own planning, or if you're willing to go on someone else's idea of your trip, 2 more good reasons. There may be others but failing any of these, you will likely do better making your own arrangements.

If you really do want a cheap tour Google "cheap Europe tour". Not too many cheap tour folks here.

What is 'cheap' to you? How old are you - many tours are loaded with middle age folks and older- if young look for a tour like Contiki which is on the cheap side on some of their tours and attracts folks in 20s and 30s mainly - I've observed lots of Contiki Tours and folks seem to have fun - not a party trip though - tours for younger folks often are heavily female -

https://www.contiki.com/us/en/activi...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://www.google.com/search?q=cont...w=1097&bih=535

Notice the nearly all female group trips! A guy's heaven perhaps.

I like a combination of tour/independent travel. I'm fine getting around in the big cities but don't drive internationally and so far haven't been brave enough to do trains from place to place. I have used Globus for a 7 or 8 day "touring trip" of a country, then spent 3 or 4 days at the end of trip on my own in the big city. Last one was Ireland; enjoyed both parts of trip. Enjoyed the fellow travelers, too; several had Irish grandparents and real roots in the Irish countryside which I do not. With a tour company you want to really check where their hotels are located -- are they in a location where you can get out on your own in evenings to walk and explore. Tour companies do run sales and promotions -- look for those. Expedia might be a good place to look for reviews. Totally self-planned is best but tours have their uses.

What does "cheap" mean to you? What is your daily budget? Do you want a tour because you think you can't travel cheaply on your own (you certainly can), because you don't want to cope with transport (honestly, trains are easy), or because you have mobility issues (in which case a tour is not usually a good solution)?

I prefer to travel solo and independently, but I have done a few tours, mostly to places I thought might be difficult by public transport, but I traveled independently before and after the tour. In Europe I have used https://www.ricksteves.com/ - I would say that in price they are mid-range, plus you need to be reasonably fit.

Some things you should know about cheap tours:

-- They will try to fill every seat on a big bus. (RS tours use big buses but only half fill them - max of 24-28 on their tours.)

-- They will put you in hotels, often big, impersonal, chain hotels, on the outskirts of the towns you have come to see. You will have to rely on the tour for transport into town, use taxis, or figure out the local transport, in which case you might as well be on your own.

-- The meals will probably be, at best, forgettable.

-- Actually visiting sights may require that you pay extra. Other sights may be "viewed" - i.e. drive by or photo op - rather than "visited".

-- The tour leader is working for tips. (No tipping on RS tours.)

If you are young, rather than Contiki you might look at https://www.intrepidtravel.com/us, which is a budget Aussie outfit. Come to that, you might look at them if you are older, too.