bobbye7

i'm a first time traveler to france and trying to decide between using trafalgar or go ahead tours. trafalgar seems to give the most for the money, i.e. 11 days as opposed to 9, more meals, more escorted excursions included in price. go ahead seems less hectic but you have to pay extra for all excursions as well as most meals.
does anyone have experience with either one? any preferences?
thanks,
bobbye7

ira

Hi B,

Tell us something about the tours.

We shall then show you how you can have a better visit for less money.

bobbye7

trafalgar is 11 days, starts in paris and ends up in nice, with stops in beune and marseille. there is some leisure time but plenty of escorted sightseeing. go-ahead is 9 days, totally in paris, staying at one hotel. only breakfast is provided and all other meals as well as excursions are extra.
i am going alone and feel much more secure being in a group. also, i don't want to have to worry about planning a lot of stuff.

StLgrrl

My family and I have both used Trafalgar Tours. The first was a Sound of Music Tour I did with my parents and brother. The second was an 18 day tour through Europe that I did with my friend. My parents have used Trafalgar for Ireland, Italy and just recently Prague and Switzerland.

If you want to use a tour group, I highly recommend Trafalgar. The tour guides are super nice, and I really felt like I got alot for my money. Even the Savers tour I did provided decent accommodations with breakfast.

Alot of people on the boards will say you should do it on your own. While I like planning my own trips, sometimes you just want someone else to do all the planning and get you from place to place.

The only downfall I had with Trafalgar was the fact that most days you need to be up and ready to go by 6/7 am. But all in all, I was happy with my two tours, and my parents have been happy with their trips as well.

With Trafalgar you do need to pay extra for some of the excursions, but most of the stuff you want to see will be included. You will have enough time to sightsee on your own too.

HTH!

wanderlust5

My only input here is I have done both Trafalgar and Goahead. On the surface, trafalgar definitely looks like a great deal. the issue for us was every single thing we did was "optional" and we ended up (this was in 2001) pay $1800 USD in optional tours on a trip to Greece and Italy.

With goahead, there were optionals as well, though many things were included. The biggest thing for me is the airfare is included with goahead. That is a great bonus and I would pick Goahead over Trafalgar for that reason alone. But they are both great companies. I just think in the final total Goahead is better from a financial "what you get for your money" standpoint.

I think you would be happy with either company. They are both top notch.

Travelnut

Trafalgar offers tours both 'land and air' and 'land only'.

Luisah

<<i am going alone and feel much more secure being in a group. also, i don't want to have to worry about planning a lot of stuff.>>

Considering the above statement, Trafalgar sounds better for you, but if cost is a factor compare the "optionals" of both companies.

With Trafalgar, you'll get to see more of the country.

wanderlust5

Bobbye:

Can you put the links for both tours up so we can compare and make some suggestions?

Sue878

My husband and I went to Paris with Go Ahead vacations several years ago and liked them. It was nice for us because they picked us up at the airport and back and they were at the hotel if we needed any info or go on an excursion with them. We did do one excursion with them but mostly we were on our own; which we like better. But if you don't want to go on your own you might stick with Trafalgar, but then it is more hectic.