Susan

We are planning to take my mom (70+ years old)on a 10-13 day multi-country European tour. She would like to see London and Paris and possibly go to Germany, Switzerland, and/or Italy. We need a tour that is not too strenuos and not too much time on the bus. Any suggestions or comments about tours you have taken?

julie

We took a tour similar to the one you are considering a few years ago. It was wonderful with the one exception that the bus held 60 odd people, therefore what we could and could not do was limited. The fewer people on the bus makes for a better experience, I think. Also, it is good to pick a tour group that stays over 2 nights at least in one place, so that you don't spend your entire vacation on the bus.

Dianna

My Mom (who was 70 at the time), myself and two daughters took the Cosmos Tour of the Romantic Road to Munich, Innsbruck, Florence, Venice and Paris a few years ago. The tour itself was great, if somewhat hectic. London and Paris we stayed 2 nights, the rest one. The hotels were great and food was okay. Our fellow passengers represented many countries and we became family during that tour and had a wonderful time.

geri

I've done several Cosmos and Globus tours beginning in 1984. Cosmos is a bare bones tour, with lots of optionals. <BR>Hotels are often far removed from any activity. Days on the bus can be very long. Globus is an improvement, but also a bit more expensive. Plus you'll be sharing with at least 40 other tourists. <BR>However, Cosmos and Globus made it possible for me to travel Europe many times and overall the trips have been great experiences. In fact, my mom, who was 72 on our first trip, went with me a total of 8 times--she was 80 on our last trip, so the 'seniors' can definitely handle the hectic pace, providing they're in fairly good condition. Have a great time!

tom

i have been on five cosmos tours throughout europe and find them great for the traveler. however there is no way to see all the area without bus time. one suggestion i would give is to get a tour that starts in london and ends in paris. i then suggest you add either one or two nights through cosmos in both cities. this way you can see more of the big cities at not much cost. email me anytime for more suggestions

Kavey

I did a Cosmos tour of Spain, Portugal and Europe about 10 years ago and had a great time though there were several negatives for me: <BR> <BR>Large coaches = large groups. At nearly every stop somebody would be late back which meane you lost time you would have ahd at other stops waiting for them to get back on the coach. Also the sheer volume of people means even if everyone is back on time it takes a long time getting everyone off/ on the coach... <BR>Because of this their stops at many sites can seem very short... <BR> <BR>Food. Though hotels were fine the food was invariably horrendous, though they had such a bad reputation in that regard in early 90s they may have improved it by now. (Hope so). This was OK for me as I had chosen tour so as not to travel alone, and had a bit of budget left to shun the half board and eat out with others in the group who felt the same. <BR> <BR>Whilst they had a loo on the coach, the driver practically bullied everyone into not using it other than for energencies which hacked me off as I always need the loo, and had chosen Cosmos cos they ahd described their coaches specifically as having loos and whats the point if you feel so guilty to use them? <BR> <BR>Good points: <BR>Good tour guide <BR>Decent enough hotels <BR>(Mine were in OK locations though not quite central enough) <BR>Great company of other tourists <BR> <BR> <BR>Kavey <BR>

Mary

<BR>Kavey, mentioned a very serious "negative", in my opinion, about the Cosmos and probably other bus tours, the problem with infrequent "toilet" stops and not being allowed to use the "loo"except for dire emergencies. Also, even though we were told there would be a toilet on the bus for such emergencies, our Cosmos bus did not have a toilet and this was a 21 day tour! <BR> <BR>On this particular Cosmos tour last year, you could depend on several people on the bus every day calling out to the tour guide as to when the next toilet stop would be. We "never" knew!! We were told before the tour the stops would be every two hours but because of problems along the road and having to make up time, this turned into 3 or more hours and many of us were miserable each day not knowing. Everyone usually raced to the restrooms only to face long lines of other tours. <BR> <BR>You can bet I did not drink a drop of water or any fluid the entire time on the bus for 21 days! Not a good idea but some of us can't quite go 3 hours! They need to do something about this and I made sure I wrote about this on my report on the tour for Cosmos. <BR> <BR>Mary