Do you go it alone, or go with a tour?
 

When traveling in Europe, do you prefer to be part of a tour, or do you go it alone? Or do you do Half-n-Half? Some tours, but maybe more solo sight seeing?

We've always gone it alone. We plan it, go, and have a great time. We go and see what we want, when we want, IF we want. We spend as much or as little time as we wish at each site. If we see something of interest we go and see it, no real schedule.
This has always worked well for us. The only tour we've ever taken was the Secret Itineraries tour in the Doge's Palace, and that's because you can't see it any other way.

It depends entirely on where I want to go. Some tours are ok; others are abominations.

The successful ones were short tours of Wales with Backroads Touring, a UK company. The poor one for me was of Ireland with Insight. I enjoyed the trip to Ireland more after we started freelancing. Things were less certain and pre-planned, but we were more exposed to the Irish culture which I found to be fun. Riding with the tour was like being in a tin cocoon.

If I know the languge, I don't mind doing it on my on. Otherwise, until I know the lay of the land, I can see where a tour for a first timer would be the way to do it.

Some day tours are good; some are not.
We took a very good one in Paris to Vaux le Vicomte and Fontainebleau which we tried later on our own and wished we had not because of transportation problems that were unexpected because we were not familiar with the local ground rules, e.g. US credit cards don't work in French ticket automats and the darn things don't give much change.

I think it boils down to what you feel comfortable with and also how skilled you are at planning your own trip.

I have no problem with Germany, Austria, Switzerland or the UK in general.
Spain might be ok, but it is still a future trip.

I fear as I get older, the undertainty of travel is less appealing. It used to be an adventure; now it is a bother.

Someone just asked me this questions tonight, when I mentioned plans to return to England again. I've always gone alone. I did a student tour of Europe when I graduated from high school, and I hated keeping *their* agenda, not *my* agenda, and their schedule, not my schedule. I'm more than glad to do bus tours of London and smaller cities, and walking tours. But even for day trips, I'll do it alone. Of course, traveling in England can be more comfortable because of the language. I've also been to Amsterdam on my own, and found that much harder. Just reading a menu was a struggle.

Always go it alone (well with husband/family). Lots of research about what to see, when it is open, times of opening etc so we don't miss out on something important. Also going it alone allows for the very important wandering where you want to go when you want to go. No "everyone back on the bus" scenario. Have done some day trips on organised tours in the past in Greece but not any recently. I much prefer the flexibility. Choose a day trip if you need to otherwise go it alone.

I travel alone & never go on tours. The rest of my life with work, etc. is scheduled so my vacations are not something I want to be regimented at all. I want to do what I want when I want.

When traveling in Europe my preference is to go with hubby, independent travel. He is an amazing traveler companion and I enjoy it so much more when he comes along. Bare in mind, I do all the travel plan and he executes it :-D

I did tried solo travel to Europe once; hated it. b-( The only enjoyment was the ability to go at my own pace at museums. The rest of the time I managed to take daily tours, which worked out very well because I met many other solo travelers. I have never used a tour, but have been to places where I recognize a tour would have been a good alternative, i.e. Russia (with limited time).

I like a tour the first time to a place to see the 'big' sites and get a 'feel' for the place and to handle the logistics. After that, I'm on my own to see things at my own pace.

I always self-plan, I would not be comfortable traveling with an organized tour group because of the structure and schedules.

I wouldn't say 'go it alone' tho since sometimes I'm with friends. I have enjoyed using written self-guided walking tours which point out points of interest and give a bit of history.

I prefer to go it alone, but I know many people who feel more comfortable with tours. The bad thing is, when I wean them off a tour, they're stuck to me. But at least we're not on someone else's schedule.

Like 2Italy, the only tour I'll take is a museum tour that lets me see things I can't see on my own otherwise.

And Bob_Brown, that's the exact reason I take my parents and uncle on a trip each year that's outside of their comfort zone. They feel travel is a bother, but it's an adventure I thrive on, and I want them to share my enthusiasm and show them the world.

When I travel alone (just me) I spend some time on my own in the easy-to-get to places and then meet a group when they are going to cities/towns/areas that are new to me.

For first time visits, the pros of being with a group tour outweigh the cons for me. I'm very independent and chafe a bit at the structure, but have met some very interesting people and fallen in love with places that would not have been on my itinerary. I've had wonderful meals that I would not have ordered if alone and have had far more interaction with local people when traveling with a group. One of the highlights of my last vacation was a private evening tour of the Vatican Museums. No way I could have done that solo.

I traveled Ireland solo and visit Paris alone, with friends, with family.

You can have it both ways and giving up some control occasionally can be rewarding.

My husband and I have traveled independently for quite a few years; the one tour we went on, while nicely put together around chorale performances in which a friend participated, was much too much time on a bus to ever do it again.

However, this past December I went off on a Danube river cruise with friends--my DH declined, not liking such things (he thought!). I had a wonderful time, and it was a very relaxing way to travel. Also, the information provided by our guides was much superior to what we could have found on our own without a lot of research.

So I think it depends on the tour.

Independently - almost always.

Did one escorted tour to Russia when that was the only way you could go. I can't begin to tell you how awful - and frustrating it was. Besides aggravating my control issues - you are stuck with the least common denomntor for almost everything and waste huge amounts of time either waiting for people who are disorganized/ inconsiderate and in "optional" shopping every single day. (I don;t waste time at home shopping and certainly don;t want to do it in europe - especially for a bunch of junk that won't last a month when you get home.)

Another time - going almost for free many years ago - took one of those independent tours (they give you hotel, transport between cities and 1/2 day city tour). Even with this format ran into several completely inconsiderate people who held up everyone else (one idiot lost his passport and we had to turn back to the hotel, making the drive 2 hours longer). Also did not like choice of hotels - 2 of the 3 were switched the week before departure - and hated the guide pushing all sorts of extra tours that you could do yourself for less and on your own timetable. (She had booked this group for Windsor Castle on a certain day we were going to the races - and actually had the nerve to tell us we would get lost trying to get to Windsor by ourselves.) And when we declined the 1/2 day tour in London - to which we had been before - she had the hotel wake us anyway and actually called to demand we come on the tour. (I think our revolt against her authority was causing others in the group to do the same and she was losing profit from the optional tours.) Needless to say - no tip for her.

After those - I would go on a tour only somewhere I would feel unsafe alone - although I can't think where that would be.

I have to say the much-maligned Rick Steves shows and guidebook gave my mom & I the first spark of confidence that we could plan a trip to Paris independently five years ago.
We are planning our fourth trip right now. Turns out that the planning (mostly online) is totally fun, almost a hobby. But we might never have discovered the non-tour approach had it not been for Rick Steves.

Go it alone, get up when I want to, linger as long as I want, go off the beaten track, seek out things I may have read about, and feast where I choose.

Tours are for people who don't like research and there's nothing wrong with that. My husband and I love to do the research for a trip that includes reading guide and history books as well as the internet searching. A two week trip can take months of joyful planning.
We went on a tour to Italy once, it was okay but not for us.

L84SKY-- your statement that "Tours are for people who don't like research" is flat out wrong. Clearly, we all know what happens to people who make assumptions.....:-!

My in-laws and many friends take tours all the time and read and do a lot of research. They just don't research lodging alternatives or transport alternatives, but do read a lot about the sights they are scheduled to see and what they want to do with their time off. Just recently a friend of mine went to Italy and she probably read 3-4 books on Rome.

There is no "one size fits all" answer to this question. Europe on our own? Yes, we've gone many times. Even parts of Europe, however, are not "user friendly." For example, Albania. There simply is no traveler-friendly infrastructure worthy of the name. Progress, however, can come quickly. There was a time not many years ago when travel in parts of eastern Europe was difficult at best. The changes for the better are simply amazing. But get off the beaten track, and you would be taking on a big assignment -- bad rooms, poor food, rickety transportation, and an attitude of non-service. In all our many years of travel -- and we are approaching 80 years of age -- we have never been treated with anything but courtesy and care, and this record extends from the wilds of northern Vietnam, to the deserts of the Middle East, to the mountains of Peru. The only place we were ever mugged was in the center of Santiago, Chile, on a busy Sunday noon, within a block of the National Palace. Beat that!

USNR, welcome back, it seems like a long-g-g time.

L84SKY-- your statement that "Tours are for people who don't like research" is flat out wrong"

Absolutely. I do just as much research when I'm meeting a tour group as I do when I go it alone. I spend weeks, if not months, in book stores, the library and on the internet.

Many tours serve "special interests" art, food (and wine), ecology, history, music, etc., so you travel with like-minded people while learning more about the topic and locale. I would have no interest in a generic "See Italy in 10 days" type tour.

I hadn't considered that, thanks for the enlightenment.

Travelling alone versus a tour is a personal preference thing, I believe. I usually prefer to travel alone, but that's my personality - I'm not a huge people person and am pretty independent. I do like to mix it up with a day tour here and there, though. For example, when I visited Ireland last year I took a day tour of the Ring of Kerry, which I truly enjoyed. Since I don't rent a car when I visit Europe, a day tour gives the option of visiting some places I might not get to otherwise.

For places I'm interested in visiting that are in Europe, I think I can travel solo without much problem, but there are other parts of the world where I would want to be part of a tour group. My best friend and I visited China with a tour group in 2004, and I don't think I would be brave enough to go it alone, then or now. It is because of language/communication issues mostly. Getting into a good tour group is a roll of the dice. We were fortunate to have the perfect combination of excellent tour guides and very well-seasoned travelers in the group who were always on time, didn't whine, and got along with everyone. It was actually my best trip ever.

So who knows? Either one can be great or awful, and allowing for different styles/habits/tastes etc., I don't think there is one right way versus another.

My European travel so far has only been to countries where I speak the language - the UK and Spain - and with the availability of the internet to do research, buy tickets & make reservations, I would only do it independently. Especially to the UK, so I can be flexible enough to work around the weather - visit gardens when it's sunny, museums when it rains.

However, havng said that, if I were to travel to someplace where I didn't know the language at all, I might consider an organized tour for a first trip and then see if I could do an independent trip if I were to return. Of course that would in turn hinge on having the time and money to do all that traveling!

I've always traveled solo or with my DS. I love the flexibility of solo travel, however I'm not opposed to taking day tours if it's someplace I would not have easy access to since I never rent a car and rely on trains, etc.

As Poohgirl stated, I would consider a total tour if it is someplace that I would not feel comfortable traveling as a solo single gal. I would still do ample research however. No two tour companies are the same.

I'll try and get in as much solo travel as I can while I'm still able to handle it by myself. I'll save the total tour for when I'm tired of lugging the suitcase around by myself or making my own arrangements for getting to and fro!

Daisy54, don't sell yourself short by limiting where you go because of language. I had 3 years of Latin in high school...which was a LONG time ago....and that hasn't stopped me from visiting Spain, France, Germany, Italy where I do not speak the language. If you know a few basic phrases, carry a dictionary, and are polite (in my observation) you should have a wonderful time. Most places you go the people do speak at least a smidgen of English. What always tickles me is to go to a restaurant and try to order (butcher!) in what-ever language and have the waiter/s speak English right off the bat!

Tours along the way for indepedent planners:

An estate you can only see as part of a guided tour or maybe a vineyard and winery visit. City bus overview tours as a viable way to get your bearings in a major city in only a few hours. Certain places (catacombs in paris?) where you can only go with a guide, or possibly a bicycle tour with bikes/guides provided?

If you are going to be in a different hotel each night, do a tour.

If you are going to be in the same hotel for two or more nights, do your own thing.

If you are in a 3rd world country and you don't speak the language, you may want to consider a tour.

I must take back what I said about only going on tours in museums to see what I otherwise can't see. I'm not a tour hater. I just prefer to go on my own to places because as a child I used to go on tours with the family, see only 5 minutes of something I really wanted to see, and then need to move along to something else. I have even offered the olive branch to go on tours with friends and family who prefer the comfort of a tour guide in countries where there could be language, transportation, etc. difficulties.

For instance, this summer, we'll be taking a tour to St. Petersburg and Moscow so it'll be easier re: visa issues. I have researched everything on St. Petersburg and Moscow and felt the tour we are choosing for those 2 particular cities will fit our agenda (not mine, but I'll live).

In Japan, we often go on tours because tour packages are often cheaper than going it alone and arranging your own transportation. However, I still have the frustration of seeing a place for a scant few minutes before I'm herded off to the next pasture. It's one thing if I'm not interested, another thing entirely if that's what I came to see.

So, I must agree with my fellow Fodorites who say that there has to be give and take, and a tour is <i>sometimes</i> the wisest decision one can make.

To add clairifation and amplification to my comment about uncertainty being a bother, let me say that if someone was &quot;taking&quot; me on the trip and did the &quot;bother&quot; for me, it would not be the same thing.

I have done my own thing in Austria several times and it was not &quot;a bother&quot; because I could get about quite well and even make purchases in stores using my meager German.

On the other hand, I am not sure I want to battle travel in a country like Bulgaria until I find out more now well I can do with minimal language skills.

As for the commercial and shopping stops, that was one of my huge, huge objections to the tour I took with Insight. First there was always a commercial stop or two and secondly there were always those &quot;optional&quot; excursions that were of course extra charges. Then, when we got to the Cliffs of Moher, which was one place that I really wanted to see, we had 45 minutes.

The tours I took of Wales with Back Roads had zero commercial stops. We had time to look around a village after we stopped for one attraction or the other, but we were not whisked into some type of commercial outlet and plied with Irish coffee in an effort to get us to buy something.

That kind of tour I can do with out.

I prefer tours because I don't drive and travel solo.
But that said, I only choose to use small group, small bus, tours with no more than 10-15 people. I have been really happy with a company called Adventures Abroad.
No optionals, no shopping stops , just seeing the sights I go there to see. I do not mind starting out early because if I slept in I would feel like I was missing something. And I have a limited time off work a year so when I travel I want to see all I can in a short time.