I know from reading various posts that most of you prefer independent travel, however, I'm hopeful that you will be able & wish to help me with an upcoming escorted tour for 3 couples (2 of which have never traveled to Europe). We are booked on a Cosmos tour that is a rapid-paced trek through London, Paris, Lucerne, Venice, Florence, & Rome & was chosen especially because of the 4 novices who were unsure of where they wanted to go or what they wanted to do.
Does anyone have any experience with Cosmos, specifically the involvement of their tour directors? The itinerary shows that there are local city guides for Paris, enice, Florence, & Rome. My concern that ALL will just be DRIVE-BY situations that wil necessitate a return to go in w/ an admission to pay! When I questioned this as a possibility, I was assured that was not the case, that there were INSIDE VISITS in many locations. I guess I'm hoping to hear from folks who have either toured with Cosmos or specifically, have toured with them on their tour entitled "From St Pauls to St Peters." I apologize for being so long winded and I thank, any & all who respond, in advance!

None of us can know the particulars of your tour. If it is a fast paced tour, one of the downsides is that you do not go inot all the sites mentioned. Some are inevitably drive bys.

You would be wise to contact the tour company for the particulars because they are the only ones who really know what is going on.

Any reputable tour company on an escorted tour will have a tour director and "step on" guides in each town who have expertise in the local sites.

Even for those of us who have been to Europe independently many times, there are always things we do not get to see. Do not get frustrated if something inevitably gets left out that you want to see. After your tour, go home and rest and then start planning your next trip.

Tours have their place in the world of travel. They are not for everyone--and neither is independent travel. I have done it both ways and either way can work well. The advantages of a tour for novices is that it will ease fears and the tour director is there if something goes wrong (for example, an elderly person who should never have taken the tour in the first place gets sick).

You will feel more comfortable doing it yourself the next time, but, after so many independent trips to Europe that I can't remember how many, I have taken recent tour packages through elderhostel in Sicily and Russia.

Enjoy your trip and, remember, the tour director will make sure that you do not get lost. If you get tired of being herded, you can request to go "off tour" for a few hours and do something you prefer to do (buying a good local map beforehand). I did that in both Sicily and Russia twice. You just let the tour director know where you are going and make a place to meet up again. Do not keep everyone waiting for the bus--ever--and you will have a great experience.

Something else if you have an itinerary.

"Visit" generally means you get to go into the site.

"See" sometimes (but not always) means a drive by.

i dont have any experience with cosmos but a tour might be a good choice for people who havent travelled together before. there is nothing to decide or argue about and it is stress free,tour guide takes care of everything & your safety & transport = relaxation. & even though you wont have long you will be passing through some impressive cities.a magical visit.

from their website link below you can gauge for yourself the visiting time in each city.

if you prepare your expectations i think you should enjoy this and be able to relax.

http://www.cosmos.com/Default.aspx?t...p;source=56796

I agree, it is best to learn the lingo of the brochure books. Drive by, see, visit, pass are all key words. As are quaint, rustic, special, authentic, renovated, budget, sample, remote, etc.

Try to get a day by day rundown, that is the least they should provide to you.

It is not so hard to do a trip on your own if you don't try to see too many places on one trip. Good luck with the tour.

Do they provide you with a daily itinerary? My thought is that you would be able to answer some of your own questions if you could see the length of time alloted to various activities and/or time on the bus.

And also there is a fine print that the local tour guide can change the itinerary due to weather, local holidays, etc, etc...

You never know who is the tour guide, it's not that one is assigned to a specific route.

BUT: don't worry, just go. Cosmos is a good company, I've traveled 3 times with them in the US, and once in Europe with Globus, a more expensive branch of the same company.

Before the start date, maybe 3-4 weeks prior, you'll get a package with details. There will also be "optionals" so you will decide whether you want to pay additional.

Also, dunno why, people think if it's a tour, the food is included. Most often, it's NOT!

There is a website affordabletours.com - do you know they give you a 10% discount? I've used them several times, it's not a hoax. Save some $$ for ice-cream in Europe

Also on that website is a talk forum. You can ask specific questions about specific tours there.

And for 6 people it's a wise decision to go with a tour group - no arguments about where to stay, where to go, which places to visit.

Cosmos is a reputable company so don't worry about being cheated or anything. BUT - the detailed itinerary in the brochure or on the website will answer your questions.

As the others say: "see" such and such means just that -- seeing it from the moving bus or walking past.

"Visit" usually means stopping and at least getting inside.

"Tour" means seeing a place either self-guided or w/ a tour guide.

Maybe tell us which tour/give us the link and we can give you more info . . . . .

Well from the itinerary it is clear that:
London: you are left entirely to your own devices here unless you book one of the additional optional tours.
3rd day, travelling all day(?) to Paris arriving in evening, no activities arranged.
Paris: whistlestop guided tour of the sites (all sound like ones viewed from the outside) or optional visit to Palace of Versailles. Optional dinner.
Next day travelling all day to Switzerland. Next day, sightseeing in Lucerne but very obviously a drive-by or walking tour along streets, no entry into anything. Again, you can book optional additional tours.
Next day: drive to Italy with a stop to walk round a lake and to drive past 'Juliet's balcony'. Next day: boat ride in Venice (not gondola, that is another optional extra), St Marks, and then a factory tour. Next day drive to Tuscany including 'Stop in Pisa to see the famed Square of Miracles (possibly close up) and view the Leaning Tower (probably through the coach window). Next day, walking tour of Florence with local guide then travel to Rome. Optional coach tour of Rome (don't! Get out and see it properly!. Final day: tour of Rome and it sounds as though you go in the forum and colosseum.

So, lots of travelling, lots of being on the coach, lots of looking at places from the coach or on a brief stop, but also some scope for getting out and about to see things properly on your own, especially in London and Paris. Pisa and Florence sound like hit and run visits only with not much scope. Venice - personally I'd go off on my own that day and sod the tour (unless you are desperate to go and be ripped off at a glassblowing factory).

Please remember that guides love to take you shopping because they do get commission if you buy something. They are not paid humongous amounts of money for what is very hard tiring work dealing with a lot of different (and occasionally difficult) personalities. The commissions and tips are the way they make a living due to a low base salary.

Hi Kalynwg,

I'm a travel agent, and as you say that you've already booked this tour, it strikes me that any comments might be "moot" at this point as you're either under deposit (and depending on when you're leaving, may be hit with cancellation charges; or have made final payment, in which case you're SURE to get dinged if you cancel).

As Faina said, Cosmos is the "budget" branch of Globus tours. The thing to mostly watch out for on these tours is where your hotel is located.

Did you book through a travel agent? Ask them for help if you did.

If not, ask the company for a list of the hotels; no doubt it will say something like "Hotel Italia...or similiar", but at least you can get an idea of where it might be located (as in town or outside).

There's nothing worse than to have free time (and you won't have much of it) in a wonderful city on your itinerary, only to find out that it's a $50 cab ride to anything! Less expensive tour operators tend to get hotels away from the center of the city, thereby keeping the rates low.

Nona and Faux are absolutely correct in their assessment. Those trips to the glass blowing factory, cameo factory, whatever, are designed to have people shop and have your guides make a commission on the sales. There's nothing wrong in that if you're actually interested in SEEING those things. If not, it will be a loonnng day!

Regards,

Melodie

I can't thank all of you enough for your many & various comments & suggestions! You are great! Guess I really needed reassurance that my party will see enough to feel that they have been to Europe & know WHERE they want to go next time! The 2 couples are family, & you are correct in that I steered them this direction so that the entire group would NOT be affected by one person's desires! Each person can go w/ the grp or not is my thinking! And, I have stayed at far away hotels too! I know that can be a problem & tried to check them out prior to booking, but of course, they too can be changed! However, I've always found public transportation nearby which can be a terrific learning experience for the culture of a place. Again thank you all so much. I will give a report when all is said & done!

I've done a number of these tours; usually with Trafalgar but have done a couple of Cosmos tours. They are a reputable company and you will get what it says you will get...

In the big cities (Paris and Rome) generally arrival late in the afternoon and you will have an optional the first night (sometimes a dinner, sometimes an illumination tour, in Paris sometimes a Seine boat ride)...the next day a sightseeing tour with perhaps one stop (Paris usually the Eiffel Tower 2nd floor) and then optionals (Versailles? Louvre? Montmarte? whatever the tour director chooses (TD for tour director) and an optional usually a cabaret of some sort (expensive but good)...same thing is true in Rome...Lucerne the included sightseeing is the Lion Monument and covered Bridge and usually an optional to go up on a mountain and a lake cruise...Florence will include a walking tour from the main square plus probably an included stop at a leather factory and time for shopping..Venice will include a visit to a glass blowing exhibition and time for shopping...

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the tours contrary to the opinion of some on this board who have never done one...you don't have to worry about your hotels or your luggage...outside the big cities meals will be included which will be adequate at best certainly not gourmet but they will be okay...breakfast every morning can range from a nice buffet (Germany don't know if you'll be there to adequate (Italy) to putrid (France)..of course this is a generalization and individual hotels might be better or worse.

Be aware that the way Cosmos can provide budget prices is they use hotels well outside the centre of the big cities...they will be clean, will have private facilities but getting into town will be a long trek and public transportation may or may not be available...all will leave you, if you don't do the optionals, with free time to shop do your own thing whatever...yes in many cases long hours on the bus...especially in Italy you will learn about Autogrills and the chaotic Italian system of paying for goods before you get them with people pushing ahead of you (I use the self service restaurants which are usually fine)...on travel days you will have a wake up call around 0600, be told to have your baggage outside your room for collection at 0630 and breakfast at 0630 (depending on the hotel) with departure at 0730. Stops every two hours to exercise body functions..cosmos buses may not have toilets on them (some do some don't but not guaranteed with cosmos)...

Nice thing about Cosmos is you will meet quite an interesting international clientelle...losts of Aussies and kiwis as well as North Americans...don't worry the grups usually meld very very well...seats on the buses will rotate and you will pass by and sit next to a variety of different people..also at th eincluded dinners and optional dinners you will make friends for life..

They are a bit hurried but they can be a great great experience and after seeing some of the locations you can either book a tour that will spend more time in one region or do some of the things independently in the future.

xyz123 gives a fair assessment of tour travel. Tours have pros and cons, but believe it or not, so does independent travel. You do have the ability to enhance your tour depending on how you use your 'leisure' time, learn to use public transport or just hang it all and grab a taxi, and research some places to eat (even if you ditch the tour group occasionally).
The best thing you can do is fully explain all the pros/cons, what to expect, to your friends (make 'em sign an acknowledgement ). Also, you don't have to do <i>everything</i> together. Tell them there will be some 'alone' time and they shouldn't take it personally, in fact they should be planning some for themselves.

Hello,
I took a Cosmos trip to England, Wales, Scotland &amp; Ireland in June, 2002. This trip was over a 16 day period and was very busy.
I think that Cosmos does a good job in their brochure to lay out the itinerary for a trip. Lots of day to day info, info on included and optional trips, etc.
That said a trip with lots of one night stops will mean lots of time in the bus.
The main lesson I learned from this trip was no more one night stops for me. Otherwise, I had a wonderful time--great tour guide, good international mix of tourmates, and I loved the places we visited.
Faith

One other quick note about Pisa...

Pisa does not allow motor coaches to the area around the tower and the church...you will see the leaning tower...what will happen is there is a bus park outside the main area and your td will arrange either a tram or an electric bus to the stop and walk you to the area of the tower and the church and you will probably have some free time...BTW and this I remember, there is a public toilet behind the tower which charges 0,30&euro; but it is clean (best 30 euro cents I ever spent!)..unlike what happened in Venice where after the motor launch to St. Marks Square at the terminal, there is a disgusting toilet which charges &euro;1...(while it may seem I have this fascination with toilets, they can be an important part of any tour!)

I think tours work best when they cover a smaller area in depth. You just cannot &quot;do&quot; Europe in 2-3 weeks. You end up driving by a lot of sites and spending a lot of time on the bus. It usually ends up exhausting.

Having said all of this, a tour often furnishes a good first experience of Europe. When you return, you will narrow your focus and--whether on a tour or not--will probably not want to move around as much.

OAT does a great in-depth tour in Sicily. I believe it lasts about 12 days, with no more than 16 people per group.

Sorry, my last post was supposed to be somewhere else. We used Cosmos one time. They were just OK. The guide did an acceptable job, but was inexperienced and got a lot of her info from the bus driver. Hotels were a step down from Globus and Trafalgar. We've become fans of OAT because we like the smaller groups and everything on the tours we've done with them has been excellent.

You might want to try Globus, which is a slightly more upscale version of Cosmos. My extended family has been on several Globus tours - Egypt, Greece, and Spain. While each had some plusses and minuses we agreed the tours were well thought-out and good values.
Escorted tours are great when driving might be a good choice and you want to go to sites outside major cities.